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Dive Review of Turneffe Island Resort in
Belize/Turneffe Island

Turneffe Island Resort: "Top-notch Dive Resort", Nov, 2015,

by Steven P. Smith, NY, US (Reviewer Reviewer 3 reports with 2 Helpful votes). Report 8644 has 2 Helpful votes.

No photos available at this time

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

Accommodations 5 stars Food 5 stars
Service and Attitude 5 stars Environmental Sensitivity 5 stars
Dive Operation 5 stars Shore Diving N/A
Snorkeling N/A
Value for $$ 5 stars
Beginners 3 stars
Advanced 5 stars
Comments Good: Private island enclave with beautiful accommodations. Excellent food. Attentive divemasters, boat crew, and hospitality staff. Wonderful diving.
Bad: Nothing really. Weekly dive schedule includes 15 dives, which may be inadequate for those expecting 5 dives/day.

Turneffe Island Resort is a real winner -- concierge diving at its best. The guest rooms are beautifully constructed and appointed. Meals are served in the dining room by a very attentive staff. The food is excellent quality, varied, and plentiful. The guest rooms, common areas, and grounds are immaculately maintained.

Diving is done from small launches, accommodating about a dozen divers each. The dive sites are no more than 10 minutes from the resort, so surface intervals are back onshore. After a back roll entry, divers assemble with the divemaster for a leisurely drift dive. Our divemaster, Brad, was one of our all-time favorites. He kept an eye on everyone, and asked for only the most liberal depth and dive time limits. His ability to spot interesting marine life was excellent. Brad was very tolerant of underwater photographers, which I appreciated.

During the week, there is a longer day trip on the resort's large dive boat to the Blue Hole. It is a dive worth doing, at least once in your life. Two additional dives are offered on that day, as well as a picnic lunch on a small island.

Of note, we saw a pair of dolphins, several Caribbean reef sharks, 2-3 spotted eagle rays, a couple of nurse sharks, and multiple white-spotted toadfish (a species unique to Belize).

Other activities offered are snorkeling, deep sea fishing, and ocean kayaking. I went on one snorkeling expedition, which was well run.

The resort is active in lionfish control, and there are opportunities for the guests to learn to spear them if desired. The divemasters try to interest potential predators in broadening their diets to include lionfish, and the numbers of free-swimming green morays (at least a dozen during the week) indicates some success.

Overall: Highly recommended.
Websites Turneffe Island Resort   

Reporter and Travel

Dive Experience 501-1000 dives
Where else diving Caribbean (multiple sites), Pacific Coast of Costa Rica, Hawaii, Truk Lagoon
Closest Airport Belize City Getting There Fly into Belize City (multiple carriers). The resort arranges a van from the airport to the dock, and transfer by boat to the island.

Dive Conditions

Weather sunny, windy, rainy, cloudy Seas choppy
Water Temp 83-84°F / 28-29°C Wetsuit Thickness 3
Water Visibility 50-100 Ft/ 15-30 M

Dive Policy

Dive own profile yes
Enforced diving restrictions None. 1+ hour dives common. Guided drift dives.
Liveaboard? no Nitrox Available? yes

What I Saw

Sharks Lots Mantas None
Dolphins 1 or Whale Sharks None
Turtles > 2 Whales None
Corals 4 stars Tropical Fish 5 stars
Small Critters 4 stars Large Fish 4 stars
Large Pelagics 4 stars

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

Subject Matter 5 stars Boat Facilities 3 stars
Overall rating for UWP's 4 stars Shore Facilities 3 stars
UW Photo Comments None. Diving is done from small launches without camera tables. I used a Polar Bear brand soft cooler to transport my camera rig to and from the boat. The boat crew members and divemasters were very familiar with proper handling of cameras, so there were no issues. No specific facilities are available on land, but the guest rooms are spacious with several outlets for charging batteries, etc. Bring your own computer to download photos.
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Note: The information here was reported by the author above, but has NOT been reviewed nor edited by Undercurrent prior to posting on our website. Please report any major problems by writing to us and referencing the report number above.

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