Moho Caye is a beautiful island that is home to soft white sandy beaches and lush greenery including, coconut, almond, oak and mangrove trees all surrounded by crystal blue waters ideal for snorkeling, diving and swimming.
Located only 12 miles east of the Placencia Peninsula and 9 miles west of the world famous Belize Barrier Reef, Moho was easily accessible and was a spot we visited regularly during our years in Belize.
There was very little room to wiggle a boat into the beach but once you knew the way, it became easier and I tried to visit here twice a month for the simple reason that the diving was spectacular. In the photo below, you can see the sandy beach and small bay where there is a small break in the reef, which was room enough to get through.
While it may not be obvious from these photos, the reef surrounding the Caye dropped off by 60 – 100 feet on the lagoon side and then to over 500 feet on the barrier reef side, which meant good easy dives on one side and the chance to see big sea life on the other. You can see from above the beach area that could be wiggled into with a boat where the small peninsula or sand dune forms at the left, which was a protected the area and we could tie up our boats to a tree on the beach.
There was a pinnacle that started at about 90 feet and was at least 30 feet around and extended right to the surface so if you were so inclined and like to look at little critters, you could simply circle this pinnacle around and around until you got close to the top, which would also allow you to do your safety stop while enjoying the scenery.
This was one of my favourite dive locations for four years.
In fact, it was also the nursery for most of the palm trees we planted on our property as storms would wash coconuts onto the beach and there were literally thousands growing here. I would visit occasionally, harvest 20 or 30 trees and take them back to our property to plant.
It was a completely wild caye in those years. It has since become the location of a resort and how they manage to accommodate guests on such an island is beyond me. Where does the waste go ?
I suppose it was simply a matter of time until someone decided that it would be better to create a small resort than leave the island as it was, wild and beautiful.
Sigh…
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