Belize
The Great Blue Hole and Lighthouse Reef, plus Hol Chan and the reefs off Ambergris Caye. 8 dive sites, each with species by month from open records, NOAA reef heat stress and cited local rules.
Dive sites
Coordinates: Wikidata (CC0) and OpenStreetMap (ODbL) features. These are approximate positions, not official mooring coordinates. They mark each site in general, not an entry point.
Local rules
Rules we can cite from official sources. Check them yourself before you dive; they change.
- Hol Chan Marine Reserve: you may dive and snorkel in the recreational zones only after registering and being briefed on the reserve rules; scuba only if you are certified or on a course run by a certified instructor. Belize Fisheries Department · Hol Chan Marine Reserve
- Hol Chan: fishing and feeding fish are prohibited, gloves are prohibited, and no gear other than fins and mask is allowed. Belize Fisheries Department · Hol Chan Marine Reserve
- Scuba diving is prohibited within the exclusive recreational area of Shark Ray Alley. Belize Fisheries Department · Hol Chan Marine Reserve
The reef right now
As of 2026-10-13, NOAA Coral Reef Watch puts its “Belize” region at 14.8 °C-weeks of accumulated heat stress (status: Alert Level 2). That's a region-wide satellite value, not a reading from any one site.
Most-recorded species
- Symmetrical brain coral (68)
- Boulder star coral (37)
- Boulder brain coral (29)
- Caribbean hermit crab (27)
- Grooved brain coral (24)
- Mustard Hill Coral (18)
- Great Star Coral (18)
- Nurse shark (16)
- Bluestriped Grunt (14)
- Yellowhead Wrasse (12)
- Dog snapper (12)
- Bluehead Wrasse (11)
GBIF.org (2026-10-15), CC0 and CC BY 4.0 records within about 1 km of these 8 sites (30,588 records). Counts reflect survey effort, not abundance.
Conditions
Official forecasts first. There is no NOAA NDBC buoy close enough to be useful here, so we link the official local forecast only.