Turneffe Island Resort Trip Recap
November 2023
Day 1 – arrival
After arriving at the Belize International Airport, I met up with the driver for the resort, awaiting me at the curb outside the airport building. I was provided water while I waited for the van to arrive to pick me up, with luggage, and take me to the Radisson Fort George to await the boat departure to the island. The transfer boat offers both indoor and outdoor seating, for the 90-minute ride to the island in your version of comfort. There is a marine head, rum punch, and cold towels to freshen up and start your tropical vacation in style.
After a short briefing on the resort and diving plans for the following day we were shown to our rooms with our luggage delivered shortly after. Dinner service starts with appetizers served at the bar and continues with 3 more courses in the dining area (they have both indoor and outdoor seating). The bar offers an evening cocktail for $8 while other drinks are $10 or $12 each.
Our first meal, dinner, was hearts of palm salad (yummy) to start, for our entrée fresh carrots and cauliflower, roasted potatoes and grilled red snapper with a special island sauce (alternate entrees were offered for those with special meal requirements or preferences). Dessert was a key lime pie but because we were celebrating a birthday there was also their famous Grandma’s chocolate cake (amazing!). They were more than happy to serve several people both desserts.
Day 2
Start your day with a coffee basket delivered to your front door. Ordered the night prior you let them know your morning beverage preference, coffee, tea or hot chocolate and if you want sweetener and and or cream. It’s delivered by the stealthy staff at 6AM the follow morning on your porch in a cute basket. It’s a wonderful way to start your morning.
Breakfast is served 7 – 9 AM with a variety of fresh fruits, a morning breakfast special (today Sticky Banana pancakes) or made to order eggs, breakfast meats and bread. Beverages for coffee/tea service again and fresh juices.
Dive briefing at 8:15 with your usual delays for a first day at a new resort…where to put the fins, where/how to analyze your nitrox tank, meet your boat crew, etc. We were a large group, so more delays than normal, by 9AM with our boat of 6 divers (8 is maximum) and in the water within 10 minutes despite it being a rainy day at Secret Spot. The diving profile was 60 feet for 60 minutes. We were followed for all 60 minutes by 4 reef sharks looking for the divers to find the lionfish so the dive master could spear their lunch…we only found one so only 1 of the 4 sharks got a snack. Visibility was 80 feet for most of the dive and it was a nice leisurely dive with water temps of about 85 so our trip was off to an excellent start.
Back to the resort for a rest until lunch at 12:30. They ring the bell to announce meals are ready and after the diving everyone is quick to proceed to the dining hall. Lunch on shrimp tostada with corn, beans, lettuce, and tomatoes finished off with a white brownie for dessert for those that had room for dessert (not many had room).
Another break for a nap, shower, or diving tales and then back to the dive boats for the 2PM sharp departure for dive #2. Our boat went to Pirates Point, another 60 foot 60 minute dive which although there was only a single shark we saw plenty of other things…thumbprint flamingo tongues, trumpet fish, a juvenile box fish, spotlight blenny, 3 large lobsters under a ledge, a white spotted toad fish, scorpion fish, green moral eel and a brown spotted eel, lettuce sea slugs, so many healthy barrel sponges and whip corals. I was there last year, and I think it was fishier, this trip which was a bonus.
The dive staff offer valet service, so we walked off the boat with only those items we wanted to take…we were encouraged to take our fins, but it wasn’t required. The dive staff handle everything else from rinsing it off to hanging it up, they’ll even spray your mask with defog, you don’t even have to ask!
Wifi is decent speed and although you receive a code for only one device if you ask the front desk, they are happy to supply more. Spa services was already full for the day so no spa treatments for me today but perhaps tomorrow…
Dinner is served at 7PM and tonight’s menu is a traditional Belizean Sunday family meal with conch fritter as an appetizer, coco (taro) soup, rice and beans with stewed chicken, potato salad and a coconut butterscotch pie.
Day 3
After the morning caffeine delivery, it was to the dining room for a breakfast special of Belizan Benedict (Eggs Benedict with a Johnny Cake instead of English Muffin).
