Page 292 - Central America

South Water Caye - South Water Caye Ma-
rine Reserve is a World Heritage Sites is the
largest marine reserve in Belize covering an
area over 117,878 acres. About a 1 hour and
20 min boat ride to the northeast of Placen-
cia, this reserve straddles the barrier reef for include eagle rays, turtles, lobsters, nurse
about a 7-mile stretch. But most of the reserve
area encompasses the inner reef area and
large swaths of mangrove islands including
the Coco-plum Range and the Pelican Range
of cayes, all home to a mass of biodiversity.
One of the dive sites named Trick Ridge, is
part of a stretch of the barrier reef inside the occasional game fish like wahoos. It is an
reserve has places that feature an incredible
ridge along the top of the plunging wall, with
a huge, deep sand channel running parallel
to the ridge. This area is attracts numerous
spotted eagle rays, large southern sting rays
and rough tail rays. Schools of snapper and
spade fish circle the top of the ridge, pass-
ing over a colorful perfusion of hard and soft
corals, and where you can sometimes see a
shimmering veil of silver sides moving in
unison around protective holes in the reef
wall. Both hawks bill and loggerhead turtles
frequent the area, so you will almost always
see one on a dive.
The Abyss/ Fourth Cut – Located 2.8 nau-
tical miles southeast of SouthWater Caye,
this is probably one of the most impressive
walls in all of southern Belize. From about
40 feet/12mt a sheer wall drops into the blue
abyss. Many overhangs can be seen with
beautiful black corals and several species of
gorgonians. The visibility at these reefs often meters offer a perfect resting place for
exceeds 100 feet/30 meters. Critters here can
sharks, and schools of blue wrasse. You may
also see schools of other fish like horse eye
jacks, cervalle jacks, mutton and dog snap-
pers also gathering in huge schools to spawn.
Other sightings that are quite common are
bull sharks, dolphin, turtles, mantas, and the
hour and fifteen minute boat ride to Glad-
den Spit from Placencia, and one should be
prepared to spend the whole day and do a
three tank dive.
The Wreck - At 90 feet/27 meters just off
laughing Bird Caye lies the Miss Pamela,
a small tugboat, sunk in 2002 to create an
artificial reef and an additional dive site in
the inner reef. The wreck has created a mi-
cro reef with good fish life, including one or
two goliath grouper and a huge barracuda
preying on schools of silversides sheltering
around the wreck. The visibility of the wreck
is generally wind dependent as bottom sedi-
ments are easily stirred up. A dive light is a
good accessory to have on this dive.
Turtle Canyon - Just north of the north wall,
this site has a lot to offer on a second dive.
Canyons sloping down to about 60 feet/18
hawksbill and loggerhead turtles. This is a
good spot for micro-photographers wanting
to capture smaller juvenile species including
spotted drums, cleaner shrimps and arrow
crabs.
White Hole - This dive starts at 30 feet/ 10
meters in sandy bottom which resembles a
white hole from the surface. Traditionally a
fishing spot for local fishermen, this site has
a lot of marine life. Schools of yellowtail and
dogtooth snappers, several different species
of grouper and many other commercial spe-
cies are seen here in the 60 feet/18 meters
range where most of the activity occurs. In
the sandy areas mixed with patches of corals,
stingrays, moray eels, and nurse sharks are
usually found hiding out. The terrain here
slopes gently to the outer wall of corals to
about 70 feet/21 meters then drops steep to a
few thousand feet. Keep an eye out for spot-
ted eagle rays swimming in the blue.