Routing Advice Western Caribbean

[vcgris]

The monohull sailboat is scheduled to leave Cartagena in the latter half of January, 2017. The itinerary is TBD except for the San Blas Islands, Rio Dulce and Belize. I am sure there are many more islands, ports-of-call and destinations along the way that we shouold consider. We are not sure if cruising the Central American coast is both safe and desirable or north via Providencia would be preferable. In general we are looking for suggestions, comments, warnings and any other information that might be helpful planning this voyage. Thanks in advance to any respondents.

[belizesailor]

Just so ya know: those destinations are all in the "Western" caribbean. 😆

[belizesailor]

www.noonsite.com is a good source of general and up to date security information on all the countries in the W Carib.

Re security, there are a couple of areas of special concern. One, is the N coast of Honduras (not including the Bay Islands...though they too have issues sometimes) especially the Punta Sal area. Two, is the Nicaraguan Banks...which have had a few acts of full on organized piracy within the past year.

Other than that, for my threshold anyway, all other areas have reasonable levels of security issues which dont preclude visiting.

My suggestions for routing related security are: Avoid the mainland of Honduras by a very wide margin...at least out of visual range based on mast height. Two, pass way to the outside of the Nicaraguan Banks. Most of the security issues on the Nica banks have happend in the NE area of the banks or close along the Nica mainland coast. Providencia is a great stop though.

My plan for this year is either San Blas to Caymans or San Blas- Providencia-Caymans depending on the weather.

I would really love to explore the Nica Banks more, but now is just not a good time. [emoji30] Some of the out lying banks/islands I may consider though...like Banco Saranilla.

[belizesailor]

...and I would include mainland Nica in that no go zone too...

[Scott Berg]

Check Frank Virgintino’s excellent and free guides including an outstanding one for the western Caribbean http://www.freecruisingguides.com

[Paul L]

Also be cautious of the anchorages in the Rosario islands just west of Cartegena.

[belizesailor]

Originally Posted by Scott Berg

Check Frank Virgintino’s excellent and free guides including an outstanding one for the western Caribbean http://www.freecruisingguides.com

There are some good guides on this site, some of which Ive used before, but this one leaves me a bit puzzled. There is just a brief introductory text followed by a link to a Colombian guide. Is that link just to the official Colombian Government guide?

[seriousailor]

There is an excellent (new) resource on Caribbean Safety and Security Net (CSSN) for piracy/precautions in the area you are considering, take a good look . here is a link https://safetyandsecuritynet.org/reg...-infographics/. Not sure how you can change the title of your post, but Western Caribbean would be accurate.. maybe a moderator could help ?

[vcgris]

Thank you all for the great information and resources. I apologize for the incorrect post title. Brain fart. I have not been able to find out how to edit my post. There is suppose to be an edit button but it is nt to be foundf. Thanks again, this has been very helpful and informative.

[carstenb]

Originally Posted by vcgris

Thank you all for the great information and resources. I apologize for the incorrect post title. Brain fart. I have not been able to find out how to edit my post. There is suppose to be an edit button but it is nt to be foundf. Thanks again, this has been very helpful and informative.

Hi

I fixed the title for you. If you need help in the future do not hesitate to drop a line to one of the moderators

happy new year

[belizesailor]

Originally Posted by belizesailor

There are some good guides on this site, some of which Ive used before, but this one leaves me a bit puzzled. There is just a brief introductory text followed by a link to a Colombian guide. Is that link just to the official Colombian Government guide?

Now that Im back in good Internet service, I can answer my own question. This is indeed a full blown cruising guide for this route and appears to be quite well done.