Placencia, Stann Creek, Belize

Tarpon Caye

Tarpon Caye is a small mangrove caye and shallow patch reef area in the Placencia lagoon, popular for snorkelling and shallow training dives. The site is named for the resident tarpon that gather in the channels around the caye. The dive runs on a mixed bottom of sand, seagrass and small coral patches in 3 to 12 metres of water. Reef life includes schools of grunts, schoolmasters, French and queen angelfish, sergeant majors, butterflyfishes and a wide variety of wrasses. Mangrove root systems shelter juvenile snappers, grunts and angelfish, making the site an important nursery within the Belize Barrier Reef ecosystem. Southern stingrays, yellow stingrays, spotted moray eels and lobsters are common. Resident tarpon up to 1.5 metres in length cruise the channels. Caribbean manatees occasionally pass through the seagrass beds. Currents are very mild, visibility 8 to 15 metres on a good day, lower after rain. Excellent for new divers, training, snorkellers and as a calm shake-down dive at the start of a Placencia trip before heading to the outer barrier reef sites.