Hol Chan Marine Reserve

A narrow cut through the Belize Barrier Reef off the south tip of Ambergris Caye, Hol Chan (“little channel” in Maya) was declared Belize’s first marine reserve in 1987. The 9 m channel and the coral walls flanking it hold green and hawksbill turtles, Nassau and black groupers, green moray eels, schooling snapper and over 160 fish species. The adjoining Shark Ray Alley, added in 1999, gathers resident nurse sharks and southern stingrays in water shallow enough to stand in. Tidal flow funnels through the cut and can run hard at peak ebb and flood, sweeping nutrients—and divers—across the reef.