I’m in my Indiana Jones era. I have times when I want the manicured perfection of a five-star resort. Haute cuisine, craft cocktails, reclining by the pool in the shade of a palm tree are never unwelcome. But at this point in my life, I want to get inside a destination. I want all my sensory receptors activated. I crave experience, not tourism. I want to breathe in the crisp alpine air of Patagonia, carve the fresh powder in Hakuba, charge down single track in Moab, navigate the winds of the Cyclades, and dive deep into the perfect blue ocean in Belize.
Beyond Blue Dive Summit was everything I was looking for. Running from April 22nd through 25th, Beyond Blue gave participants the dive adventures of our dreams, while putting us face to face with the Belizeans who are working diligently towards conservation, sustainable tourism, and strengthening the “Blue Economy”.
Wait… before we get deep into the summit, we have to talk about Belize as a destination. If you have been to Belize, you know how special it is. If you haven’t been, what are you waiting for?! This small but impressive country sits on the Caribbean Sea, tucked between Guatemala and the foot of Mexico. Nearly half of its border is coastline, and the Belize Barrier Reef System runs that entire 300km length. When we are talking barrier reefs, Australia’s Great one often gets all the attention. But the Belize Barrier Reef is the second largest in the world and is considered to be one of the healthiest reef systems on the planet.
As a destination, Belize occupies that lovely space between having a solid tourism infrastructure and still feeling undiscovered by the masses. There is a comforting, rustic quality and an inviting laid-back vibe that rules here. The Belizean people welcome you in a way that instantly makes you feel you belong. Perhaps that’s because Belizean culture itself is a mixture of so many demographics. English is the official language, and the people are Garifuna, Mestizo, Mayan, Latino, European, Asian, Indian, Mennonite. When you see the gaggle of teenagers playing soccer, running, laughing, barefoot in the dirt of an empty lot by the sea, warmed by the pink hues of the setting sun, they are all Belizean.
The cuisine is informed by these cultures. You could easily eat rice and beans for every meal with a healthy dose of Marie Sharp’s Habanero Pepper Sauce (try the smoky version!). There’s a diverse selection of tasty bites to be had, but seafood is a must. I’m not even a big seafood fan, but when you are sitting on the beach under palm trees with sand in your toes, eating the bounty of the sea that is only steps away, it’s a special kind of delicious. My rule here is: eat what the Belizeans eat, and your taste buds, belly, and soul will be satisfied.
The theme of diversity extends to the landscape and ecology of Belize. The marine experience may be the big draw, but inland Belize offers mountains, jungle, rivers, waterfalls, caves and more to explore. Adventurers’ paradise in an inviting, easily accessible package. Belize is phenomenal.
2026 Beyond the Blue cohort with the team from Belize Pro Dive Center
Beyond Blue, Belize’s Great Dive for Sustainability, brings together a fun mix of participants, including recreational divers, marine scientists, journalists, tour operators and influencers (but don’t call them that, they like to be called content creators now), all with a passion for diving and a desire to protect and promote healthy oceans.
DAY ONE
After an easy direct flight from Toronto to Belize City, I hopped on a Tropic Air flight, 15 mins to San Pedro. The small Tropic Air 14-passenger Cessnas have become iconic in Belize, as they are the best way to get from point A to B within the country. Even better, they provide stunning views; the palette of endless blues, greens and turquoise stretching out below–so vibrant it seems impossible–is a loud announcement that you have arrived somewhere special.
San Pedro sits on the Southern tip of Ambergris Caye and is the ideal hub to access ocean adventures. After a quick stop at Belize Pro Dive Centre to get fit with dive gear, I was shuttled to Sunset Caribe, the modern, mellow hotel that would anchor our stay.
The first Deep Dive session kicked off with Mordicayo Mis from the Belize Audubon Society, whose passion for his nation’s natural splendour was infectious. Mordicayo grew up inland, without much connection to the sea. On a school trip, he had his first chance to snorkel the reef, and there he found his life’s purpose. There is such an effortlessly chill vibe that resonates throughout Belize, it would be easy to assume that Belizeans would be lax on conservation. Of course, the complete opposite is true, and Mordicayo was the first of many Belizeans we met who are working assiduously to make sure their country is preserved.
A theme Mordicayo introduced here, which was echoed through the summit, was connection and protection. The importance of balancing access and conservation. Belize touts its Blue Economy, which recognizes that the marine environment is an essential economic engine fueled by tourism, aquaculture and fisheries. Here, a healthy ocean equates to a healthy economy.
“What matters is not that the Blue Hole exists,” Mordicayo stated as he briefed us on the dive sites for the next day, “It’s that it exists as it is.”
