It wouldn’t take very much convincing for us to agree that we need to visit Belize. Admittedly, we are also pretty into natural phenomena so when we started reading about the Great Blue Hole of Belize, we were intrigued, to say the least. (And maybe we started planning a trip, who’s to say!)
Off the coast of Belize sits a giant marine sinkhole near Lighthouse Reef. The hole is 1,000 feet across, and 407 feet deep; and scientists believe the formation of the hole took place 153,000, 66,000, 60,000, and 15,000 years ago. Okay, let’s get into the fun facts…
(image via: chabil mar)
The Belize Hole is almost a perfect circle and considering it’s naturally made, that’s pretty impressive.
Scientists believe that during glacial periods there sat a dry cavern above sea level, because of this, giant stalactites, dripstone sheets, and columns can be found inside of the blue hole making it a super cool place to dive.
Speaking of divers, famed marine biologist Jacques Cousteau visited the blue hole in 1971 and later described the hole as one of his top ten favorite diving spots in the world. Until this time, the Blue Hole was Belize’s best-kept secret.
And speaking of top ten lists, The Discovery Channel ranked the blue hole as number one on its list of top ten most amazing places on Earth.
(image via: belize happy adventures)
You may be wondering where the name ‘Great Blue Hole’ came from, although that’s exactly what it is, and we can thank British diver Ned Middleton who wrote a book about his diving career in 1988 titled ‘Ten Years Underwater’.
The Blue Hole is a UNESCO World Heritage Site part of a gigantic barrier reef. In fact, this barrier reef is the second largest barrier reef in the world, coming in only behind Australia’s Great Barrier Reef.
If you’re just dying to see what this diving spot is all about, but you’re pretty new to diving, then we’ve got some sad news for you; due to the challenges of this dive, only divers that have completed 24 dives are allowed to explore the Blue Hole of Belize.
The Blue Hole is home to a number of species of sharks including bull sharks, Caribbean reef sharks, and hammerhead sharks.
You can see The Blue Hole from space thanks to its perfectly round, circular shape as well as its location within the greater Belize Barrier Reef.