Dr. Dorla Rosado and expat friends Doug and Lynn at Placencia Belize.
Left Belize at 2:00pm as planned on Thursday and arrived in Belmopan at 3:00pm where we hooked up with Hugh Leyton at The Pizza Place. Had a cold one with Hugh and a short but interesting discussion. We were running late so Hugh agreed to drop off Manolo’s Sour Sop Seedlings for me and Dorla and I pulled out of Belmopan at 3:30pm.
We arrived at Laru Beya at 5:30 pm. just as dark was settling in. After settling in we had dinner with the owner, Ian McField, who is a cousin of mine and one of Ian’s friends - Norman Francis who is a guest at Laru Beya. The Quarter Deck Restaurant is first class as is the rest of the property – Laru Beya was ranked #1 out of the 21 hotels in Placencia. Dinner was a real experience – the chef personally gathered info from each of us as to what we wanted and how we wanted it done. I let Dorla choose and we had grilled grouper with sauteed onions and vegetables – yummy!! We settled down in our suite for a much needed nights rest about 10:00 pm. The suite was all that I expected and even more – I would recommend Laru Beya as the best accommodation that I have experienced in Belize - Auxillou Suites, Jaguar Reef and Turtle Inn were good but Laru Beya is #1 hands down.
We were up at 5:00 am. to have coffee and a sandwich before leaving on our fishing trip. We joined fishing mates Ian and Norman at the Laru Beya beach to wait for Captain Cagi to pick us up in Lacy. (photos of pre departure attached). We set out in choppy conditions at 6:20 and after a rough ride arrived at Roberts Caye about 7:10 where we anchored alee to prepare the gear. Lines were in the water at 7:15 with Dorla and Norman manning the lines.
At 7:20 Dorla got hooked up and brought in a small Bonito – 5 minutes later she hooked up again and brought in a small Mackerel – we were confident that the fishing was going to be very productive so we released the mackerel as being too small. During the next hour Dorla brought in 2 sand barrows which we released. Norman was still to get a hit and the wind was picking up. About 9:00 Norman brought in a small Barracuda and Dorla lost a lure to something big. The waves were 3-4 feet by this time and we decided to head to Hatchet Caye ( a really beautiful resort – photos attached) for a bathroom break and for Norman to get a bite. By the time we left Hatchet Caye the waves were 4-5 feet so the captain decided to start heading in. After a rough 45 minutes we pulled up under Long Coco Caye and trolled the area under Long Coco and Mosquito Cayes – no luck so we decided to continue trolling while heading back to the peninsula.
About 1:15 Norman was getting despondent and suggested that we call it a day and head back in. While we were deciding both lines started singing and Dorla and Norman had battles on their hands. Dorla’s battle was short as she lost her second lure but Norman brought in a large Bonito. Dorla was fired and Ian took over her line. The captain circled again and again the two lines started singing at the same time. Norman brought in another large Bonito and Ian brought a monster Bonito within gaff’s reach before he lost it. After another circle we decided to call it a day. When we reached the beach at Laru Beya the Chef was waiting for us with a plastic dish – he took instructions as to how we wanted the catch prepared for the night’s dinner.
Later Dorla and I went into Placencia Village where we had dinner at D’Thatch – Dorla had fillet snapper and I settled for a Conch Fritters platter.
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