The evening concluded with a performance of dancing, drumming and singing from a group of Garifuna. The Garifuna are an Afro-Indigenous people, blending cultures of West Africa, Indigenous Carib and Arawak communities, and Central America. The performance was both a lovely introduction to Belizean culture, and a great icebreaker, as it got the Beyond Blue participants up to dance, drum and have a good time in a room full of strangers. We wouldn’t be strangers for long!
DAY TWO
They threw us in the deep end, literally. Our first dive would be the iconic Great Blue Hole, 135ft down to where the geological wonder of this underwater cenote would be revealed. But first, we were up and at the dock at 5am to meet the team from Belize Pro Dive Centre, boats fully loaded with our gear. The 2.5 hour ride to the Blue Hole gave us more opportunities to get to know our fellow participants, bonding over the rowdy seas.
The Great Blue Hole is probably Belize’s most recognizable dive site from the aerial views of the mysterious, deep-blue circle surrounded by endless turquoise. Only about 15,000 years ago, the Blue Hole was a dry limestone cave, before sea levels rose significantly at the end of the ice age. If you rely on the internet, you will get mixed reviews on The Blue Hole as a dive destination. It is a long trip to get there, a deep dive, and relatively little marine life at depth. But every diver in our crew who went to the depth came back with a twinkle in their eye, moved by the unique beauty of the stalagmites and stalactites that form an ancient submarine cathedral. Perhaps it was the excellent guidance from Belize Pro Dive Centre, but the unanimous sentiment is that it was 100% worth the effort.
Our next dive would offer another stunning marine landscape, this time with abundant marine life. Leading up to our arrival, many of the guides gushed about Half Moon Caye Wall being their favourite dive in Belize. Indeed, it was a favourite for many on the trip. The coral formations create narrow passages and natural tunnels, which are thrilling to pass through. We visited with reef sharks, eagle rays, sea turtles and many schools of fish. There is a special feeling to Half Moon Wall that must be experienced to understand.
Our next surface interval was spent on Calabash Caye, enjoying lunch in the shade of palm trees with white sand between our toes, and hydrating with freshly tapped coconuts. In addition, we got a briefing and history of our next dive, The Wit.
Witconcrete is a 375 ft concrete ship that was donated to the Turneffe Atoll Sustainability Association and sunk to create an artificial reef and wreck dive site. The instant it settled on the seafloor in 2021, marine life took advantage of making it home.
As it sank, The Wit listed and came to rest on its side. It makes for a dramatic approach, the bottom of the hull creating a massive wall materializing out of the deep blue, rising high above the sandy bottom and stretching out of sight to either side. There’s much to explore on the outside, but there are several penetration points for those with the right qualifications. The scale and orientation of The Wit give it an otherworldly quality and make for a fascinating dive.
After three phenomenal dives and a long boat ride back, we went straight into the Deep Dive session to recap the day and get a preview of our next dive spot, Hol Chan Marine Reserve.
DAY THREE
If you only have one day to dive in Belize, Hol Chan Marine Reserve is an excellent choice. It’s a breezy ten-minute boat ride from most places in San Pedro and is packed with possibilities.
Our day would be guided by the excellent folks from Ramon’s Village Divers, the oldest dive shop in all Belize. Our first dive was just outside the reef, kicking along the gently sloping seafloor, crowded with vibrant coral, sponges, and fans, all sheltering critters. Outside the reef, you get a hint of the abundance that the reef provides, with the expanse of the deep sea stretching beyond, dropping off into dark blue.
Inside the reef–the next dive–you feel as though you are in a fully stocked aquarium. This dive is shallower and more intimate. White sand runs through Canyons of coral, reflecting light up onto the plentiful sea-life. Every time you turn your head, you are presented with something fabulous to see. Large schools of fish moving together like rush hour traffic, napping nurse sharks, massive spotted eagle rays soaring lazily above you, happy turtles munching sea grass, moray eels telling you to back off, stingrays going about their business, reef sharks on patrol. “That was a good dive,” was repeated by many in our party as we came to the surface.
The surface interval between these two dives must be mentioned! First, we stopped to snorkel at Shark Ray Alley, which put us shoulder to shoulder with swarms of nurse sharks, which are docile and happily go about their business as you swim amongst them. The sharks dominate, but turtles and stingrays also make appearances. If you aren’t a diver, but want a thrilling snorkelling experience, Shark Ray Alley will provide.
After playtime with the sharks, we had a short transfer to Ramon’s Village Resort, where a fantastic lunch was spread out under a canopy of jungle vegetation. As we digested, we took a short stroll through the Hol Chan Marine Museum, which provided more insight into the complexity of Hol Chan and the efforts made for conservation.
