Belize - Seal Caye in Sapodilla Cayes - our final fantastic Caye
25 May 2017
SEAL CAYE
Wednesday 24th May - After a quick trip ashore in Placencia for internet and to buy some fresh bread, we enjoyed a lovely day drift/sail south to Seal Caye in the outer Sapodilla Cayes. Seal Caye was to be our last adventure before heading to Guatemala.
We arrived about 4pm - all alone. We anchored and then thankfully snorkelled to find the mooring laid by pervious cruising yachts. Amazing - we are perched right on the edge of a coral wall - the bow of the boat was in 3.5m, aft in 35m.
The Sapodilla Cayes - stretch for 4 miles and are the southernmost cayes on the Belize barrier reef. The group - sometimes called the Ragged Cayes consist of a series of large shoal and reef patches intersected by deep channels. There are now only 6 remaining tiny islands now standing on these patches.
Seal Caye is on an isolated reef patch, only about 65 yards long by 20 yards wide - idilic. A circular reef encloses the island. Sapodilla trees were once everywhere in Belize and the sap is used in the manufacture of chewing gum.
We had lightning far off on the mainland whilst we were having dinner in the cockpit, and the breeze died totally around 10pm.
Thursday 25 - A very unusual south-west wind came up about midnight - thankfully we were on a safe mooring, otherwise we would have been only on an anchor on a coral lee shore - NOT the place to be in Belize.
A very humid, hot and still day - really evening thunderstorm weather.
Great snorkelling in shallow and the deep edge waters. We spotted a few dappled grey stingrays on 2 occasions. The water is extremely clear and visibly up to 30m or more.
It is obvious that this tiny caye was in the past a popular fishing station and several large and tall mounds of conch shells remain from their catches. Throughout the afternoon 2 people in a small motorised boat fished for a few hours in the deep trough of the reef nearby us - they did not acknowledge or approach us.
One final late afternoon snorkel - WOW we saw a huge sea turtle - that just topped off our stay in Belize. Seal Caye - what a great 'last stop' in Belize, truly - splendid isolation, and somewhere we will always remember and treasure forever. THANK YOU BELIZE FOR A WONDERFUL EXPERIENCE.