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Scuba Diving

Secluded, Pristine Diving on the Belize Reef

St. George’s Caye has been a dive destination for decades, offering some of the best SCUBA diving in Belize from its secluded location mere minutes from the barrier reef. With no other dive resorts in the area, the nearby dive sites are pristine, healthy, and almost always free of other divers. The coral reef system, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, is home to more than 500 species of fish, as well as sea turtles, dolphins, spotted eagle rays, and numerous invertebrates. Our island’s proximity to the reef means you can dive in the morning, return for lunch, and dive again in the afternoon – combining the benefits of a live-aboard dive trip with the comforts and service of a private island resort.

Contact Us Directly to Discuss Your Dreams

7 Reasons Divers Love St. George's

  • Valet Diving – our staff takes care of everything, all you do is dive.
  • No other dive resorts in the area – pristine, uncrowded dive sites.
  • Close to the reef – many dive sites only 5-10 minutes away.
  • Experienced Dive Masters – both have been with the resort over 20 years.
  • Full-service dive shop with Nitrox available.
  • Well-maintained boats and gear.
  • Comps and special perks for dive groups of 6 or more!
The ultimate Belize dive vacation at St George’s Caye Resort.

For Certified Divers

Our guests can enjoy two dives each morning with our professional dive leaders and instructors. All gear, along with snacks and beverages, are on the boat in the morning, and due to our convenient location guests are able to enjoy lunch at the resort, and take in an additional dive in the afternoon. Night diving over the reef is spectacular and offered upon request.

Blue Hole / Atoll's Diving

A Mecca for SCUBA enthusiasts, the Blue Hole is a sink hole located within the Lighthouse Reef Atoll that spans 1000 feet in diameter and measures 408 feet at its deepest point. Discovered by Jacques Cousteau in the early 1970s, the Blue Hole is a natural masterpiece to behold. St. George’s Caye Resort offers full-day three-tank dive trips where you can delve beneath the surface to discover the Blue Hole’s cavernous spaces adorned with stalactites. It’s not uncommon to see a black tip reef shark or even a hammerhead as you descend deeper. Day trips include two additional wall dives at the Lighthouse Reef Atoll and lunch at the picturesque Half Moon Caye Natural Monument, the exclusive nesting site of nearly 1500 pairs of Atlantic red-footed booby birds.

Valet Diving

Diving is a way of life at St. George’s. With well over 40 years of combined diving experience, our professionals will help you plan your diving itinerary step-by-step, along with any refresher courses needed or certifications desired. A comfortable and safe atmosphere is provided for every diver with our limited group sizes, customized dive boats and attention to each individual diver’s skill and experience level. Our professionals set up your gear for each dive, clean and store your gear after diving, and take care of any needs and special requests. We leave the “cattle boat” experience to others. Our “Valet Diving” program promises the utmost in personalization—our dive team does all the work and you have all the fun!

Lionfish Dive Safari

In order to help control the invasive lionfish population around Belize, our dive professionals often take spear guns with them. The excitement of the hunt – stalking the spiny fish, getting in position for the shot, and pulling the trigger – is exhilarating. We offer the opportunity to join in the fun to our guests who are competent divers. There is a surcharge for this specialty dive, but we also give credit for your catch! And with a little luck we can bring back enough for the chef to prepare as appetizers for everyone – it’s a delicious white fish!

Instruction and Advanced Certifications

  • Scuba Skills Update

    If you have not been diving for a while (one year or more), or if you just want to be sure of your skills and comfort, our instructor will refresh your diving and equipment knowledge in our pool. You will then be ready to continue diving during your vacation.
  • Advanced Open Water Certifiaction

    The next step to improving your skills as a certified diver entails specialty training in different knowledge and skill areas underwater. See the SSI website or contact us for additional information.

  • Nitrox Certifications

    Classroom training covers theory of Nitrox gas mix and comparisons to breathing compressed air. Course includes two open water dives using Nitrox under the direct supervision of our instructor.

Try Scuba / Dive Training

If you are planning to get your Open Water SCUBA diving certification while in Belize, we’re ready for you at St. George’s Caye Resort. We teach all certification courses under SSI internationally-recognized training program. If you are interested in trying SCUBA diving, but not sure whether or not you will want to, we have the perfect no-risk program for you. You start with an introductory SCUBA experience in our pool with our instructor – no charge. If you choose to proceed, you sign up for the Resort Dive. After the Resort Dive experience, you can choose to continue with your Open Water training and certification, and the entire cost of your Resort Dive will go toward your certification cost – you lose nothing!

