We've on Turneffe Island, Belize and have anchored at 2 different spots than we've ever anchored before. The first spot is shown as Amber Head on chart M281678S0. This chart which covers the Belize City harbor is very accurate. We crossed the reef at 17-19.163N 87-57.603W and went to 19-19.113N 87-57.524 and from there went to the anchorage at 17-18.32N 87-56.27W. Note that this is just a low spot on the reef and that there are lots of coral heads around. You need good light and a bow watch to direct you around the coral. We didn't see less than 16 feet when crossing the reef. I believe that there's a much deeper buoyed channel north of there, at about 17-20.4N.
The anchorage is large and shaped like a very wide horseshoe. We anchored in 8' of sand which had good holding. There appeared to be shoaling towards the N end of the anchorage, so stay in the middle. From there Carl (S/V Querencia) and I took the dinghy out to the reef, which was a mile+ away. The trip out there was fine, but returning into 20 kts of wind made for a bumpy ride. The reef was in very good shape with lots of diverse coral and small fish. The local fishermen have done a good job of making sure that nothing large lives there. We spent most of our time in 12 feet of water. The visibility was excellent.
The next day we tacked our way in 20-25 kts of wind to Cay Bokel, which is on the S end of Turneffe. Normally we anchor to the N of the cut at Cay Bokel, but there was so much swell that we decided that we needed to get some protection. We snuggled right up to the light towers and dropped our hooks in sand patches directly to the N of them in 8' of water. I checked out the area to the NE of them and we could have gotten more protection by going another 50-100 yards NE as at high tide the swell still comes over the W end of the reef. Approaching them from the SW on a line parallel to the light towers appears to give you the deepest water.
Note that I used the portable depth sounder to see if we could get into the cut at Cay Bokel, but at low tide I was seeing 5'. Queen Mary and other boats used to plow their way into there, but with a 5' wide wing keel I think that I'll pass.
Carl and I took the dinghy through the cut and went past the Turneffe Island Lodge to the reef cut on the E side where we were confronted with 4' steep waves coming through. That was exciting! Once we made it through the cut the waves were still 4', but less steep. We managed to spot a dive ball NE of of cut and had a nice dive. I had forgotten how deep the top of the reef is there, but when I was swimming along at 75' and looked up and saw top of the reef at 50-55', I realized that I needed to be careful with my air and plan for a decompression stop on the way up.
Carl was trying out his new underwater camera, which is the same as mine (an Olympus C-8080 and PT-023 housing) and an Ikelite DS125 strobe. During the dive I noticed condensation inside of Carl's strobe and when we got to the surface it had a lot of water in it. The battery pack area, which is the only user accessable area, was dry, so it appears that it was the factory sealed area that leaked. Carl was not happy...We'll see if it's still usable, but I would doubt it.
Sue & I had Kim and Carl over for a Moo Shu pork and Shrimp Fried Rice last night and all had a good time. More diving today...
-- Geoff & Sue
Log ID: 643
To receive these logs via e-mail, please subscribe to the mailing list or you can follow us on FaceBook by clicking: