More Ambergris Snorkeling Spots
Belize Snorkel Guide
Below are five more Ambergris snorkeling spots that are popular destinations that several of the snorkel boat companies will take you to - Coral Gardens, Tuffy Rocks, Mata Cut, Basil Jones & Bacalar Chico. You will just have to ask around when you are San Pedro and see if a trip is going. Sometimes the boat companies don't have enough people and will postpone trips, so you have to be persistent if you want to snorkel a specific location. And just in case you missed our main page for
snorkeling Ambergris Caye click here.
Coral Gardens
This spot is inside the reef in sandy shallow waters just south of San Pedro. You can see some wonderful corals here as well as a variety of fish.
Tuffy Rocks
This is located next to the popular dive spot Tackle Box Canyons, just south of Tres Cocos, almost straight out from San Pedro. Tuffy Rocks has some great snorkeling, and is very good for checking out a variety of fish.
Mata Cut
This is a cut in the reef that is located by a quick boat ride from San Pedro. It is south of Mexico Rocks a short ways. Snorkeling here can be a mixed bag. The attraction is a ship wreck inside the reef in about 8 feet of water. The wreck is covered in corals and is often teeming with fish. The downside to snorkeling here is that the wreck is very close to the cut in the reef and it is often rough with low visibility.
Basil Jones
To snorkel this spot you normally have to persuade a boat company to take you. It is pretty far north and makes for a full day trip. But the lagoon behind the sandy beach here offers some good snorkeling and the backside of the reef close to the beach offers some completely unique coral formations. And because it is so far north, there tends to be more fish life.
Bacalar Chico
As far north as you can go, Bacalar Chico is a relatively new reserve with some excellent snorkeling opportunities. On our last trip we tried for days and days to get a boat to take us, but we could not get a big enough group together to make it worth their while. If you want to go to Bacalar Chico, it is best to visit Belize during the busy season. The reef is reportedly pristine, with a large conch population, and also manatee sightings in the shallow sea grass areas. You get it all at Bacalar Chico. There is a shallow area with a sandy bottom and big coral patches. There are deeper areas with huge coral heads and schools of barracudas. And closer to the reef there is a wall of coral with super clear water and hundreds of fish. Bacalar Chico is an excellent place to spot Loggerhead and Green Sea Turtles. If you can do it, we highly recommend you try to snorkel here, from all that we have heard.
Now read about our Lighthouse Reef Atoll adventure
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