Hol Chan is a protected channel through the Belize Barrier Reef, off the south tip of Ambergris Caye. You can only visit with a licensed guide, and most people go as part of a full-day snorkel trip from Caye Caulker.
Hol Chan Marine Reserve is one of Belize's first marine reserves, set around a narrow cut in the barrier reef off Ambergris Caye. Snorkel trips from Caye Caulker visit the cut and Shark Ray Alley, and the US$15 park fee is usually in the tour price.
Hol Chan means "little channel" in Maya, and the name describes the reserve's heart: a gap in the barrier reef about 23 m (75 ft) wide and 9 m (30 ft) deep, roughly 4 miles southeast of San Pedro. Water flows through the cut between the open sea and the lagoon, and the fish follow it. Belize protected the area in 1987, after years of heavy fishing had thinned it out.1
Hol Chan was set up with four zones, one for each habitat, and snorkel trips use the reef and Shark Ray Alley. The 2015 expansion added more zones further north.3
| Zone | Habitat | What happens there |
|---|---|---|
| A | Coral reef, including the cut (640 acres) | The main snorkel and dive site. No fishing |
| B | Seagrass beds (5,376 acres) | Turtles, rays and juvenile fish; boats cross it on the way to the cut |
| C | Mangroves (6,336 acres) | Nursery waters for reef fish |
| D | Shark Ray Alley (1,280 acres) | Nurse sharks and southern stingrays in shallow water; added in 1999 |
Snorkeling Hol Chan means drifting along the walls of the cut, where coral heads and ledges shelter reef fish. The guide leads the group along one side, and the boat usually picks you up at the far end.
The Hol Chan park fee is BZ$30 (US$15) for non-Belizeans aged 13 and over, and most Caye Caulker trips include it in the price.5, 6
You can only visit Hol Chan on a trip led by a licensed tour guide in a boat registered with the reserve, so there's no independent snorkeling here, even from a rented kayak. Rangers patrol the zones.7
Hol Chan is the main stop on full-day snorkel trips from Caye Caulker, which cost US$109-129 and usually add Shark Ray Alley, a wreck, a manatee area and lunch on the boat. Half-day trips don't go to Hol Chan: they stay in the Caye Caulker Marine Reserve. If you're still deciding, compare half-day vs full-day snorkel trips from Caye Caulker.
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Shark Ray Alley became Zone D of Hol Chan in 1999: a shallow sandbar where nurse sharks and southern stingrays gather around the boats. Caye Caulker's own marine reserve has a second Shark Ray Alley, and the government's management plan warns against mixing them up.3, 8 More on Shark Ray Alley's nurse sharks and rays.
| Zone DHol Chan's Shark Ray Alley | Caye Caulker Marine ReserveCaye Caulker's Shark Ray Alley | |
|---|---|---|
| Where | South of the Hol Chan cut, off Ambergris Caye | Closer to Caye Caulker |
| Which trips go | Full-day trips, after the cut | Half-day trips |
| Park fee | BZ$30 (US$15), the Hol Chan fee | BZ$10 (US$5) a day |
Hol Chan is worth it for most snorkelers: the cut is the best reef you can reach on a day trip from Caye Caulker, and full-day trips pair it with Shark Ray Alley. The trade-off is the crowds and the current, so it suits confident swimmers best.
Hol Chan is on the Belize Barrier Reef, but it isn't one of the seven protected areas in the Belize Barrier Reef Reserve System, the UNESCO World Heritage Site. Those seven include the Blue Hole and Half Moon Caye, not Hol Chan.
You get to Hol Chan from Caye Caulker on a guided snorkel or dive trip, because the reserve only admits licensed guides. The reserve is about 9 miles (15 km) north of the island. A direct run takes about 25-30 minutes by speedboat and longer in rough water, but most trips stop at reef sites on the way, so it isn't one straight ride.
Shark Ray Alley is part of Hol Chan: it became the reserve's Zone D in 1999. Caye Caulker's own marine reserve also has a site called Shark Ray Alley, which half-day trips visit.
The Hol Chan cut is about 9 m (30 ft) deep, and much of the reef around it is shallow enough to see clearly from the surface.
You can dive Hol Chan with a licensed dive operator.