This is Part II of my
blog about Belize. Part I can be found
under June 2016.
After hiding from the
hurricane season in the Rio Dulce and visiting the beautiful
country of Guatemala, we finally had to say good bye to the numerous new friends we made and
say so long to our old friends in the hopes that our paths will once again
cross.
The high heat & unbearable humidity of the summer in the Rio Dulce had turned our boat fenders and tarp black with mold & dirt. Not to mention turning our lines green. We had lots of scrubbing to do before leaving the Rio.
After months of travelling thru Guatemala, it felt great to go sailing again |
From the Tortugal Marina, we motored down the
river to "Cayo Quemada" also know as "Texan Bay" named
after "Texas Mike" who once owned a marina there and now owns a
restaurant. We had the privilege of
having dinner with Mike and listened to his numerous stories. He's quite a
character and kept us entertained for hours. He told us the reason why there is little crime
in the area. Basically, the
Guatemalan mob keep the petty criminals in line because they don't want the cops
to come around. A ring leader woman and
her followers were stealing something and the mob didn't like it, so as the story
goes; the mob went to Backpacker's restaurant where the woman was having
lunch and killed her in broad daylight. This happened just a few years ago and by the way, Tim & I
have been to this restaurant several times.
Owned & painted by a French Swiss we met in Texan Bay. It took him 1 week to paint each side of his boat. |
We stopped at the Sapodilla Cayes for a few days just to be alone & do some snorkeling before heading to Placencia.
Flamingo Tongue Shell |
A conch wall at Sapodilla Cay |
We caught a Cobia fish while sailing to Placencia. It looks like a shark because of it's color and skin texture. The meat is absolutely delicious. |
We went to Placencia
because we were picking up our Colorado friends Brian & Sephora to visit
some of the Cays around Belize with us. We sailed, kayaked, snorkeled, caught lobsters, saw several
dolphins, visited a frigate bird island and had a fantastic
time with them. We visited the cays of
Ranguana, Rendezvous, Tobacco Range, Cross Cay, Sapodilla Lagoon and Little
Water Cay. We had lots of north winds so we picked those cays that had some protection.
Double rainbow at Sapodilla Lagoon. A good anchorage from north winds |
Sephora enjoying the sailing life |
Full Moon sunset gazing with our friends Brian & Sephora |
Just another uninhabited Cay in Belize |
My favorite; Golden coconut juice |
Always love having Brian on board; 3 times now ! |
We caught 4 lobsters, one for each of us so no fighting ! |
Frigate bird island |
While snorkeling one
day, Sephora spotted a crocodile onshore and it quickly ran to the water and
swam under the kayak she was in. We later read that there are American Crocodiles in Belize.
One evening, Brian asked
me if the blue light in the water was bioluminescence. I have seen lots of bioluminescence while
sailing and because of this I knew it wasn't so. It seemed that these bright blue lights swimming
by were either some kind of fish or jelly fish.
After dropping off our
friends we anchored in the Placencia Lagoon for more protection and to be
closer to friends Linda and George on s/v Chez Nous. They spend several months a year at the Robert's
Grove marina. Linda & George
spoiled us while we were there to a delicious Thanksgiving dinner, a barracuda dinner
George caught, swam in one of the 3 pools at the marina and we went for a drive
in their car to Spanish Waters. Although the water in the lagoon was murky, we were surrounded by
manatees & dolphins.
Thanksgiving with Linda & George on their beautiful catamaran named "Chez Nous" |
Enjoying a pool day at Robert's Grove |
At Robert's Grove marina & hotel, they have 3 huge pigs they use to collect their poop. Why would anyone do this you ask ? They are producing methane gas. We aren't sure how exactly they are collecting the gas or what they use it for but it sounds environmentally good.
Pigs are in the enclosure in the back. Their poop is somehow collected in the cement & methane in the pipes |
Before leaving
Placencia, we had happy hour drinks with Andy on s/v Jacobs, Dave & Mary on s/v
Argonauta, Shane & Rob on s/v Scurvy dog and Linda & George s/v Chez Nous. We will meet up with them again in Roatan except for Dave & Mary who are heading to Mexico.
We took advantage of a
SE wind which we needed to head north. We had a perfect 55 nm (nautical mile) sail from Placencia to
Water Cay which is about 10 miles from Belize city. Along the way, we
crossed a deep channel for cruise ships called The Eastern Channel with about
150 feet of water. Three humongous cruise
ships motored past us at dawn and anchored about 5 miles from us. They
were the Carnival Sunshine, Carnival Splendor and Caribbean Princess.
The SE wind kept up the
following day so we had another perfect day of sailing to Cay Caulker. We sailed by Swallow Cay which is a sanctuary
for manatees. We needed to be vigilant
while sailing into the Porto Stuck channel, well named because at low tide it's
only 5.5 feet at each end of the channel.
The population of Cay
Caulker is about 1,200. Their electricity is
produced by huge, loud generators. One late night, we used the dock lights to unlock our dinghy and
not a minute later, the generators stopped working and all the lights on the
Cay were out. Good timing !
Large, loud generators providing electricity to Cay Caulker |
Cay Caulker was hit by
hurricane Matthew a few months ago. Most of the docks seemed to have been damaged and some trees were down,
however the buildings seemed to have stood their ground.
We had a great time at
the "Barrier Reef Sports Bar & Grill" listening to local bands
and Garifuna drumming. This local's type bar
was full of ex-pats having a great time.
