10th Annual Grand Caribe DeepSea Classic

For a decade straight, the local fishing community has been captivated every summer by Belize’s most popular island within our nook of the Western Caribbean: Ambergris Caye. The 10th Anniversary of the Grand Caribe DeepSea Classic promised no less than razor-thin scoreboard finishes and the largest tournament since its inception—coupled with its usual elite service as an Offshore World Championship qualifier—with an island community that embraces the sport for a positively haunting scene.

Picture it: four days of competitive fishing, food, live music, family-friendly fun, and their signature Belize Connect Expo, amongst crews of 61 boats. Held July 16-19, 2026, at Caribeville, the all-release format of ALL billfish in the tournament is a testament to camaraderie, consistency, and execution. Here’s an official recap.

Captain’s Cocktails

As anglers pour into the tournament base at Grand Caribe Belize—which included visiting boats from Honduras, Mexico, and Grand Cayman, with crews also from the United States, like the Marlin Ladies, El Salvador, Guatemala, and Jamaica—the Captain’s Cocktails is the official herald of the tournament ahead. We’re proud to have our BGFA Weighmaster Giovanni ‘Jovy’ Duran double as the DeepSea Classic's tournament official, who simultaneously readied for questions and rule briefings inside the West Room.

During fishing time for both days from 6 am to 6 pm, all catches must be reported by any means necessary to qualify—anglers reporting must include name, team, and location via VHF radio channel 68, Garmin Connect, text, WhatsApp message, or a good old phone call, each team’s timestamp is recorded as the time once the Weighmaster at Grand Caribe receives the report. All catches must be reported before lines out, while all disputes must be raised within 30 minutes of closing the scale.

Prizes far surpassed the $100,000 cash initially advertised—not counting values of add-ons like original artwork hand-delivered by world-renowned marine artist Carey Chen—plus an optional Calcutta purse of $91,500 to be divided between the top two boats and the 2027 tournament. Up ahead: a towering prize table and a hot rodeo bite.

DAY ONE

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All teams took off from Grand Caribe at 6:00 AM sharp, and The Navy was the first to call in exactly 30 minutes later to officially open the scoreboard, with a Blue Marlin, no less, landed by angler Tevin just 2 miles out from San Pedro. Several more boats got their own billfish hookups, including Deep Obsession, Blind Date, and Break Line, to name a few—though not all landed. Crews saw off-season wahoo and a slew of dorado, ending off with a total of 3 Blue Marlin releases (Tevin Burgess for The Navy, Patrick Waight for MarinTime, ManOWar), with 23 tuna, 95 dorado, and 2 wahoo brought to scale.

DAY TWO

A second Bimini start at 6:00 am awarded teams another chance for the championship—and it’s still anyone’s game with 12 hours of fishing ahead. At just 6:19 am, team Changed My Mind clocked in with a hookup, reporting success for angler Jack Ganoe a few minutes later. Just behind, ManOWar called in a 15lb dorado by Alden Augustine just 2 miles out of San Pedro to kick off the rodeo bite. By 8:00 am, Do It Nice rose through the ranks with another Blue Marlin release by female angler Nichelle Rivera, landed 3 miles east of San Pedro. Meanwhile, Cerca Del Sol calls in the only sailfish release of the entire tournament—at 10:10 am—by angler Landy east of Rocky Point. By day’s end, Weightmaster Jovy reviewed a total of 95 tuna, 68 dorado, and one wahoo before the official weigh-in, where Changed My Mind of Roatan, Honduras edged out the competition.

PRIZE GIVING