About Us

The Hol Chan Marine Reserve was established as a marine protected area in 1987 under the Fisheries Act (Statutory Instrument # 57) Laws of Belize. It incorporates the southernmost marine and coastal areas of Ambergris Caye including the barrier reef, seagrass beds and the mangrove islands of Boca Chica and Cangrejo Shoals. A zoning scheme was developed in order to ensure sustainable use and guarantee its conservation. Hol Chan is divided into four zones which include no-take areas and zones that regulate and promote sustainable fishing practices.

Monthly Events

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The Best time to protect our heritage is now

Our Latest Projects

  • Welcome to Rocky Point

    Posted on September 24, 2014

    Ambergris Caye is home to key nesting beaches for Belize. These beaches are currently in areas that are not yet developed. Tons of garbage lands on these beaches annually. It is almost am impossible task to completely rid these areas of garbage, but in an effort to reduce its quantity annual beach clean up are conducted in these areas. The clean up also function to assist the Bacalar Chico Marine Reserve, as they are the entity responsible for management of the nesting areas.

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  • Coral Ed-Ventures

    Posted on September 24, 2014

    Coral Reef Ed-Ventures is an innovative, cooperative educational venture between Smith College in Northampton, Massachusetts and the Hol Chan Marine Reserve in San Pedro, Ambergris Caye, Belize. This school-based project began in 2000 as an effort to facilitate community awareness of reef ecology and to support and encourage reef preservation.

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  • Research and Monitoring

    Posted on September 24, 2014

    Nesting beach surveys are the most widely implemented monitoring tool in use globally, and are an important component of assessing sea turtle populations. These surveys are important to evaluate the effects of recovery and conservation efforts at nesting sites. Population size is assessed by counting the number of clutches laid in a particular season (Godley, et al., 2001).
    The entire Ambergris Caye area is historically considered a nesting area. Hoh Chan responds to reports of nesting throughout the island. However, much effort is concentrated at the two key nesting sites of Robles, Rocky Point, and recently Basil Jones and Punta Azul. The Hol Chan staff monitor the nesting beaches weekly during the months of May to November.

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Our reef is such a fragile and beautiful,
habitat. We must protect it.

As the tourism capital for Belize, Ambergris Caye is developing at a rapidly increasing rate. Once a small fishing village San Pedro Town has pushed its boundaries both to the north and south. Hol Chan Marine Reserve (HCMR) is the main tourist attraction on the island, and in 2014 it received 74,387 visitors to the park representing an 8% increase in visitation from 2013 (Hol Chan Marine Reserve, 2014). The marine ecosystems of Ambergris Caye over the years have been exposed to threats such as coral bleaching, hurricanes, and anthropogenic threats from heavy use through over exploitation of fishing resources, mangrove destruction, tourism development, recreational uses (snorkel, diving, and fishing), dredge and fill operations, and storm and waste water run-off. Coastal development is the main threat to the integrity of the marine ecosystems surrounding Ambergris Caye.

Our Team

  • Ian Pou

    Mr. Ian Renaldo Pou was born and raised in the island of San Pedro. Mr. Pou was appointed Chairman of the Hol Chan Marine Reserve Board of Trustees in January of 2021 and later on assumed the post of Executive Director.

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  • Emilie Gomez

    Armed with a Bachelor’s Degree in Environmental Engineering from the Instituto Tecnológico de Merida, Mexico, and a Master’s Degree in Engineering with a specialization in the Environment from la Universidad Autónoma de Yucatan, Mexico, Emilie brings a wealth of knowledge and expertise to her role.

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  • Mariela Arcilee Archer

    Ms. Mariela Archer is the Public Education, Marketing & HR Supervisor, she holds an Associate’s Degree in Marine Science and a Bachelor’s Degree in Biology Education from the University of Belize.

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  • Evita Carmelita Mancia

    Mrs. Evita Carmelita Mancia also known as “Carms” is the Finance Supervisor at Hol Chan Marine Reserve. She leads the accounting department as the person responsible for all the financial affairs of our organization.

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  • Francisco Javier Bardalez

    Mr. Francisco Bardalez affectionally known as “Javi” is our Operations and Enforcement Supervisor. Born in the island of San Pedro, Javi attended San Pedro Roman Catholic school and then graduated from San Pedro High School as an Honor Student majoring in the Science field.

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How You Can Help?

One of the big reasons marine animals get injured is due to pollution. Turtles mistake plastic bags for jellyfish, birds get entangled in fishing lines, and animals get stuck in plastic wrappings. These are all things that can easily be avoided by simply disposing of our trash correctly, recycling and reducing plastic use.

Picking up any trash you see can help, and if you are feeling extra ambitious you can even organize your own cleanup. Spending a beautiful day on the beach, surrounded by friends, all while saving the ocean, what could be better than that?

Our Mission

To maintain a sample coral reef ecosystem in its natural state, restoring the earlier beauty of the Hol Chan area.  To preserve areas of critical habitat for several endangered species such as the reef and turtle grass beds for turtles and the mangrove areas for manatees and regulate the use of the area by tourists and fishermen to prevent its over exploitation.

To provide recreational and tourism services while preserving the value of the area for sustainable fisheries.  To provide an undisturbed area for tourism and recreation, but in a controlled and well-informed manner.  To promote use that is compatible with conservation and sustainable development objectives, primarily through zoning, providing protected habitat for commercially important species.

To provide an area for education and research, fostering general interest in and knowledge of the coastal environment through education and interpretative programs.
To encourage scientific research in all sections of the reserve.

To conserve genetic resources, providing an undisturbed area which will result in increased recruitment to the fisheries of the adjacent areas.  To conserve an ecosystem i.e., mangroves, turtle grass beds and coral reef, which is representative of the reef complex and which functions as an ecological entity.