8th Wonder of the World in Belize, Central America.
I am a regular visitor to Belize. I love Belize, and my favourite spot is Hopkins.
So, I was interested to see today that the Great Blue Hole off the Belize coast is being voted the 8th Wonder of the World.
There are various Wonders of the World – there is the Ancient World, and the Natural World and so on. The Great Blue Hole, so named in 1984 by an English writer and diver, Ned Middleton, certainly deserves its place in with the Wonders. I don’t dive any more, but I used to, and although I have not dived in the Great Blue Hole (gulp – you need to be really experienced!) I have dived off the coast of Belize and swum alongside sharks and watched turtles browsing like cows on the sea bed.
The Blue Hole, as it is usually called, was first mapped and measured (albeit slightly inaccurately) by the Frenchman Jacques-Yves Cousteau in 1971, who I had met a few years earlier on the other side of the world – a story for another blog. It is situated near Lighthouse reef, about 70 km from the mainland, and is a regular dive spot. It measures over 300 m (984′) across and is 124 m deep (407′). It was formed in three stages over the millenia, and the first stage – I am told – was 153 000 years ago.
The crystal clear water and the abundance of sea life makes the Blue Hole essential if you are a diver. And if you are not you can take a helicopter or a small plane out there to look from above. Last year the Blue Hole was voted 1st in the top ten most amazing places to see. I do hope it gets its Wonder of the World status.
On Belize mainland there are similar holes, sometimes inside caves, and several of them open to the public. In the Yucatan (Mexico) they are called cenotes and were regularly used as water-holes by the Mayans.
Belize – if you haven’t been yet, it is time to go!
Belize – if you haven’t been yet, it is time to go!
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Catherine Broughton is a novelist, an artist and a poet. Her books are available on Amazon & Kindle or can be ordered as e-books from her web site (click on the icon on the home page). For more about Catherine Broughton, to include stories of her extensive travels, go to her site http://turquoisemoon.co.uk
For more about Belize, click here
Click below for “The Man with Green Fingers”, a novel set in Cyprus:-
accomodation in Hopkins:-
