Dive Review of Turneffe Island Resort in
Belize/Turneffe Islands

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Turneffe Island Resort, May, 2012, by Peter Rae, CT, US ( Reviewer 3 reports with 3 Helpful votes). Report 6551.
No photos available at this time
Ratings and Overall Comments 1 (worst) - 5 (best):
Accommodations		Food
Service and Attitude		Environmental Sensitivity
Dive Operation		Shore Diving	N/A
Snorkeling
Overall Rating
Value for $$
Beginners
Advanced
Comments	As others have reported, Turneffe Island Resort is a fabulous place. Located on a very small, private, island in the Turneffe Atoll, which is about 35 miles from Belize City, the resort is beautifully managed by Alain and Maya: the accomodations are deluxe; the meals, which are served family-style, are excellent; the grounds are very well cared for; and the staff are - to a person - terrific. In particular, Jorje (aka George), the bartender, is very attentive and is a lot of fun, besides. Turning to the water part of the trip, the separate diving and snorkeling operations were quite good. The diving was very much valet diving. I (the diver) was much impressed by the divemaster, Bart, and by the captain, Marcel. There were two or three dives each day to various fore reef and reef crest dive sites, where Bart provided informative pre-dive briefings and pointed out various creatures during underwater tours, and gave good attention to safety. The seas outside the reef were often choppy, but easily managed; the dives were usually done as drift dives, and most of the drifts were gentle. Most dives are at sites around the southern end of the Turneffe Atoll, but one day is spent doing three dives at Lighthouse Reef, which is about thirty miles east of Turneffe, and is where the Belize Blue Hole is located. My only disappointment of the week was the Blue Hole; while it was interesting due to the stalactite structures appearing at around 120 feet, and to the half-dozen or so bull sharks that cruised by, the visibility was poor the day we dived it. On the other hand, the walls of Half Moon Caye and Long Caye, also part of the Lighthouse Reef Atoll, were pretty nice. There are plenty of lionfish in the Belize area, but the divemasters are doing what they can to bring the numbers down, and we had excellent lionfish ceviche one night. My wife (the snorkeler) much enjoyed the two-a-day boat trips with Carlos, the captain/guide, to various sites within the atoll. They also snorkeled the rim of the Blue Hole, and another couple of sites in the Lighthouse Reef Atoll. It was hard to leave.
Websites	Turneffe Island Resort
Reporter and Travel
Dive Experience	101-250 dives
Where else diving	Baja California, Bonaire, Caymans, Croatia, Florida, Indonesia, New England, North Carolina, Roatan, Turks & Caicos
Closest Airport		Getting There
Dive Conditions
Weather	sunny, dry	Seas	choppy, no currents
Water Temp	77-84°F / 25-29°C	Wetsuit Thickness	5
Water Visibility	60-120 Ft/ 18-37 M
Dive Policy
Dive own profile	no
Enforced diving restrictions	The depth limit was usually about 70-80 feet, and about 130 feet in the Blue Hole. The divers (a group of about eight) generally stayed with or near the divemaster.
Liveaboard?	no	Nitrox Available?	yes
What I Saw
Sharks	1 or 2	Mantas	None
Dolphins	1 or 2	Whale Sharks	None
Turtles	> 2	Whales	None
Ratings 1(worst) - 5 (best):
Corals		Tropical Fish
Small Critters		Large Fish
Large Pelagics
Underwater Photography 1 (worst) - 5 (best):
Subject Matter		Boat Facilities
Overall rating for UWP's		Shore Facilities
UW Photo Comments	No tank for cameras on the boat, and a smallish rinse tank on the dock. The boat captain and the divemaster were thoughtful and careful in handling my camera on board and on land, and promptly transferred the camera to/from me at the beginning and end of dives. There were some nice photo opportunities, e.g., loggerhead and hawksbill turtles, eagle rays and southern stingrays, green and spotted moray eels, Nassau and black groupers, horse-eyed jacks, permits, jawfish, drums, hamlets, soapfish, scorpion fish, sea cucumbers, lobsters, crabs and shrimp and other critters, etc. I used a macro lens for about half the dives.

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Dive Review of Turneffe Island Resort in Belize/Turneffe Islands

Turneffe Island Resort, May, 2012,

Ratings and Overall Comments 1 (worst) - 5 (best):

Overall Rating

Reporter and Travel

Dive Conditions

Dive Policy

What I Saw

Ratings 1(worst) - 5 (best):

Underwater Photography 1 (worst) - 5 (best):

Dive Review of Turneffe Island Resort in
Belize/Turneffe Islands