Living on Sailboat in Belize

[Julie Hartzog]

Has anyone out there sailed around the islands of Belize and did you like it. Would anyone recommend living on a sailboat in Belize?

[SailFastTri]

Sounds like a great idea right now to me. It's forecast to be zero degrees F tonight.

Was there a few years ago to charter a cat for a week; favorite stop was Caye Caulker, and there is good provisioning and everything else a half-day sail north in San Pedro.

If you're going I'd recommend drop the hook in the lee on the west side of Caye Caulker and go to San Pedro about once a week to provision. Go barefoot and put on sandals only for dress-up.

The sign below is from one of the most formal restaurants on Caye Caulker...

[islandguy5]

We charted from TMM a couple of years ago. Very nice. You sail mostly inside the reef where it is very shallow like here in the Bahamas.
I would enjoy sailing my boat down there again and south to Honduras.

[annk]

Belize has some beautiful sailing amongst one of the largest barrier reefs in the world.
It is in the hurricane zone so June to October you are in a vulnerable area. Even if there is no forecast hurricane the lightning storms are significant. A number of boats are hit every year.

Costa are rising significantly. Entrance fees of around $50, the visa has to be renewed every 30 days at a further charge. There is strong rumour of a new charge of $5 a day per boat on top of this. There are additional charges in the marine park areas.

There are few resources for liveaboards, you will need to be very self sufficient.
Food is expensive by central American standards, restaurants expensive too.
The Belizeans can be very unhelpful sometimes to the point of obstructive.

My conclusions? Great for a holiday but no ideal for liveaboard imho

[AnchorageGuy]

Julie, If you go to our Sea Trek website and start with this post, http://tinyurl.com/37ebbmy you can get some info on our trip through Belize. If you scroll down the left hand column, under Topics, posts 14, 15 and 16 cover Belize. Hope it helps some. We found a couple of Americans living aboard at Cucumber Beach Marina near Belize City. Chuck

[pullord]

make it happen

[nolagal]

Many, many people cruise Belize. It's beautiful, easy sailing inside the reef. Slightly more challenging sailing to the atolls. We were there for 6 weeks last June and July(2012). We are here again for May- July(2013). Provisioning is much easier than in the Bahamas. You are never far away from a market. Getting fuel and water takes a little planning but works. There are 3 centers you will probably sail from. San Pedro or Cay Caulker, Cucumber Beach near Belize City and Placencia, they all have water and fuel. Soon a full service marina at Sanctuary Belize will open. Several cays offer good protection from summer storms or you can tuck into Sanctuary Belize for safe anchorage or a couple of slips that have cleats. We also weathered the recent Tdepression at Cucumber Beach Marina. Even if you aren't a weather guru the NW Caribbean Net gives weather every morning 8am on your SSB at 6209. Pay attention, safe harbor is never too far away.
There are fees for Custom and Immigration, there are fees for staying in the Marine Parks, overall we found them about the same as the Bahamas. The 30 day limit can be dealt with when you check out.
We found the people friendly, proud of their country and happy you were there.
If you want to know more our blog is sailwahoo.blogspot.com

[gbanker]

Enjoy reading your blog. We came through Belize two winters ago having come from Grenada, Venezuela, Columbia, Panama, Bay Islands. Hope to get back to the western Caribbean for the winter of 2014-15. Enjoy!