Is Sailing the Bay Islands Safe ?

[Jimmyd60051]

Hello all,

My wife and I are invited to sail from the Bay Islands to Cancun this winter. Should I be concerned for our safety in Honduras or points between?
We're packing a lot of common sense but this is our first time there.

Where should we not go and are there any metal detectorists with experience in these places?
JimmyD

[s/v Moondancer]

We will be on the same route in December, we have got to be in Isla Mujeres, which is much nicer than Cancun, by Xmas.. It is safer than Venezuela and probably Columbia where we are now.

The key to safety is to play smart, do not anchor alone and make it hard for the bad guys to get in the boat at night. I had a beer last month with a French couple who anchored alone in the 5 Bays of Columbia and woke up with a gun in their faces.

[Jimmyd60051]

Thank's Phil,
We are hoping the marinas are a little safer.

JimmyD

[boatbumms]

Phil how the heck are you? Have Nel send us an e-mail ours keep getting returned.

[JamuJoe]

Jimmy, my wife and I cruised from the Bay Islands to Isla Mujeres during March-May of this year. We spent time on all of the islands and many of the cayes along Belize. In addition to the normal cruising security cautions, I suggest that you monitor the NW Caribbean Net on the SSB (info below) to keep informed of weather and any safety/security issues. Crime against cruisers is low, but there have been robbery incidents of opportunity at Utila and Caye Caulker, Belize. The mainland is far more dangerous than the islands or cayes.

The Northwest Caribbean Net operates daily at 1400 UTC, which is 8 a.m. local time in Belize/Honduras. Primary frequency is 6209 kHz USB. Alternate frequencies are 6212 or 6516 if needed for clearer communication.

[Jimmyd60051]

Thanks you guys

[alaskadog]

I read this morning (Nov. 28) on the riodulcechisme.com website of an incident of pirarcy that occurred at Puerto Escondito this past Wed. night. A boat belonging to a French couple was boarded at night by 6 men armed with guns and machetes and the pirates stole a lot of their stuff. The French couple were not harmed. I bring this to your attention because Puerto Escondito is a popular secluded anchorage on the Honduran coast. It is located approximately midway between La Ceiba, Hon. and Puerto Barrios or Livingston, Guat. and a fairly popular but lightly used stopping off place particularly by cruisers headed west along the coast enroute from the Bay Islands or La Ceiba to Guatemala or southern Belieze. Going east towards La Ceiba the winds and currents are usually against you and most folks do not hug the coast as closely when headed to the Bay Islands from Belieze. People like to stop off there because one can make the trip between these points without doing an overnight sail. Good luck on your cruise.

[zeehag]

hhonduras is no where near cancun--is on a different coast. there have been problems that far south on occasion. there have been problems in costa rica and panama. these problems have been on pacific side. the original poster was looking for info on sailing in th e caribean and gulf going from bay islands to cancun
i have heard of nothing truly malevolent there. happy sailing and have a good trip. remember--shiny attracts rats.

[alaskadog]

Zeehag,
Is not this forum about the Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean? You are in the wrong ocean. As I said this P.E. is a secluded anchorage on the Honduran coast, not really a port or town as such and may not appear on charts of the area.

[JamuJoe]

Originally Posted by zeehag

hhonduras is no where near cancun--is on a different coast. there have been problems that far south on occasion. there have been problems in costa rica and panama. these problems have been on pacific side. the original poster was looking for info on sailing in th e caribean and gulf going from bay islands to cancun
i have heard of nothing truly malevolent there. happy sailing and have a good trip. remember--shiny attracts rats.

Different coast? La Ceiba, Honduras is about 625 miles due south of Cancun, on the Caribbean. Same continuous coastline. Malevolent? Enough robberies to warrant concern and precautions, but not enough to avoid the beautiful cruising grounds along Honduras, Guatemala (Rio Dulce), Belize and Mexico. We've enjoyed the NW Caribbean for our last three cruising seasons.

[GordMay]

Posters should differentiate between Puerto Escondito on the Caribbean coat of Honduras, and Puerto Escondito on the Pacific coast of Mexico.

[JamuJoe]

Canadian cruiser Milan Egrmajer, 58, of s/v Adena was killed by pirates off the Honduran coast around 9:30 p.m. Friday, Dec. 3. He and his daughter Myda, 24, were headed from Rio Dulce to the Bay Islands then on to Panama. Thankfully, his daughter survived. They were anchored in Laguna El Diamante, a remote, beautiful, protected anchorage on the coast of Honduras that provides an overnight stopover between Rio Dulce, Guatemala and Utila, Honduras. My wife and I have overnighted there twice, enjoying the tranquility and sounds of monkeys and birds in the jungle. Each time there were a couple of other boats widely spaced in the anchorage.

This is the second murder of a cruiser in the Guatamala / Honduras area that I know of, the other being Dan Dryden in Lake Izabal, Guatemala in Aug 08, just weeks before we arrived in Rio Dulce.

In both cases it was very likely a case of armed robbery resisted and gone wrong. Every cruiser should consider the possibility of armed robbery, and have a plan. Mine involves lights, sound, and remaining locked in our cabin. I keep no guns, but do have wasp spray (very effective for blinding an attacker) in each cabin. There is no reasoning with a panicky robber holding a gun or a machete, and there is no piece of equipment on our boat worth our lives.

We offer a prayer for Milan, his daughter and their family.

See riodulcechisme.com - Home option=com_content&task=view&id=684&Itemid=1 for more details.

[tecmo]

Here is a video with the daughter.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m-90JYZAFfI&t=818s

24 year old Canadian Myda Egrmajer tells her emotional story of surviving a pirate attack while sailing with her father off the coast of Honduras in December 2010. Unfortunately, Myda witnessed her father being murdered by the pirates.

[Thumbs Up]

This is an old thread to bring up! There are still pirate attacks off of that coast. The route from Rio Dulce to Utila brings you fairly close to there. The Bay islands (Utila, Roatan, Guanaja) themselves are much safer than mainland Honduras, Lots of cruising sailors here. Lots of tourists and foreigners buying properties. Fairly safe, but there is a lot of theft (watch your dinghy). The government here is a narco-dictatorship so if you have doubts, do your research and decide for yourself what your comfort level is...

[belizesailor]

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