According to media reports, National Geographic is set to include Belize in its upcoming Top 50 Dive Destinations guide. Travel writer Carrie Miller and her husband, professional dive master Chris Taylor, were recently in Belize speaking to the press about the upcoming book which is scheduled to be published in March 2019. According to the pair, Belize is their ninth stop on a global tour to select and photograph the best dive sites in the world.
According to Taylor, a dive destination needs to have more than just colorful and interesting attractions under the waves but also complimentary activities for visitors to enjoy. Taylor, speaking to Belizean media, waxed poetically about the beauty of Belize’s mainland, including the rainforest and ancient Maya sites, which offer both divers and non-divers a wide variety of entertaining options. During the press conference, Taylor mentioned that he and his wife would be heading to the ancient Maya site of Altun Ha and other destinations on the mainland in addition to photographing and documenting dive sites on the reef.
Neither Carrie Miller nor her husband Chris Taylor has ever been to Belize before, but Miller is a long-time contributor to National Geographic, and the two spoke warmly of the hospitality and beauty that they’ve encountered in Belize. It is expected that it will take the two an entire year to finish photographing and preparing the upcoming dive guidebook for National Geographic.
In order to bring additional value to National Geographic’s readers, the pair will be spending most of their underwater time in Belize in and around South Water Caye and the southern part of the Belize Barrier Reef. According to Taylor, since dive sites like the Belize Blue Hole and the Hol Chan Marine Reserve are already well-known, he and his wife want to explore dive sites which are “a bit off the beaten path.” Taylor also mentioned that the pair were looking for dive sites that could be enjoyed even by intermediate or first-time divers such as those found in the South Water Caye Marine Reserve.
Placencia Village, where Chabil Mar is located, is the springboard to some of the most exciting dive sites in the world. The reason for this is that as the edge of the Barrier Reef comes south along the coast of Belize, it separates itself further and further from the mainland. The result is a broad expanse of coral reef with channels that go down from 90 to 110 feet, but rising abruptly into shoals and cayes, providing many nearby SCUBA locations, including South Water Caye.
If you’d like to explore some of the amazing dive sites on the Belize Barrier Reef, book your scuba diving vacation with Chabil Mar Resort. Located on the golden sands of Placencia Peninsula just a few miles from some of the best dive sites in the country, including the South Water Caye Marine Reserve, Chabil Mar is an enclave of comfort and luxury.
