BelizeCoral islandUNESCO World Heritage
Belize Barrier Reef
963 km² of land in the Caribbean Sea.
In numbers
963km²
Area
30°C
Warmest sea
September
26km
To the mainland
When to go to Belize Barrier Reef
Best for the beach from February to May.
The sea is warmest in September (30 °C) and coolest in January (26 °C). You can swim comfortably all year (21 °C or more).
Averages 1991–2020. Sea: NOAA OISST, the water within 35 km of the coast. Air, rain and sun: NASA POWER. Best months weigh warm afternoons (23–30 °C), sea of 24 °C or more and few wet days.
Series of coral reefs straddling the coast of Belize
Belize Barrier Reef is an coral island in Belize. It covers 963 km². The nearest mainland is 26 km away. It is part of a UNESCO World Heritage site.
Getting there
- Sir Barry Bowen Municipal Airport (TZA)nearest airport with scheduled flights · 32 km in a straight lineCar hire at BZE airport (Belize City)Discover Cars · Affiliate link↗
- 26 km from the mainlanddistance to the nearest continental coast
- From February to Maybest months to go (from 30 years of averages)
Plan the trip
Ferries, stays and things to do
Some links above are affiliate links: if you book through them we may earn a commission, at no extra cost to you. It never changes what the data on this page says.
Month by month
The weather on the island.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Afternoon high (°C) | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | 29 | 29 | 30 | 30 | 29 | 27 | 27 |
| Night low (°C) | 23 | 24 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 27 | 27 | 27 | 26 | 25 | 24 |
| Sea (°C) | 26 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 28 | 29 | 29 | 29 | 30 | 29 | 28 | 27 |
| Rain (mm) | 115 | 58 | 46 | 34 | 127 | 224 | 152 | 167 | 184 | 250 | 184 | 132 |
| Wet days | 15 | 9 | 7 | 6 | 12 | 19 | 21 | 21 | 23 | 22 | 18 | 17 |
| Sun h/day | 5.5 | 6.7 | 7.8 | 8.3 | 7.2 | 6.0 | 6.5 | 7.0 | 6.6 | 5.6 | 5.8 | 5.7 |
| Wind (km/h) | 15 | 16 | 16 | 16 | 16 | 16 | 15 | 14 | 13 | 13 | 14 | 14 |
Averages 1991–2020 for the ~55 km NASA POWER cell over the island; the sea from NOAA OISST.
Recent years
Warmer and cooler years at sea.
Each month's sea temperature compared with its 1991–2020 average, in degrees.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | +0.5 | +0.7 | +0.4 | +0.5 | +0.8 | ±0.0 | +0.2 | +0.6 | +0.8 | +0.4 | +0.5 | +0.4 |
| 2021 | +0.4 | +0.4 | +0.2 | +0.1 | +0.1 | +0.2 | +0.2 | +0.2 | −0.1 | +0.6 | +0.5 | +0.7 |
| 2022 | +0.7 | +0.4 | +0.5 | +0.5 | +0.5 | ±0.0 | +0.5 | +0.4 | +0.2 | +0.1 | +0.5 | +0.7 |
| 2023 | +0.5 | +0.4 | +0.5 | +0.2 | +0.8 | +1.5 | +0.9 | +0.9 | +1.0 | +1.5 | +0.7 | +0.9 |
| 2024 | +0.8 | +0.5 | +1.1 | +0.8 | +0.9 | +1.3 | +0.9 | +1.0 | +1.2 | +0.9 | +0.8 | +0.3 |
| 2025 | +0.6 | +0.9 | +1.0 | +0.2 | +0.5 | +0.4 | +0.4 | +1.0 | +0.6 | +0.8 | +0.6 | +0.9 |
+1 warmer than usual −1 cooler than usual
Photos
Seen by visitors.
Honduras
MexicoAbout these numbers
| Names, area, population | Wikidata (Q28361) · CC0 |
|---|---|
| Outline | Natural Earth · public domain |
| Sea temperature | NOAA OISST v2.1 · 1991–2020 |
| Climate | NASA POWER · 1991–2020 |
| Relief, 3D model | Copernicus DEM GLO-30 · © DLR e.V., © Airbus Defence and Space GmbH, Copernicus/ESA |
| Beaches, ports, lighthouses, trails | © OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL |
| Towns | GeoNames · CC BY 4.0 |
| Images | EOX Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 · CC BY 4.0; Wikimedia Commons |
Every figure is an average, an estimate or a count from a public dataset. Licences and methods: data sources.
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