- Address: Belize City, Belize;
- Website: greatbluehole.net;
- Depth: 124 m;
- Diameter: 305 m;
- Open: 24 hours a day.
Perhaps the most famous sight of Belize is the Great Blue Hole, a huge funnel in the Caribbean Sea, filled with water. There is a large blue hole in the middle of the atoll "Lighthouse Reef", which is part of the Belize barrier reef , almost a hundred kilometers from Belize City .
This amazing natural phenomenon is striking in beauty due to contrast: in the photo above, the big blue hole of Belize looks like a giant blue circle on the light blue surface of the water.
The big blue hole in figures
A big blue hole is not the deepest blue hole in the world. Its maximum depth is 124 m (for comparison, the depth of the Blue hole Dean in the Bahamas is 202 m, the depth of the Dragon Hole in the Paracel Islands is 300 m). And yet, having a diameter of 305 m, she deserved the right to be called "Big"!
The famous big blue hole was made by Jacques Yves Cousteau, when he explored it on his ship Calypso in the 70s. It was Cousteau who studied the depth of the hole and declared it one of the best places in the world for diving.
A big blue hole as a favorite place for divers
Today, the Great Blue Hole continues to be popular with lovers of scuba diving and snorkeling - to swim underwater with a mask and a breathing tube. Here, before the divers, the unique beauty of the coral opens. In the underwater caves there are stalactites and stalagmites of impressive size. In the hole, you can also find some entertaining fish species, including reef sharks, sharks-nannies and a giant gruper.
How to get there?
You can get to the Great Blue Hole:
- on a motor boat from Belize City or the city of San Pedro ( Ambergris Caye Island to the north of the hole);
- Tropic Air charter flight - in order to view the landmark from the air.
The best time to visit the Great Blue Hole is from January to May, as in the summer-autumn period you can get to the rainy season. Tourists should also know that for diving and snorkeling in the Great Blue Hole, a fee of 80 Belize dollars (approximately € 37.6) is charged.