How To Get To Palm Bay Club From San Pedro, Belize
"Palm Bay Club is truly beautiful. It is also remote being at the north end of Ambergris Caye, Belize.........
Here's the scoop .........
PBC is about 15 or 20 miles north of San Pedro as the crow flies. If you are trying to walk the land and see it up close and in person the only reasonable way to get there and back in the same day is by boat. To travel along the eastern coastline to PBC one has to go outside the reef, travel abeam to the sea in deep water and then come back though the reef to the shallower waters and thence to PBC. On a really calm day this is possible and a wonderful day on the water. Best to be in a boat with two engines for safety, to have a experienced boat captain and a reasonably large boat.
If weather does not co-operate with your schedule for traveling on the eastern side of the island you will probably opt to take a boat up the western side of the island, through the northern cut and then out into the sheltered waters and south to PBC. This increases the distance (probably 55 miles round trip) traveled but is the best way if water is rough.
I love taking this route as you get to see some very special places most folks never visit. The bird cayes and the channel between Belize and Mexico are fantastic. Either way, you will be chartering a boat for a full day and using a lot of fuel. Fuel costs are over $10 Bz a gallon and outboards don't get very impressive milege. All that is an explanation of why you will probably not find a "budget" way to get up there because fixed costs are substantial.
Now add to those logistics the timing of your trip .......... September is a month of celebrations and holidays and is statistically the absolute peak of hurricane season. This could mean that you are not going to get up there by boat regardless of costs.
An alternative to water travel is to charter a plane to fly over the land. This is also not cheap but it is gorgeous. both fixed wing plans and helicopter trips can be arranged.
When booking a trip during hurricane season, advise that you purchase travel insurane. Also note that in September a large number of hotels and restaurants close for holidays and refurbishment, so your choices for these services are limited." The above in quotes was written by Diane Campbell on a forum. Diane is a long time resident of Belize and obviously really likes Palm Bay Club. Who doesn't?
Chartering a boat is one way you can travel by water but booking a beach BBQ with one of the tour companies is another way to get to the north end of Ambergris Caye by boat. The water taxi also makes runs up to the north end of Ambergris Caye. The water taxi’s last stop going north is Blue Reef, about 8 miles. The Turtleman, whose house is next to Tranquility Bay, takes his kids every day to Blue Reef to catch the water taxi to school in San Pedro and picks them up at the end of the day. Call him and see if you can make arrangements to meet him at Blue Reef ( http://turtlemanshouse.com/ )and you can ask him if he knows how to get up to Palm Bay Club from Blue Reef.
Also you can call Tranquility Bay and see if you might be able to connect with one of their boats picking up guests and/or supplies, but that varies a lot ( http://www.tranquilitybayresort.com/belize/index.cfm ) but no matter how you decide to explore up North, you will not be disappointed!!!! TB has a great restaurant for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Also excellent snorkeling off the beach. You can ask them also if they know how to get up to Palm Bay Club and back from the north end of Ambergris Caye. Networking with people to get the information you need is the way to go.
