ABOUT CAYEQUEST AND OUR TOURS

Your tour guide, Mark Leslie

Cayequest Tours is owned and operated by  Mark Leslie. 

Mark Leslie is a 4th generation Placencia native who grew up fishing and boating across Belize.He is an experienced tour operator, guide and sea captain with intimate knowledge of the reefs, islands and waters from Placencia, North to Ambergris Caye. Mark has over twenty-five years of experience working in sea-oriented tourism, from diving and sea kayaking to fishing and snorkeling. He specializes in customized sea excursions for small groups, including our popular culinary snorkel tour. Mark loves the sea and all it has to offer and looks to share that love with his guests as he shows them his favorite cayes, snorkeling spots and fishing techniques. 

Mark is a licensed guide through the Belize Tourism Board (BTB) and licensed sea captain through the Belize Port Authority. Cayequest Tours is a registered company and licensed tour operator through the BTB. Contact Mark with your questions and to arrange your personal Belizean experience. 

Email: cayequest@gmail.com

Phone: (011-501) 665-6330/634-7031

Mailing Address: Cayequest Tours, General Delivery, Point Placencia, Stann Creek District, Belize

Street Address: Mark works out of a home office. For that reason the best way to contact him for a tour is by email or phone and he will arrange to meet you in person. 

Our Tours 

Culinary Adventures on the High Seas: 

Pompion Caye, a private island

Come join Cayequest Tours, Mark Leslie, enthusiast and passionate about his ancestry heritage of seafarers, who inhabited these surrounding islands, long before settling on mainland Placencia, survival and living off the surrounding environment.  

Mark will guide you through unexplored sunken patch reefs, known only to a few local generations of fisher folks. Witness and experience the coral reef exploding with life in their natural habitat, in the clear turquoise waters of the Belize barrier reef.  Watch as your fresh lunch is hunted and speared, the traditional way. Castaway on a remote private island as your fresh catch is prepared and cooked on an open fire.  Discover the true essence of Placencia lifestyles of eon gone as you leave your comfort zone and experience paradise. 

Full day. Island fees, lunch, snacks, gear and transportation included. Private Island, Pompion Cayes and Inner Reef Cayes 115 USD pp, Silk Cayes, Barrier Reef, snorkel with sharks, rays and turtles  125 USD pp. (park fees included)

Chocolate on the Brain: 

Cacaos 

Join Cayequest Tours to explore Belize’s famous organic chocolate with an adventure south to the Toledo District. Make your own chocolate the traditional way at the country’s only Maya-owned chocolate company, Ixcacao Chocolate.  visit to the Mayan ruin Nim Li Punit or tour a beautiful spice farm. Enjoy a delicious meal prepared by The Chocolate Queen. After lunch we can either visit an organic cacao farm or head to Punta Gorda town to tour Cotton Tree Chocolate’s little factory, sample their delicious line of chocolate bars and shop at their unique gift shop. If you don't feel like doing all chocolate all day, try our Chocolate and Spice Tour:chocolate making at Ixcacao and after lunch indulge your senses in a tour of a working spice farm, or in our Chocolate and Mayan Ruin trip explore the hilltop Mayan site of Nim Li Punit. All tours depart 8 AM, return to Placencia around 5:30PM. See pictures and read more here: Chocolate on the Brain Tour.  Price 125 USD per person, lunch, guide, transportation and fees included. 

Maya Yesterday and Today Tour: 

Anatto

Join us on a cultural adventure from past to present as we explore Nim Li Punit, a small beautiful hill top royal complex from the Late Classic Period of the Mayan civilization and spend time with a Mayan family in the village of Indian Creek, Toledo District. Your guide will help you explore the complex religious, political and scientific world of the Maya elite. Learn about the site’s famous carved stelae and astronomical observatory and enjoy the verdant grounds and beautiful views. 

Descending from our hilltop adventure, we join the Choc family, modern Kekchi Maya living next door to Nim Li Punit and life-long friends of Cayequest Tours' Mark Leslie . Learn all about Mayan cooking as the Choc sisters prepare a delicious lunch. You can even try making your own corn tortillas. After lunch with the family we take a guided walk through the farm and nearby tropical forest learning about wild and cultivated plants and their uses in food, medicine and crafts. Those who would rather stay closer to home can relax in a hammock or try their hands at jippy jappa basket making with the sisters who are masters of their craft. This is a great spot to pick up a wood carving or the baskets for which the family is known. To top off the afternoon, take a refreshing dip in a beautiful tiny pool fed by a spring hidden in a cathedral of green trees near the family home. 135 USD per person, everything included. Departs 8:30 AM returns around 5PM. (For this tour guests should bring a swimsuit and towel and bugspray and wear comfortable walking shoes).

Marie Sharps Hot Sauce Factory and Banana Farm: 

Learn how the Belizean delicacy of habanero pepper sauce is made

We begin our tour by driving north just past Dangriga to Marie Sharps world famous hot sauce factory, where we learn all about habaneros, sample some of her tasty products and shop to our hearts content in her gift shop (jams, jellies, and of course hot sauces galore!). We then head to Hopkins Village, a beautiful beachside community known for its vibrant Garifuna culture, for a traditional lunch at a local hot spot. After our meal we leisurely drive through Hopkins and Sittee River, a lush riverside Kriol village, on our way to Sagitun Banana Farm, at the north end of Placencia Peninsula. Read more and see photos here: Marie Sharps and Banana Farm tour. Trip available Monday, Thursday and Friday. Departs at 9AM and returns by 4:30PM. 105 USD pp. Full day tour. Lunch, tour & guide fees & transportation included.

Monkey River Tour: 

Explore the nearby community of Monkey River Town and head up the river with your captain and a local guide to catch a glimpse of Belize’s famous howler monkeys whose call can be heard from up to three miles away! Learn about local flora and fauna and experience another side of what Belize has to offer. Upon request we would love to help you do some fishing, stop for a swim or to sunbathe, or look for manatee in Placencia Lagoon on the trip home. Fresh local fruits provided for snacking, while a traditional Belizean lunch can be arranged upon request in Monkey River Town. This half day tour normally departs at 12 noon and returns by 5:30 PM, however we are happy to depart earlier in the morning or at any time between 8AM and 12:30 PM to accommodate your group's needs. Half day trip. Snacks; Captain and Monkey River guide fees included. 75 USD per person.

Other Custom Adventures: 

Toledo landscape

We organize trips to Rio Dulce and Livingston, Guatemala and all over Belize: explore Caye Caulker, San Pedro, Turneffe Atolls, Lighthouse Reef, Tobacco Caye, Glovers Reef, the remote cayes of the Toledo District, and points beyond! Inland tours visiting with  Mayan families, exploring jungle ruins, hidden caves, spice and cacao farms are only a phone call away. 

Single or multi-day adventures-call at (011-501) 633-6330  or email cayequest@gmail.com to arrange your personal itinerary today!