Turneffe Atoll

Turneffe is around fifty kilometres long and made up of something like two hundred low mangrove cayes around a shallow interior lagoon, which makes it quite unlike the sand-and-palm image of an atoll. It became Belize's largest marine reserve in 2012 after a long campaign. The mangroves are a nursery for the whole reef system, the flats inside hold bonefish, permit and tarpon in numbers that made this a fly-fishing destination decades ago, and the outside edge drops into wall diving, with the Elbow at the southern tip a well-known spot where currents concentrate large pelagics.

What you actually see

• The Elbow - the southern point, a current-swept dive with big fish.
• The flats - bonefish, permit and tarpon inside the atoll.
• The mangrove cayes - a nursery for the wider reef system.
• The wall - the outside edge dropping into deep water.

When to go

December to April is the dry season with the calmest crossings. Permit fishing is good year-round; tarpon peak from around May to September. The Elbow requires settled conditions and is not always divable.

Honest expectations

There is no scheduled transport and no village; access is through one of a handful of lodges or on a liveaboard, and both are expensive. The Elbow has strong current and is an advanced dive. Sandflies in the mangroves are severe. Day trips from Belize City involve a long crossing for limited water time.

Nearby

Lighthouse Reef and the Blue Hole are further east; Belize City is two hours west.