Trip Report - Turneffe Island Resort

[Stoo]

The place we stayed in is barely visible in the first picture, just to the left and behind the little building in the foreground. That is the tackle shop, and the dive shop is to the right, out of the frame...

I spent more than a few hours with George and dove with Brad and Marcel. They wer typical of the great staff.

I gotta tell you I am jealous as heck. My water up here is still a toasty 39F at the bottom... With lots of old boards and mud to look at. Sigh...

 

[Downing]

I called TIR's office in Houston today regarding some details about our upcoming trip in July. Since I had them on the phone, I asked if there was any damage from Alex.

Not surprisingly, there wasn't any. But as a precaution they evacuated the island except for a couple of the managers. Coincidentally, there was a some sort of kids camp going on so the place was packed with 50 something kids--this was an island rental for the camp as usually there are less than 20 adults and no kids. I can only imagine what the adults went through to ferry 50 kids to Belize City and back, but I'm sure the kids had a blast.

 

[Stoo]

Just by way of a post-script, we have booked a return trip for March. We found that by booking well in advance we saved a chunk on airfare. Also the resort offered us a discount as return guests (and extended it to some friends going with us, even though they are first timers...)

I mentioned earlier that I was afraid that this thread had taken on a bit of a negative tone but for the record, this is only the second time we have repeated at a resort, Laguna Beach being the other. Sadly, it is almost 7 months before we return... ugh.

 

[Downing]

Now it's my turn to be jealous.

I'm not surprised to learn you're going back. There's just something about that place. Dave a/k/a Hydroknot mentioned in another thread that he and his wife are returning for Christmas.

 

[redgym]

Downing, when were you there? We were at TIR last August and the owner's son imposed a rule that the staff couldn't go to the bar. Brad was going to join us at the bar and never showed. Of course, the rule didn't apply to the owner's son and it got a little old having him at the bar every night. The staff also served him first whenever food was served (at the bar or in the dining room). I'm probably a little hard on this kind of stuff, but if I was the owner's son I would direct the staff to serve me last and I would allow the guests to enjoy the bar without my constant presence. These are my only complaints for the week.

 

[Downing]

We were there the first week of August last month.

That rule was still in effect, so I got around it by joining the staff at the back of the island after the Thursday night dive for a party that was still going strong when I left about 2:30 in the morning and staggered back to my cabana.

I asked Brad what had happened to cause the owner's son to exclude the staff from the bar, and he didn't know. My guess is a guest must have complained, but they told me that I'm not the only guest who's joined the staff at the back of the island for a few drinks. I don't know why anyone would complain as the staff there is as friendly and engaging a bunch of people as I've ever met.

Brad and Marcel also took me to a nearby fishing camp one afternoon where their kids stay for the summer, and I got to hang out there for a couple of hours. Very cool experience. Obviously, they didn't have to do that, but they enjoy sharing their culture and way of life as much as I enjoy learning about it.

I hang out with Americans here at home every day. When I go to a foreign country, I like to meet and get to know as many locals as I can.

Frankly, the owner's son sounds like a bit of a jerk. Glad he wasn't around when we were there. I absolutely agree with you about serving the owner and family last out of respect for the guests. If I owned the place, that's the rule I'd impose and wouldn't make a big deal about it because that's the standard in the hospitality biz. I also wouldn't hang around the lodge all the time if I thought it made the guests even the slightest bit uncomfortable. You should have written him up in your Comments Card--serves him right, hah!

 

[redgym]

We were there the first week of August last month.

That rule was still in effect, so I got around it by joining the staff at the back of the island after the Thursday night dive for a party that was still going strong when I left about 2:30 in the morning and staggered back to my cabana.

I asked Brad what had happened to cause the owner's son to exclude the staff from the bar, and he didn't know. My guess is a guest must have complained, but they told me that I'm not the only guest who's joined the staff at the back of the island for a few drinks. I don't know why anyone would complain as the staff there is as friendly and engaging a bunch of people as I've ever met.

Brad and Marcel also took me to a nearby fishing camp one afternoon where their kids stay for the summer, and I got to hang out there for a couple of hours. Very cool experience. Obviously, they didn't have to do that, but they enjoy sharing their culture and way of life as much as I enjoy learning about it.

I hang out with Americans here at home every day. When I go to a foreign country, I like to meet and get to know as many locals as I can.

Frankly, the owner's son sounds like a bit of a jerk. Glad he wasn't around when we were there. I absolutely agree with you about serving the owner and family last out of respect for the guests. If I owned the place, that's the rule I'd impose and wouldn't make a big deal about it because that's the standard in the hospitality biz. I also wouldn't hang around the lodge all the time if I thought it made the guests even the slightest bit uncomfortable. You should have written him up in your Comments Card--serves him right, hah!

That rule was literally instituted the day we were there. The DMs were at the bar the night before and planned on being there that night. When he didn't show, he told us that the owner's son put that rule in effect. None of the guests that were would have complained. I think we would have enjoyed the trip more if the owner's son wasn't there for the week.

 

[Stoo]

That sucks... So when you went out back to socialize, did the staff have their own hooch or did you take a CARE package?

 

[Downing]

Both.

I bought a case of beer for them, but they had plenty.

I was drinking rum.

George the bartender made all the arrangements so it was waiting for me when I got there after the Thursday night dive.

I told the manager what we were doing, and he was fine with it.

I think the staff really appreciates guests who want to hang out with them. There's sort of a period of initial shyness, but that goes away quickly after the first beer or so. After a while everyone's laughing and joking, and they'll even patiently explain what the heck they're talking about since their accent sometimes gives me trouble.

 

[Stoo]

I have just returned from Turneffe... my second trip. I won't go into great detail other than to say that I remain truly impressed with everything about this place. It was busier than last year, I think because our spring break coincided with others in the US, but it still remained very quiet.

The diving surpassed last years in many ways. Last year, we could only dive the Elbow once due to bad vis. This year, we dove it four times. I have never seen so many fish as I did on those dives. At the end of our last dive there, we swam through three massive schools (and I mean many thousands of large fish in each) of snappers and permit. It was unbelievable. The soft corals are plentiful and the reefs look very healthy. There were of course lion fish and our DM dispatched a number of them. Sad to see but necessary.

I was not treated to a repeat of seeing Eagle Rays on almost every dive, but we had a large number of turtles, including a couple of loggerheads which was a rare treat for me. As I was doing my last safety stop of the week, one large Hawksbill swam up from 50', to within three feet of me, then back down again. I can only assume he came up to say goodbye. Our DM almost drowned laughing as it was an obvious side-trip for this beast to check me out.

We dove with Brad and Marcel again (by request) and enjoyed their easy going approach and vast knowledge of these waters. All of the staff and managers were great and we enjoyed spending time with them.

Last year, when we got home, we were pretty sure we would return, and did. This year we know we will return, and it's really just a decision about when... possibly this summer! Regardless of "when", this will be our first-ever "threepeat"!

All in all a great place, assuming you enjoy peace and quiet, great food, wonderful staff, awesome diving.

Just as a footnote, last year I commented that there was a fair "push" to tip and tip well. A number of folks echoed that they agreed that this was overdone. I am pleased to advise that there was none of this this year. Our final bill had a form attached where we could write in tips to be charged to our credit cards, but that was about it. We tipped the same as always and did so happily.