At the north end, off Ambergris Caye, you'll find a marine reserve brimming with all sorts of fish. In the south, faro reef formations and isolated cayes make for excellent diving inside the reef. In between, over 200 islands spring from the seabed, some no larger than a palm tree and its shade, others stretch for miles and offer up small villages to explore. At Rendezvous Caye, you can wade a hundred feet off the beach, slap on your fins and follow the sandy slope down 60 feet where house-size coral mounds rise up to create a neighborhood visited by rays, nurse sharks and hawksbill turtles. Many sites along the northern and central portions of the barrier reef are less than an hour by boat from the Radisson Pier in Belize City.
Boats run daily, and trips to the more remote cayes leave several times a week.
San Pedro's piers stretch out toward the barrier reef on Ambergris Caye. Photo by Stacey Kronquest 2. The barrier reef sweeps in close to the coast of this caye, the largest in all of Belize, and home to the village of San Pedro. If you're looking for small and quirky, you'll find it in San Pedro. Think Cozumel days mixed with Key West nights, only without the crowds.