I went to Belize in the summer of 2005.

Belize's reef is fantastic. I am a PADI diver, and I went with my family. The water is so clear-clearer than the water in Cozumel. Much of the wildlife we saw was diverse and exotic, a big hit with us.

The Blue Hole experience was worth the whole trip. You cannot dive in Belize without going there. Our group (Amigos Del Mar-amigosdive.com) took us on a 2-story boat on a day trip to go to the spot. Getting there was a bit rough-you have to go on the open sea for a few hours, but it would have been much worse had we gone in a smaller boat with less people.

We stopped for lunch at a spectacular snorkeling island (no diving, we had to wait for the hole). So, some of the people we went with just snorkeled and didn't dive.

When we got to the spot, it looked terrific. Pictures don't do it justice.

So, we dove off the side and dove to a depth of 120 feet. It was cold (wetsuits were recommended) and dark. After about 60 feet, the water got very hazy. Looking down, all I saw was abyss. Its a strange feeling.

About halfway through the dive, our boat started throwing chum over the side to summon the sharks at the bottom of the hole, so we saw the sharks rise quite near to us (30 feet). After we got back onto the boat, we drove back.

Something rare happened to us on our journey back. We spotted a school of dolphins, and they were swimming alongside the boat. Naturally, we stopped and everyone went snorkeling. We all swam with the dolphins for a few minutes.

The reef was a once in a lifetime experience for me and my family.