In this Flashback of San Pedro you see two tourists enjoying a refreshing swim at the Boca del Rio which is the opening of the canal leading to the back of the island. They are at the edge of the south side and looking towards the north, you see a post seawall of a property belonging to a Belize City businessman, one Mr. Gutierrez.
The canal mouth was very shallow with seaweed or sea grass on both sides reaching only up to one’s knee or legs. The middle of the canal was about two and a half feet deep and a lot of people were able to cross to the other side without getting totally wet, especially on a low tide. A dory or small boat could easily traverse down the canal or river as we used to call it.
As the need for larger boats arose, the center of the canal was dug and made deeper and wider. This was done by the village council in conjunction with Caribeña, the fishing cooperative, to facilitate navigation of its large fishing boats to the west side of the village/island where the processing plant and ice plants were located. As time went by the Boca del Rio was dug/dredged to about five or six feet as it stands today to meet the demands of large sea vessels, and of course the demands of traffic and the bridge. Will add that it was not a popular swimming site, but indeed a very popular fishing spot, especially at night time. A five-pound snapper was very common at this spot.
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