Garifuna drumming |
We then sailed to San
Pedro on Ambergis Cay. There is no good anchoring here as the bottom is
sand over rock but our Rocna anchor held us just fine as the winds were relatively light and always from the same direction. There's a lot of wake in the anchorage as it's a
busy tourist area with jet skis and tour boats generating lots of wake. We needed to come here to check out of the
country before going to Roatan. In the meantime, we snorkeled at the Hol Chan & Shark Ray
Alley marine park and at the reef outside the park.
If you want solitude,
you can find it in Belize. You can anchor by
yourself in the numerous tiny cays between the mainland and the barrier
reef. Some protect you from
the northerly winds others protect you from the east and south, you pick. Many of them are uninhabited or have a tiny
house for local fishermen we call fishing houses. Watch the dogs, some cays have dogs just to keep
you out. Some Cays are privately
owned, some have actual running small resorts, others have been under
construction for years, some have failed and some have never completed
construction. A few have a population
of about 20, those are the bigger cays for sure. Some privately owned cays will let you visit,
others won't even let you on shore even though they are completely vacant
except for the keeper. Keepers of Cays live there for 2 or more weeks, drink the juice of the golden coconuts, fish
for food, rake the seaweed, and count the turtle nests. They would gladly accept a drink or 2 or 3,
friendship and any food you'd like to share. One keeper told us he counted 58 turtle
nests! We missed the hatching
of turtles by 1 day, drats ! Many of the Cays are made only of mangroves so there's no way to
go onshore. There's loads of great
snorkeling around many of the cays and yup, we did catch lobsters.
For information on the Atolls, refer to my blog BELIZE PART I (June 2016)
INFORMATION FOR CRUISERS & VISITORS ALIKE:
1.
SOME CAYS WE VISITED IN
BELIZE IN NOVEMBER & DECEMBER 2016:
Ranguana Cay: Small resort, good snorkeling.
Rendezvous Cay: A resort is under construction. Italian owner. Nice Beach. Can go ashore.
Tobacco Range Cay: Frigate bird island, a dinghy ride away.
Cross Cay: Seph saw an American Crocodile while kayaking. Very well protected from northerly winds. No corals, no snorkeling, very shallow waters.
Sapodilla Lagoon: New marina, very posh, large homes. Has convenience store (ice, some fresh veggies,
ect...), fuel & water. Extremely well
protected.
Little Water Cay: Somewhat protected from north winds. Pitbulls onshore. We showed them sticks and they went away crying
with their tail between their legs.
Ambergris Cay: San Pedro has several grocery stores & dive shops.
Ambergris Cay: San Pedro has several grocery stores & dive shops.
2.
PLACENCIA:
Laundry service:
- FRIENDS restaurant near the
city peer. 15 Belize Dollars for a wash/dry/fold.
- World Gift Shop: Self serve is 7BD per wash and 7BD per dry, you supply
your own soap. They also have a service for 20BD a wash/dry/fold.
Seafood: You can buy local seafood at the Co-op by the
city dock across from Friends restaurant. Sometimes fishermen sell their fish at the end of the day at the
city dock.
Dinghy: You can park your dinghy at the city dock for 5BD (while we were
there it changed from 2.5 to 5) a day or just leave it at Yoli's bar (the owner
is a Belizean women, not her Canadian husband).
Stugeron (Anti seasick medicine): We found some at a pharmacy in Spanish Waters.
Restaurants: Luved Mr. Q's BBQ on Placencia road near the city dock &
Mojo's upstairs on Placencia road.
3.
CAY CAULKER:
Anchoring: Don't anchor too close to the cell towers because they are next to
the huge loud generators.
Live Music: Barrier Reef Sports bar & grill. Friday nights, local band starts at 4pm, then Garifuna drumming ect ect....It's
awesome. Spent 3 hours there,
many drinks and bar tab was only 28BD (about $14us)
Marine Park: Cruisers CANNOT anchor their dinghy nor take a mooring ball in the
park at Cay Caulker. You can't even spear a
lion fish. The marine park ranger
caught us and told us that the only way to snorkel in the park was to go with a
guide and absolutely no spearing whatsoever. Other marine parks in Belize will allow such behavior, just ask the ranger.
Laundry: There are several laundry services and a coin laundromat on the
road near the huge generators.
. SAN PEDRO, AMBERGRIS CAY:
Dinghy: You can park your dinghy at Ramon's Village hotel. You can use their pool also.
Grocery: Walk thru Ramon's Village, turn left on the street. When the street curves to the right, it's on your right hand side.
Scuba Diving: There are shops all along the water front.
Dinghy: You can park your dinghy at Ramon's Village hotel. You can use their pool also.
Grocery: Walk thru Ramon's Village, turn left on the street. When the street curves to the right, it's on your right hand side.
Scuba Diving: There are shops all along the water front.
From the Sunshine Coast Queensland Australia.
ReplyDeleteI just love following your adventures. Hope the shoulder is better! I am off on a big boat for Christmas and
New Year to New Zealand. Till we next meet somewhere in this big wide world - Merry Christmas. Mike Matthews
Hi Susan and Tim,
ReplyDeleteMerci de partager ces superbes photos.
Your friends Bob and Gigi in Martinique xx
Such a fantastic read! 'Belize Part II' beautifully captures the essence of adventure and the unique charm of Belize. The vivid descriptions and personal anecdotes transport readers right into the heart of this paradise. Can't wait for more travel stories like this! THEJEMBE
ReplyDelete