Liveaboard Diving in Turneffe Reef

What to expect on a Turneffe Atoll Reef Liveaboard

Liveaboards to Turneffe Atoll Reef give divers the chance to explore this chain of small Caribbean cayes (islands), with Turneffe Atoll being the closest and the largest of these 3 atolls in Belize. It forms a series of mangroves acting as spawning sites and offering protection for juvenile fish. Manatees and American Saltwater crocodiles can sometimes be spotted whilst on your Turneffe Atoll Reef liveaboard. What's more, the atoll provides great drift dives with some of the larger pelagic such as gigantic shoals of trevallies, snappers, black-tip and hammerhead sharks and the occasional small pod of bottlenose dolphins. Declared a national marine reserve, the marine biodiversity in this area is unrivalled in the region.

What You Can see

On a Turneffe Atoll Reef liveaboard there are dive sites suitable for every level. Beginner divers may prefer the Western side offering calmer waters and shallower reefs while the more advanced seek the stronger currents and trickier terrain of the eastern and south sides. The atoll offers enough variety to satisfy every diver.

The Elbow, so called because of a dramatic twist in the reef. An advanced dive with stunning drop-offs and dramatic reef formations, it is common to see groups of eagle rays up to 50 in numbers with the occasional hammerhead shark sightings. Be aware of strong currents on this site.

The Wreck of the Sayonara is a former a 50ft passenger/cargo boat that is now adorned in impressive sponges and corals. It provides a home for schools of French grunts, parrotfish and a variety of angelfish. For the macro inclined, you can find basket stars, coral shrimp and file clams. The nearby reef is sometimes visited by schools of barracuda.

Black Beauty - This wall features coral formation with isolated patches of the rare black corals from which it gets its name. This site offers an interesting reef structure with steep wall features, covered in a vast amount of marine growth sloping down to sandy bottom channels. Turtle and Eagle Ray sightings are not uncommon here, and if luck is on your side, an encounter with the rare toadfish.

Getting To Turneffe Atoll Reef

To get to Turneffe Atoll Reef, Belize liveaboards depart from the Radisson Ft. George dock, located in the heart of downtown Belize City. International flights to Belize depart regularly from around the world, often with a transfer in Miami, Florida. If you are landing at Belize City International Airport (BZE), transfer is provided to and from the yachts. Dependent on the Liveaboard itinerary and sea conditions, the first part of your journey may start at Lighthouse Reef or Turneffe Atoll Reef.


Turneffe Reef Diving Reviews

  • 9.2 Superb
  • 40 Verified Reviews
  • 8.0 Very good
  • Carla N
  • United States United States

The reef on all of the dives is in really nice shape. There are a lot of juvenile fish, and some great Trigger fish.

Diving Turneffe Reef in April on the Belize Aggressor III

  • 10.0 Exceptional
  • Nancy Q
  • United States United States

Loved all places we dove (Turneffe, Lighthouse & Half Moon Caye). Like the way we did afternoon dives at one location & the night dive at same spot. The visibility was much less than expected but a tropical storm had come through about a week before so I think that was still stirring things up a bit. I appreciated that the crew had a plan for the next day's dive but was always willing to change it based on weather & safety to provide us w the best possible dives.

Diving Turneffe Reef in October on the Belize Aggressor IV

  • 9.2 Superb
  • Barbara F
  • United States United States

Great. It was our early morning dives in the last day.

Diving Turneffe Reef in November on the Belize Aggressor IV

  • 10.0 Exceptional
  • Jarrod V
  • United States United States

Beautiful reef. Calm clear water

Diving Turneffe Reef in February on the Belize Aggressor III

  • 8.0 Very good
  • Jeffrey T
  • United States United States

Sketchy. The ocean was stirred up by fairly strong winds and the visibility for almost all of our dives on the Turneffe was pretty poor.

Diving Turneffe Reef in April on the Belize Aggressor IV

  • 8.4 Very good
  • Nathaniel L
  • United States United States

Average to slightly above average. there was a lot of dead or dying coral. It seemed the further away you went from Belize City the better quality diving there was

Diving Turneffe Reef in June on the Belize Aggressor III

  • 8.0 Very good
  • Cathy P
  • United States United States

Lots of eagle rays and reef sharks were spotted.

