Brief History Of Charlie Leslie's Tarpon Caye Lodge:

Charlie Leslie is the founder and Co-Owns Tarpon Caye Lodge with his sons, Charlie Leslie Jr. (administrative manager) and Marlon Leslie (TCL guide) and best friend friend Charles Cabral (TCL guide).

Charlie has helped pioneered and popularize sport fishing and fly fishing in Belize, he has worked with and know many of the Fly Fishing Legends such as Lefty Kreh, (Charlie got to know him working with Kellers Caribbean Sports in Northern Belize in the early 70s), Mel Krieger, Chico Fernandez, Chris McCreedy etc...

We run a family oriented fishing operation with over 50 years combined fly fishing experience, and we make all our guests feel a part of the family.
During the mid eightys to the mid ninetys Charlie Leslie operated its Kingfisher Sport Fishing Operation out of Placencia Village.
Over the years the majority of our repeat clients and our new clients complained about the long boat ride getting out and back everyday, the long ride was not only taking a toll on the clients, it was also taking a toll on the guides, many times it was encouraged by our clients to camp a few nights on one of the cayes (islands) which we have done at the clients request; this was working very well.
So, in 2024 Charlie started looking at potential cayes (islands) to set up an appropriate self-sustained fishing camp. We had a few to chose from, but we decided on Tarpon Caye (island), which has one of the largest population of tarpon in its lagoon and it sits in the middle of the Victoria Channel and also in the middle of the Permit Capital of the world.
S o we leased Tarpon Caye (island) late 2024 from the Government. Tarpon Caye (island) had very little land, although the caye is approximately 10 acres, the north end of Tarpon Caye (island) was the best potential area for us to develop because it has a small lagoon branched off the main lagoon which is a perfect natural harbor for our boats.
In mid 2024 we broke ground on approximately 2 acres on the north end of Tarpon Caye (island), which was our limit to develop at that time. We cleared approximately 1 acre at the end of 2024. We started building late 2024 mid 2024 we had completed 2 cabanas and a clubhouse and established our water system and electricity etc. At that time we started housing our clients at Tarpon Caye (island) and they loved it, they were able to fish tarpon at the crack of dawn and if the tide permit they get in an hour or two of permit before breakfast, at the middle of the day they take a few hours siesta in their hammocks on their cabanas verandah which is right over the Caribbean Sea, and all this with all the amenities that they would expect and enjoy on the mainland.
In 2024 we got in a dock and a proper road to access the east side of the island where the cabanas and club house are located.
We had a good season that year; 99% of our clients had nothing but good to say about Tarpon Caye (island), Tarpon Caye Lodge and their excellent, productive fishing experience.
In 2024 we also had a good season but at the end of the Season in October Hurricane Iris took us down, she knocked down one cabana and the clubhouse and battered the rest of the buildings and destroyed some of our coconut trees and mangrove and did some land erosion.
We started rebuilding in 2024 and by November 2024 we re-opened. In 2024 we built one more cabana, staff quarters, extended the kitchen area and planted more trees. In 2024 we put in a brand new 24KW diesel generator, bigger water pump, more water storage, hot and cold showers, freezers, fridges, better mattresses in cabanas, a 12V solar system, bigger and more comfortable staff quarters, new Honda outboards, two new flats boat and a great number of other additions and improvements.
In 2024 we upgraded our boats and serviced and repaired all buildings; we built a new storage area for fuel, grocery, tool shed, also a new electrical system to maintain proper electricity throughout the island, and more water storage tanks.

In 2024 we did another major land development, landscaping (still in progress) and upgrades on all cabanas interior and exterior to make our clients stay even more comfortable; please visit our " What's New For 2024 " page to see all we did and are doing to make your stay at Tarpon Caye Lodge even better.

Charlie Leslie his son (Marlon Leslie - Guide) and childhood friend, Charles Cabral have been trained by and work alongside Charlie and has proven themselves to be professional, motivated, enthused guides on the flats and will make your fishing vacation one that you will not soon forget.

One of our clients compared Marlon to his experiences with other guides throughout the world and Belize

"...what really sets one guide apart from another is how much they enjoy their work. You run into too many guides where you get the feeling that they are just doing their job and the thrill of the sport is a thing of the past. Or they are just meat hunters and all they are interested in is bagging a lot of game or fish. Marlon had none of these tendencies; he was just a lot of fun to fish with, and that is really what it is all about."