Belize - what do guides cost down there for half and full day trips?

[Kenny]

My brother is going to be on a bit of a small budget. Thought I would flip for some guided fishing but also curious if there are some areas that are better than others to try some kayak fishing or wade fishing on our own.

[Bob G]

As of 2 months ago, fly shop $375 per day; if you can arrange directly with a guide $300 per day.

Good Luck,

Bob

[Bill Kiene semi-retired]

One way to save money is to go out for a half-day in the morning for $200+

[Mort]

Which area of belize are you going to?

[TheAnglingReport]

Kenny - See both articles below. Hope this helps! (had to cut the first short due to space so if you want to read the rest let me know) -The Angling Report

Ambergris Caye Belize: How to Fish It Dirt Cheap to Fish It Dirt Cheap

February is a great time to escape the depths of a Canadian winter and flex a rod for bonefish and perhaps luck into an opportunity to cast to a permit or two. For the past five years, my fishing partner, John Gregori, has joined me on a trip to Cuba. However, our plans fell through this past year, so we decided to try a new venue?Ambergris Caye in Belize. Before I tell you about our trip, I should point out that John and I have hunted and fished in all sorts of places over the years, sometimes fully outfitted, but often on our own. The latter includes pack train trips in British Columbia off the Alaska Highway, hunting expeditions in Alberta, and Atlantic salmon fishing trips in Quebec, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and Newfoundland, including multi-day canoe trips on several rivers. We also did the initial explorations on 12 rivers on Russia?s Kola Peninsula before outfitters were even established on those rivers.
Given that background, it?s probably not surprising that John and I didn?t start planning our Belize trip by calling a booking agent or a lodge. Instead, we called Jim Oliver, the owner of a fly shop called Tres Pescados (www.belizefly.com) in the Belizean village of San Pedro Town. Jim is a widely respected and experienced fly shop owner who owns a guide service in Alaska, among other things. He immediately lined us up with some experienced local guides who operate on an independent basis. He told us guides would be indispensable if we wanted to get up to speed on this new location quickly. He also warned us that a good boat would be necessary, as there are limited opportunities for wading in the area where we planned to stay.

In my view, a top saltwater guide must have five qualities: (1) intimate knowledge of the waters to be fished in all seasons and under all conditions; (2) knowledge of where specific species of fish are likely to be under any given condition of tide and moon phase; (3) sufficient experience with flies to be able to select those that will bring success; (4) knowledge of the fishing techniques associated with specific flies?for example, appropriate stripping technique; (5) and, finally, a top saltwater guide must be able to spot fish even under difficult conditions. The guides Jim set us up with had all of these qualities. They have been fishing Ambergris Caye and the vicinity for decades. Interestingly, they were both members of the same family. We fished two days with Carlos, the patriarch, and four days with Abbie, one of his four sons. Abbie is a superb guide who has his own guide business (www.gofishbelize.com) that revolves around the family.

The cost to fish with Abbie was $300 US per eight-hour day for one or two anglers, which covered the guide, boat, and water/soft drinks. The boats we used were 21-foot, custom-made fiberglass pangas with 50 horsepower Yamahas, poling platforms, and casting decks. These are heavy craft, which offer stability for the caster. The large foredecks are great for holding stripped line, too, though you have to avoid stepping on it and spoiling your cast.

San Pedro Town is the only built-up area of consequence on Ambergris Caye. It?s little more than a tourist strip of three streets overcrowded with golf carts and crafts sellers. A half dozen adequate restaurants provide dinner for the self-catering angler, and the fresh fish is reasonably good. Just be aware that there is not much to do here other than diving and fishing, so it is not much of a family destination. There is a mangrove shoreline here, which means there is only a narrow strip of beach on the east side of the town. Those interested in lying on the beach may be disappointed unless they book at one of the high-class resorts.

We stayed in the center of San Pedro Town at the Mayan Princess Hotel (www.mayanprincesshotel .com), which had the advantage of proximity to the guides and the fishing. Seven nights? lodging cost us $840, or $420 each. As for meals, we purchased the components of our lunches locally and took them along with us, and we ate dinners at the best local restaurants, including Blue Waterfront, Elvi?s, and the Mango Tree. Dinners cost $50 to $75 each evening. Our breakfasts were included with the hotel.

There are more costly resorts in and around San Pedro Town, but most of them are accessible only by water taxi, which means it may require an extra half hour boat ride to reach the best fishing grounds. One of the premier resorts catering to fly fishermen here is El Pescador (www.elpescador .com). The quoted rate there for a week, double occupancy, was $3,930 per person at the time of our trip. That?s about three times the $1,320 we paid for our trip. Yes, that sum includes the cost of six days of guided fishing.

Low-Cost Fishing In Placencia Belize

Canadian subscribers to this publication seem to be particularly adept at arranging low-cost international fishing trips on their own. Witness the day trip Nova Scotian subscriber Scott Smith set up for himself and a companion in Placencia, Belize, this past February 17. Smith says he found his guide, Earl Godfrey, by experimenting with Google search terms, which led him to the following Web site: www.placencia.com /Members/Tripntravel.html.
?I booked Godfrey directly via email,? Smith writes. ?His wife, Laura, handles all of his Internet inquiries. I stayed at a nearby resort where he picked me up at 6 am in his boat.?

Smith says his outing with Godfrey was his first bonefish trip. Though the weather was far from perfect and he had trouble seeing the fish, he nonetheless caught 12 on the fly in the one- to oneand-a-half-pound range. He spent most of the day in Godfrey?s 25-foot boat, but he also waded some. ?Godfrey was very knowledgeable, and he was good at giving instructions,? Smith writes. ?His boat and equipment were in perfect condition.?

Postscript: Smith gives the cost of his day of fishing as $350, plus tip. He split that cost with a fishing companion. We are eager to hear about the adventures and misadventures of other subscribers who have ventured into the wilds of the Internet and booked trips on their own. Write doncausey@anglingreport.com.


CONTACT DETAILS FOR COMPANIES/INDIVIDUALS MENTIONED IN ARTICLE (if any)


Earl Godfrey. Placencia, Belize. Tel. 011 501 523 3433. E-mail: lgodfrey@btl.net

[Kenny]

It looks like we are going to take a flier and spend one week on Glover's Atoll which is fairly remote and rustic as in 90 miles off the mainland, no electricity, and one boat in and out per week. Ratings online are either a 1 we hated it or a 5 we loved it with the vast majority being 5's with caveats on expectations. There is one guide who doubles as the cook. He does flats fishing and blue water fishing for $125 a half day and $250 for a full. Supposedly he knows his business. You can walk north 12 miles on top of the dry spit of reef or kayak. One side is flats and the other is the deep sea.

After that we plan to spend a week somewhere with more amenities. Probably Caye Caulker.