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Dive Review of Turneffe Island Resort in
Belize/Turneffe Island

Turneffe Island Resort: "Outstanding Resort", Dec, 2020,

by Gary & Robin Schiendelman, PA, US (Sr. Contributor Sr. Contributor 27 reports with 43 Helpful votes). Report 11501 has 2 Helpful votes.

Photos Submitted with this Report


Click on an image to see an enlarged version and captions

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 5 stars
Advanced 3 stars
Comments When we heard of the protocols put in place by Belize in order to re-open the country, we thought it would be a great place to go for our first pandemic dive trip. Having seen all the great reviews of Turneffe Island Resort and seeing their commitment to Covid safety, we knew this would be a good place. You can visit their website for details and we can confirm everything listed there is being done. The resort is spotless and every employee was always wearing a mask.

We flew from PHL to MIA to BZE on American. Flying was the most stressful part of the trip but we were prepared with N95 masks, face shields and plenty of sanitizer.

It took some time to get through immigration and customs with the addition of temperature checks and covid test results being reviewed but the line moved quickly and everyone maintained distance. Our shuttle was waiting for us when we exited the airport. We were the only ones in the shuttle. A quick ride to the dock and we boarded the Turneffe Island Resort boat for an hour and 15 minute ride to the resort. The boat was comfortable with a large indoor area so we were able to stay dry in the pouring rain.

The staff greeted us at the dock upon arrival and we were immediately shown to our villa. Luggage was delivered a few minutes later. The villa was really nice. We had a large screened porch with 2 rocking chairs, king size bed, indoor and outdoor showers, seating area with small sofa and chair. Plenty of storage and a pretty large closet. Nice linens, comfortable bed and pillows. Lots of hot water. We left the doors open to the porch and never needed the air conditioning. The room was exceptionally clean and well maintained.

We just had time to get showered and changed and it was time for happy hour. The large outdoor bar was very comfortable and allowed for guests to social distance. Nightly appetizers were served on individual plates for each couple/person. Dining room was set up with individual tables, socially distanced. We asked to eat outdoors for lunch and dinner during our stay and the staff was more than happy to accommodate us. Why eat indoors when you can eat out on the deck with a beautiful view of the ocean??? The food was really good and varied. Except BBQ night which was a served buffet, all of the meals were plated. Breakfast was ordered from a menu, lunch fixed and dinner generally had two options.

We left our dive gear on the front porch for pick up by the staff the next morning. At the dock, we set up our gear and it was the only time we needed to do that. Dives were from a small boat, captain and DM assisted you into your gear once at the dive site (5 - 10 minute boat ride). Backroll entry and meet on the bottom. DM's were awesome and SLOW which is perfect for us. Dive times 50 - 60 minutes or when you were low on air. Most dives were 60 minutes. Boat followed the divers so there was no out and back. Boat returned to resort for surface interval. Two or three dives per day with the package. One night dive per week. Add on dives available if there were enough divers interested. Blue hole day once per week. Diving at Half Moon Caye and Long Caye after the Blue Hole was the best diving of the week. Diving at Turneffe was decent Caribbean diving. Not much really big stuff but we did see dolphins on 2 dives, a couple of sharks and rays. Lots of groupers.

It was a great trip and we really enjoyed it. We originally scheduled a 10 day trip but after being there a week, we extended the trip to two weeks.

Any specific questions, we are glad to answer.
Websites Turneffe Island Resort   

Reporter and Travel

Dive Experience Over 1000 dives
Where else diving Indonesia, PNG, Solomon Isl, Red Sea, Maldives, South Africa, Mozambique, Cocos Isl, Galapagos, Socorro, Palau, Var Caribbean locations, New Jersey, Florida, No Carolina, Philippines
Closest Airport Getting There American Airlines PHL-MIA-BZE
Boat transport to Island

Dive Conditions

Weather sunny, windy, rainy, cloudy, dry Seas calm, choppy, no currents
Water Temp 79-81°F / 26-27°C Wetsuit Thickness
Water Visibility 75-100 Ft/ 23-30 M

Dive Policy

Dive own profile no
Enforced diving restrictions Depth and time (50-60 minutes)
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
Corals 3 stars Tropical Fish 4 stars
Small Critters 3 stars Large Fish 2 stars
Large Pelagics 2 stars

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

Subject Matter 4 stars Boat Facilities 2 stars
Overall rating for UWP's N/A Shore Facilities 3 stars
UW Photo Comments Small rinse bucket on boat. Might be a problem with multiple large camera. Really nice, large rinse tanks on the dock for cameras.
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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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