Diving the Blue Hole

Nature
The wow factor for nature - does it show nature at its best? Doesn't need to be the wildebeest migration or diving with hundreds of hammerheads. Rather make you pause as you realise just how awesome the natural world can be
9
Culture
How much does this experience showcase some of the better and finer things that us humans can offer? Sure, it can be ancient ruins and renaissance churches, but it can also be festivals or soaking up some of the great modern cities of the world
1
Fun factor/activity
Very simple - was it fun? This is usually linked in with doing some kind of activity - i mean, walking along some cliffs is nice, but paragliding from them, now that is fun. Its a vastly underrated factor in a truly great experience
8
Avoid the crowds
Big tour groups and being surrounded by loud fellow tourists can sap the life out of even the greatest of travel experiences. This score is to reflect just how much you can avoid this. But. . . The score also takes into account if the crowds actually add to the experience, such as with a party town or a bustling local market
5
World famous
How world famous is the experience?
8
unique
How hard is it to have a similar experience in other places round the world?
9
Overall TE Score
The overall travel experiences score:  fun factor + avoid the crowds + (best of nature or culture) + (best of world famous or unique). Then convert into a score out of 100
77 *What the scores mean and where do they come from
RANKING
How this travel experience ranks compared to all the other experiences on this site, based on the travel experience (te) score
71st/457
Top 20%
continent
North America
country
Belize
Length of time
1 day or less
Typical daily price
This gives you a rough idea of the daily price based on 2 people travelling where they can split costs like accommodation. It excludes travel there and back, and factors in inflation the numbers in brackets show the price range for the full time of the experience (so not necessarily daily). It is a range to reflect different budget vs higher end
$400 (typically $260 - $530)
Time of year visited
June
All Tags
Wow Factor
Two scores: first is the wow factor which ranges from ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ to ⭐️, and a separate category for the truly "gash". The second is the more analytical travel experience score, which considers 6 varied criteria to give an overall score out of 100.
⭐⭐⭐
Summary

Diving the Blue Hole is one of those bucket list items for scuba divers and regularly appears in the top 10 dive sites in the world.

Yet it also comes with mixed reviews, mainly because:

  • The dive itself is a very different experience to what people may expect from seeing the aerial photos – which are from an aeroplane!
  • The shortness of the dive, which is only around 8mins before ascent due to the 40m / 130ft depth.
  • The 2 hour boat ride there and back over very bumpy seas also doesn’t help.

All that being said though, I’d really recommend the whole day to the Blue Hole.  To counter the negatives, you have:

  • The uniqueness of the dive – with its stalactites and haunting feeling as you look up at the sheer wall above with deep blue below.
  • The remainder of the day to explore Half Moon Caye Island within Lighthouse Reef and dive in the crystal clear waters of 2 shallower dives.
  • Starting and finishing in Caye Caulker which is wonderful chill out town with one of the best drinking spots in the Carribean.

If in this part of the world and you’re a diver, its a must.

Highlights of diving the Blue Hole

IMG_4598-aspect-ratio-900-675

#1 Diving the world famous Blue Hole to see the overhanging stalactites and to gaze into the deep blue below

IMG_6515-aspect-ratio-900-675

#2 Wandering along the gorgeous beaches of Half Moon Caye Island within Lighthouse Reef

Screenshot-2022-02-01-at-11.51.00-AM-aspect-ratio-900-675

#3 Getting up close with the Caribbean Reef Sharks that stealthily come up to you in the Blue Hole

GPTempDownload-aspect-ratio-900-675

#4 Some of the beautiful shallower dives that you'll do later in the day around Lighthouse Reef

IMG_6510-aspect-ratio-900-675

#5 Checking out the bird colony on Half Moon Caye Island, with its Red Footed Boobies and Frigate Birds

IMG_6331-aspect-ratio-900-675

#6 Returning to Caye Caulker for drinks in the water by The Spit that separates the two islands, one of the coolest beach bar locations

Travel Tips

I went with Frenchie’s Diving Services in Caye Caulker and they were great.  It was around US$300 (which included the US$40 park entrance fee and equipment rental).  They only went something something like twice a week, so best check out the timings beforehand and potentially go with another dive shop if your timings don’t work.  Starts around 530am and get back at 4pm.  Rough itinerary is get equipment etc sorted; 2 hours on the boat to the Blue Hole; dive the Blue Hole; 1 shallower dive; lunch on the Half Moon Caye island and time to explore; 1 final shallow dive; 2 hour boat trip back to Caye Caulker.

The 2 hour boat ride to the Blue Hole really can be quite bumpy at times as it is completely open water from Caye Caulker until you get to the shelter of the reef.  Probably one of the bumpier boat trips I’ve been on, so be prepared.

Half Moon Caye is well worth an explore – you’ll have an hour and a half, so plenty of time.  Head west along the beach and a few paths on the north side of the island (the one you land on) where you’ll see some gorgeous beaches, marine iguanas and a bird colony of Frigate Birds and Red Footed Boobies just before the far point.

The dives we did on the day were:

  • #1 Blue Hole (40m)
  • #2 Half Moon Wall (18m) reef dive
  • #3 The Aquarium (18m) reef dive

Caye Caulker is a super chilled out little beach town with some great dives nearby.  Be sure to give yourself at least a day there for soaking up the wonderful atmosphere by the beach bars, or taking in some of the dives in particular with the Nurse Sharks.  For more details and tips – see the travel entry for Chilling Drinking Diving in Caye Caulker.

How does the Blue Hole diving stack up with the best scuba dives in the world

As I say, the Blue Hole is well worth the trip.  Don’t listen to the negativity round it, but also don’t fall into the hype trap.  Its a great dive, but here are the elite:

Experiences nearby

Wow Factor Score Two scores: first is the wow factor which ranges from ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ to ⭐️, and a separate category for the truly "gash". The second is the more analytical travel experience score, which considers 6 varied criteria to give an overall score out of 100. LowHigh
  • Elite, unmissable
  • World-class, downsides
  • Meets the Wow Factor
  • Worth it
  • Meh
  • Gash

Other World-class Scuba Diving Experiences

Scuba diving at Wolf and Darwin Islands in the Galapagos

Scuba diving the Cenotes of Tulum

Diving and relaxing around Ko Phi Phi

Sailing the Komodo Islands in November

Diving and staying in guest houses in Central Raja Ampat

Diving Balicasag Island near Pangalao

Diving with bull and tiger sharks by Beqa Island

Diving with Thresher Sharks at Malapascua Island

Scuba diving in Cozumel

Score Detail

The scores above are the real point of this site.

Over 20+ years and 100+ countries, I’ve tried to rank the world’s best travel experiences - from genuinely mind-blowing ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ to the properly gash.

Every one of the 500+ places on this site has both a Wow Factor rating and a more analytical Travel Experience (TE) score based on the things that actually make travel memorable.

If you're curious about the thinking behind it, head to the About page.

Otherwise, explore the map above or on the Home page and see which places truly deliver maximum wow.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Get the Wow Before Everyone Else

Join the newsletter for new travel experiences, fresh rankings, personal notes, and stories from the archive — sent only when there’s something worth sharing.