Lighthouse Reef Half Moon Cay

Sunday, March 14, 2004

017-12.600 N
087-32.400 W

Ahoy from Half Moon Cay, Belize!

We decided to move to Half Moon Cay as the dive sites were just too far away the from the anchorage on the east side of Long Cay at Lighthouse Reef. Everyone has been burning through their fuel and was going to run out unless we moved closer. So the other day we all picked up anchor and the parade of boats worked their way around Long Cay and over to Half Moon Cay.

Brandy led the pack of boats (Brandy, Lulu & Wet Bar) as Brandy seems to have no trouble following waypoints. Sue & I left later as we were planning on picking up a dive ball along the way. We had no problems getting out and had a nice dive on the north end of Long Cay. After diving and lunch we worked our way towards Half Moon. I was watching a front make its way towards us and on the radar I could tell that it would make it to Half Moon before we did. We picked up a heavy weather mooring ball that the big dive boats use and waited for the front to pass. The boat got a good washing and then we made our way to Half Moon. The next day was spent aboard the boat as the winds were howling and it rained on and off.

You definitely need to use caution and your eyes when maneuvering through this area. There are lots of patch reefs and individual coral heads that could cause a lot of problems, but the beauty of the area is well worth it. The water is stunningly beautiful, there are thousands of nesting Boobies, Frigate birds and some Osprey, and the diving is spectacular. My favorite dives were off the west end of the island. Lots of fun with all kinds of channels to swim through. Visibility has been OK at about 60-80'.

Lulu had everyone over to their boat for a feast. Louise made Sour Kraut with all kind sausages that came from the States. Sue made some fresh bread and conch ceviche and everyone else brought other portions of the feast. A great time was had by all.

Everyone is planning on moving from here to points elsewhere. Lulu has children coming into Belize City (hopefully carrying a new power supply for the Northstar GPS), Wet Bar is headed towards FL, and Brandy is headed to Cay Caulker with a stop in Turneffe. I think that we'll be traveling with Brandy as we need to check back in with Immigrations.

Geoff & Sue

For the cruiser: Waypoints into Half Moon Cay

17-13.74N 87-35.47W reef to N
17-13.42N 87-34.82W
17-13.31N 87-33.96W Drys to N
17-13.17N 87-33.16W Coral to stbd
17-13.20N 87-32.78W Coral to stbd
17-12.870N 87-32.491W between 2 balls on each side of narrow reef cut.

Anchor in 6-8' over sand being careful to avoid any coral heads
Log ID: 470