Coral Islands SUP Trip – Belize

The Belize SUP expedition was born over a year ago when I was invited by Island Expeditions owner Tim Boys to come down to Belize to take part in their week long training program and to introduce standup paddle boarding to the company. It was my first time in Belize and I was impressed by the culture, people and beauty of this small Caribbean country. Island Expeditions runs an amazing operation down here and they have been the leaders in eco adventure travel in Belize since 1987. Tim started the company with a couple of kayaks and passion for adventure. Tim and I talked about the potential to run multi day lodge to lodge sup trips down here. Belize has numerous cayes, mangrove islands and a spectacular pristine reef system in relatively calm marine waters that make this trip ideally suited for sup travel and those just getting into the sport. So we created a seven day itinerary called Coral Island SUP. This was a historic trip as not only was it the first multi day sup trip for Island Expeditions but it would be the first in Belize and most likely in Central America.

ISLAND EXPEDITIONS OWNER TIM BOYS

The trip filled quickly and I was excited to have clients of mine from the Great Bear Rainforest joining me, Jenny Poppitt (Kelowna), Steve Moir (Squamish), crowd favourite Jamie McVicar (Canmore), Blaine Malberg, and photo queen Dorothy Jordan (Merritt). We were also joined by Lisa Bahan (Calgary), yoga guru Ann O'Brien (San Francisco), US east coasters Lisa Rutkoske and Anne MacDonald, Cheryl Johnson (Astoria) and writer "Big" Steve Threndyle. Our Belizean guides were Kimike and Cappi and Tim was also there to provide support for our trip. IE photographer and filmer Duarte Dellarole also joined us.

FOREST CABANAS AT THE TROPICAL EDUCATION CENTER

Day 1: All of the guests arrived in Belize City where we were shuttled to the Tropical Education Center for the evening. After dinner we went on a nocturnal tour of the Belize Zoo which proved to be an exciting activity as we had the opportunity to see many of the animals and birds found in Belize including Tapirs, Ocelots, Puma's, Howler Monkey's and Jaguars, the largest and most powerful cat in the western hemisphere.

THE BELIZE ZOO – PUMA

THE BELIZE ZOO – JAGUAR

Day 2: After breakfast we left for the coastal town of Dangriga, a two hour ride from the TEC where Captain Ballz and his boat would be waiting to take us to our first island, Tobacco Caye. Belize is an english speaking country and Dangriga is the largest town in Southern Belize. It is the cultural center of the Garifuna — people of a mixed indigenous Caribbean and African descent. We had beautiful, hot weather for our 30 minute ride to Paradise Lodge on Tobacco Caye. After settling into our cabanas built on stilts over the water we took advantage of having the boat with us and we towed our boards up the reef for a couple of miles with hopes of down winding back.

RIDE OUT TO TOBACCO CAYE WITH CAPTAIN BALLZ

SHUTTLE UP THE REEF FOR OUR FIRST PADDLE IN BELIZE

PADDLING THE REEF CREST

Day 3: The day started with an early morning yoga session led by Anne followed by coffee and breakfast. Afterwards a natural history presentation by Kimike and Cappi on reef fish and coral was followed by a "walk off" (the island) snorkel. Belize has the largest living barrier reef system in the world called the Meso American reef. This reef contains a stunning, rich and diverse tropical marine ecosystem and the first look into the water leaves most people speechless.

EARLY MORNING YOGA

KIMIKE POINTING OUT A COUPLE OF SPOTTED EAGLE RAYS

After the challenges experienced the day before in the wind, I offered a skills clinic to build an efficient forward stroke and to learn how to handle their boards properly in conditions beyond flat. We used these skills for our light downwind afternoon paddle over to the Tobacco Range, a group of mangrove cayes an hours paddle away from Tobacco Caye.

PADDLING THE CALM WATER OF THE TOBACCO RANGE

SEARCHING FOR MANATEES THROUGH THE MANGROVES

Day 4: This was our big day of paddling, a 5 mile trip from Tobacco Caye to South Water Caye located in the South Water Marine Reserve, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Before leaving we did another skills clinic and then headed out.

BELIZEAN GUIDE "CAPI"

From the snorkel we paddled to our lunch spot where the guides set up a table right on the reef crest. A solid two and a half hour paddle after lunch brought us to South Water Caye. It was a long afternoon and I was proud of the group as for most it was the longest they had ever paddled.

ANNE M, DOT and CREW LEAVING TOBACCO CAYE

DELICIOUS LUNCH ON THE REEF, STEVE and STEVE, LISA R, BLAINE AND JAMIE

JENNY AND STEVE LEADING FROM TOBACCO CAYE TO SOUTHWATER CAYE

BLAINE MALBERG EXPLORING THE REEF CREST

Day 5: Southwater Caye is another stunning island and Outside Magazine had recently rated it as having one of the top beaches. Our accommodations were at IZE, the International Zoological Expeditions Lodge that provided excellent rooming and superb food that sampled locally harvested species like conch, snapper and shrimp.

CHERYL AND LISA R PADDLING FROM SOUTHWATER TO CARRIE BOW CAYE

LISA B ENJOYING THE SUNSET AT CARRIE BOW CAYE

Day 6: The cold front brought very strong winds to the islands, so for most of the day it kept everyone pretty close to the island. Cappi enlightened the group with a morning talk on the importance of mangroves. I did have the opportunity in the afternoon to take a group out the south side lee of the island where we had a lot of fun working on our pivot turns, upwind and downwind paddling.

FINDING SHELTER FROM THE WINDS WHILE WORKING ON OUR ROUGH WATER PADDLING

KIMIKE CRACKING THE COCONUT

ENJOYING OUR COCONUT AND BELIZEAN 1 BARREL RUM

Day 7: We were up for an early morning breakfast at 7 and then the Flasher Wrasse was there to shuttle us back to Dangriga. From there some flew back home while others added on and travelled to Island Expeditions newest venture, Bocawina, a jungle adventure lodge located deep in the rainforest. Aside from a short worker strike at the Belize airport that delayed me for another day, I made it back to B.C. a little darker than when I left.

JAIME CRUISING SOUTHWATER CAYE

Overall it was an incredible trip, everyone left happy, safe and better paddlers. We had a lot of laughs and it was an amazing group to have for the first of it's kind, lodge to lodge sup along the pristine Belizean reef system. Thanks to all the clients, now friends who came on the trip with us. A special thanks goes to our guides Kimike and Cappi and to owners Tim, Denver and Leif for having a great vision and providing a first class business to partner Norm Hann Expeditions with.

SOUTHWATER CAYE ACCOMMODATIONS

If your interested in coming to Belize next year with me stay posted for the dates and send us an email to express your interest. There is still so much to explore and new experiences to be had in Belize. We look forward to 2015/2016.

ONE OF THE BEST WAYS TO END THE DAY IN BELIZE