Today is our first 3-tank dive day so first dive leaving the dock at 8:15, as we are all organized, diving The Elbow the resort’s famed dive site. Although the vis was about 80 feet there wasn’t much to see on this site although previous times here have been excellent. Today we were followed by two black tipped reef sharks waiting for a free meal (only 1 got lucky) we also saw a trumpet fish, cleaner shrimp, a pair of lobsters, grouper, and a patch of black coral. We returned to the boat after our hour surface interval at the resort for cookies, drinks and bathroom break before leaving again for our second dive at 10:15AM for South Cut Wall.
South Cut Wall was full of critters, we were met by the ever attentive pair of sharks, this time black tipped reef sharks, but also saw a nest of sergeant major eggs, a giant crab on display under a ledge, a white spotted toad fish, lobster, banded shrimp, yellow headed jaw fish, a fully extended and moving lettuce sea slug, more barrel sponges and health whip corals as well.
Today’s lunch menu showed fish stew but others at my table ordered a variety of things from green salad with grilled chicken to a ham and cheese sandwich…pretty much whatever they have on hand is allowed. Peanut butter morsel for dessert.
The third dive site was Gail’s Point. We saw 2 grey reef sharks, again 1 was able to lunch on lionfish, a pair of snapping shrimp, a lobster, yellow jaw fish, mantis shrimp, juvenile blue tang, 5 lettuce sea slugs within a square foot, a giant green moray that snacked on a lionfish with some divemaster assistance, several brown spotted eels, many grouper, giant banded barracuda, and a pair of banded shrimp posing side by side in a coral tube as if saying “ready for our close up”. There was a thermocline at the surface to about 10 feet…once you got through that the water felt like bath water at 86 degrees.
Dinner was a tomato bruschetta appetizer, mushroom quiche and either pork tenderloin or turkey in a cranberry jerk sauce with rosemary mashed potatoes and garlic green beans with carrot cake for dessert.
Day 4
Breakfast special was French toast with bananas or strawberries and your choice of breakfast meat. Of course, they still offer a made-to order breakfast option too.
First dive of the day was The Elbow, yes again but worth it…with sharks and lobster. The unique finds were a bat wing crab, tobacco fish, several toad fish spotted, a juvenile spotted drum, banded shrimp and so much more.
Our second dive was Lefty’s Ledge which started with a pair of yellow jaw fish, several different sightings of large lobster out on display, arrow crabs, long pipefish, spaghetti worm, lobster inside a very narrow vase sponge (he really didn’t fit but he was trying to), banded shrimp, two separate free swimming green eels, a few spotted brown eels, 4 large grouper and a spotted trunk fish.
Dive 3 was Fabian’s Roost with 3 grey reef sharks following us most of the dive (they were fed twice), more spotted toadfish, 3 different large lobsters on display, crabs, 2 different drum fish (one adolescent with the spots and the stripes and one adult), an eagle ray, several green morays (2 different sightings of them out on the reef), 3 spotted brown eels, and golden tail eel, neck crab, arrow crabs, cleaner shrimp.
Dinner was flatbread pizza appetizer, carrot, and beet soup (quite good), either garlic shrimp or chicken piccata with pasta in a tomato cream sauce with squash and zucchini.
Day 5
Breakfast special of pancakes with fruit or order your preference of made to order eggs, toast, and breakfast meat.
Diving started with dive number 1 at Billy Bob’s. Other than the shark action, which is constant, we saw a sailfin blenny, stingray, several different sightings of banded shrimp, Arrow crabs, cleaner shrimp, yellow jaw fish, Christmas Tree Worms and a large lobster stuffed in a barrel sponge.
Dive 2, after a short return to the dive shop, was to 3 Amigos for Black tip reef shark, green moray eel, juvenile brown spotted eel, chalk bass, thumbprint flamingo tongue, large hungry parrot fish, goldentail eel, scorpion fish, spotted toad fish, lobster hotel (3 in a row under a ledge) and trumpetfish.
Lunch was fried chicken, egg salad, pasta salad and green salad with a warm lemon bar for dessert.
