How to visit a reef without harming it
Few natural wonders are impressive enough to be seen from space. Think of the towering Himalayas, the immense scale of the Grand Canyon, the intricacies of the Amazon River, and yes, even the piercing indigo of the Great Blue Hole. Yet, it’s but one composite of Belize’s UNESCO World Heritage Site: the Belize Barrier Reef Reserve System, where shafts of sunlight cut through gin-clear waters to reveal the kaleidoscopic “rainforests of the ocean”. A living, breathing being that’s inherently Belizean! However, while coral reefs cover less than 1% of the ocean, they support a quarter of all marine life—and in Belize, more than half of every Belizean relies, directly or indirectly, on the reef. For a country whose GDP is 55% reliant on tourism, driving over a third of all jobs in Belize, it’s just as important for tourists to be as fiercely protective of such a fragile system made up of thousands of species, from tiny polyps to colossal whale sharks and giant manta rays.
A psychedelic underwater playground long enjoyed by scuba divers and snorkelers alike, you’ll find species of hard and soft coral in the triple-digits, 500 species of fish, more than 450 cayes, and hundreds of invertebrates hugging Belize’s entire 300-km coastline. After ranking as the World’s Leading Sustainable Destination in 2024, flexing as a conservation powerhouse means ensuring every visitor to the reef can pivot from any potentially harmful pressures to regenerative recharges instead. Between seaweed-planting voluntourism, picking truly reef-safe sunscreen, ethically interacting with wildlife, or going guilt-free island hopping from national parks to natural monuments, here’s how!
- Travel green, for a blue economy
Luckily, the most remarkable reef in the West Indies (Charles Darwin’s words, not just ours) is closer than you think. If you’re coming from North, Central, or South America, choosing a destination like Belize on this side of the hemisphere is a pretty easy way to reduce your carbon footprint, saving you CO2 emissions from a far-flung corner of the globe. In a warming world, every bit counts: like offsetting your emissions through your airline and simply entering Belize, where you directly contribute with a visitor’s Conservation Tax fee. Here, your green goes further: directly into its blue economy. With its landmark debt swap agreement inked in 2021, the Belize Blue Bond is on the heels of tripling coral reef protection—earmarking reef sites most resilient to environmental stressors for full protection.
- Choose reef-friendly operators
Corals are incredibly fragile animals, which means they need to be considered in every interaction above and underwater—especially when interacting with marine flora and fauna. Get curious, and ask your operator for their best practices when it comes to the environment. Do they opt to use 4-stroke motors instead of the less efficient 2-stroke engines that often spout more smoke and oil? Do they carry a strict no-chum rule to ensure they’re not disrupting the natural behavior of marine life, or refrain from teasing social fish like tarpon? Are they opting for less plastic and reusable products wherever possible? And as always, you should never disrupt marine life, like holding onto turtles or hitching onto dolphins,
- Triple-check you’re truly leaving no trace, unless it’s reef relief
No trace means no litter, no chemicals, and absolutely no funny business. It may seem like a small step choosing reef-safe sunscreen, but multiply that by the number of snorkelers every year, and it adds up to a pretty big difference. But what exactly makes a sunscreen reef safe? Make sure the label reads mineral-based—free of harmful chemicals that can leech into the water and affect marine life, like oxybenzone and octinoxate. Ready to triple-check? Find non-nano zinc or non-nano titanium—making its particles too big to be ingested by coral polyps. Skip any aerosol sprays and put the SPF in your outfit instead: rashguards, hats, shirts, and any UPF-rated gear can reduce the amount of sunscreen you need by up to 90 percent, anyway.
The only thing we’re purposely leaving behind underwater in Belize? First are seaweed tangles of Eucheuma isiforme onto long cords for aquaculture (which both filter water quality and offset ocean acidification), while the second are shards of coral, restoring reefs damaged by hurricanes, climate change, or disease that leaves any damage in its wake. Thanks to ongoing marine protection and community-led conservation efforts, success stories are building resilience: take the local nonprofit organization Fragments of Hope (FOH), which singlehandedly recovered Laughing Bird Caye National Park’s 6% live coral cover in 2016 to approximately 60% in 2023.
