Just off Turneffe Atoll is a diver's paradise.
The Great Blue Hole.
A marine sinkhole...it is 1,043 feet across and 407 feet deep. Jacques Cousteau deemed it one of the top 5 suba sites in the world.
Sunken Caves: Jacques Cousteau- Diving the Blue Hole
https://youtu.be/hM9pa5JQmz0
The Great Blue Hole was once a cave...with stalagmites and stalactites. When the sea levels rose the top of the cave was crushed inward, but beneath the surface the rooms of the cave and the columns remain.
Surrounding the hole is Lighthouse Reef.
Most of the Reef can be snorkeled and is quite shallow.
Snorkeling Lighthouse Reef
https://youtu.be/4IiOFZ3w-ls
Snorkeling Half Moon Caye
https://youtu.be/fr4pUA85A_w
(...and although I will never snorkel these reefs...I have snorkeled in the Bahamas and at Pennekamp in the Florida Keys and both look remarkably similar...)
What is an Atoll, you may ask.
A circular reef of coral that has built itself around the base of an underseas volcano. Once the volcano has gone extinct and dropped below the surface...the coral and collected sand are still above the water and an atoll remains.
The creatures who live inside the circle or crescent (in some cases) are protected by the reef and the water within is known as a lagoon.
The Creation of an Atoll
https://youtu.be/vthTvzjXTPE
The water in the center is a lagoon.
Lighthouse Reef Atoll Adventures
https://youtu.be/VI36KocWx0A
I hope you have enjoyed today's virtual adventure!
More of Belize soon!
Next up: Caye Caulker
