Belize Forum

Melissajane
Joined 2014
Posts: 287

9 years ago

Sailing in Belize

9 years ago

New thread...

Sailing to Belize - there are lots of cruisers travelling to/from Mexico or Guatemala - easy legs to travel. From the Eastern Caribbean it is around a 10 day sail, depending on conditions of course. If you intend your boat to stay permanently in Belize it has to be imported into the country, and duty paid of around 30% of the value of the boat. If you are entering as a qrp, the boat is duty free, but you still need a customs broker to get the boat licenced with customs and Belize Port Authority.

Sailing outside the barrier reef either down the coast or out to the atolls is blue water sailing - ocean swells and deep water. Inside the atolls is extremely shallow - you can get through, but motoring with someone on the bow on watch rather than enjoyable cruising.

Sailing inside the barrier reef - depends where you are. Ambergris Cay/Cay Caulker/Cay Chapel area is very shallow - less than 10ft in many places - and you are constantly having to dodge the coral heads. From Belize City south the barrier reef extends away from the mainland, with almost nothing to hit in between, so the sail inside from Belize City to Placencia is easy. Around the barrier reef and cays you need a sharp look out for shallows and reef. The gps/navionics programs are not foolproof - do not sail by instruments only! There is a Belize Cruising guide by Freyer (cant remember the full name) that includes hand drawn maps and anchorages that is more accurate than the Admiralty charts.

Around Placencia the waters are shallow, with most boats anchoring behind Placencia Cay, or in one of the marinas up the lagoon where it is more protected.

In the case of hurricanes, boats either pull into the mangroves, or head to Rio Dulce, Guatemala.

Im sure there's a lot more I can add, but this is a good starting point.

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