Stoo
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Mrs. Stoo and I made the trip to Turneffe Island resort (Belize Inclusive Fishing & Diving Resorts | Turneffe Island Resort | Lighthouse Reef Atoll) last week and this is a report of the resort.
The "resort" is situated on a private island, which is perhaps 3 acres, located on the extreme southern edge of the Turneffe Atoll, and about 35 miles from the mainland. There is virtually no other resort anywhere nearby other than a fishing lodge which is many miles north.
We were carried to the island on a 48' boat with other incoming guests and supplies. The trip is about 75 minutes, through beautiful Caribbean seas. We were met at the dock by all of the staff, and immediately felt welcome. We we shown to our private cabin, which was 14 steps (I counted!) from the dive shop and boat. Our room was beautifully appointed in local woods, lots of windows, a beautiful bathroom as well as an outdoor private shower! The rooms are air-conditioned, but cool breezes when we were there meant they stayed turned off. Clean water is supplied through rainwater collection and RO systems. Hot water is solar generated and power is from a diesel generator which is located well away from the rooms.
The resort is a little like summer camp for grown ups. As well as diving, the resort caters to hard-core fisherman, who proved to be a fun bunch, and not at all what I expected. These guys are as fanatical about fishing as I am about diving, and we enjoyed their company. Meals are pre-set menus with a nice variety. I found the food to be very good, but perhaps a little too "American"... I always enjoy local fare, and this wasn't really the case here. The meals were plentiful, but the menu choice I felt was "ordinary"... Alcoholic drinks are not included and a little pricey.
Diving is from small boats. The most we had on our boat was 6 people, but generally there was 5. There were two boats being used that week. In other words, we had 100s of miles of virgin reefs to ourselves, although there was no need to travel more than 5 minutes from the front door...
The reefs were some of the nicest I have dived in the Caribbean. They generally started in about 45 -50 feet and the shallow wall drops to perhaps 120'. We were encouraged to stay about 75', but our DM didn't complain when we strayed deeper. I realized the reason for this right away... With the bulk of the reef starting in 50', you rack up the nitrogen pretty quickly, and on the three dive days, it's pretty hard not to get into mandatory deco after three hours on the bottom. We dove Nitrox off and on, and if I was to return, I would add the Nitrox package and dive it every dive. The remoteness of the location demands special attention to safety.
We saw a pile of large schools of large fish (something we have found to be conspicuously absent in Utila lately), eagle rays on most dives, a dozen sharks in the Blue Hole, turtles and all manner of other critters. The "macro" creatures were not plentiful... maybe all the fish eat them!
Getting back to the safety aspect, Mrs. Stoo managed to perforate her eardrum mid-week, which resulted in a major infection. Fortunately, we had a stash of antibiotics which she started and we were able to hitchhike on a supply trip to Belize City to see a doctor at a well equipped clinic. As I said, Turneffe is quite isolated, and in many ways, it's like a live-aboard that doesn't move. I think DAN insurance would be a good thing to have here!
So, would we return? In a heartbeat. The place is not inexpensive, but it occurred to me that this place is the diving equivalent of heli-skiing. An isolated top-notch resort, with wonderful attentive staff, and pristine, "private" diving. Our dive guys, Marcel and Brad were excellent and tended to our equipment, rinsing it and hanging it every day. (I still feel guilty with all of this "valet diving" stuff...)
I must mention the constantly re-filling cookie jars on the dive dock... I gained about 5 pounds over the week!
All in all a great week, and certainly one of the top two or three places we have stayed in the Caribbean.
The "resort" is situated on a private island, which is perhaps 3 acres, located on the extreme southern edge of the Turneffe Atoll, and about 35 miles from the mainland. There is virtually no other resort anywhere nearby other than a fishing lodge which is many miles north.
We were carried to the island on a 48' boat with other incoming guests and supplies. The trip is about 75 minutes, through beautiful Caribbean seas. We were met at the dock by all of the staff, and immediately felt welcome. We we shown to our private cabin, which was 14 steps (I counted!) from the dive shop and boat. Our room was beautifully appointed in local woods, lots of windows, a beautiful bathroom as well as an outdoor private shower! The rooms are air-conditioned, but cool breezes when we were there meant they stayed turned off. Clean water is supplied through rainwater collection and RO systems. Hot water is solar generated and power is from a diesel generator which is located well away from the rooms.
The resort is a little like summer camp for grown ups. As well as diving, the resort caters to hard-core fisherman, who proved to be a fun bunch, and not at all what I expected. These guys are as fanatical about fishing as I am about diving, and we enjoyed their company. Meals are pre-set menus with a nice variety. I found the food to be very good, but perhaps a little too "American"... I always enjoy local fare, and this wasn't really the case here. The meals were plentiful, but the menu choice I felt was "ordinary"... Alcoholic drinks are not included and a little pricey.
Diving is from small boats. The most we had on our boat was 6 people, but generally there was 5. There were two boats being used that week. In other words, we had 100s of miles of virgin reefs to ourselves, although there was no need to travel more than 5 minutes from the front door...
The reefs were some of the nicest I have dived in the Caribbean. They generally started in about 45 -50 feet and the shallow wall drops to perhaps 120'. We were encouraged to stay about 75', but our DM didn't complain when we strayed deeper. I realized the reason for this right away... With the bulk of the reef starting in 50', you rack up the nitrogen pretty quickly, and on the three dive days, it's pretty hard not to get into mandatory deco after three hours on the bottom. We dove Nitrox off and on, and if I was to return, I would add the Nitrox package and dive it every dive. The remoteness of the location demands special attention to safety.
We saw a pile of large schools of large fish (something we have found to be conspicuously absent in Utila lately), eagle rays on most dives, a dozen sharks in the Blue Hole, turtles and all manner of other critters. The "macro" creatures were not plentiful... maybe all the fish eat them!
Getting back to the safety aspect, Mrs. Stoo managed to perforate her eardrum mid-week, which resulted in a major infection. Fortunately, we had a stash of antibiotics which she started and we were able to hitchhike on a supply trip to Belize City to see a doctor at a well equipped clinic. As I said, Turneffe is quite isolated, and in many ways, it's like a live-aboard that doesn't move. I think DAN insurance would be a good thing to have here!
So, would we return? In a heartbeat. The place is not inexpensive, but it occurred to me that this place is the diving equivalent of heli-skiing. An isolated top-notch resort, with wonderful attentive staff, and pristine, "private" diving. Our dive guys, Marcel and Brad were excellent and tended to our equipment, rinsing it and hanging it every day. (I still feel guilty with all of this "valet diving" stuff...)
I must mention the constantly re-filling cookie jars on the dive dock... I gained about 5 pounds over the week!
All in all a great week, and certainly one of the top two or three places we have stayed in the Caribbean.
