Imagine taking a trip to one place, and experiencing several incredible World Heritage sites without having to travel too far. Belize is one of the few places on the planet where this is possible; where you will find yourself surrounded by brilliant blue waters and amazing marine life. While there are nearly 1,000 sites listed on UNESCO’s World Heritage map today, they are scattered far and wide, so this is indeed a very rare opportunity. Let’s take a look at this amazing group of sites. They’re just waiting to be discovered anew.
Sapodilla Cayes Marine Reserve
Covering an area of approximately 125 square kilometers, and including fourteen cayes, the Sapodilla Cayes Marine Reserve is located along Belize’s Barrier Reef about forty miles to the east of Punta Gorda. With shallow fringing reefs that wind their way around the outside of the sand and mangrove cayes, then slope away toward the outer coral atolls, the area supports a wealth of marine life. Inside the shallowest area, which averages a depth of just 15 feet, you’ll find angelfish and snapper, parrotfish, butterfly fish, and a whole host of other reef dwellers. Beyond the lagoons, with their sandy bottoms and lush beds of seagrass, the depth increases, and swirling colonies of lettuce coral and stands of staghorn coral create an underwater fantasyland that is both colorful and teeming with larger fish, such as schooling jacks and spadefish.
Some of the best beaches in Belize can be found at Hunting Caye, while Frank’s Caye, Nicholas Caye, and Lime Caye are very popular destinations. Watch for whale sharks and manta rays, sea turtles, dolphins, and other amazing creatures as you explore.
South Water Caye Marine Reserve
The largest of the many marine protected areas Belize has to offer, South Water Caye Marine Reserve is located a short ten miles from the coast of Dangriga and Hopkins. With an area that covers 62 square miles, the reserve features more than a dozen major cayes along with many other, smaller islets, as well as patch reefs and sand bores, mangrove, and verdant beds of sea grass. Between February and April, you can see courting frigate birds, with their bright red mating displays, and year-round, you can see some of the most magnificent sponge and coral growth on the planet. At Tobacco and South Water Caye, you can step right off the beach and enjoy snorkeling, and along South Water Caye’s southern portion, you can explore channels that lead away from the islands toward the continental shelf.
One of the most popular sites here is an underwater cave which is called Hell Hole, but which is really a piece of paradise. Once situated above ground, it has stalactites and stalagmites, a wide opening, and is a good place to encounter dolphins and eagle rays, moray eels and lots of reef fish.
Laughing Bird Caye National Park
The southernmost island in Belize Barrier Reef’s central lagoon, Laughing Bird Caye is located just twelve miles off the beautiful beaches of Placencia. With a tiny 1.4 acre island and 10,119 magnificent acres of marine habitat, this world heritage site features deep channels where sharks and manta rays, huge pelagic fish, and pods of friendly dolphins travel. Clean sandy-bottomed lagoons in shades of brilliant turquoise and blue are bordered by beautiful beaches, and tropical fish, invertebrates and crustaceans are here in abundance.
Bacalar Chico Marine and Wildlife Reserve
Covering an astonishing 130 square kilometers of the Belize Barrier Reef, Bacalar Chico Marine and Wildlife Reserve also includes Robles Point and Rocky Point, which are the only places where the barrier reef comes in contact with the mainland. Only accessible by boat, the park was established in 1996 and is a major nesting area for both green sea turtles and loggerhead turtles. While the reef is home to a wealth of marine life large and small, including everything from tiny shrimp to massive manta rays, the topside area is astonishing and worth a visit as well. Home to all five of Belize’s wild cat species and several other mammals, birds, reptiles and amphibians, and with an eighteen kilometer nature trail, it is a destination unto itself.
Blue Hole National Park
Belize’s celebrated Blue Hole is visible from outer space. 412 feet deep and 1,000 feet in diameter, it is ringed by a coral ridge that slopes gently to a depth of 50 feet, then leads along sheer walls where you can see the stalactites and stalagmites which adorned what were once the now-collapsed cave’s ceilings and floors. A ledge at depths between 120 and 150 feet provides a vantage point that offers views deep into the blue beyond, and up toward the sunny sky above. Whether you stay up top and snorkel around the coral, or if you descend into the blue hole itself, this is one of the most incredible sites you will ever see.
Glovers Reef Marine Reserve
One of only four true coral atolls in the Western Hemisphere, Glovers Reef Marine Reserve is the furthest south of Belize’s many atolls. Shaped like an oval, and 32 kilometers long, it is 12 kilometers wide, and is surrounded by a beautiful lagoon, approximately 850 patch reefs, and soaring pinnacles that break the surface in places. Three deep channels and six sand cayes punctuate the reef structure, and the last Nassau grouper spawning site is here, at the northeastern end of the atoll. Once, tens of thousands of groupers gathered here to spawn. Today, their numbers are fewer, however with conservation efforts, they will increase. This reserve is also an important nursery for sea turtles, sharks, and rays.
Half Moon Caye National Monument
The first nature reserve to be established under Belize’s national parks system act of 1981, Half Moon Caye is managed by the Audubon Society and is the nesting site for the red footed booby. With patch reefs where you can snorkel to your heart’s content, and with areas set aside for camping, it is an important bird and reptile conservation site, and is also a nesting area for loggerhead and hawksbill turtles. A healthy and growing population of Nassau groupers lives among the rocks and coral formations here, and you’ll find countless other species here as well.
With sites that appeal to divers new and old, it is no surprise that all of these world heritage sites are in-demand destinations, and all are visited on a regular basis. Be sure to plan your itinerary well in advance in order to enjoy all that Belize has to offer, and expect to be completely captivated. You’ll want to return over and over!