Dive 3 was at the “Y” which was different from previous dives as most of what we were seeing was big stuff…barracuda, large grouper, at least 3 stingrays but we had so many sightings it might have been 10 or even 12 but all large, file fish, lobster, and a nurse shark. Our ever-present companions, 3 grey reef sharks, ate well after our dive master served them a total of 6 lionfish. Several of the lionfish were small but one was so big it required multiple bites!
Dinner appetizer was corn chips and a trio of dips (hummus, red pepper, and Belizean cheese) with a caprese salad, pork or curried shrimp, cilantro rice and sautéed vegetables with bread pudding and ice cream for dessert.
Day 6
My morning yoga on the dock was enhanced by two lemon sharks coming right up to the shore…great start to the day!
Breakfast special of Huevos Rancheros or made to order eggs with the extras.
The first dive today was Ceviche Sands. In addition to sharks, we’ve seen on every dive this week we also saw a sand tile fish, turtle, spotted drum, lettuce sea slug, fire worm, scorpion fish, arrow crabs in amongst 5 cleaner shrimp, giant tunicate, golden tail eel and a lobster hotel with 8 lobsters waving at us.
The second dive was Majestic Point which was full of lionfish, so we had 3 close shark encounters for the duration of the 70-minute dive. We also saw lobster, 2 tandem free swimming green eels, spotted toad fish, lizard fish, stingray, and a cute little box fish.
After the dive the dive staff took all our gear off the boat and washed it and hung it to dry. Talk about concierge dive service!
Lunch was an almond crusted snapper on a hoagie roll with cole slaw and island fries. Dessert was oreo cookie cheesecake.
Our last dinner was a barbecue feast of pork, Italian sausage, lobster tails, various salads, grilled vegetables and at least a dozen different desserts. There was enough of a selection that you could have multiple plates and each time fill it with something different.
Recap of the week…
Water temps were high, when we arrived it was 86 degrees but with recent rains there was fresh water at the surface that cooled the shallow water but at 10 – 15 feet depth it was warm.
If you seek sharks up close, eels and rays this is a great place for those critters!
The Blue Hole is typically included in your stay but I and some of our group opted out as we’d done before. For this reason, that dive isn’t mentioned in this blog.
Meals are plentiful so a half order is wise if you are not a big eater.
Afternoon snacks of bananas, apples, pears, a savory pastry, cookies, and bags of fried plantains are available in the dining room. Water, coffee/tea, and lemonade are also available there during the day.
The mini bar is filled with Coke, Belikin (Belize Beer), Fanta Orange, Sprite and Schweppes plus a Kit Kat, Twix, Skittles and Milky Way Bar. The contents of the bar are complimentary for the first round, when it’s replenished you are responsible for the cost of that consumption.
There are some wonderful spa packages (multiple treatments; discounted price) plus a spa package of the day special. Both Victoria and Roxy are great!
Diving groups are limited to 8 divers per boat, with a dive master and captain. There are no heads or shade on these boats but the rides to the sites, other than Blue Hole, are very short.
If you have a late departure flight from Belize City post Turneffe Island the front desk will arrange a tour for your extra time in Belize City.
Plenty of storage space in the rooms…there are 2 bedside dressers each with 3 drawers, plus a chest of drawers next to the vanity in the bathroom area with 6 drawers, some shelves in the closet and a half dozen hangars.
You might want to bring your own BCD and wetsuit hangars, they have some for your daily use but at the end of your stay you’ll find the ability to hang these things in the sun, nearer your room, more likely to dry your gear and that is when you’ll want hangars.
Lighten up your bags…
The rooms have hair dryers, body wash, shampoo, conditioner, and body lotion.
Two bathrobes are provided in each room.
A yoga mat is in the closet of every room.
Programmable safe is in the closet.
Clothesline is provided in the outdoor shower for drying of damp items.
One water bottle, per guest, is provided for you in each room, it also acts as your resort souvenir!
The island is casual dress so plan for light breathable fabrics, no need for heavy pants or shirts (although the dining room is air conditioned so a wrap might be nice).
Plenty of outlets for charging your devices.