Hi travelers! My name is Simeon Baker and welcome to my article on the Great Blue Hole of Belize. I grew up in Adelaide, South Australia in a large family with six brothers and two sisters. At 18 years old, I decided to book a one way ticket and move to London, UK to pursue a career in music playing a percussive guitar style I had been performing in Australia.
Throughout the next four years of traveling in Europe playing music, I fell in love with photography and spent a lot of time traveling around in my VW campervan to explore and photograph a lot of places in Europe. Now, I am based in Vienna, Austria and love living in the beautiful Austrian capital.
Visiting Belize with the Tourism Board
Funnily enough, I didn’t know much about Belize before going except for the Great Blue Hole. The tourism board invited me and a bunch of creatives from around the world to come explore and capture a range of places.
We started the trip off in Belize City, which is where we flew over the Great Blue Hole, and then we traveled to the other side of the country to San Ignacio where we enjoyed the nature and birds there. Next, we spent a bit of time at the stunning Hopkins Bay before flying out to one of the islands for our final adventure in Belize. It was a short but fantastic experience.
I hadn’t thought about Belize as a place to travel to before being invited by the tourism board. The Great Blue Hole, of course, was something that I had seen online and thought it looked incredible – but I hadn’t made any real plans to go. Since taking this trip with the tourism board, I can’t wait to return one day in the future to see more of this beautiful country.
Flying over the Great Blue Hole of Belize
The tourism board organized our flight over the Great Blue Hole. We had a privately rented little airplane booked with a company called “Fly Maya Belize”. They were friendly and easy going and made our experience epic.
The flight over the hole was easily the highlight of the trip. From memory it lasted for 20-30 minutes out of the reef that the blue hole is part of. The whole trip flying over the islands on the way there is also stunning. Experiencing the Great Blue Hole from the sky is an incredible sight, as you can really see why it’s called the blue hole. I rate it as a 10/10 experience!
We learnt a lot of interesting facts about the Great Blue Hole as we were flying. The sinkhole is around 125 metres (410 feet) deep and 300 meters (980 feet) wide, and apparently has a large range of shark species calling it home. The Great Blue Hole used to be an inland cave before it was flooded by rising sea levels. These facts make it an intriguing place to see in person.
Tips for Seeing the Great Blue Hole
On our first night in Belize we stayed at the Black Orchid Resort which is located 30 minutes west of Belize City. It was in the middle of nature, making our stay a quiet and relaxing experience. We then drove to the airport the next morning for our flight over the Great Blue Hole. If your itinerary is similar to mine, then I would recommend Black Orchid Resort.
When it comes to your flight over the Great Blue Hole, try not to be scared flying in a small plane. You have just got to embrace the experience! As a photographer, I suggest bringing a polarizer on the front of your lens. When capturing the hole from certain angles in the middle of the day, the sunshine can reflect off the water. So a polarizer is a must for great images.
Seeing the Great Blue Hole from above was the most incredible part of my trip to Belize. It’s natural beauty in the midst of such a stunning large reef is really something that I have never seen before. Highly recommended!
