A Tropic Air Charter Over the Blue Hole of Belize: I’ve Been Waiting 9 Years for This!

The BEST Way to See the Belize Blue Hole

Yesterday, I flew with Tropic Air over the Great Blue Hole of Belize.  The flight I’ve been dreaming of for about 9 years…and even though I have had guest bloggers post about it and I have been there , at “ground” level, in person, on a boat AND I’ve seen pictures of this world famous sinkhole thousands of times, it was even better than I imagined.   But here is the best best way to see the Belize Blue Hole.  BY AIR.

It was one of those “bursting with love for the place you live” moments.  It’s miraculous.  And corny as it sounds, I have never seen some of the blues I saw from up there.  I was thinking of trying to identify them…to give you the “Pantone perspective”.  At the very least, I was looking for lots of different synonyms for the word blue.

But Pantone -the premier color system in the world?  You’ve got nothing on Belize.  AND the word “arctic” doesn’t quite fit.

I don’t have much more…so let me show you through pictures.

But first…a map.

It was a beautiful day as the five of us headed out…

We swooped over the island and the main reef.  Our pilot gave us information on what we were seeing and where we were heading.

Hol Chan Marine Reserve – and the cut in the reef.

Destination.  Blue Hole!  About 1000 feet all the way.  The ideal height, our pilot assured us, to see the sinkhole.

Soon after, you are over deep water…sapphire blue.

And like a swimming pool in the middle of deep ocean…Turneffe Atoll.

AMAZING WONDERS OF BELIZE:  Coral Atolls

For those wonder (like me), an atoll is:   sometimes called a coral atoll, a ring-shaped coral reef including a coral rim that encircles a lagoon partially or completely. There may be coral islands/cays on the rim. The coral of the atoll often sits atop the rim of an extinct seamount or volcano which has eroded or subsided partially beneath the water.

These atolls were not formed by volcanoes or sea moutains but atop fault blocks…or large blocks of rock where fault lines meet and overlap.

And on the edges, fingers of glowing neon blue radiating outward…

Next was Lighthouse Atoll…the home of the Blue Hole.  It’s like flying over another planet.

Shallow shallow water, eagle rays and dolphins visible and clumps of coral.

And then the famous sink hole.

And then a shipwreck…a pop of rusty orange…along the reef.

The edge of the atoll is stunning.

A small boat below.

We circled twice and headed back towards San Pedro.

I took over 200 photos…it’s THAT good.  The ocean glows.

And back home, one hour later to the island.

And the lagoon behind San Pedro town (and beyond)…

WHAT AN AMAZING TRIP.  Certainly easier and SO DIFFERENT than visiting by sea.

I’m ready to go again.  Just once a week, I think, would be perfect.   Is that too greedy?  I’m sure I would NEVER get sick of it.

What do you think…you ready to go up?

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