[3] The Great Blue Hole is a part of the larger Belize Barrier Reef Reserve System, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Some of these stalactites were also off-vertical by 5˚[1] in a consistent orientation, indicating that there had also been some past geological shift and tilting of the underlying plateau, followed by a long period in the current plane.

An expedition was conducted in the summer of 1997 to collect core samples from the Blue Hole's floor and document the cave system.

[8] The Great Blue Hole is a popular destination for recreational scuba divers making day trips from the coastal tourist communities in Belize.

[citation needed] On-shore caves of similar formation, as large collapsed sinkholes, are well known in Belize and in the Yucatán Peninsula, where they are known as cenotes.