Slickrock History

Slickrock Adventures has changed a lot since we began as a small kayak school in 1977.

Kayaking Green River’s Labyrinth Canyon
Starting on the Colorado River near Moab, Utah, we soon grew to offer whitewater adventures throughout the Rocky Mountain region.

Mountain biking along the famous White Rim Trail
We have been running trips in Central America since 1981, initially with a truck, a few kayaks, tents, and ice boxes.

Cully in the 1980s
The company was founded by Cully Erdman, who sought to create an instructional programme within a wilderness setting.

Cully in the 1980s
His approach has always combined quality instruction in adventure sports, with personal attention, and expeditions to exotic locations.

Cully
Cully’s adventurous career running rivers worldwide had been documented on numerous films, including expeditions to Nepal, Mexico, and Central America.

Cully in Belize during the 1980s
Slickrock’s interest in Central America resulted from Cully’s early exploration of rivers in Chiapas, Mexico for American Sportsman television series.

Cully and Lucy
After years of leading groups in Chiapas Slickrock expanded our expeditions to include sea kayaking in Belize in 1986, when Lucy joined.

Cully in Honduras
In 1995, we expanded our programme to include trips to the Bay Islands of Honduras, until the vicinity was badly impacted by Hurricane Mitch in 1998.

Slickrock running Agua Azul, Chiapas 1980’s
In the early days, we were based in Placencia and offered island hopping, where we’d camp in tents overnight. 

Slickrock in Placencia, circa 1980’s
Shopping consisted of a full wheelbarrow of supplies from the local store. 
As the islands became more developed, and aiming to cast a wider net for tourists, North East Caye, way out at Glover’s Reef Atoll, was leased in 1991.
 
Lucy at North East Caye, Glover’s Reef Atoll

Long Caye, Glover’s Reef Atoll
In 1996, Slickrock moved to Long Caye, where we’ve been based for 27 years, and counting.

Cully 1996

Lucy 1996
Warren, the grandson of the North East Caye owners, is now the supplier of our sustainably caught fish.

Warren with a 58lbs black grouper
We buy an average of 100lbs of fresh fish from him every week, and only catch what we need.

Alben and Mario fileting black grouper
As mentioned in the last update, Charlie was responsible for converting Long Caye from humble beginnings.

From a mere two solar panels and two golf cart batteries, to five separate power stations. We now produce enough renewable energy (wind and solar) to sustain the operation without generators.

Charlie 1999
In the 1990’s, we put the rust in rustic, literally. Beers used to be stored outside, before going in the fridge, or ice box.

The former kitchen (pre-Hurricane Mitch)
Due to the salt, sun, and humidity, many guests (ladies included) sometimes ended up with a faint moustache from the rusty beer bottle caps.

These days, there is no risk of that when reaching for a cold Belikin beer at sunset.

We are open for just under three months for the general public, then available for private charters from May until July.

For new bookings, we have 10% discounts for:
February 24^th – March 5^th 
March 10^th – 19^th 
March 17^th – 26^th 
March 31^st – April 9^th 
April 7^th – 16^th 
April 28^th – May 7^th 
May – July* (*private charters of 15+ only)