diving at Isla Marisol… there’s nothing like it on earth

Scuba diving Glover’s Reef atoll at the Isla Marisol PADI dive resort is no ordinary experience.

Beneath the turquoise waters of Belize is an underwater world that exceeds every other Caribbean dive destination in diversity, size and scope. Extending over 185 miles north to south, the Belize Barrier Reef system is the greatest stretch of coral in the Western Hemisphere and the second largest barrier reef in the world. The reef system encompasses wall drop-offs, pinnacles, spur and groove formations, swim-throughs and more.

Beyond the barrier reef lie three enormous rings of coral, known as atolls. These formations provide divers and snorkelers with hundreds of miles of additional reef. Lighthouse Reef, the Turneffe Island atoll and Glover’s Reef atoll together cover more than 400 square miles with a total of 140 miles of drop-off walls. Incredibly, these atolls comprise as much reef surface as the Belize barrier reef itself. These Belizean atolls, unlike Pacific atolls built on volcanoes, sit atop two parallel submarine ridges close enough to the surface to allow the formation of massive coral and sponge growths.

The reef that surrounds the five islands (called “cayes,” pronounced “keys”) that comprise Glovers Reef atoll is a Marine Nature Reserve. The clarity of the water that surrounds Glover’s and the abundance and diversity of fish species found here makes it the premier diving base in the country. This reef is home to more than 100-different kinds of coral and some 500-species of fish. Divers at Glover’s regularly spot eagle rays, turtles, moray eels, southern stingrays, large grouper, barracuda, king mackerel, dolphins and several shark species, as well as Creole wrasse, French angelfish and almost every other kind of smaller tropical reef fish. Our dives are typically wall drift dives interspersed with sand channels adorned with hard and soft coral and massive multi-colored sponges. The largest fish in the sea, the whale shark, also visits our area during the months from April to June.