The Great Blue Hole is an immense chasm off the coast of Belize. Here’s what hides.
One of the most beautiful dive sites in the world
Jacques Cousteau chose the Great Blue Hole as one of the ten most beautiful dive sites in the world. He went there in 1971 with the ship Calypso to monitor the depth. He was the one to make the first explorations on this site, a great blue abyss. A giant underwater karst valley situated to the east of the coast of Belize in the Caribbean Sea. It is located near the center of Lighthouse Reef atoll, about 60 km from Belize City
A Unesco World Heritage
The cavity of the Great Blue Hole is almost perfectly circular. It is over 300 meters wide and 123 meters deep. As part of the Belize Barrier Reef is recognized by UNESCO as a World Heritage.
As old as the last ice age
Formed as a limestone cave during the last ice age, when sea level was much lower. When the ocean began to rise, the cave was flooded and the roof collapsed down, giving shape to a submerged valley.
Stalactites up to 12 meters long
The Great Blue Hole is one of the best spots for diving. Because of the almost vertical walls and the great depth, the lower part of the cavity is little visited. The real attraction for divers is the walls of about 30 meters deep, which are characterized by a large number of stalactites, some up to 12 meters long
Here live some sea monsters
Divers can swim, as long as you pay close attention to your buoyancy. Deeper begins the realm of technical diving, with more narrow passages. Here you can see several marine species such as the nurse shark, the Blacktip Reef Shark, and some sea monsters such as giant grouper.
Do you like diving? Have you ever been there? As always I wait for your comments below.
