I have some questions about building a fishing pier/boat dock on the Bay of Chetumal.

1. What is the bottom like around Corozal. Is a barge with pile driver needed to install pier pilings or can they be jetted in and set by hand or...?

2. Are the waters around Corozal deep enough to moor a sailboat with about a 5 ft draft?

3. How much would a typical 200 ft pier cost to build? Assuming about 5 ft wide with a modest T-head on the end.

4. Are permits required for building a pier in this area? If yes, are they difficult to obtain?

Thanks for your help.

from a friend in Chetumal, Peter, who makes killer coconut oil, which can be seen at:
http://TurneffeCoconut.com

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>1. What is the bottom like around Corozal. Is a barge with pile driver
>needed to install pier pilings or can they be jetted in and set by hand
>or...?

Jetted in and set by hand.

>
>2. Are the waters around Corozal deep enough to moor a sailboat with about a
>5 ft draft?

Corozal itself -- yes -- but shallows all about -- and one has to learn the
channels.

>
>3. How much would a typical 200 ft pier cost to build? Assuming about 5 ft
>wide with a modest T-head on the end.

No Idea -- nobody builds piers like this here -- check with the people in
San Pedro -- Ambergris Cay.

>
>4. Are permits required for building a pier in this area? If yes, are they
>difficult to obtain?

Permit is required -- not difficult or expensive to acquire.

We built our pier at the Corozal Bay Inn in Corozal Town out of solid rock. 600 feet long and 15 feet wide.
At the end the depth is about 5 feet. You can view photos on our web site at www.corozalbayinn.com
The dump trucks would drive to the end to dump the rocks and we had people packing them. On top of that we poured a concrete slab. We had to obtain a permit from the Ministry of Natural Resources to build the pier and even got a permit to put a building on the end. Not much problem, they wanted a blueprint and so on. Cost: BZ$110,000. Then came Hurricane/tropical storm Chantal and destroyed a huge chunk of the pier overnight. We know of 2 other persons who built piers with piles and both piers/docks we also wiped out by Chantal less than 2 months after their completion. Our dock is still in use and we hope to one day repair the destroyed section.