Dive in Belize's 170 miles of Caribbean coastline

With over 170 miles of Caribbean coastline to explore, travellers looking for a special diving holiday have plenty of amazing marine wildlife to see in Belize.

The small Central American country is located adjacent to southern Mexico's Caribbean coastline, and boasts a barrier reef, coral atolls and many different dive areas, as well as being a great place to see whale sharks.

Belize's beaches and underwater world are considered one of the country's main tourist draws, and there is a lot to see whether you want to snorkel or go for an all-out scuba diving holiday.

The Belize Barrier Reef is 185 miles long and supports a wide variety of wildlife, including grouper fish and eels in the narrow canyons of the coral, with smaller islands of coral supporting baby barracuda, snapper and other varieties of small fish.

Dive sites on the reef include Hol Chan, the country's first marine reserve located in the north of Belize, which boasts large fish that are accustomed to humans.

There is also the South Water Caye Marine Reserve, which is Belize's largest, and Silk Cayes, which from February to May has the world's largest population of whale sharks.

For advanced divers the coral atolls of Belize can offer some challenging experiences, in particular the Blue Hole located on Lighthouse reef. The Blue Hole drops 480 feet and has stalactites at 130 feet down.

There are also ship wreck dives available, including the Sayonara at Turneffe Atoll, which sits at a depth of 45 feet, and the HMS Advice at Turneffe Atoll, a British naval cutter which sunk in 1793, and is 16 feet down.

The tourist board explains dive courses range from US$10 for refresher courses to a maximum of around US$400 for certified courses including equipment, instructions and dives.

For more information on diving in Belize see the tourist board website at www.travelbelize.org

Among the tour operators with Belize diving holidays are Intrepid Travel, Responsible Travel and Condor Journeys.