June 1^st. 2023

Cucumber Marina was a surprise as it was a well-kept marina with full facilities including haul out and it was a short cab ride to Old Belize with good shopping. The added bonus was the destination theme park on site. Right next to Maiatla was a intentionally rustic looking building housing a gift shop as well as a miniature train that could take you on a historic ride through displays depicting the history of Belize. Beyond the well-stocked gift shop, covered by a barn-style roof was an open air food court and bar with tables that could accommodate a couple of hundred People.

 From anywhere within the court you had a grand view of a man-made tropical lagoon complete with a with sand beach, real palm trees, giant floaty toys and a massive waterslide. All managed by what we would come to learn was a friendly staff and the best part was that the theme park admission was included in our docking fee of $1 USD per foot per night.

A Great deal and one Easton and I took full advantage. When we first arrived there were perhaps a dozen or so families, not a massive crowd by any stretch of the imagination and I wondered how they could survive with so few patrons, but I learned the answer early on the second day when three busses full of school children arrived to take in the park, then in the afternoon a second wave of revelers arrived which apparently came from one of the three cruise ships that arrived this day.

By 5 pm the crowds dispersed so Easton and I once again claimed the whole place as our own, we bathed in the solitude, with the only other guests being the scores of iguanas patrolling the docks. We made a trip into town to purchase a new alternator for Maiatla as the old one was acting up. Our cabbie took us on a little tour of Old Belize city in an effort to locate an ATM. The buildings were obviously of the British colonially era all in various states of disrepair. I was surprised to see many of what the cabbie told me were homeless people, a condition brought on by a rampant drug problems. As we drove along he pointed to an emaciated old man leaning against a lamp post. “That fellow there”, our cabbie stated, he was my high school principal but he got into crack- cocaine. To look at him it was hard to imagine that the dirty withered up old man was once a respected professional within the community.

The cabbie needlessly went on to say that we didn’t want to be in this part of town at night.

I saw a travel warning which read: “Violent crime is also a major concern elsewhere in the country, including in Belmopan. Belize has one of the highest per capita murder rates in the world.

Drug and human trafficking, organized crime and street gang activity is prevalent. Violent incidents are frequent, including: murders, armed robberies home invasions, muggings sexual assaults.

This notice applies to many of the Central American counties and after being chased by Pirates off the coast of Honduras, I am very well aware of these facts. For those who missed the Pirate post, see December 2019. Being ever vigilant is the key. But here in Belize, the safest place to be is on a cruise ship, a resort or offshore in the islands, which is where we were about to head.

After two days at the dock it was time to head out, but not before taking on some more fuel. We had been doing more motoring then I had originally thought so I decided to suck it up and fill the tanks.

We again muddied the waters as Maiatla plowed her way through the mire before reaching open water. The Blue Hole was only 40 miles away as Boobie bends a wing, but we would have to weave our way through over 8 miles of the barrier reef and then around a large atoll that was still in the way, so we will take two days to make the trip. It was a beautiful but windless morning as we motored out past three cruise ships headed in to disgorge its passengers for another day of site seeing.

 The channel through the barrier reef is well marked and wide so we had little difficulty. It was a bit deceptive as to look around all you see is ocean with little indication that if you happen to water off course you would slam into an unseen reef. We weren’t the only ones in the channel heading out to see as we were joined by a pod of dolphins who came by to say hello.

By noon we had successfully navigated the reefs to sail off into the open ocean. The wind filled in from the east so it was a great sail out to Turneef Atoll which in its own right was reported to be one of the best dive sites in Belize, we are about to see for ourselves as we plan to find a place to anchor for the night and do some snorkeling.

Turneef Atoll is a national park which is 27 miles long by 10 miles wide and virtually anywhere around the island would be a great place to dive. I chose an anchorage on the southernmost tip, where there is an abandoned lighthouse and a small ranger station ashore.

We found good holding in 10 feet of water and we soon had our gear on and hit the water. There was a coral reef that extends off the point which proved to be incredible. The water temperature was 28C so a wetsuit was not necessary, but I would always ware one to protect my skin from cuts from the sharp coral. We even had a curious nurse shark that hung about. We worked our way around the point where we discovered, thermals spilling into the sea. The water became hazy as hot fresh water mixed with the cooler salt water of the sea. I do not know how hot the water became but it was so hot that it was very uncomfortable so we moved further offshore to cooler temperatures. We would make two sets of dives off the reefs as well as take a high-speed dinghy ride past the ranger station up into the mangroves and lagoon. We met a couple of ranges in a boat coming out of the lagoon, the cheery chaps invited us to the station to use their internet to check emails and the weather reports.

It was a beautiful collection of tiny islands connected by mangrove trees with cannels leading off in all directions. There were several abandoned fishing camps which were fun to explore. I wish we could have stayed a month on Turneef, but the prospect of my bond being seized if we overstayed our welcome was now looming large. The following morning we up anchored and set our sights on Lighthouse Reef and the Blue Hole which was now just 15 miles away.