Caribbean · Belize
Ambergris Caye (San Pedro)
Spur-and-groove canyons and nurse sharks minutes from San Pedro's piers
Photo: Subhashish Panigrahi · CC BY-SA 4.0
San Pedro on Ambergris Caye is a resort town whose primary industry is diving, close enough to Belize's barrier reef that canyon sites such as Tackle Box, Cypress and Tres Cocos are a boat run of ten minutes or so. The everyday diving is spur-and-groove reef in 5–35 m with very little current, plus a small wreck, the shallow patch reefs of Mexico Rocks and the nurse sharks and southern stingrays of Shark Ray Alley. So many visitors dive that the island keeps two recompression chambers.
About diving in Ambergris Caye (San Pedro)
Every dive leaves from a pier in San Pedro, the town at the south of the caye, where around nine PADI operators are based. Sites are boat-only and the runs are short: the nearest canyon sites are under ten minutes out, and Mexico Rocks at the north end about 15–20 minutes. Liveaboards do not visit and the atoll resorts do not tend to travel in, so diving here means staying on Ambergris and going out on the day boats.
The whole east coast of the caye is spur-and-groove: long coral fingers jutting seaward from the barrier reef, perpendicular to the coastline. The named canyon sites — Tackle Box, Tuffy, Esmeralda, Cypress, Paradise — work these formations, their caverns and tunnels holding lobsters, eels and macro life, with schools of jacks over the reef and nurse sharks dozing on the bottom. A small wreck nearby harbours green and spotted morays, soapfish and coneys, and Mexico Rocks is a patch-reef complex of roughly 100 coral heads in 2.5–5 m of water, managed under Hol Chan Marine Reserve since 2015.
Conditions set who the place suits: there is very little current at any time of year, the water holds at 26–29 C, and the aggregate site range is 5–35 m, so it is pitched at beginners and casual divers making a few dives between other island days. The deepest cuts, at Tackle Box and Cypress, run to 34–40 m, and Cypress and Tuffy Canyon carry Advanced Open Water ratings — as demanding as the diving here gets. Divers after walls, pelagics or technical depth are better served by Belize's offshore atolls.
Best time to dive Ambergris Caye (San Pedro)
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Prime | Prime | Prime | Prime | Good | Good | Good | Fair | Fair | Fair | Good | Prime |
| Sea surface | 27°C81°F | 27°C81°F | 27°C81°F | 28°C82°F | 29°C84°F | 29°C84°F | 29°C84°F | 30°C86°F | 30°C86°F | 30°C86°F | 28°C82°F | 27°C81°F |
| Daytime high | 29°C84°F | 30°C86°F | 32°C90°F | 33°C91°F | 33°C91°F | 32°C90°F | 31°C88°F | 32°C90°F | 32°C90°F | 31°C88°F | 29°C84°F | 29°C84°F |
| Rain | 102 mm4.0 in | 54 mm2.1 in | 43 mm1.7 in | 43 mm1.7 in | 89 mm3.5 in | 240 mm9.4 in | 160 mm6.3 in | 166 mm6.5 in | 190 mm7.5 in | 268 mm10.6 in | 196 mm7.7 in | 121 mm4.8 in |
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Prime | Prime | Prime | Prime | Good | Good |
| Sea surface | |||||
| 27°C81°F | 27°C81°F | 27°C81°F | 28°C82°F | 29°C84°F | 29°C84°F |
| Daytime high | |||||
| 29°C84°F | 30°C86°F | 32°C90°F | 33°C91°F | 33°C91°F | 32°C90°F |
| Rain | |||||
| 102 mm4.0 in | 54 mm2.1 in | 43 mm1.7 in | 43 mm1.7 in | 89 mm3.5 in | 240 mm9.4 in |
| Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Good | Fair | Fair | Fair | Good | Prime |
| Sea surface | |||||
| 29°C84°F | 30°C86°F | 30°C86°F | 30°C86°F | 28°C82°F | 27°C81°F |
| Daytime high | |||||
| 31°C88°F | 32°C90°F | 32°C90°F | 31°C88°F | 29°C84°F | 29°C84°F |
| Rain | |||||
| 160 mm6.3 in | 166 mm6.5 in | 190 mm7.5 in | 268 mm10.6 in | 196 mm7.7 in | 121 mm4.8 in |
2011–2025 averages. Sea surface: NOAA Coral Reef Watch, measured at the surface, so deeper water can run colder. Daytime high and rain: NASA POWER.
Dry season December–May with the least rain in February–March; wet-season storms, peaking September–October, can suspend diving for two or three days. Thimble jellyfish spawn in May.
Best months: January, February, March, April, December
Ambergris Caye water temperature and weather by month
The sea surface runs from 27 °C (81 °F) in January to 30 °C (86 °F) in September. Most rain falls from June to November, peaking at about 270 mm (11 in) in October; February to April are the driest. Daytime highs reach 33 °C (91 °F) in April and drop to 29 °C (84 °F) in January. The coldest water here is about 26 °C (79 °F), so pack a 3 mm full suit.
Dive types & marine life
Nurse sharks and southern stingrays crowd Shark Ray Alley, a habit begun when fishermen cleaned their catch there, and dozing nurse sharks turn up at Tackle Box and Mexico Rocks. Operators report spotted eagle rays often and the occasional dolphin pod. Groupers mate in October–November; turtles nest at Bacalar Chico to the north, with hatchlings in October.
- Reef
- Coral garden
- Wreck
- Reef sharks
- Stingrays
- Eagle rays
- Groupers
- Trevally & jacks
- Macro critters
- Dolphins
Best dive sites in Ambergris Caye (San Pedro)
Wreck
A small unnamed wreck at 15–22 m, home to morays and coneys
Reef
Narrow sand-floored cuts dropping fast between coral spurs
Reef
Spur-and-groove formations in the 18–24 m band
Reef
A no-current reef that works for snorkellers and divers alike
About 100 shallow patch reefs of boulder coral in 2.5–5 m
Reef
Finger canyons off San Pedro working from 18 m down to 40 m
Nurse sharks and southern stingrays at arm's length in 3 m
Reef
Canyons, caverns and tunnels under ten minutes from the pier
Spur furrows plowing from a 15 m reef down to 35 m
Reef
Canyon reef beside Tackle Box, 18 m average and 25 m max
Tres Cocos
One of the area's deepest sites: shallow reef section at 15 m, spur furrows running down to 35 m.
How to get to Ambergris Caye (San Pedro)
San Pedro has its own airstrip, John Greif II (SPR), a roughly 20-minute flight from Belize City on Tropic Air or Maya Island Air. The San Pedro Belize Express water taxi runs six times daily from Belize City at about US$15 one way, with boats also from Caye Caulker and Chetumal. Dive shops and piers are in town, and most sites are 10–20 minutes out.
Photo credits
- Small boats tied up at wooden jetties along Barrier Reef Drive in San Pedro by Subhashish Panigrahi, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
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