Turneffe Flats; Turneffe Island Resort or Blackbird Caye resort? Differences, similariites, - They all seem ot focus on fishing. Is one or the other better known for its scuba diving? Are the accomodations much different? How to choose; how to choose? All help welcomed.
Turneffe Diving Resorts
- Thread starter fred3798
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vladimir
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I have only been to Turneffe Island Resort, and that was 6 years ago, so weigh my post accordingly. While it may seem from their website that they focus on fishing, that was not the case on my visit. All the guests (~15) were divers, nobody fished, and the resort was typical of well-run dive operations. The diving was excellent, too, because the resort is just a short boat ride from The Elbow, arguably the best dive site in Belize. The diving was off of skiffs, with up to 8 divers to a skiff, and they had a 42' Newton for the trip to Lighthouse Reef and the Blue Hole. The food was served family style, like on a liveaboard, and it was good. The private cabanas are comfortable and nice, in a traditional way (romantic, according to my wife)lots of wood. The setting is fabulous. When the wind dies down the insects can be a force to be reckoned with (you're sitting on the edge of a mangrove swamp), but they didn't bother us and I would imagine it's the same at the other spots you are considering.
LiquidDivingAdventure
Contributor
Fred, It depends in part on your budget and go from there. Turneffe Island and Hamanasi are at the top end of the scale and offer ammenities to match. Turneffe Flats a bit less expensive but excellent service. Some of the resorts are isolated whereas the Blue Tang Inn is less expensive, good service and has easy access to town services. Fishing is a popular activity but it is not done at the cost of dive service at any of the quality resorts. As an FYI, Turneffe Island Resort is offering a $500 discount on packages booked in Jan for travel in Feb which is a pretty good deal. We also offer agent's discounts on various packages. So you need to ask the questions, what do you want on your vacation. First class service, remote location, access to town services (restaurants, etc), limited budget/unlimited budget...?
vladimir nailed it, although we were bug free. The time we were there, it was pretty much split down the middle as to those who were fishing and those who were diving.
Downing
Contributor
Like Vladimir, my only personal experience with these three is with TIR, having stayed there twice for a total of three weeks. But I don't think I'm going too far out on a limb to say that the three resorts probably have more similarities than differences.
TIR started off as a fishing lodge back in the 1960s and has slowly evolved into more of a scuba destination. Both times we were there the divers outnumbered the fisherpeople by a pretty good margin. I have read a few reviews of TF where the ratio was the other way around.
It wasn't easy to choose between the three the first time I went. Now that we've been to TIR twice, we've made a lot of friends with the staff and will continue to return there. I would describe the place as "first-class" rather than "luxurious." The rooms and cabanas are well-appointed. The food is excellent. The boats are in great shape. The diving is fantastic, and they mean it when they say there are 70 dive sites within 5 minutes so all surface intervals are done back on the island. Of the three resorts, TIR is closest to The Elbow, and depending on what the group wants to do you can dive it daily. TIR is the furthest from the Blue Hole but that's an all-day trip whichever resort you choose anyway so I don't think it makes much difference.
For daily diving TIR runs two small boats and the groups were usually four to eight divers on each one. You'll dive with the same group and have the same boat captain and dive master throughout your stay. The week begins with a checkout dive for which they ask that you set up your gear so they can get a feel for your level of experience. That dive is then done in about 40 feet of water so they can further observe your comfort level. For the Blue Hole trip and for transport back and forth to the mainland they run a 42-foot Newton with both dive groups aboard, although they still run the groups separately.
Our first time there, we met a couple from Texas who had been to TIR something like 10 or 12 times before. They said that they made a scuba trip every summer and would alternate between someplace new one year, then TIR the next. That made a big impression on us and by the time we were leaving I understood why.
As long as the wind blows, the bugs will be non-existent but beware if the wind dies down. That's only happened to us on two separate evenings, so they're easy to avoid if you just stay inside.
Be sure to let us know which one you choose and why, then write a trip report when you return.
TIR started off as a fishing lodge back in the 1960s and has slowly evolved into more of a scuba destination. Both times we were there the divers outnumbered the fisherpeople by a pretty good margin. I have read a few reviews of TF where the ratio was the other way around.
It wasn't easy to choose between the three the first time I went. Now that we've been to TIR twice, we've made a lot of friends with the staff and will continue to return there. I would describe the place as "first-class" rather than "luxurious." The rooms and cabanas are well-appointed. The food is excellent. The boats are in great shape. The diving is fantastic, and they mean it when they say there are 70 dive sites within 5 minutes so all surface intervals are done back on the island. Of the three resorts, TIR is closest to The Elbow, and depending on what the group wants to do you can dive it daily. TIR is the furthest from the Blue Hole but that's an all-day trip whichever resort you choose anyway so I don't think it makes much difference.
For daily diving TIR runs two small boats and the groups were usually four to eight divers on each one. You'll dive with the same group and have the same boat captain and dive master throughout your stay. The week begins with a checkout dive for which they ask that you set up your gear so they can get a feel for your level of experience. That dive is then done in about 40 feet of water so they can further observe your comfort level. For the Blue Hole trip and for transport back and forth to the mainland they run a 42-foot Newton with both dive groups aboard, although they still run the groups separately.
Our first time there, we met a couple from Texas who had been to TIR something like 10 or 12 times before. They said that they made a scuba trip every summer and would alternate between someplace new one year, then TIR the next. That made a big impression on us and by the time we were leaving I understood why.
As long as the wind blows, the bugs will be non-existent but beware if the wind dies down. That's only happened to us on two separate evenings, so they're easy to avoid if you just stay inside.
Be sure to let us know which one you choose and why, then write a trip report when you return.
Consider T-Flats as well.
All three are good options!
All three are good options!
We have only been to the Flats, and when we were there, were the only two divers out of about a dozen total. Being just two divers gave us an opportunity to dive all over, including Blue Hole. We dove some really great sites up on the Northern end of the atoll, as well as several on the upper west side. Dining was family style, and the accomodations were tropical. Our biggest gripe was that the a/c was turned off in our cabana every day from around 10 in the morning to late afternoon, which made private "napping" a little uncomfortable. We really enjoyed it, all things considered, and have returning in our travel plans, just trying to find an open spot. Watch for their specials, where they discount the diving package.
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