Cucumber Beach Marina Belize

We ran over night to from Chinchorro Bank to the main ship channel to Belize City. We had to slow down so as to arrive at the sea buoy at first light. The twisty channel is deep and well buoyed, but we weren’t taking any chances on a first time approach, because the reefs and shoals lie along the outside of the channel belonging to the second largest barrier reef in the world. Looking at the chart, the channel looks like a sunken river channel and probably was when sea levels were lower in the last ice age.
We were headed to Cucumber Beach marina 5 miles SW of downtown Belize City, which is really the only useable marina in the area. We called ahead to make a reservation and asked the Dockmaster if we could get in with our 6’3” draft. He said yes, but only at high tide. So we carefully consulted the tide table built into our Furuno Navnet software (C-Map) so that we’d go in at exactly high tide which would give us 1.6 feet above datum. One hour out, we called on VHF and said we’d be in, but the Dockmaster replied that high tide wasn’t for 2 and a half hours. Now we were confused, who to believe, C-Map or the Dockmaster, so we chose the latter and back and filled off the breakwater.
We found the approach waypoint by Rauscher( 17 27.87’N 88 14.65’W) to be quite accurate withy no hazards on final approach, a soft bottom with no rocks. Well to starboard you see the new petroleum pier extending well offshore and ashore conspicuous white tanks. To port you’ll see another small breakwater with aquaculture pens outside and commercial fishing boats inside. Cucumber beach marina is most distinguished by a tall tower with colorful flags on it. This is part of a water park associated with it. The breakwaters are not tall and the entrance is narrow. Wide enough for one boat, so if you see another vessel coming out, wait for it to exit before entering. Stay centered in the channel as it shoals quickly on the side.
We finally entered at slow bell and watched the sounder carefully and just inside the breakwater about 100 feet we were reading close to zero under our keel, but didn’t not touch. Inside, all we could see were catamaran’s, which is usually not a good indication for a deep draft cruising boat. We discovered later that the C-Map tide table was in error. So we ordered the official U.S. Dept. of Commerce tide book sent down to us.
Well inside is a turning basin. Depending on the tide there is a weak current flowing in or out of the marina. The transit docks are on a single long non floating pier on the southside. The pier facing is all wood and easy to lay alongside, the top of the dock is about 4 feet from the water. Power is 220 50 amp and was ample for air conditioning when we were there. Car access is only steps from the boat so it is easy to get supplies aboard. Only a few steps away is a good restaurant, reasonably priced. Inside of it is an ATM machine that dispenses Belize dollars. The exchange rate was 2 Belize. Fuel is brought pierside by truck. Security is very good. At night we saw two guards patrol, each carrying a sawed off 12 guage shot gun and a machete. Bugs are a problem so keep the boat buttoned up. They are very tiny, barely visible like gnats and bite and pass right through screens.
On the north side of the marina is a tiny convenience store. Behind it is a self service laundry with one washer and one dryer and showers. The dock master’s office is next door. He will assist you with port clearance by calling the officials (Port Captain, Immigration, Health, and Customs) who come out from Belize City. You pay for the taxi ride. You present your clearance and crew list from you last port. They have many forms to fill out. One unusual twist is they want a copy of the dinghy registration and list of ships stores. You don’t have to be very through with this, almost any reasonable list will do. They never check. Don’t arrive on the weekend and try to clear as there are large overtime charges.
Total Port Charges were in and out were about US$224 which seems high. James, the immigration officer collected US$30 in and 30 out and didn’t give a receipt for either when asked, so it’s bogus. We went to the immigration office the day before to make sure we got cleared out to make our high tide at 1300 the following day; he insisted he had to come to the boat the next day.
Security is very good. At night we saw two guards patrol, each carrying a sawed off 12 gauge shot gun and a machete. Bugs are a problem so keep the boat buttoned up. They are very tiny, barely visible like gnats and bite and pass right through screens. Overall this is a very convenient marina, especially by Central American standards.
On departure the dredge was working from the north breakwater. We found .8 foot under our keel at the same spot we found least depth in the dinghy. It was exactly high tide of .76 foot. this would mean 7’ of water at high water. So at low tide we would have nearly touched with our 6’3” draft. This is contrary to the 8’ we were told by the marina. But they were working the dredge so hopefully this will make the place more available to boats other than catamarans.