Snorkeling Hol Chan
Belize Snorkeling Guide
We enjoyed snorkeling Hol Chan Marine Reserve, and it is the most popular Belize snorkeling spot.
That may be the biggest drawback to Hol Chan, just how crowded with boats and snorkelers it can get!
Snorkeling Hol Chan National Park
Hol Chan is actually an underwater national park that is easily accessed by boat. It is normally a fast and enjoyable ride by boat out to the cut, with nice views of the south end of Ambergris Caye.
The park is primarily focused around a "cut" or channel through the barrier reef. Apparently Hol Chan in Mayan means "little channel". This break in the reef is only 20-25 yards across and around 25-30 feet deep.
The park has four specific ecological zones, and the entire reserve covers about three square miles. Shark Ray Alley is now part of the park, as well as some of the shallow grass bed areas, and some mangrove areas.
The park was established in 1987 because of over-fishing, and the marine life has recovered significantly since then. You can learn more about the park at it's official website here.
Check out this video of us blazing out to our snorkel spot on our tour boat.
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Most snorkel trips to Hol Chan are combined with Shark Ray Alley. And to get there you must hire a boat and in addition to the trip fee there is a park fee that each person must pay. Most companies combine this fee with their charge.
Our Experience Snorkeling Hol ChanOur trip was guided. We first started along the coral reef edge on the south side of the cut, exploring the amazing soft corals and the huge elkhorn corals. We saw huge purple fans that were new to us. It was a joy to see them wafting back and forth in the waves.
Here is a fun video of that fan wafting in the surge. Beautiful! Get Flash to see this video player.
Even though we went on a morning trip we did not see too many fish around the reef edge and the visibility level was pretty low.But as our tour continued we started to enter the deeper waters of the cut. We started to see lots of fish, and in the deeper waters some pretty big ones! We saw big groupers and Spotted Eagle Rays (picture on right) cruising along the bottom, Barracuda, and a variety of other large species that we did not recognize.
Enjoy this video looking down into the depths of the cut.
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After swimming along the south edge of the cut, we crossed it to explore the north side and the shallow grass beds further inside the reef. We saw many immature fish and more interesting plant life. Then it was back to the boat and on to Shark Ray Alley.
Can you see the Banded Coral Shrimp on the coral in the following picture? It is the spindly legged white thing.
All and all we were not overly impressed with Hol Chan, given how popular it is. It was very crowded (we were literally bumping in to boatloads of other snorkelers). And we did not see the quantity of fish life that we expected. But we would still recommend it. It is a quick easy trip and definitely enjoyable. And since it is often combined with
snorkeling Shark Ray Alley,
which we loved, we would not miss it.
Check out the Parrot Fish on the right about to take a loud chomp out of some coral.
Snorkeling Hol Chan Safety Tip
Keep this caution in mind. Channels through reefs like at Hol Chan often have a lot of water moving through them. All the water that comes over the reef has to leave some how, and it is most often through a channel or cut. Hol Chan often has some very strong currents, most often pulling out to sea. So be aware and be careful. If you go with a guide you should be fine.
Check out the next spot - Tres Cocos
Return from snorkeling Hol Chan to snorkeling Ambergris Caye
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