Dive Review of Turneffe Island Resort in
Belize

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Turneffe Island Resort: "Turneffe Island - always the best", Nov, 2023, by Jeffrey D Hubbard MD, NY, US ( Top Contributor 33 reports with 19 Helpful votes). Report 12816 has 1 Helpful vote.
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	N/A
Overall Rating
Value for $$
Beginners
Advanced
Comments	Turneffe Island Resort is near the southern end of the 30-mile-long Turneffe atoll, which is south-east of Belize city in the Caribbean Sea. There are other properties bearing the name "Turneffe" so be sure you are looking for the correct one. The Resort grew out of a fishing camp founded on Caye Bokel in 1966. The principal activities at the Resort are scuba diving and sportfishing. Since the Resort is a 1½ hour boat ride from Belize city, there is a substantial staff village. Many employees are long-term and one is the son of a legendary fishing guide on the island, described in a Sports Illustrated account from 1968. Belize is readily accessible from the States. The boat from Belize city goes to the island every Wednesday and Saturday. Boat charters on extra days may be arranged, as well as helicopter transport. We usually fly to Belize a day or two in advance and overnight at the commodious Radisson Fort George Hotel, from which the boat to the island leaves, to reduce travel troubles. The weekly schedule is 15 dives, including a night dive. They are scheduled around mealtimes, and the schedule works very well, without seeming hurried. Diving is from open boats which could accommodate eight divers, plus the dive guide and the boat driver, but 2, 4 or 6 divers is more common; they will go with one diver. No cover and no head on the boat. The boats return to the Resort after each dive and surface interval is ashore. Backroll entry and stern ladder recovery, with boat driver’s assistance; every dive is a drift dive and the boat will pick up the divers where they surface. We dove Nitrox 32%, usually >3200 psi, but air would be fine. Equipment, including cameras, is treated gently and there is a camera bucket if needed. Brad, divemaster, captain, and all-knowing marine observer, has been our guide for some years. Master at finding unusual creatures, his knowledge of the sea and its animals is unequaled. Captain Harry drove the boat and followed bubbles. When a buddy pair surfaces, signal “OK” to boat driver and he will position the boat so the wind brings it to the divers; don’t chase the boat. Dive sites east of the Resort are on the fringing reef and typically have a sandy bottom with small bommies at 40 feet or so, then a coral ridge at the top of the wall, and the wall drops down to the deep blue from 60 feet or so. Dives to the west of the Resort are on a sloping bottom which has good size coral bommies, but no wall. At the southern tip of the atoll, The Elbow has the ridge at the top of the wall and drops off; at this point the current is brisk when the tide is running, and oceanic fish (eagle ray, spadefish, big sharks, permit) come by as well as the usual reef dwellers. Once, we saw a marlin there. No-decompression time limited to 7 minutes on your computer, which we have never approached. “Follow Me” it says on Brad’s fins – that’s the plan. Max depth 70 feet, not pestered, 500 psi under the boat, 3 minute safety stop. Bottom time depends on air consumption, usually 50 to 70 minutes: bird-breathers surface last. Invasive lionfish are speared by Brad and left for the enthusiastic shark population to recycle. Lionfish numbers have decreased in recent years, we think due mainly to Brad’s efforts. The accommodations are mainly east-facing rooms with a glorious sunrise over the reef. They are quiet, nicely air-conditioned, and there is plenty of hot water, heated by solar and supplied by rainwater with backup by reverse osmosis if needed. Rooms/cabins south of the bar are larger, and there is a big Honeymoon Lodge and a luxurious Presidential (double) Suite. In 9 visits, we have had one shower tap and one air-conditioner fail, each repaired within 30 minutes of the phone call. The large bar is open air, under a large open palapa, and the dining room is inside. (There is an inside bar, if needed.) After setting up one's dive rig on the first day, it is thereafter handled by the staff. After the last dive of the trip, they rinse off/wash out all the equipment and put it in the sun to dry. Back-up equipment is ready to hand. The bad news on our Nov.-Dec. '23 trip is coral bleaching. We have dived Belize fairly regularly for 27 years, and have never seen bleaching before. From the surface at 50 feet perhaps 5% of the bottom is pure white. Remember Normal is ZERO! The white corals are dead. An August, 2023, Guardian article [[theguardian.com link]] discusses it in depth, and attributes it to high temperature, which has caused it elsewhere. (By our measure, the temperature in Nov. is about 82 degrees, as it has been for some years, but locals report very warm water over last summer.) The bottom also has extensive algae growth, attributed to the recent sea-urchin (Diadema antillarum) die-off, which is caused by an infectious water-borne protozoan. Weather is generally good; hurricane season is June through November. Bad hurricanes are uncommon in western Caribbean, but if you hit one . . . Our late-November-December 2022 visit was 2 weeks after Hurricane Lisa. In two weeks the Resort was well on the way to fully repaired. Our March-April, 2023, visit had some strong winds; we skipped a few dives because of a bumpy ride and possible difficulty reboarding the boat. First time in eight (now nine) visits! The food is creative and plentiful, and they wisely offer a one-half portion option. Much of the food is sourced locally, and I think it has reduced spiciness compared to the usual Belizean fare. Allergies and food preferences get very careful attention. Resort staff will meet your flight and take you to boat, or to Ft. George Radisson, if you’re a day or 2 early. We arrive early . . . the hotel is good and taking flight landing time and boat departure time into account, a day or two in a nice hotel is a good investment. Airport transfers are flawlessly arranged by the Island staff. We rated Turneffe Island Resort diving 5 Stars for years - until coral bleaching! Our favorite Caribbean dive destination after forty+ years . . . we hope it will be yours!
Websites	Turneffe Island Resort [same]
Reporter and Travel
Dive Experience	Over 1000 dives
Where else diving	Caribbean, Bahamas, Turks & Caicos, Fernando de Noronha (Brasil), Australia, Fiji, PNG, Micronesia, Hawai'i
Closest Airport	BZE	Getting There	Nonstops from MIA, ATL, IAH . . .
Dive Conditions
Weather	sunny	Seas	calm, choppy
Water Temp	82-83°F / 28-28°C	Wetsuit Thickness	3
Water Visibility	- Ft/ - M
Dive Policy
Dive own profile	no
Enforced diving restrictions	Follow divemaster, not nagged or scolded. Within sight is the standard.
Liveaboard?	no	Nitrox Available?	yes
What I Saw
Sharks	Lots	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	N/A
Large Pelagics
Underwater Photography 1 (worst) - 5 (best):
Subject Matter	N/A	Boat Facilities	N/A
Overall rating for UWP's	N/A	Shore Facilities	N/A
UW Photo Comments	[None]

Report currently has 1 Helpful vote

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Dive Review of Turneffe Island Resort in Belize

Turneffe Island Resort: "Turneffe Island - always the best", Nov, 2023,

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