We have enjoyed
five great sailing trips in
the Belize area, including the Rio Dolce River in Guatemala. What an
incredible experience!!!
Belize offers challenging sailing
between many pristine, uninhabited cays and the second largest barrier
reef in the world.
There is good fishing, excellent
diving and snorkeling. At certain times of year there is whale
watching.
There are two areas set up for chartering: Ambergris Cay (San Pedro)
to the
north and Placencia to the south. You can fly to either location from
Belize City. We have enjoyed sailing in both these locations and the
Rio Dolce in Guatemala as well.
There are several nice places to stay around Placencia.
Robert's Grove has lovely rooms with a/c, fans, TV, pool, jacuzzi
on the roof, restaurant, beach, land tours, on site dive shop, fishing
trips. It is a great place for before or after your charter.
They have a great poolside BBQ on Saturday nights.
Bareboat charters begin with a check in at the Moorings base in
Placencia. They offer 3800, 4500 and 4700 bareboat catamarans. and one
each 4500 and 4700 crewed cats.
Please note: bareboat
charterers do not sail outside the barrier reef without a local
captain.
Here are a few of the highlights in the southern section off the Belize
coast. As you can see, it is very natural, very little development, no
restaurants or beach bars to drop in for a cold one.
Laughing Bird Cay became a National Park 1991. It
was named after the laughing gulls that return each year to breed.
Snorkeling includes elkhorn, staghorn and brain corals. We did a
nice wall
dive off the eastern side of the cay with depths to 100 feet.
North Long Cocoa Cay has excellent snorkeling off the
southwest point. The banks east of the cay are a maze of sand bars
and coral reefs with deep channels between. You may see fishermen
fly casting for bonefish. Most fishermen are eager to sell their
catch.
Rendezvous Cay is a beautiful South Pacific-like
isle. It has a fishing lodge, iguana, pelicans. There is
excellent snorkeling and diving all around this cay. The southern
anchorage is well protected in north winds.
Ranguana Cay is a pretty stop. There are 4 small cabanas for those who dream of
getting away from it all. Anchorage is fairly well protected from
north winds. Excellent snorkeling southeast of cay. You can
get a meal there if you call Robert's Grove and arrange a couple days in
advance.
Tom Owens Cay offers a good anchorage between two deserted
isles. But, as you can see there is a fishing shack here and we were
fortunate enough be buy some fresh snapper for dinner. There is
excellent snorkeling all around these cays. Water colors are
spectacular.
Franks Cay offers a good anchorage in easterly
winds. We found great snorkeling just south of the anchorage
buoy. There is a restaurant/bar here but it was not open on our
last trip. There are rental cabanas available.
We stopped at Seal Cay for lunch and a wall dive.
Very nice!! There are depths of up to 170 feet. It is not a
good anchorage except in calm conditions. This is a popular
fishing area. Excellent snorkeling on the drying reef to the
south.
And now for some shots up the Rio Dolce River, Guatemala.
It is definitely worth seeing. Allow a little extra time.
Your first stop in Guatemala is Livingston to check
through Customs, Immigration and Port Captain. We also recommend
you stop at the bank to exchange dollars for quetzales. We docked
for the night at La Marina just up the river. Nice bar and
restaurant. Very little English spoken. How's your Spanish?
The Rio Dolce is 6 miles long and winds through a spectacular gorge of 300
foot towering limestone cliffs covered by dense walls of tropical
greenery. You see Mayan homes along the shoreline and lots of locals
fishing and traveling up and down the river in their dugout cayucos
(canoes). And watch for birds.
At the top of the Rio Dolce you enter El Golfete (the little gulf), 10 mile
long lake with several anchorages, marinas, restaurants, and the backwater town
of Fronteras. We walked around town and bought some very nice fruits and
vegetables at the open air markets. Next day we drove inland and along the
coast of Lago De Izabal to the Rio Aguas Caliente (waterfalls) and we took a
cayucos ride up the El Boqueron Canyon with a local fellow.
We highly recommend you plan for a few
days land excursion before or after your charter. There are Mayan ruins
like Tikal not far away, and many other points of interest. We have a
local agent who can help
you with those arrangements.
Bareboats available out of San Pedro or
Placencia:
(captain available)
