Bareboat Placencia, Belize

Overview

Belize is a small country in northern Central America just a bit larger than the U.S. state of Massachusetts. To the north is Mexico and to the west is Guatemala. The western Caribbean fronts the rest of Belize. One of its most remarkable features, making this destination splendid for a Belize sailing vacation, is the Mesoamerican Reef that stretches approximately 350 nautical miles from the tip of the Yucatan Peninsula down along most of the Belizean coast. Only Australia’s Great Barrier Reef is larger. In Belize, the reef shelters more than 400 islands and cays. Most are fringed with additional reefs comprised of at least 50 species of hard and soft coral. Manatees, whale sharks, and roughly 500 species of tropical fish thrive in these waters, and all manner of seabirds are plentiful, including the Magnificent Frigate and the Brown Booby. Unspoiled and less crowded than other parts of the Caribbean, Belize is a laid-back paradise very similar to the cruising grounds of the South Pacific. Known for world-class snorkeling and scuba diving, superior sailing in protected waters, and unparalleled natural beauty, a Belize yacht charter is unique and special.

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Sailing in Placencia

A Belize sailing vacation offers balmy easterly trade winds year round averaging between 15 and 22 knots that virtually guarantee a wonderful sail every day in calm waters tucked behind cays and reefs. Passages are short and the navigation is mostly line-of-sight. Plotting courses and heeding the chart is advised due to the many reefs. Keeping a good bow watch and reading depths based on color changes is also important due to seasonal changes in sand bars. A Belize yacht charter is well within the reach of sailors who have basic skills in coastal navigation. The beauty and unique character of these waters lures less experienced and veteran sailors alike to return time after time for more adventures in one of the best snorkeling and diving locations in the Western Caribbean. Year-round temperatures range from 74°F to 84°F (23°C to 29°C).

Placencia Highlights

A Belize sailing vacation naturally focuses on the superlative sailing, scenic anchorages behind palm-fringed or mangrove-lined cays, and the fantastic snorkeling and scuba diving in some of the clearest water anywhere. Forays to restaurants on the cays to sample local cuisine and experience Belizean culture add to the pleasures. However, a Belize yacht charter can encompass much more, and often does. Many sailors add extra time at the start or finish of their adventure to include a guided dive excursion to the Great Blue Hole, a geological wonder of the world located within Lighthouse Reef, or sightseeing tours of the Mayan ruins inland.

Placencia Harbour

Situated on Placencia Lagoon, sometimes home of the endangered manatee, Placencia Harbour is both picturesque and quaint. Fishing has been a keystone of the local economy for generations, and it’s still important to the 600 or so people living in the village and the surrounding area. Walking the mile-long, pedestrian-only sidewalk meandering among the houses built on stilts is like stepping back in time, but modernity is making inroads in the form of several luxury beachfront resorts offering numerous amenities, including fine dining. The laid-back atmosphere of Placencia is a perfect way to leave the cares of a busy life behind and ease into a sailing adventure in one of the most serene and beautiful countries in the Western Caribbean.

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Marine Reserves – Southern Belize

The wonders of a Belize sailing vacation unfold primarily amid marine parks. In 1996, the United Nations World Heritage Committee approved the Belizean barrier reef as a World Heritage Site, now formerly called the Belize Barrier Reef Reserve System. Four of the seven segments of the system fall within the realm of a Belize yacht charter: South Water Cay, Gladden Spit (Silk Cayes), Laughing Bird Cay, and the Sapodilla Cay. Gladden Spit encloses the Queen Cays and, like Laughing Bird Cay, is a strict no-fishing zone. Other areas in the cruising grounds are also designated as marine preserves, collectively encompassing a wide swath of Belizean waters. The undeveloped cays and the coral atolls are evocative of South Pacific islands, but instead of a long airline flight away, they’re close to home. The extensive reefs, drop-offs, sand ridges, sinkholes, pinnacles, caves, and many other features of the ocean floor teem with colorful undersea life.

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The Great Blue Hole – Lighthouse Reef

Located in the center of Lighthouse Reef, an atoll about 60 miles southeast of Belize City, the Great Blue Hole is one of the most unique geological features on Earth. A circular limestone sinkhole about 1,000 feet across shimmers a deep blue (hence its name) because of its great depth, roughly 400 feet. Sinkholes proliferate in the cruising grounds of a Belize yacht charter, but the Great Blue Hole is the granddaddy of them all! The walls are sheer to about 130 feet down, and then the views change as gigantic stalactites protrude outward, remnants of when the hole was a cave formed from fresh water runoff during the last Ice Age that began about 15,000 years ago. Back then sea level was 350 feet lower. None other than Jacques Cousteau named the Great Blue Hole as one of the top ten best dive sites in the world. With the guidance of a hired skipper, you can explore this incredible bit of geological phenomena.

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Mayan Culture – Inland Belize

The beginnings of Maya civilization date back to at least 2500 B.C., or perhaps earlier, and correspond roughly in time with the development of cities and the precursors to modern culture in Mesopotamia along the Tigris and Euphrates rivers in the Middle East. The sophistication of the Mayan people is well known, and vestiges of their culture remain in the form of the pyramids and archaeological sites throughout Belize. Two popular excursions are visits to Lubaantun and Nim Li Punit. The Lubaantun pyramids were among the last built by the Maya, at about 730 A.D., and afford inspiring views of the Maya Mountains. Nim Li Punit, only discovered in 1976, is situated in the foothills of the Maya Mountains and is famous for its stelae, stone pillars or slabs erected in the ceremonial centers of Mayan cities.

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