Diving Turneffe Reef in February on the Belize Aggressor IV

  • 9.2 Superb
  • Devan L
  • United States United States

Turneffe had a lot of interesting creatures including toadfish.

Diving Turneffe Reef in February on the Belize Aggressor IV

  • 8.8 Fabulous
  • Gary G
  • United States United States

Cloudy but still saw green eel and a lobster and many other fish

Diving Turneffe Reef in September on the Belize Aggressor IV

  • 9.6 Exceptional
  • Michael H
  • United States United States

It was interesting looking for the white-spotted toad fish.

Diving Turneffe Reef in September on the Belize Aggressor III

  • 10.0 Exceptional
  • Russell C
  • United States United States

Turnoffs is great for eels, neck crabs, and other coral life

Diving Turneffe Reef in January on the Belize Aggressor III

  • 8.8 Fabulous
  • David D
  • United States United States

It was very windy this week, so visibility was not so great. But overall diving was good.

Diving Turneffe Reef in May on the Belize Aggressor III

  • 10.0 Exceptional
  • Glen H
  • United States United States

Fair- the visibility was poor.

Diving Turneffe Reef in July on the Belize Aggressor IV

  • 10.0 Exceptional
  • Jeffrey T
  • United States United States

Good but the water was still pretty stirred up from the Hurricane. Poorest visibility we have experienced on a dive trip. I'm sure it will improve with a little more time. We'll see, we will be back in May

Diving Turneffe Reef in November on the Belize Aggressor IV

  • 10.0 Exceptional
  • Matthew M
  • United States United States

Absolutely amazing and great visibility with no currents. Great abundance of life on the reef and walls.

Diving Turneffe Reef in May on the Belize Aggressor IV

  • 9.6 Exceptional
  • Fletcher R
  • United States United States

Low visibility. Not much there except for friendly nurse sharks.

Diving Turneffe Reef in November on the Belize Aggressor III

  • 7.6 Good
  • Joseph F
  • United Kingdom United Kingdom

The Elbow was a great site, others were ok. We mostly dived on Lighthouse.

Diving Turneffe Reef in July on the Belize Aggressor III

  • 8.4 Very good
  • Ana S
  • Spain Spain

Good diving, lots of marine life.

Diving Turneffe Reef in August on the Belize Aggressor IV

  • 10.0 Exceptional
  • John D
  • Canada Canada

Delightful. I was amazed by the size and variety of the barrel sponges.

Diving Turneffe Reef in February on the Belize Aggressor III

  • 9.2 Superb
  • Erick F
  • Mexico Mexico

Super calm and warm waters. Great corals

Diving Turneffe Reef in September on the Belize Aggressor III

  • 10.0 Exceptional
  • Forrest W
  • Bermuda Bermuda

Great visibility at the time, cool Toadfish!

Diving Turneffe Reef in December on the Belize Aggressor IV

  • 10.0 Exceptional
  • Stefan W
  • Canada Canada

Great. The staff knew exactly were to take us to find all the good stuff.

Diving Turneffe Reef in December on the Belize Aggressor III

  • 7.2 Good
  • Mark B
  • Canada Canada

Good, but the mother nature wasn't co-operating all the time

Diving Turneffe Reef in January on the Belize Aggressor IV

  • 9.6 Exceptional
  • Gavin D
  • Australia Australia

Good fish life and plenty to see

Diving Turneffe Reef in October on the Belize Aggressor III

  • 9.2 Superb
  • Patricia N
  • United Kingdom United Kingdom

Enjoyed the tranquility and cool drift dive but think lighthouse reef is better

Diving Turneffe Reef in April on the Belize Aggressor III

  • 10.0 Exceptional
  • Lucia C
  • Italy Italy

Nice, easy reef with lots of tiny macro life

Diving Turneffe Reef in December on the Belize Aggressor III

  • 9.2 Superb
  • Parker V
  • Canada Canada

Good, though unfortunately there was a strong current on our last day of diving there which seemed to keep the majority of the larger life away.

Diving Turneffe Reef in January on the Belize Aggressor III

  • 8.8 Fabulous
  • Yu Wei H
  • Taiwan Taiwan

Lots of sharks, beautiful wall/cliff

Diving Turneffe Reef in May on the Belize Aggressor IV