Ambergris Caye – Dive Sites
Ambergris Caye is one of the more popular spots for diving out of in Belize. With a great variety of things to do after diving it is little wonder that it is popular with vacationers who don't even dive. It has phenomenal snorkling too.
Cover - https://www.instagram.com/p/BW6pkb9AfwZ/?taken-by=maliworkman
Northern Ambergris Caye Dive Sites
Palmeros Point
This is one of the most northern dive sites located at about 12 miles from town. The beautiful untouched reef starts at about 50 feet and then slopes of into steep cannons and drop down to a wall with over hangs that go down to 110 feet deep. Here we find a lot of Horse Eye Jacks and Nassau Groupers since the deep drop off and its overhangs give them very good habitual surroundings. This area provides a lot of beautiful reef creatures and fish that will take the photographer into scuba heaven. This is a beautiful drift dive.
Profile : The dive will be between 50 and 90ft deep and last for about 50-25 minutes, with a 3-minute safety stop.
Love Tunnels
These tunnels got their name because some people have chosen to get married under water right here. The dive starts out in a beautiful canyon that ends in a big cavern which has an opening in the roof that lets through a lot of light. Here we have some Spotted Drums that have made this their home, a variety of Sea Fans like the Wide-Mesh and the Deepwater Sea fan which gives this place a very romantic setting. This is a beautiful drift dive.
Profile : The dive will reach 80ft deep and last for about 30 minutes, with a 3-minute safety stop.
Angel Flats
The reason for the name of this dive site is that in this area you find a lot of different species of Angel Fish, such as the Rock Beauty, Blue, Gray, French and one of the prettiest fish in the ocean; Queen Angel. This area has some magnificent canyons that are very flat at the bottom, due to white sand that has filled up the bottom of them. The dive can be made either as a drift or as an anchor dive.
Profile : The dive will be 60ft deep and last for about 50 minutes, with a 3-minute safety stop.
Renegades
This is a drift dive that has beautiful formations and where the Black Groupers come to spawn. There is a very high possibility to see many big Black Groupers and Horse Eye Jacks. Here you also find a lot of different kinds of colorful and beautiful corals, such as Branching Vase Sponges and Yellow Tube Sponges. This dive is only a few minutes away as it is located right in front of Xaman Ek on the other side of the reef.
M&M’s Caverns
These caverns are located also only a few minutes away and is a set of three caverns that are laid out like a big M, thus its name. The first cavern starts out at 60ft and you go in there through the cavern, come back out and go into the next one, once through the second one you turn around and go into the last one. The maximum depth of this dive is 90ft. Inside of the caverns you will see a lot of lobsters, crabs and sometimes you might even get to see a Nurse Shark taking a nap. This is a very interesting anchor dive.
Profile : The dive will be 90ft deep and last for about 25 minutes, with a 3-minute safety stop.
Happy Hour Reef
We gave this name to this site a late afternoon when we just stopped at this unmarked spot, got into the water only to find that large Barrel Sponges that was spawning, that was a happy hour to us. This dive which is a drift dive is very pretty with a lot of marine life and a lot of different kinds of corals. Because it is not a very known dive site it is very untouched and undisturbed.
Profile : The dive will be 60-80ft deep and last for about 50-30 minutes, with a 3-minute safety stop.
Southern Ambergris Caye Dive Sites
Amigos Barge aka Amigo's Wreck
This is a 40ft cargo ship that sunk about 5 years ago. It sits in about 70 ft of water, and inhabits a lot of big groupers, yellow tailed snappers, and a lot of nurse sharks. The dive starts out as a drift dive where you submerge to the depth of the wreck gradually and then you have half the dive to explore the wreck and what might have been going on at this ship when she used to be in service.
Profile : The dive will reach 70ft depth and last for about 40minutes, with a 3-minute safety stop.
Eagle Ray Canyon
VOTED Ambergris Cayes #1 favorite Dive
Nice video with beautiful footage of Eagle Ray and Barracuda.
The canyon is part of the Hol Chan Marine Reserve. The canyon is formed by Stag Horn and Elk Horn corals and is a very delicate balanced area, with a lot of Eagle Rays and a wide variety of marine life. The dive can be made either as a drift or as an anchor dive.
Profile : The dive will be between 60 and 80ft deep and last for 50-30 minutes, with a 3-minute safety stop.
Pillar Coral
As the name suggests you will find a lot of Pillar Coral on this site, which has evolved into castle-like formations. The dive starts out in 30ft of water and climbs down gradually to about 60ft. The dive can be made either as a drift or as an anchor dive.
Profile : The dive will be between 30 and 60ft deep and last for about 50 minutes, with a 3-minute safety stop.
Cypress Garden
Voted 2nd Most Favorite Dive on Ambergris
This is a dive when we usually feed fish…this leads to a possibility to see a lot of different fish like big Black and Nassau Groupers, Barracudas, Red Snappers and many more in big quantities. The dive can be made either as a drift or as an anchor dive.
Profile : The dive will be between 60 and 80ft deep and last for about 50-30 minutes, with a 3-minute safety stop.
Tackle Box - Voted 3rd Most favorite Dive on Ambergris Caye
This is one of the most famous sites, due to its canyons and swim trough arches, Silver Sides in big schools and amazing formations. It is also very common to spot turtles on this site. The dive can be made either as a drift or as an anchor dive.
Profile : The dive will be between 60 and 80ft deep and last for about 50-30 minutes, with a 3-minute safety stop.
Hol Chan Marine Reserve
The Cut
This dive is located in the Hol Chan Marine Reserve and is located in the cut that goes through the reef. It is a maximum of 30ft and can have a fairly strong current at times.
The dive has a tremendous amount of sea life here including huge shoals of fish including big Snappers lots fo Groupers Stingrays Nurse Sharks and resident Moray Eels which have become accustomed to divers.
This site is also used for the night dive location and at night you can see Tarpon, reef sharks ,Rays, Morays in addition to all the shoals of fish.
Source- https://ambergriscaye.com/scubasteve/