The Sapodilla Cays lie Southeast of mainland Belize. We sailed south of them when we went to Roatan last season, west of them when we came up to Belize this year, and we anchored for one night off Northeast Sapodilla Cay two years ago. We have missed so much!

After leaving Placencia on the 17th, we enjoyed a leisurely sail down to this lesser known group of cays on our way back to Rio Dulce, loathe to see the salt water season come to an end, wanting a little bit more exploration and a few more chances to snorkel. Although Tom Owens Cays are at the north end of the chain, anchoring space looked a bit chancy and we had a waypoint for Northeast Sapodilla Cay so that’s where we went first. The light was good and we worked our way around the shallow bars to anchor in 10 feet of water – unfortunately in a few inches of sand over hard ground. And you’ve heard me grumble about how that is for holding! But no worries this time. Jim dove to set the CQR anchor upright, it dug about 6 inches and stayed upright so we figured we were good in light wind. (Jim is getting better and better at holding his breath for longer and going deeper – this is good for him!)

We had a good snorkel around the boat that afternoon, discovering coral heads full of life within a few feet of our anchorage, so we floated around watching queen angelfish and schools of blue tangs and surgeonfish and doctorfish. I love their names right along with their colours and behavior! I saw a tiny spotted trunkfish and something similar but bigger. We both watched foot long colourful stoplight parrotfish nibbling on the coral and tilting their heads to look up at us and a mature triggerfish was equally interested. They are really among the most gorgeous fish – with intricate lines etched around their faces, graceful fins, beautiful bluegreenyellowpink colours.

The next morning we took a walk on the little beach on the west side – relaxing into the quiet of the cay. There are no buildings here – just trees and water, with the sound of waves on the reef not far away. On the Northwest Caribbean Net this morning (on Single Sideband Radio) we heard a boat check in from just north of us at Tom Owens Cay and one from just south at Lime Cay, and we could see their masts in the distance, but here – just Madcap.

On a morning inspection of the anchor, we were pleased to see that the chain had simply made a u turn during the wind and current shift through the night. The anchor was in exactly the same position, and the chain snaked around to rise to the boat in a perfect U.

We snorkeled on the NW side of the cay and found fewer coral heads, but the fish were just as interesting; Jim noticed a nurse shark sitting on the sea bottom, and we saw two rays. A good-sized Caribbean stingray was mostly submerged in the sand – just his eyes and tail visible. Jim spotted him first when he saw the tail twitch. The eyeball seemed to be watching us, but he didn’t stir. A big spotted eagle ray swam a circle around me as I neared Madcap. Usually, they swim away, but this one appeared to be as curious about me as I was about him. He must have been 3 feet wide and his body was 8 – 10 inches thick. On a later ride in the dinghy, we were both startled when a ray leaped out of the water not a foot from the boat, twisting as he rose, and with tail swishing wildly. As he splashed back into the water, we exhaled in a whoosh of breath, remembering a woman in the Bahamas whose nose and cheekbone were broken when a ray did the very same thing as it leaped across the bow of her dinghy.


As we got back to Madcap, the Park boat came by with the biologist – Raynaldo - a ranger and a driver on board. They asked where we had come from – Placencia – and collected the fee for staying in the park. It is $20 B per person per day or $50 B per person for 10 days. We paid for 10 days although we won’t be able to stay that long – after 3 nights it is the cheaper option. We have mixed feelings about these fees. We already pay $5 B per person per day to be in the country. And what do the park fees pay for? We’re not too sure. (More about this in a later posting.) Jim asked about water depths and holding at Lime Cay and Raynaldo said, “Why not just come to Hunting Cay? We have two available moorings!” Why not indeed?

So we had lunch and then dinghied to Frank’s Cays right next door for a poke around with plans to leave later in the afternoon. The Rauscher book talked of a conservation establishment on Frank’s cay but we hadn’t seen any lights the night before, and sure enough all we found were some abandoned buildings and a derelict wharf. That edition of the book was published in 2007, and these buildings are in enough disrepair to have been empty for several years. We’re not sure what happened and when. But oh my – it is a stunningly beautiful little area. We beached the dinghy on a perfect little sandbar between the main cay and a little one just south that looks like it might once have been part of the bigger one. Soft white sand, turquoise blue water, crabs scuttling quickly away, waving palms and tiny mangroves sending their roots down into the mud made a perfect picture.

With reluctance, but with the desire to be secure on a mooring ball for the expected higher night winds, we left our private anchorage for the next bit of our Sapodilla exploration.

The blue-tipped crab in the photo swam rapidly away from me, but a cousin of his nipped my toe the next day when I stepped too close to him!