Plan a trip

Sailing the inner lagoon by private catamaran

From Placencia or San Pedro, island to island inside the reef, for a day or several.

A small catamaran with a red and yellow sail carrying a few people across clear turquoise water, with mangroves behind.
A sailing boat silhouetted against a low sun over calm water, with an over-water hut on the horizon.
A white motor boat tied up at a long, low pier in calm, pale water, beside a small mangrove islet.
An open-sided beach bar with a white roof among coconut palms, tables and stools on the sand, and a lounger in the foreground.

About it

The water between the barrier reef and the mainland is sheltered and dotted with small cayes, which makes it good sailing. A private catamaran with a skipper and cook lets you anchor off a different caye each night, snorkel from the boat, and buy fish from the boats you pass.

A day sail is a good break in a land-based trip. Three or four nights on board is a trip in itself, and we'll tell you honestly whether you'll enjoy living on a boat.

How it goes

Day sail

A morning out, snorkel, lunch on a caye, back for sunset.

Island to island

Several nights on board, a different anchorage each night.

Crew

A licensed skipper and a cook who knows the fishermen.

Ending on land

A night ashore in Placencia or San Pedro before you fly.

Who it suits, and when

  • Couples, families and friends who want the cayes without the hotel changes
  • February to June for steady winds and calm waterCheck before you travel

Worth knowing

  • Space is limited on board
  • Weather can change the route

Rules

  • Licensed skipper; marine reserve fees where you stop

Where it happens

  • PlacenciaA long, thin peninsula with a lagoon on one side, the sea on the other, and whale sharks in spring.
  • Ambergris CayeThe biggest caye: restaurants, a golf-cart town, and the reef a few minutes offshore.
  • Caye CaulkerA small caye with sand streets, wooden docks and no hurry at all.

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Often planned together.

All experiences

The atolls by private boat

Turneffe and Lighthouse Reef on your own boat and your own timetable, including the Blue Hole, framed honestly.

  • March to June for the calmest crossingsCheck before you travel
  • Snorkellers and divers who'd rather leave early and come back when they choose
  • Turneffe Atoll, Lighthouse Reef, Ambergris Caye, Caye Caulker
An aerial view of white surf breaking in lines over a reef, with green-blue water behind it.

Whale sharks at Gladden Spit

In spring, around the full moon, whale sharks come to feed off Placencia. It's a chance, never a promise.

  • Roughly March to June, best in April and May, around the full moonCheck before you travel
  • Confident swimmers and divers who can be flexible about which day they go
  • Placencia
An open-sided beach bar with a white roof among coconut palms, tables and stools on the sand, and a lounger in the foreground.