The Offshore Atolls, Post 26-16
- sondrawinter
- Apr 19
- 5 min read
Updated: 6 hours ago
We saw some amazing sites this week and share a few key moments for this part of our visit to Belize, from swimming with fish, visiting UNECO sites, seeing rare birds and being terrified for our lives.
Thursday, April 9 – Thursday, April 16, 2026
From Caye Caulker to Lighthouse Reef Atoll
82 miles | 72 nautical miles (NM)
Belize is a gem of a cruising ground partly due to the Belize Barrier Reef which is 185 miles long, making it the largest reef system in the Northern Hemisphere. Aside from superb snorkeling and diving opportunities, the reef calms down the seas that are often carried westward by the trade winds.
Caye Caulker to Cay Bokle, Turneffe Atoll
Thursday, April 9
44 miles | 38 NM
From the protected waters of Caye Caulker, we worked our way across the Belize Barrier Reef at Long Cay Pass and headed east to the Turneffe Atoll. The trip was calm, windless and hot as we motored at the same speed of the wind which was much lighter than the forecast claimed.
When we reached the southern end of the Turneffe Atoll we turned east to carefully wind our way into the atoll towards the Cay Bokel anchorage. Once the boat was settled and straightened it was so very nice to jump into the water for a swim around Utopia after the very hot passage, that is after researching whether or not the numerous thimble jellyfish were safe to swim with.
This anchorage is located inside of the Turneffe Atoll Marine Reserve and park staff come out to the boats to collect an anchorage fee of $10 USD per person per night. It was a fine spot for a single night with a little bit of wraparound swell.
Cay Bokle to Long Caye, Lighthouse Reef Atoll
Friday, April 10
24 miles | 21NM
Another day of winds being lighter than forecasted, and thus another day of motor sailing. Entering the atoll required a bit of research beforehand since the Navionics charts are often not positioned correctly or just have inaccurate data. Comments on Noforeignland indicated that the Freya cruising guide coordinates may be outdated. Thankfully other cruisers have shared their route into the anchorage and we never saw less than 10’ of depth on their coordinates.
Long Caye
Friday – Tuesday
Long Caye is located in the Lighthouse Reef Atoll, and we anchored not too far from the atoll’s wall where water depths go very quickly from 1000’ to 10’. While at this spot, we spent the mornings doing chores and projects onboard then exploring the cay or snorkeling nearby reef patches in the afternoon. Due to very hungry mosquitoes on the cay, we preferred snorkeling.
The Jeep with dive flag & attached to a mooring ball | Sondra lounging behind Utopia.
Several charted dive moorings line the edge of the atoll, and we took the dinghy out to several of them to snorkel. At “The Aquarium” we swam in the middle of a school of two kinds of fish, and they didn’t mind our presence at all, creating a magical experience.
At our final snorkel location, we had a very different experience as it was filled with terror, and it was not because of the barracuda or the spotted stingray that swam nearby. The currents had been increasing in strength in the afternoon, so we were both hanging onto lines attached to the stern of the dinghy, resting before climbing back aboard.
Then we noticed a sailboat heading straight towards us!
There was not enough time to climb into the dinghy, get the motor started and to release it from the mooring. Instead we both started waving our arms, screaming at the top of our lungs, and at what felt like the very last moment, the boat veered away from us. From inside of the dinghy, we watched it turn into the anchorage and we debated whether or not to head over to their boat, and decided against it. However, a few minutes after we returned to Utopia, we saw a dinghy heading our way. The sailboat owner came over to apologize, admitting that they did not see us until the very last minute. His apology and clarity on what happened was very much appreciated. The three of us chatted a bit, all feeling better about the incident and he returned to his boat.
Two dive resorts are on Long Caye, and one of them, Itza Resort and Dive Center, offers some services to non-guests, like heading out to the Blue Hole (a UNESCO site), which we opted to do.
Our captain, Albert was very cheerful, driving quickly through the reefs just on visual cues and experience (i.e. no chart plotter or maps). Roxy was our guide. It was nice to rely on someone to pick the location to snorkel, and for us to simply follow her around. We spent 55 minutes working our way around the western wall of the hole. The center of the hole reminded us of Deans Blue Hole in the Bahamas. What was different was the reef surrounding the Blue Hole which was filled with so many coral formations and a good variety of fish. One time I looked behind me to see a barracuda watching us, but once discovered, it lost interest and swam away. Jimmy saw a small shark in the hole. I saw something big in the hole but couldn't tell if it was a large barracuda or small shark.
Long Caye to Half Moon Caye, Lighthouse Reef Atoll
Tuesday, April 14
7 miles | 6 NM
While the sun was high in the sky, we made our way back out of the western side of the atoll only to enter it at another spot north of Long Caye, to head to the southeast part of the atoll while crossing over shallow waters with hard coral all around. We managed to reach Half Moon Caye with our hearts still functioning and no dings on our hull.
Half Moon Caye
Tuesday - Thursday
Located 55 miles east of Belize City, Half Moon Caye is within the Lighthouse Reef Atoll and is a part of the Belize Barrier Reef Reserve System, a UNESCO site. It was the first National Monument in the Belize National Parks System and boaters need to pay $10 USD per person per night. In this case we had to hunt down someone on the cay to make our payment.
Half Moon Cay is an absolute gem, about a mile in length, and special place to visit, reminding us of the Dry Tortugas to some degree.
The cay is the nesting location for magnificent frigatebirds and the red-footed booby. We were able to see many fluffy magnificent frigatebird chicks from the observation tower provided by the Belize Audubon Society.
Surrounding the cay are numerous reefs, and the wall of the atoll, providing great snorkeling and diving opportunities. We snorkeled in the calm waters west of Sunset Beach and around Utopia.
Half Moon Cay Long Cay to Lighthouse Reef Atoll
Thursday, April 16
7 miles | 6 NM
We reversed our course and returned to the western side of Long Cay to stage ourselves for leaving the atolls. Caution was still needed to cross over the atoll, but for the most part we followed our track from the way in.
The atolls off of Belize were absolutely worth the effort it took to reach and to navigate through. Staying out here requires being prepared for some very remote living. Since our first visa is getting close to expiring and our food stores are getting very low, it is time to move on to Placencia.
Post 26-16
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