San Pedro, Ambergris Caye, Belize

Rocky Point

Rocky Point sits at the northern tip of Ambergris Caye, where the Belize Barrier Reef meets the shoreline of the Bacalar Chico National Park, a marine and forest protected area straddling the border with Mexico. The site is one of the few places in the world where the barrier reef touches the coast. The dive is typically run on the seaward edge, with the reef top in 10 to 12 metres and a wall dropping past 30 metres. Healthy stands of elkhorn coral, mountainous star coral, brain coral and pillar coral structure the shallows; the wall is decorated with deep-water sea fans, large barrel sponges, vase sponges and dense colonies of black coral below 25 metres. Reef life includes schools of yellowtail snapper, horse-eye jacks, schoolmasters, French and queen angelfish, midnight parrotfish, large groupers and queen triggerfish. Caribbean reef sharks pass along the wall and eagle rays glide along the rim. Hawksbill turtles graze sponges. Visibility 20 to 30 metres.