Belize

[Phyllis]

Hi, we are wanting to charter in Belize. We want to find out from anyone who has sailed there the degree of difficulty, problems, and the best charter groups. We have bare boated a number of times, but it has been 8 years and all our experience has been from The Bahamas to the Grenadines. The latter was more difficult for us and the distances between anchorages longer than I wanted. Plus the threat of piracy was hammered into us.
Thanks in advance!

[AnchorageGuy]

Phyllis, Click on the link on my signature line and scroll through til you get to the Belize section for some ideas about the sailing. We were there heading south and coming back north. There are only two charter companies in Belize. The Moorings has a very large fleet of mono hull and catamarans in Placencia. There is another small company that I believe operates out of San Pedro and I believe they only have catamarans. The Moorings boats are all newer. Good luck and have fun. The sailing is great.

[Phyllis]

Thanks, Chuck, for your reply. I enjoyed reading about your adventures. We are aiming for next February for Belize.

[Strygaldwir]

Bareboat BVI: Yacht Charters and Sailing Vacations ask for Tony or Bob. They have tons of experience with bareboats and crewed charters in the Caribbean.

[Phyllis]

Thanks for your reply, but we are hoping to sail in Belize, not the BVI's, which are a piece of cake. What I am wanting to know is if we are getting in over our heads, for two people that last chartered at least 6 years ago. I am reading about people running aground, and theft problems when you go ashore. Once we had a crewed yacht, but that was a disaster, because it was only a skipper with no mate to keep him company. He expected us to be HIS company. We had zero privacy, and little to say about the itinerary.

[cameron forsyth]

My wife and I have chartered Belize yearly for the last 4 years. The two International charter companies I saw operating were TMM and Moorings. TMM has bases near the Mexican border in San Pedro/Ambergris cay and Placencia. Moorings in Placencia. Ambergris cay an island just behind the barrier reef, orientated to dive plus young tourism. Placencia is down close to the Guatemalan border, more isolated. We prefer the Placencia area, anchorages to ourselves, better fishing, sailing etc. The navigating is interesting as depths go from deep to shallow in a few meters and anchoring is sometimes a challenge but if you abide by the site/route recommendations given by the charter company, should not be a issue.