Gales Point

Gales Point is a Creole village strung along a narrow peninsula in the Southern Lagoon, and it has two things that bring people: one of the highest concentrations of Antillean manatees in the Caribbean in the water around it, and a living drumming tradition, with drum makers and the Gales Point drumming school teaching the sambai and other Creole forms. Hawksbill turtles nest on the beach across the lagoon.

History

Gales Point began as a maroon community, settled in the late 1700s and early 1800s by people who had escaped slavery from places such as the Sibun River, Runaway Creek and Mullins River, and in 1816 Superintendent George Arthur recorded a community near the Sibun very difficult to discover. Around 1944 it became the first village in Belize with a village council, organised by its first nurse, Cleopatra White, whose idea became the model for the country's village councils (Wikipedia, Gales Point).

Highlights

• The manatees - one of the region's densest populations, in the lagoon around the village.
• The drumming - Creole drum making and the sambai tradition taught in the village.
• The lagoon - shallow water and mangrove on both sides of the peninsula.
• The turtle beach - hawksbill nesting on the seaward side of the lagoon.

When to go

December to April is the dry season and the most comfortable. Manatees are present year round; calm mornings give the best chance. Turtle nesting runs through the summer.

Good to know

Manatees surface briefly and sightings are often just a nose and a swirl. Facilities are limited to homestays and a couple of simple lodges. The road in is rough and the boat is often easier.

Nearby

Dangriga is south, and the Coastal Highway runs west.

Key facts