Gales Point

Gales Point was formerly a home site for pre-colonial loggers. Rresidents of today are mostly farmers and fisherman who recognize the importance of this delicate habitat and have spared no effort to preserve it. Read morea bout the Belize District

“Culture day allowed for us to personally engage with members of the village while simultaneously leaning about Kriol traditions from a visual perspective. It was interesting to be able to communicate and connect with these people as well as obtain an understanding and a knowledge of how they live.” -Ren Munsterman, Summer 2017

Gales Point Wildlife Sanctuary is a feeding grounds of the Caribbean Manatee, and a nesting beach for the endangered Hawksbill Turtles. The sanctuary has twenty two ecosystems identified in the area under the UNESCO classification system – twenty terrestrial ecosystems and two aquatic systems.

Centered on one of two connected large lagoons on the central coastal plain, Gales Point Wildlife Sanctuary covers a complex matrix of brackish lagoons, creeks and mangrove mudflats. With rivers and creeks draining into the lagoon from the west, water then flows to the east, the lagoon being connected to the Caribbean Sea through Bar River, a channel that cuts through the coastal bar of the east coast of Belize. Private land lines the majority of the shorelines of the lagoons and coast. Read more about Gales Point Wildlife Sanctuary

Critically endangered species of Gales Point:

Central American River Turtle (Hickatee)
Hawksbill Turtle
Goliath Grouper

Endangered species of Gales Point:

Mexican Black Howler
Baird’s Tapir
Yellow-headed Parrot
Loggerhead Turtle
Green Turtle
Yaxnik; Fiddlewood

“For me every day in Belize was a great memory, and I was sad to leave. My favorite part was meeting the people, who live in Gales Point, and learning and listening to them.”— Kathryn Fossaceca – Summer 2011