Capt. Morgan's Retreat in Ambergris Caye

[Darton]

Hi guys,

Wondering if anyone has stayed at Captain Morgan's Retreat in Ambergris Caye. The wife and I are looking to head to Belize, but we are limited because we will be swapping our timeshare from Grand Cayman to Belize... only 4 resorts available. I checked out their website and it looks like there are flats right off of the resort... although tough to tell from the photos online.
I'm looking to do some DIY for Bones mainly, but if I can get into Tarpon, Snook or Permit, well then all the better! Please let me know what you guys think... you've always been a big help in the past and I really appreciate that.

Mike

[warhorse]

Hi Mike,

My wife and i were in San Pedro during the first week of May. We did not stay at Cptn Morgans but god knows we were invited many times by the timeshare hawkers in San pedro.
I believe anywhere there are sandy spots on the east side of the island offer some hope of hooking bonefish, fish the incoming tide(I was able to do this just across the bridge N side). There isn't a whole lot of fish but the ones and twos add up. The lagoon side has plenty of bonefish but you pretty much need a guide to get you to them. I checked the rates at "El Pescador" and it goes like this:
$395.00 USD + tax, no lunch, they will not pick you up, and you get whatever guide is left over after the guests have their pick. I figure, with tip you are looking at a $500.00 trip. Not too bad if you have someone to share costs with however I was solo. I settled on a guide from "Go fish Belize" $300.00. no lunch, but at least he picked me up in front of "Cloisters Resort" where we stayed. I thot the guide was just learning, when i went back to their office I saw that I was 8th on their day list. It Helps to pre-book. As for Tarpon, you must have a guide and nice weather to boat across to the mainland. Permit, there are some in the lagoon but you have to be lucky to find them.

My thots on San Pedro, Very expensive, limited DIY fishing,
Would i go back--- NO!

Check and see if you can swap your timeshare to Cozumel. After we left Belize we went to Cozumel and had a great holiday as well as fantastic fishing with Alberto, Nacho' s son.


If you must go to Cptn Morgans fish any sandy areas on incoming high tides, ask around.
Cptn Morgans is quite far from San Pedro so unless you rent a golf cart @ $60.00/day or rent a bike, your travel will be restricted.

Best of luck!

Joe

[Darton]

Hi Joe,

Thanks a lot for the info. I've heard of similar reports about the timeshare sales people. Not something I will have a lot of patience with while on vacation! We do have some other options for "swapping" so maybe I'll look into Cozumel... I just assumed that it was a bit more commercialized, and that's not really my cup of tea. We like the quiet life while vacationing. Thanks again for your help.

Mike

[warhorse]

Hi again,

I'm with you as far as quiet goes.

Our Cozumel trip went like this.

We have a timeshare at the Occidental Grand which is about 18 km. out of the town of San Miguel, this is commercial city, cruise ships and all.
Our resort is on San Francisco beach. The beaches were virtually empty between resorts. Even the resorts were quiet. I saw 3 Tarpon swimming near the wharf and the Jacks came in everyday to raise hell with the schools of minnows that hung around.
As I said earlier I booked a day with Alberto, Nancho's son. If you read other posts in this forum you will soon realize they are the premier guides in that area, I met them at San Miguel church at 5:30 am
Cost was $300.00 for a full day with lunch and cold beer, pop, or water.
We fished the first lagoon and never saw another boat. Once we got over the bar, Alberto spotted bonefish in very skinny water. I was rigged with a 30# tag and a 10# X 12' tapered leader. It was too big for skinny water and almost every cast sent the fish scurrying. Alberto rigged me with 14# straight leader and 10# tippet, then we were soon into fish. We fished the full day and I landed 14 bones, probably missed 50 because I was so eager to strip when I felt a fish. Saw 100's of the beauties. We spent the rest of the day exploring the shoreline, fished a few muds, fished some more skinny water this time with luck. We both hoped to bump into a Permit, but no luck. It was the best guided trip I had ever been on.

If you do go to Cozumel, stay outside of town. Cab fare is $15.00 each way from where I was.

If you do go fishing, take plenty of sunscreen, wear a hat with neck coverage, (foreign legion style) If you can get a pair of flats gloves-PRICELESS! nothing worse than having the back of your hands burnt. Long pants and long sleeve shirt. Oh Yea, polarized glasses of course.

If you roll your own flies take plenty of tan Gottcha's in size 4, black eyes some pink and some white. For skinny water we used a fly with red thread wrapping along the shank with a pair of black eyes 3/4 down shank, red tag and red glitter tail. Alberto ties his own and has plenty if you do not have the right ones.

They are great guides they even gave me a lift back to my resort at the end of the day.

We are going again in October. Hopefully with the experience I gained from fishing with the best I'll be able to land the fifty or so I lost.


Tight lines,

Joe

[Darton]

Landed 14... that's quite a day!!! Sounds like you had a great trip, and I can see why you want to go back. We are still working on the details, but I'll stay in touch to let you know how things go. Thanks again for your feedback and help... it's much appreciated.
I'm with you on "covering" up while on the flats... I'm fair skinned as it is, and I don't like to take chances on screwing the rest of my trip by getting BAKED! Appreciate the help.

Mike