Try Scuba Diving for Free

Try SCUBA enables you to experience breathing underwater using SCUBA equipment under the direct supervision of our instructor in a safe and controlled environment. Included is a brief gear orientation followed by instruction in the pool. No charge

Resort Course

This course provides you with basic instruction in the pool including practice using the breathing apparatus and emergency safety measures, followed by one open water dive in the ocean with our instructor to a maximum depth of 30 feet.

Passport Diving

This course provides you with basic training and enough safety information to allow you to dive with an instructor during your vacation. The course consists of a brief lecture, equipment training and pool practice, plus two open water dives under the constant supervision of an instructor.

Open Water Scuba Certification

Open Water certification is the most popular training program and prepares/qualifies you to do recreational diving any place in the world. Completion of the course takes about 4 days including classroom learning, confined water training and four open water dives with our instructor. We provide everything you need including use of our SCUBA gear. We recommend that you contact us to arrange for completion of the reading and written reviews prior to your trip so that you can maximize your time in the water while on vacation.

Open Water Certification Based on Referral

If you have completed your classroom and confined water training with an instructor and you bring your universal referral form, we will complete your Open Water certification with the required dives. We include use of our SCUBA gear as needed during your entire stay at no charge

Dive Sites

Belize is a scuba diver’s dream with hundreds of dive sites on the largest barrier reef in the Western Hemisphere. St. George’s secluded location away from other dive resorts means that nearby sites are virtually always free of other divers and are healthier and more pristine than other frequently dived areas in Belize. We can also take you to bucket-list dive sites such as the Great Blue Hole and Turneffe Atoll.

Lionfish Dive Safari

Local Reef
Native to the Pacific Ocean, lionfish are progressively invading the Caribbean where they have no natural predators. Fortunately, these beautiful fish are extremely tasty and there is no limit to the number you can catch! Divers can help protect our local reef while enjoying delicious meals you’re unlikely to find anywhere else. Our dive masters will teach you to safely spear-hunt this venomous fish. Become an "Invasive Lionfish Tracker," learning what is needed to control the lionfish population and practical ways to safely capture and euthanize these fish. Come enjoy an underwater dive safari today!

Hol Chan Marine Reserve / San Pedro

Hol Chan is a marine reserve abundant in wildlife located about an hour north of St. George’s Caye, close to the island of Ambergris Caye. The name means “Little Channel” because there is a cut in the reef allowing marine creatures to travel between the inside of the reef and the open ocean.

Over 160 species of fish have been seen in the reserve, along with many types of coral, sponges, sea turtles, and marine mammals. Rays are common at the bottom of the channel, and lobsters, eels, and sea anemones live among the nooks and crannies. This is a great place to see the variety of what the Belize reef has to offer! St. George’s offers weekly trips to San Pedro so guests can dive at Hol Chan Marine Reserve and other notable sites off Ambergris Caye.

Blue Hole / Lighthouse Reef

The most sought after dive destination in Belize. The Great Blue Hole is a giant underwater cavern 43 miles off the coast of Belize. The hole is circular in shape, over 300 meters (984 feet) across and 108 meters (354 feet) deep, and was formed when sea levels were much lower thousands of years ago. As ocean levels began to rise, the cave was flooded. The Great Blue Hole is a part of the Lighthouse Reef and larger Belize Barrier Reef Reserve System, and was made famous by Jacques Cousteau, who declared it one of the top ten scuba diving sites in the world.

Today the Great Blue Hole is an UNESCO World Heritage Site and remains one of the top dive sites in the world. St. George’s offers a full-day dive trip to the Blue Hole for experienced and advanced divers. To fully appreciate the wonders of this incredible site, we descend to a depth of more than 100 feet and therefore divers are required to have their Advanced Open Water certification.

Turneffe Atoll Diving

Turneffe Atoll is a group of small islands off the coast of Belize. It is approximately 30 miles long and 10 miles wide, making it the largest coral atoll in the Mesoamerican Barrier Reef System. The atoll was officially declared a marine reserve in 2012 because it is home to many important marine species. The land and seascape consists of a network of flats, creeks, and lagoons dotted by more than 150 mangrove islands. Large expanses of intact mangroves, seagrass habitats, and shallows provide important nursery functions for a wide array of fish species, crocodiles, lobster, conch and other invertebrates. It is home to more than 500 species of fish, 65 species of stony corals, sea turtles, manatees, dolphins, seabirds, and other wildlife.

Turneffe is about a 30-minute boat ride from St. George’s Caye and offers some of the best wall dives in Belize. Ask about upgrading one of your morning two-tanks to dive at Turneffe.