Diving Glover’s Atoll

Glover’s Reef Atoll is the least known and least dove of Belize’s three atolls. The atoll was named after John Glover, a famous pirate who resided here and who used the remote islands as the base for his raids against Spanish galleons heading to and from the Bay Islands of Honduras. Many cannon balls have been found from his battles with the Spanish fleets. Atleast 4 sunken ships are located in this area.

Glover’s is often rated as one of the top 5 dive sites in the world. With an abundant wildlife that includes everything from juvenile spotted drums to manta rays. After diving Glover’s, we’re sure you will agree it is not a site to be missed.

Rising out of the blue from a depth of well over 2,000 feet this well defined oval shaped coral formation surrounds more than 700 patch reefs inside its 100 square mile crystalline lagoon. Of the three atolls Glover’s Reef sees the least amount of human contact and is largely unexplored. Come see for yourself why this atoll was recently designated a National Marine Reserve and, in 1997, a World Heritage Site by UNESCO.

Belize posesses three of the four atolls found in the Western Hemisphere. The origin of these Atolls: Lighthouse Reef, Glover’s Reef and the glovers Islands are all distinct anomalies in the Caribbean. Nothing else in the Western Hemisphere resembles a true coral atoll. According to geologists they are even more unusual in that the origin of their formation does not seem to mirror the atolls of the Pacific Ocean, where rings of coral are better known.

The ancient processes contributing to Belize atoll development may have begun as many as 70 million years ago and the atolls did not develop around subsiding volcanoes. Instead, they originated atop giant fault blocks; limestone covered ridges that settled in steps, providing a series of offshore platforms for coral growth. After the last ice age, with the slow rise of sea level, coral growth continued upward, creating the precipitous outer walls and the shallow inside lagoon that typifies these distinct formations. Many drop-offs surrounding the Belize atolls are thousands of feet deep, while depths in the shallow lagoons average 10 to 30 feet.