Discover the Hidden Gems of Silk Cayes
Silk Caye, also known as Queen Cayes, is on the Belize Barrier Reef 20 miles east of Placencia in Southern Belize. Silk Cayes are part of a marine reserve established to protect the outer reef and cayes and have abundant aquatic life, fish stocks, coral reef biodiversity, and healthy corals. This destination is suitable for novice to advanced divers.
Silk Caye offers exceptional snorkeling and diving opportunities, where you can encounter an array of marine life, including colorful fish, sea turtles, and even the occasional nurse shark. Whether you’re lounging in a hammock, soaking up the sun, or embarking on an underwater adventure, Silk Caye promises an unforgettable experience in the heart of Belize’s natural beauty.
Trip Plan
This is a two-tank boat dive trip with an authentic Belize-style picnic lunch on the caye during the surface interval with a bonus snorkel excursion after the second dive in an area just inside the barrier reef where you are almost certain of close encounters with rays, sharks and huge sea turtles. Divers arrive at our dive center by 08:30 for a 09:00 am departure. The boat ride duration is about one hour. The trip gets back at around 3:30 pm. Typically, snorkelers go on this trip and work from the caye, joining the divers for the bonus snorkel excursion.
Dive Sites
North Wall
This is one of the premier dive sites in the area and offers just about everything one can hope to see on the Belize Barrier Reef. This site is full of marine life with highlights including huge black groupers, hawksbill turtles, spotted eagle rays, green and spotted moray eels, and schools of horse-eye jack and schoolmasters. Occasionally reef sharks, manta rays, and even the whale shark can be seen cruising in the open blue water. This dive is usually done as a multi-level dive starting at 80 feet/24 meters off the wall and then working up to about 40 feet/12 meters on top of the reef crest.
Turtle Canyons
Just north of the north wall, this site has a lot to offer on a second dive. Canyons sloping down to about 60 feet/18 meters offer a perfect resting place for hawksbill and loggerhead turtles. This is a good spot for micro-photographers wanting to capture smaller juvenile species including spotted drums, cleaner shrimps and arrow crabs. Recently a number of lion fish have been spotted in this area probably attracted to the juvenile species. The entire dive is done in and around the canyons in the 50 to 60 foot/15-18 meter depth range.
White Hole
This dive starts at 30 feet/10 meters on the sandy bottom which resembles a white hole from the surface. Traditionally a fishing spot for local fishermen, this site has a lot of marine life. Schools of yellowtail and dogtooth snappers, several different species of grouper, and many other commercial species are seen here in the 60-foot / 18-meter range where most of the activity occurs. In the sandy areas mixed with patches of corals, stingrays, moray eels, and nurse sharks are usually found hiding out. The terrain here slopes gently to the outer wall of corals to about 70 feet/21 meters then drops steeply to a few thousand feet. Keep an eye out for spotted eagle rays swimming in the blue.
Bonus Snorkel Excursion
After the second dive, we pickup the snorkelers who on the caye and head to an area where the local fishermen clean their catch. When the critters hear our dive boat engines, they think it is meal time and you can expect close encounters with rays, sharks and turtles.
