Belize: Long Cay and St Georges Cay passes

[sabinarawlings]

Has anyone got experience with Long Cay or St Georges Cay passes?

They are mentioned very briefly in Rauscher's guide yet both seem easier / safer than San Pedro’s pass.
From the book, both sound straight forward and i’ve been wondering why would anyone go for San Pedro given any of those can be used instead.

Anything other than what the book says that needs to be considered?

Thanks.

[Sailmonkey]

Long cay pass is brain dead easy.

Unless I had pressing business in San Pedro and the weather was flat calm, i’d do Long cay any day of the week.

[laika]

If you do decide on San Pedro, with a swell setting on the reef and decent light, you'll clearly see the bits you need to to avoid. It is not a narrow cut and the gaps in the reef are obvious. Follow Freya's waypoints. Make your turn to starboard just before you approach the yellow buoy, keeping it to port. You will be able to see and line up the buoy with your approach well before you enter.

We did it two months ago and had some initial trepidation, but didn't find it particularly dicey after an overnight from Bahia Espiritu in E@15-20 and moderately lumpy seas.

We did, however, get caught in the washing machine about a mile or two off of Reef Point and would like to advise our past selves to give that area a wider berth.

[belizesailor]

St George's is easy too. What is your draft?

[sabinarawlings]

Originally Posted by belizesailor

St George's is easy too. What is your draft?

Thanks. Our draft is 4ft.

[belizesailor]

With 4' you can run any of these cuts.

One issue at San Pedro is that the anchorage is relatively shallow, esp as you move north. The cut is deep, but the anchorage too skinny for deeper drafts. No issue with 4'.

The anchorage on the west side of St Georges is shallow too, but also viable with 4', just find a good sand hole.