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Scuba Diving in Ambergris Caye
Belize's largest island and the hub of its dive scene, fronted by the barrier reef a short boat ride offshore. The town of San Pedro sits beside the Hol Chan Marine Reserve and Shark Ray Alley, two of the country's most-dived sites.
Why here
Ambergris Caye is where most people first put their head underwater in Belize, and for good reason. The barrier reef runs a few hundred metres off San Pedro, and the Hol Chan Marine Reserve protects a cut through it that concentrates fish in extraordinary numbers. A single tank at Hol Chan puts you among green moray eels, southern stingrays, Nassau grouper, schooling snapper and spotted eagle rays, while the neighbouring Shark Ray Alley draws nurse sharks and rays into the shallows. It is reef diving you can do on your first open-water certification, with warm water and easy conditions, and the same shops run the deeper trips to Turneffe Atoll and the Blue Hole once you are ready to go further.
Best months
Hol Chan and Shark Ray Alley are shallow, warm and beginner-friendly, dived year-round. The reserve charges a park fee on top of the trip and bans touching the wildlife. Visibility is best in the drier months from roughly February to May. Sites are 10 to 20 minutes by boat from San Pedro, so trips are short and easy.
Getting there & around
San Pedro is reached by a short flight or a water taxi from Belize City, and dive shops line the town and beachfront. Reef trips to Hol Chan and Shark Ray Alley run morning and afternoon and take only a couple of hours, so diving fits easily around island time. Bring certification cards; shops also run courses from beginner through to the atoll and Blue Hole trips.
Skill levels: beginner, intermediate, advanced
Schools & guides (2)
Ecologic Divers
OutfitterEcologic Divers is a PADI 5-Star Dive Center in San Pedro, rebuilt in 2016 after Hurricane Earl destroyed the original shop. It dives the Hol Chan Marine Reserve and Shark Ray Alley daily and enforces a strict no-touch policy, refusing to let guests handle sharks or other marine life. Groups are capped at six divers per divemaster, and its Valet Diving service manages and rinses all gear between dives so guests carry little more than a camera.
Ramon's Village Divers
OutfitterRamon's Village Divers operates from the private jetty of Ramon's Village Resort on Coconut Drive in San Pedro, and has been run since the late 1980s by Rick Sutherland. The shop is a PADI centre offering courses through e-learning and dives the full local range: the Hol Chan Marine Reserve, Shark Ray Alley, coral gardens, the M&M Caverns and night dives, with longer trips out to the Blue Hole. Reef trips leave straight from the resort dock.