Remote, rustic fish camp 14 miles off the coast of southern Belize. Basic but nicely appointed accommodations, great food, and incredible fishing for plentiful permit on narrow finger flats surrounded by deep water. Good small to medium bonefish, and lots of blind casting opportunity for rolling tarpon right in island's lagoon. Area has good snorkeling and kayaking but is really geared towards serious saltwater anglers in search of a Grand Slam. Excellent guides.
Anglers must fly to Belize City (average $650 RT from the U.S.) where they will be met by a representative of the lodge and escorted to the domestic flight desk in order to connect with a 40-minute flight on Maya Island Air or Tropic Air to the southern resort town of Placentia. The cost of this final flight ($90 each way) is included in the weekly fishing package. In Placentia anglers will usually be transported directly to the boat dock for the 45-minute trip out to Tarpon Caye. Should arrival in Placentia be too late to get to the lodge that same day, a local hotel room will be arranged (average cost $90 per night). On the return, it is generally possible to fly back from Placentia to the U.S. on the same day. Exit tax at the airport is $35 per person.
Tarpon Caye Lodge was the early vision of pioneering Belize saltwater angler Charlie Leslie who turned 60 this year, and began his 40th year of guiding. The first flats guide in Belize, Charlie worked on his own, as well as for several different lodges, before starting development on beautiful Tarpon Caye in 1997. Then in October, 2001 just a couple of years after completing his lodge, Hurricane Iris slammed the country (a rare event that far south along the coast) destroying everything in its path - including Charlie's dream.
Not to be deterred, Charlie rebuilt his colorful, remote lodge and has been upgrading it every year. It's now just about as perfect a serious fishing camp as you can get - rustic but comfortable, with a reliable infrastructure and excellent staff and guides. It's mainly a family affair with son Marlon as head guide and Charles, Jr. in charge of marketing and booking. Charlie, Sr. hopes to keep his angling legacy going "until I leave this island in a box." Knowing the skill and tenacity of the old salt, that's pretty easy to believe.
With four decades of experience to draw from, including the last dozen years on the island, the folks at Tarpon Caye Lodge have the routine down pretty well. Anglers will enjoy a laid-back but smooth schedule fishing the all-important tides which push legions of permit up onto an endless series of narrow finger flats surrounded by deep water. Timed right, this usually means an early first-light outing, then a return to camp for breakfast, then a go at the resident tarpon in the island's own lagoon (which can result in some big fish!), then a return to permit for the afternoon tide.
The permit in this area are generally smaller than the slabs of Ascension Bay or the Florida Keys, averaging around 10- to 12-pounds. But a big fish can exceed twenty, and the record for Tarpon Caye broke the Bocca at 32-pounds! The fishing drill involves motoring slowly along the outside edge of a flat looking for tails. Once permit are spotted the angler and guide get out of the boat and stalk the fish on foot for the cast. If there are enough permit on the flat it's likely you'll wade the whole thing getting shot-after-shot while the boat tender follows behind ready to quickly load everyone back in if necessary to chase a big hooked fish.
Because almost all of the fishing is for tailing permit in very shallow water, the entire exercise is very exciting and just about as good as it gets for serious permit anglers. Then it's back to camp for local rum-on-the-rocks and a dinner of delicious fresh seafood, which you might even have caught! Throw in a nap or a refreshing swim any time along the way; it's all good, mon!
A unique thing about this trip is that it is decidedly different than fishing for permit just a few hours north in Yucatan or even northern Belize, thus offering an entirely new experience. For one thing the flats are island-formed like the Seychelles, not shallow water bays butting up into a mainland. And although Mexico, Guatemala and Honduras are its neighbors, and there is definite Mayan influence in its people, there is nothing Latin about Belize. As a former British colony of the Crown, English is the official language (with Creole being the local dialect). This is a total Caribbean culture mon, and you get more the sense of being in the Virgin Islands than in Central America.
Excellent destination to bring your significant non-angling other, and even the entire family if you combine Tarpon Caye with one of the hotels on the mainland.
