snake cayes

My wife and I visited in April 2014. We drove From Belmopan to Punta Gorda purposely to snorkel the Snake Cayes. We are glad we did. We took a private full day snorkel trip from Punta Gorda ($250.00 USD) to the Snake Cayes. Our tour was set up by Lee the owner of Tranquility Lodge. On the way to the Cayes you stop at the Ranger station. Here they give you some backround about the Bay of Honduras and how they monitor illegal fishing in the Reserve. From there its on to Snake Caye. It take approx. 45 minutes and you are in the water snorkeling. The water in the morning is very calm. The snorkeling is good. Lots of coral formations to see. We saw many colorful starfish, many Barracudas, and lots of colorful fish. Some of the largest and most colorful angel fish I have ever seen. It is a drift snorkel and very relaxing. We did two hour long drifts. We ate lunch on the beach which is beautiful. I spent most of my time collecting shells. My wife spent most of her time enjoying the sun. What a great location and a great day. Enjoy.

One of the snorkel trips we did from Sabal Beach was to the Snake Cayes. Was a great 1/2 day trip and we had the island to ourselves!

We used Blue Belize Tours to guide us at Snake Caye for our snorkeling trip. I've only snorkeled about four other times, but this was by far the best. We were the only ones on Snake Caye the entire day. Our guide went in the water with us, so he was able to point out things that slipped past our eyes. In the water, we found live sand dollars, conch, huge lobsters, baracudas, jellyfish, spotted eagle rays, sea urchins, a nurse shark, octopus home, and many colorful fish and coral. The was a good place for me, as a beginner snorkeler to go. You can snorkel off the beach, or moore to the other side of the island and go off the boat. The West side of the island is a white sand beach, but is small. There is a picnic shelter with nothing in it, but the no-see-ums are too nasty in the trees to use it. The East side of the ilsand is full of trash washed up, which is a testament to the danger ocean life is in because of human action (or inaction as is the case sometimes). Although the water was choppy the day were were there, the visibility was still great. Our guide told us that most of the time, the water is smooth as glass, and that the visibility is even better. It was still well worth the trip! We boated from Punta Gorda, which took about 45 minutes, with a stop at the local marine ranger station.

The Snake Cayes are a great spot to head for a snorkel or shallow dive from Punta Negra or Punta Gorda. They are in a marine reserve so you are assured of seeing a lot of marine life.Definitely stop in at the ranger's station at Abalone Caye on the way to the Snake Cayes. the view from the tower is great (although there is also a great observation tower on W Snake Caye you can climb) and the rangers will give you an overview of the Port Honduras Marine Reserve.Bring snorkel gear, a lunch and sunscreen and you almost can not help but have a great day!

We visited the Snake Cayes during a recent visit to Punta Gorda. We hired a local guide ($550 BZE) in town that took us out for the day. Due to rough waters we snorkelled around the farthest Snake Caye (East) and seen a variety of marine life including a nurse shark, barracuda, jelly fish, lobster, and numerous other colourful fish. After snorkelling around the island we headed back to the West Snake Caye for lunch on the beach. Due to the rough water we decided to explore the island a bit more and even had pictures with a small boa that our guide found. Visiting the Cayes was a great opportunity to experience the marine reserve and well worth the ride on the choppy waters.

The Snake Cayes are a group of cayes (islands) off coast of Toledo.They are perhaps best known as one of the best permit fishing spots in the world. Here is shallow, glassy clear water, shoals of 20 or more permit can be spotted, usually with jacks mixed in. You will get more shots at permit here in a day than you can get in a week in most other countries.Snake Cayes (don't be put off by the name, snakes are not in evidence) is equally good as a family outing destination for snorkelling, casual fishing and a shore lunch, eating the fish you caught. Turtles can often be seen here, it's one of the best turtle spots in Belize. Most easily reached from Punta Gorda or from the charming fishing village of Monkey River, which also has very simple accommodation, and two more comfortable fishing lodges, Steppingstones and Monkey River Retreat. To contact the Monkey River Tour Guides Association, monkeyriverguides@gmail.com