Hol Chan Marine Reserve: Dive into the Caribbean's Most Popular Snorkeling Site

Dive into the Caribbean’s most popular snorkeling site at Hol Chan Marine Reserve. Explore vibrant coral formations, encounter sea turtles and stingrays, and witness thrilling shark encounters.

Duration: 5 hours
Cancellation: 24 hours
Highlights
  • Hol Chan Marine Reserve - Hol Chan Marine Reserve is located off the southern tip of Ambergris Caye. Mayan for “little channel”, Hol Chan Marine Reserve is doubtfully one of the most popular dive sites in the Caribbean, and indeed in Belize. Hol Chan has burgeoned into a unique refuge, with vigorous coral formations and a richness of marine life….
What's Included
  • Hotel and port pickup and drop-off
  • Experienced guide accompanying
  • Complimentary bottled water
  • Variety of snacks included
What's Not Included
  • Lunch
Additional Information

Hol Chan Marine Reserve is situated at the southern extremity of Ambergris Caye. Known in Mayan as ‘little channel’, this marine reserve is unquestionably one of the premier diving locations in the Caribbean, particularly within Belize. The focal point of the reserve is a narrow break in the reef (referred to as a quebrada), with a width of barely 25…

Location
Fort George Hotel & Spa
Marine Parade Boulevard
Cancellation Policy

For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.

Customer Ratings
3.3
(21 Ratings)
5 stars
4 stars
3 stars
2 stars
1 star
Z2003pudc
Sep 2, 2024
UnBelizeable Snorkeling Excursion - Our guide, Pepper, with Tough E Nough, made this our Mexico Rock excursion bring the phrase "UNBelizeable" to reality! It was super fun for our family! To start, he "let" our preteens think they were steering the boat for a few minutes, they loved that! We learned how to follow the pelicans to find bait fish and then watched Pepper throw out a wide net to pull in dozens at a time. The kids helped with the process and felt like great fishermen. We were then given a snorkeling trip of a lifetime! Pepper was so knowledgeable about what we were seeing and would find things to show us that we would have overlooked, turtles, lion fish, lobster, coral, eel, etc. We also went to Sting Ray City and swam with enourmous rays as Pepper threw out the bait fish. It was more thrilling than the nursing sharks because of the fear factor, but Pepper quickly calmed all nerves and seemed to have as much fun showing us the sea life as we were experiencing it. After thinking it couldn't get much better than that and because he had time, Pepper went out of his way to take us to a sea cave because he saw how we loved to dive with our snorkel gear and then to an area where you can swim with huge groupers! He placed some bait in empty conch shells so the groupers and reef fish would swarm. As we got back into the boat we held up the last of our bait fish to hand feed the frigit birds. By the time we got back it felt like we were having to say goodbye to a good friend. Being there at the end of the busy season was awesome!!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Ellen
Aug 21, 2024
My second time on this tour was just as good if not better than my first! - This was my second time booking this excursion through Splash Wave while visiting on a cruise. I had an incredible time in Jan 2023 and I think this time was even better! Stacey and Mackenzie are so great at what they do. You can tell their passion for the ocean, sea life, and their industry is genuine in the effort they pour into your trip. Safety is always the priority and the hospitality is just a bonus. Can’t wait to come back!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Rebecca_f
Mar 26, 2023
Loved swimming with the... - Loved swimming with the sharks and rays as well as stopping at the beautiful Island! Excellent experience at the barrier reef!
Review provided by Viator
Linda_s
Mar 24, 2023
Perfect Day in Brazil - Stacey is an amazing guide, we took the tour with her last year and rebooked this year because it was so much fun. I’m sorry I have forgotten our captains name but he was wonderful and felt totally safe on the entire trip and getting in and out of the water. Jerome was nice enough to take my camera and get some good close up pictures for me. The entire experience was worth every penny and I recommend your company to anyone I hear talking about a cruise and to my friends and family. Thank you!!
Review provided by Viator
Sandra_m
Dec 25, 2023
Great snorkeling - no turtles - Let me preface this by saying we had an amazing time on this excursion. However, I booked this excursion SPECIFICALLY because it was called snorkeling at a turtle garden. My husband loves sea turtles and I was so excited for this excursion. I was immediately disappointed to find out sea turtles were hibernating/out of season so we wouldn’t see any. There was no warning of this in any information we received. What we did get to do - snorkel with sting rays and nurse sharks was AMAZING and we thoroughly enjoyed it. We both got to hold the stingray and pet the shark. Snorkeling was very fun with lots to see. Our guide Stacey was great at pointing out fish and telling us about them. Lunch and drinks were good. We were told we had to order before snorkeling so it would be ready when we got there and we still had to wait. Overall - we had an amazing time and didnt let anything ruin our day but have to admit we were very disappointed about the turtles. I would absolutely recommend this tour as it was really fun - just know what you are getting and research the time of year for turtles on your own as they will not tell you ahead of time.
Review provided by Viator
June_r
Nov 24, 2023
Good snorkeling! - Great snorkeling. Tour guides were good. Too many people on this tour. Would rather pay more to have more space available.
Review provided by Viator
Mark_o
Apr 24, 2023
Some drawbacks but overall a fun experience. - There were 2 stops for snorkelling. The first stop had beautiful coral and fish but the guide wanted the group to keep following her so we spent more time trying to keep up with the group. Would have had a better time if we had been allowed to move more slowly and stay focused on the underwater scenery. Swimming with nurse sharks and stingrays was great and we enjoyed feeding the tarpons. The captain and crew worked very hard to provide a fun experience. Unfortunately, the boat ride from the cruise pier to the reserve was quite long and all the various tours were brought to the same area so snorkelling was quite crowded.
Review provided by Viator
O473zqlisan
Aug 2, 2024
TERRIBLE TOUR SCAM COMPANIES - We arrived at 9:40 for our 10:00 confirmed tour for my family reunion of 19 people to find out they left us and said they did not have a 10am tour any longer. I called Viator thru TripAdvisor who I booked this tour with and they confirmed our tour, I was told by both Splash wave & TripAdvisor that there are sorry they booked a time that did not exist. We were by the other tour companies there were no other snorkeling tour for today. My family, kids were extremely upset and so we had nothing to do until our cruise ship left 7 hours later. Two terrible companies, scammers, DO NOT BOOK WITH EITHER OF THEM.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Mnblackshadows
May 4, 2024
Very poor excuse - The company cancelled 12 prior only after I contacted them. Dam Viator don’t you know this? I contacted you! We didn’t go.
Review provided by Viator
Madison_t
Jun 18, 2023
Worst company ever do not book - This was so unprofessional. I am extremely livid with this company. I booked 3 months ahead of our excursion date and we were ready to go at the pick up time on the date of the excursion. 15 minutes goes by so I call to check where they are. They tell me oh well not enough people booked to do the excursion and so we can't take you today. I am so pissed this was a total lack of respect they should have reached out and canceled before the time of the excursion.
Review provided by Viator
Select Date and Tickets
up to 10 guests
1 Adult
December 2024
Sun
Mon
Tue
Wed
Thu
Fri
Sat
Today