Turneffe Reef
Turneffe Reef
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Most Recent: Reviews ordered by most recent publish date in descending order.
Detailed Reviews: Reviews ordered by recency and descriptiveness of user-identified themes such as wait time, length of visit, general tips, and location information.
4.5
159 reviews
Excellent
117
Very good
28
Average
11
Poor
2
Terrible
1
bsmedmedphd
Pennsylvania1,538 contributions
Jul 2018 • Couples
My husband and I stayed at Blackbird Caye Resort on Turneffe Atoll for a week in July 2018, and extensively snorkeled Turneffe Reef. The snorkeling was amazing and was our main reason for going. As experienced snorkelers, we were delighted by the variety of coral and fish, and the general health of the reef. It was some of the best reef we’ve experienced, including in other sites in Belize. I hope you enjoy the photos I posted. We can’t wait to return!
*Thank you for reading my review! If it was helpful to you, please click the “thumbs-up” below. : )
*Thank you for reading my review! If it was helpful to you, please click the “thumbs-up” below. : )
Written January 28, 2019
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Matteo S
Brugherio, Italy44 contributions
Apr 2014 • Couples
... the Great Blue Hole showed in the picture is not here. It's located in the Lighthouse Reef Atoll that is 1h navigation from Turneffe.
I've only passed through this atoll (to go to the Blue Hole) and it is amazing: shallow chrystal clear water, the reef, mangrove forests, small islands.
I've read about it as one of the best places if you want to snorkel, dive or do any kind of fishing: fly, spinning, trolling and big game.
I would have spent one week in one of the few sport-resorts on the atoll but the prices were too high for my wallet, maybe next time.
I've only passed through this atoll (to go to the Blue Hole) and it is amazing: shallow chrystal clear water, the reef, mangrove forests, small islands.
I've read about it as one of the best places if you want to snorkel, dive or do any kind of fishing: fly, spinning, trolling and big game.
I would have spent one week in one of the few sport-resorts on the atoll but the prices were too high for my wallet, maybe next time.
Written April 19, 2014
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Laura V
Silver Spring, MD6 contributions
Apr 2018 • Solo
Did a 2 tank dive with BDS here. Left from Caye Caulker at 8:30am and returned around 3pm. It was incredible! There is such a huge variety of coral. I also saw some nurse sharks, rays, eels, crabs, and even a few sea turtles.
On my trip to Belize, I also snorkeled at Hol Chan, shark-ray alley, and the Coral Gardens, and Turneffe to me was far nicer than both. We were the only boat I could see in the area so it wasn't crowded like Hol Chan gets. The coral was also very dense and diverse - to me it was prettier than the other spots I visited.
This was my first true dive in the ocean and I couldn't have asked for a better place to do so.
On my trip to Belize, I also snorkeled at Hol Chan, shark-ray alley, and the Coral Gardens, and Turneffe to me was far nicer than both. We were the only boat I could see in the area so it wasn't crowded like Hol Chan gets. The coral was also very dense and diverse - to me it was prettier than the other spots I visited.
This was my first true dive in the ocean and I couldn't have asked for a better place to do so.
Written May 2, 2018
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
EZbytheSea
Kailua-Kona, HI282 contributions
May 2014 • Couples
Diving the Turneffe reef will set you back roughly $240 dollars per diver. So for me and my wife we shelled out $480 US to dive Turneffe and I must say that it is completely and utterly overrated. We were taken to the North side of Turneffe to dive there. And there was absolutely no wildlife whatsoever except for the occassional school of fish. I mean, the walls and the coral were pretty cool, but not almost $500 cool. For that kind of bread for a day trip, I would expect to be wowed and awed, but that was not the case...AT ALL. We payed huge for a very mediocre dive day on the North side of Turneffe and never made it down to where everyone says the good diving is, 'The Elbow'
Save your money and just dive the local barrier reef. For a mere 70-80 US a day, you get rays, lots of sharks, TONS of fish, turtles, everything you'd expect. I honestly think they do these atoll dive trips to simply burn off old fuel in their tanks and profit off you at the same time. Never again will I take an atoll trip in Belize. Serious waste of money..
Save your money and just dive the local barrier reef. For a mere 70-80 US a day, you get rays, lots of sharks, TONS of fish, turtles, everything you'd expect. I honestly think they do these atoll dive trips to simply burn off old fuel in their tanks and profit off you at the same time. Never again will I take an atoll trip in Belize. Serious waste of money..
