Connect with us
background

News

Turneffe Island Resort Redefines Private Island Adventure

Published

on

Turneffe Island Resort debuts its relaunched hotel, resort and new website, now taking reservations. This unique private island oasis offers adventure-seekers a personalized experience with unparalleled fishing, diving and snorkeling excursions. Spread across 14 acres, this hidden gem island at the southern tip of the Turneffe Atoll is 35 miles off the coast of Belize City and only 30 miles from the world-famous Great Blue Hole.

The resort specializes in customizable, all-inclusive fishing, diving and snorkeling packages for avid water enthusiasts. From the lengths of the saltwater Turneffe Flats to the depths of the Great Blue Hole, guests have easy access to Caribbean waters – and seasoned guides who grew up on the water of the centuries-old Turneffe Atoll channels, lagoons and reef.

turneffe-great-blue-hole

“We are delighted to unveil the new Turneffe Island Resort on our 15-year anniversary. We’ve renovated the property, as we do after each season, but we’re especially excited to make a dramatic debut for guests, both returning and new, this season,” said Deborah Finkler, sales and marketing manager, Turneffe Island Resort. “We’ve enhanced our special adventure packages and have a brand new website to allow visitors to virtually experience all the luxury and adventure that the island and surrounding Caribbean waters can offer.”

Guests come to Turneffe Island Resort to cross something off their bucket list. Anglers can expect up to eight hours on the water every day, whether fly fishing in the flats or spin fishing in the deep waters. The resort is known as one of the only places in the world where one can chase the elusive “Caribbean Grand Slam”, catching a bonefish, tarpon and permit, all in one day. Guests can also fish for snapper, barracuda and jack for a truly unforgettable fish story. With born fishermen guiding the program, guests have landed their names in the International Game Fish Association (IFGA) record books season after season. Turneffe Island Resort is also pleased to announce a new fishing director, Greg Bicker, avid fly fish pro, to help guide the expanding fishing program at the resort.

The resort offers multiple dives per day with Professional Association of Diving Instructors (PADI)-certified guides, a weekly night dive and trips to one of the deepest dives in the world, the legendary Great Blue Hole, a collapsed 1000-year old oceanic cave, where divers head 130 feet underwater. In between fishing, diving and snorkeling guests can enjoy kayaking, paddle boarding, swimming and sun bathing. It is also the perfect destination for foodies with the kitchen and bar staff serving fresh and local international cuisine and cocktail creations.

_jls0037

Turneffe Island Resort has fully-renovated the property including its exclusive 22 beachside guestrooms, allowing guests to enjoy the ultimate in privacy and luxury. The secluded presidential and honeymoon villas are available for guests seeking luxury accommodations with even more space. Guestrooms and villas embody peace and relaxation and are adorned with floor-to-ceiling Belizean mahogany wood interiors.

Turneffe Island Resort has had a long and interesting history and was originally the first offshore fishing lodge in Belize. Relaunched in 2001 under new family ownership as the Turneffe Island Resort, today’s resort features three original buildings, an outdoor bar and pool, a string of private villas along its white sand shoreline and a helicopter pad.

The resort and its staff boast consistency in excellence, easily outnumbering the guests at any given time and providing personalized, white-glove service that meets the specific needs and desires of each individual guest. With direct flights from US cities Atlanta, Charlotte, Houston, Los Angeles, Miami and New York to Belize City, Turneffe Island Resort is remote, but not difficult to get to.

Today, Turneffe Island Resort has launched a new website to showcase all the beauty that the island has to offer. With stunning images of the island and activities along with a clean, responsive design, the resort’s new website gives guests a true taste of the adventure that awaits them. Visitors can browse the customizable packages offered by the resort and book via the reserve now button or by calling staff in the Houston, TX main office at 1-800-874-0118 or 1-713-236-7739.

turneffe-island-resort-aerial

For more information on Turneffe Island Resort or to book your trip, visit www.turnefferesort.com or Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.

Gear News

Introducing the Aqua-Trek Evo Drysuit from BARE

Published

on

drysuit

This lightweight Aqua-Trek Evo drysuit from BARE is patterned after the flagship X-Mission Evolution using the company’s exclusively engineered Cordura® Nylon Oxford 4-Layer fabric for a durable and breathable design. The Aqua-Trek Evo is ready for wherever your adventure takes you.