The day ended with our last Deep Dive session of the Beyond the Blue summit. The importance of balancing environmental stewardship with economic opportunities for Belizeans is recognized on a governmental level with the Ministry of Blue Economy and Marine Conservation. Key players within the ministry detailed how they brought together fisheries, marine conservation, and aquaculture, all with the goal of developing Belize’s Blue Economy, in addition to supporting scientific research, climate resilience, and the protection of coral reefs, mangroves, and marine biodiversity.
Then, the beat dropped. The diving adventures had bonded us into a family of sorts, so when the lights cut out and the DJ started spinning music, we all felt comfortable to cut loose and dance. The conference room at the Sunset Caribe became our nightclub.
And so, Beyond Blue came to an official end. But for some of us, the escapade didn’t stop there.
BONUS DAYS
For those of us who weren’t ready to leave Belize, Beyond Blue organizers laid out two more days of adventure.
First, a quick Tropic Air flight to Placencia, for a day with FINS Foundation, which gave us a chance to help in mitigating the invasive lionfish on the reef. The more fun way of saying it: we went spearfishing!
Lionfish are a destructive invasive species in the Caribbean. Without natural predators, they reproduce rapidly, prey on native fish and crustaceans, and are tremendously harmful to the reef’s ecosystem and biodiversity. The only way to deal with lionfish is to go and get them one by one, and FINS involves you in that mission.
We started on dry land, training by skewering coconuts with the simple and effective band-powered spears. Then we rode out to hunt in the vibrant waters off Laughing Bird Caye. Hunting lionfish is definitely more challenging than skewering coconuts, but very satisfying when you get one on the spear.
The eighteen spines that make lionfish so beautiful also contain a venomous cocktail of powerful neurotoxins that you don’t want to experience – the primary reason they have no natural predators here. To keep everything safe and comfortable, the captured lionfish go right from the spear tip into a containment canister carried by our guide. This canister also acted as a beacon; the smell of freshly caught fish attracted a curious nurse shark, which kept close company with us for the remaining thirty minutes of our dive. Venomous spines and circling sharks may sound intimidating, but I assure you, it was a good time and completely safe.
The surface interval was on Laughing Bird Caye, which feels like a movie set. A tiny island complete with white sand, perfect palm trees, lazy seagulls, and a shack with faded turquoise wood siding. Here, the FINS staff gave us further insight into their conservation and marine protection programs. They taught us how to safely remove the venomous spines and clean the fish to prepare for lunch. We also learned how FINS turns the beauty of the lionfish fins into jewelry which helps fund conservation projects throughout Belize. Back in Placencia, they gave us a jewelry-making workshop, where we could craft our own pieces from the prepared lionfish fins.
The next day, an hour-long bus ride took us to the foot of the mountains, where we met up with Belize Scenic Adventures for an ATV tour to Maya King waterfall. This was a rowdy, dirty good time, as our squad charged up the dirt roads in a cloud of red dust. The terrain is easy enough for everyone but challenging enough to get the adrenaline pumping. Maya King waterfall provided refreshing, sun-dappled pools, which felt sublime to dive into after the hot, dusty ride up. For the daring, there are spots to ascend into the waterfall and leap down into the pools. For the relaxed, there were places to lounge in the cool water and breathe in the surrounding jungle.
In the afternoon, we settled into the village of Hopkins and enjoyed a Garifuna cooking class that included drumming and dancing. Garifuna cuisine blends African, Indigenous Caribbean, and Central American influences, featuring fresh seafood, cassava, coconut, plantains, and richly seasoned stews and soups. For this meal, we were guided to prepare hudut, fresh fleshy fish, simmered in a rich coconut broth, served with a sticky ball of mashed plantains. The whole dish comes together in a symphony of flavour and texture that is deeply warming and satisfying.
Then, suddenly, it was the last evening of our time in Belize. Our accommodations were Seiri Del Mar, a small grouping of luxury villas tucked down a quiet road just outside Hopkins. This was the perfect place to ease out of Belize. We napped in the spacious, beautifully decorated rooms with the sea breeze drifting through wide doors. We leapt from the pier for one last splash in the ocean. We eased into the hot tub until we were soothed to our bones. We lounged by the pool with colourful cocktails. The night concluded with dinner at the on-site restaurant, Embers, where we laughed and conversed with the ease of old friends.
Beyond Blue felt like a once-in-a-lifetime experience. To be able to explore some of the world’s best dive sites is enough. To be able to interface with the people whose passion, ethics, efforts, foresight, and collaboration keep Belize protected and accessible, elevate the whole experience.
Belize is a destination that will call you back. For such a small, easily navigable country, we barely scratched the surface. There are more dive sites I need to visit. I want to spend more time inland, in the mountains, jungle and rivers. To visit the ancient Mayan settlements. To taste more Garifuna cuisine. To wander the streets of Hopkins and Placencia, and San Pedro. Belize, thank you for a good time. We shall meet again.