Written May 15, 2014
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
KenBostonUSR
Upper Saddle River, NJ81 contributions
Mar 2015 • Couples
Turneffe has several parts: the one-hour away Turneffe "North" which is quite lame, and Turneffe ELBOW, 2 hours away which is like the great dive sites of Cozumel. If you are Belize, the longer out dives are worth it, not so much the shorter ones
Written March 29, 2015
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Simon M
Melbourne, Australia7 contributions
May 2014 • Friends
Diving was good but not excellent. Fairly pricey for what it was too.
We found " frenchies" to be a real cowboy outfit.
The boat had almost no safety gear and a large structural crack through the gunnels, down to the deck on both sides. It ran across the deck too but had a dodgy patch over the top of it. When you went over a wave the cracks viably opened and closed! I pointed this out to a crew member and he laughed.
I then showed the skipper and be said " yes" and walked off.
I've dived in many developing countries before but this was the dodgiest. After a lifetime working in boats, I'm tipping that boat will sink one day!
We found " frenchies" to be a real cowboy outfit.
The boat had almost no safety gear and a large structural crack through the gunnels, down to the deck on both sides. It ran across the deck too but had a dodgy patch over the top of it. When you went over a wave the cracks viably opened and closed! I pointed this out to a crew member and he laughed.
I then showed the skipper and be said " yes" and walked off.
I've dived in many developing countries before but this was the dodgiest. After a lifetime working in boats, I'm tipping that boat will sink one day!
Written May 18, 2014
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Trvlman333
Seattle, WA108 contributions
May 2018 • Solo
This dive was just fine, but really not much behind what you can find on the local Reefs just off of San Pedro. I also mad a mistake and took the trip from San Pedro, paying 280US, but found it was much cheaper if you do it off caye caulker. If you decide to do it, it's definitely worth shopping around.
Written May 30, 2018
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
heyjude034
18 contributions
Mar 2015 • Friends
We went with EZ boys tours and they were great. Turneffe is about 1 1/2 hours away through some rough water so that in itself, was an experience. If you are prone to sea sickness this is not the place for you. We stopped to snorkel at 3 different spots and it was absolutely amazing! We saw fish and coral formations that we had never seen before in Belize or anywhere else. We would highly recommend this tour.
Written March 24, 2015
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
AdventureSeeker75
Paris, France137 contributions
Sep 2018 • Friends
We took a half day snorkel trip with Blue Angel Diving to the reef and what an amazing experience it was! That day, the water was calm and crystal clear - it's also warm like bath water. We were able to see dolphins, swim with a manatee, sharks, sting rays, a ton of different kinds of blow fish... it was a fantastic day!
The reef is suffering a bit from tourism. You can see that there is a lot of coral that has been damaged from touching, carelessness and even sunscreen (I didn't know that this also contributes to the death of coral and will for sure be more conscious of that in the future. Apparently there is ocean-friendly sun screen that works just as well.). But it is still an amazing site and a wonderful way to spend an afternoon. This is a must do if you are in the area!
The reef is suffering a bit from tourism. You can see that there is a lot of coral that has been damaged from touching, carelessness and even sunscreen (I didn't know that this also contributes to the death of coral and will for sure be more conscious of that in the future. Apparently there is ocean-friendly sun screen that works just as well.). But it is still an amazing site and a wonderful way to spend an afternoon. This is a must do if you are in the area!
Written September 16, 2018
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Jim R
Calgary, Canada298 contributions
Mar 2017 • Couples
It was a beautiful sunny day when we took the one hour and twenty five minute boat ride to Turneffe Atoll Reef. We made three stops on our snorkelling tour.The first location was on the west side of the atoll where we got to see to see lots of coral and fish. Our second stop was near Cockroach Caye where we got to swim with many types of fish including some squid which swam quite close to us many times during our stop here.We encountered many types of coral that we had never seen before and we have snorkelled the Great Barrier Reef, The Big Island in Hawaii and other places in Belize. Our third stop was at the drop off on the west side where we got to see lots of barrel sponges and several green tube sponges, a large Spotted Eagle Ray, a sea turtle and a couple of Barracuda. The water was a bit cooler than off Ambergris Caye or Caye Caulker but still comfortable. One word of warning. There were no toilets or toilet paper where we went ashore for lunch and none on the boat we were on. We were told to just go in the sea among the mangroves for privacy. So be prepared. This is somewhere I would return to,
Written February 28, 2018
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
I wanna see the blue hole but where do you recommend to go?
Written January 11, 2016
I am looking for resturants for lobster and conch in belize. Can anybody give me the names of the best ones?
Written September 18, 2015
I want to take a helicopter tour to the big blue hole but I wanted to split the cost with 2 other people . any one interested? I will be in belize 9/29/15 till 10/2/15
Written September 18, 2015
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