Ambergris Caye is home to more than sixty dive sites, each of them fantastic for its wildlife or coral, or mangroves, or lush beds of verdant sea grass. Several sites include caverns, tunnels, or magnificent canyons. Incredible geology combined with abundant marine life make these some of the best diving spots on the planet. Here are just seven of them to whet your appetite.
Love Tunnels
So named because people sometimes choose to marry beneath the beautiful arches that make the site resemble an underwater cathedral, Love Tunnels begins with a sandy-bottomed canyon teeming with small colorful fish and bordered on both sides by stands of the healthy hard corals that Ambergris Caye is so famous for. Home to spotted drums and snappers, fleets of barracuda and the occasional ray, the site is beautifully lit from above. Inside the cavern, sea fans wave in the current, and tiny crabs and lobsters can be found inside the cracked walls. Look beneath the larger rocks – if you’re lucky, you might see a huge spider crab or a few big spiny lobsters. Maximum depth here is just 80 feet and as the site is not terribly challenging, it is great for intermediate divers and up. As you exit the tunnel, you’ll find yourself hovering along the edge of a drop off, which is covered in brilliantly colored soft corals in shades of pink, orange, and yellow. Watch for passing sharks, along with the occasional turtle.
M&M Caverns
A set of three caverns that are laid out in the shape of a large letter “M”, M&M Caverns are a favorite place to encounter napping nurse sharks. The caverns are at depths between 60 and 120 feet, and there are some challenges, making the site suitable for experienced divers only. At their entrances, soft corals and sea fans beckon, and glassy sweepers part like a shimmering curtain to allow you to pass. After making your way to the rear of the cavern, you’ll exit and enter the second cavern, which is an excellent place to find large lobsters and crabs. There is no rear exit here, so after exploring, you’ll exit the way you came in and then enter the third cavern. Huge silver tarpon hunt for baitfish and small snappers, and there are lots of butterfly fish, angelfish, and other tropicals nibbling their way around the reef area outside. Watch for turtles and groupers on this dive as well.
Tackle Box
With magnificent arches festooned with corals and sponges, Tackle Box Canyon is located directly offshore from a bar which is also called the Tackle Box, and is home to schooling silversides that put on a mesmerizing show. Featuring huge rock formations that form a mazelike underwater playground, and an excellent place to encounter sea turtles and nurse sharks, its deep narrow gullies are peppered with small grottoes where you can find lobsters and groupers, nudibranchs and blennies, shrimp, and swarms of colorful reef fish. Maximum depth here is 90 feet, though most features are in water closer to 60 feet deep, and it is suitable for intermediate divers and up.
Tuffy Canyons
Also known as Tuffy Rocks, Tuffy Canyons is located next to Tackle Box Canyon and features a long, narrow tunnel that leads to an opening that overlooks the blue ocean beyond. With scattered coral heads that attract wrasse and anthias, huge rock formations, and stands of staghorn coral, the site is named for a shrimp boat called the Tuffy, which sank and broke up here decades ago. You can find debris from the wreck at about 21 feet, and maximum depth is at 90 feet. Watch for African pompano, nurse sharks and eagle rays, black tip reef sharks and blueheads, salemas, and scrawled filefish. Keep an eye out for turtles, too – they love to eat the sponges that blanket the rocks.
Punta Arena Canyons
Also known as Small Cut, the Punta Arena Canyons are famous for their tunnels, which are covered in brilliant red algae growth. The reef begins sixty feet beneath the surface here, and is covered in splendid gorgonians, some of which are very large. Stands of elkhorn and staghorn coral, swirling heads of lettuce coral, and beautiful specimens of brain and star coral can be found, all with small crabs, shrimp, fairy basslets and wrasse in attendance.
As you make your way through these magnificent canyons with their vertical walls, you’ll find the most popular swimthrough of all, which has a triangular opening. Approximately seventy feet long, it exits at a depth of 100 feet, and inside, you can experience complete darkness if you turn out your light for a moment. You can come back through the tunnel if you like, or you can make your way back up to the reef top along the wall, which is covered in soft corals, sea fans, and sponges. Along the way, watch for Nassau groupers and pompano, spadefish, jacks, and some large pairs of angelfish.
Pescador Tunnels
A fantastic site for intermediate divers and up, El Pescador Tunnels are home to some amazingly large spider crabs and enormous spiny lobsters. It seems like everything is bigger here, including the tarpon, with their silver sides sleek and fat from feeding on the glassy sweepers and other small fish that inhabit the many tunnels and grottoes that punctuate the reef here. The main attraction though, is a tunnel that extends beneath the reef, leading out to a view of the blue beyond, and overlooking the ocean floor 200 feet below. Look for Cubero snappers, yellowtail, and kingfish, along with pompano and some big groupers, and watch for turtles, too.
Victoria Canyons
Besides its beautiful section of coral reef, Victoria Canyons features magnificent archways and a tunnel you can swim through, which starts at about 60 feet and ends up at a depth of about 90 feet. An excellent critter dive, the canyons are home to shrimp, crabs and lobsters, along with lots of juvenile pelagics and plenty of the reef fish which are so abundant at Ambergris Caye. Turtles and nurse sharks are sometimes seen here, too.
As this incredible area is beautifully lit and often features visibility at about 100 feet, the conditions are perfect for photography. Look up to see rays of light penetrating the darkness around you as you explore these caves and tunnels, and you’ll experience a real sense of wonder at the beauty of the natural world.