FEATURES AND BENEFITS

  • Lighter weight breathable material that offers enhanced flexibility over current butyl trilaminate
  • Lightweight low-profile plastic dry zipper
  • 2mm nylon/smoothskin “Smart Collar” with vented neck drain provides an improved seal with the BARE dry hood
  • Low-profile valves Lightweight low-profile plastic dry zipper and offset protected zipper flap to avoid contact between dry zipper and outer flap
  • Anatomically shaped torso, arms and legs
  • M-PADz knee protection with 2mm neoprene backing provides added padding for comfort
  • 2 needle “felled seam” construction increases seam integrity, is low-profile and less prone to abrasion, and finishes for a clean look
  • Flexible double-taped reinforcement at “critical wear” seam points for added durability
  • Bellow Pocket with D-ring and drain grommets on each thigh
  • Field replaceable 4-point suspenders and crotch strap
  • Tech dry boots installed

TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS

Material:

  • Exclusively engineered and durable Cordura® Nylon Oxford 4-Layer fabric
  • Lighter weight, breathable material that offers enhanced flexibility, abrasion and puncture resistance

Find out more about BARE products at www.baresports.com.

Sea & Sea is the home of BARE and other Huish Outdoors diving brands in the UK.

Continue Reading

Blogs

Reef-World marks two decades of marine conservation: strengthening impact amid coral reef threats

Published

on

reef world foundation

Empowering ocean stakeholders to tackle future challenges and ensure the survival of coral reefs and humanity

2024 marks the 20th Anniversary of The Reef-World Foundation’s tireless efforts for global coral reef conservation. The UK charity is the international coordinator of the UN Environment Programme’s Green Fins initiative, known as the leading voice in sustainable marine tourism. Today, Reef-World released its 2023-2024 Impact Report outlining a year of substantive growth and impact in its marine conservation programmes. 

Impact Report Highlights:

  • Impressive improvements in environmental behaviours to protect coral reefs by the marine tourism industry as the global participation of Green Fins increases.
  • Continued capacity building for government and NGO staff to effectively manage marine tourism activities in Asia, Caribbean and Red Sea regions. 
  • For the first time in Green Fins’ 20-year history, tourism operators have achieved ‘Best Environmental Performer’ status by demonstrating the lowest possible environmental impact in their environmental assessments. In 2024, three dive operators achieved this challenging milestone. 
  • Significant increases in global participation of Reef-World’s innovative digital conservation tools.
  • 138 Green Fins dive operator members achieved the strict threshold for PADI Eco Center recognition.
  • Developed four new educational materials and translated two into 16 languages to support the marine tourism industry in achieving sustainability targets.
  • Establishing a new Reef-World Development strategy and recruiting new roles – Development and Programmes Managers. 
  • Reef-World’s board welcomes new Chair and Trustees strengthening organisational leadership. 

Reef-World started as a one-person mission to inspire and empower communities to act in conserving and sustainably developing coral reefs and related ecosystems. Today, the team of 12 continues to meet this mission by inspiring and empowering the global marine tourism community to be exemplary sustainability leaders by using the Green Fins guidelines and tools to simultaneously use and protect the world’s precious reefs. 

In April 2024, the fourth global coral reef bleaching event was confirmed. Reef-World’s work has never been more urgent as the marine environment, and the benefits they provide humanity, continue to be eroded by global threats. The reduction of local threats, like those from the marine tourism industry, is an essential step to ensuring a future where coral reefs survive and continue to support the millions of people who depend on their ecosystem benefits. Reef-World’s work buys time for coral reefs and related ecosystems to be resilient to the impacts of global threats. 

 

“Right now our corals are facing the greatest fight of their existence as the terrifying predictions of the steps towards their complete extinction are starting to come true. But all is not lost, reefs are resilient and they have existed on this planet for millions of years. We must take action now, to buy time for reefs by reducing threats facing them and allowing them to react and adjust to the changing environment they need to survive in.” – Chloe Harvey, Executive Director

Looking Forwards: 

Like coral reefs, the Reef-World team needs to be resilient in the face of the complex challenges of the conservation sector. Reef-World has invested significantly in developing a Culture of Care to ensure the well-being of its team on a daily basis, continuing to be an exemplary employer to enable its team to best achieve the mission for coral reef conservation.

With the foundations of a Culture of Care and organisational development laid, Reef-World is emerging from the end of a natural organisation life cycle, that brings the challenges of growth and scale, stronger than ever. With a new strategy in place to generate much needed resources, Reef-World is excited for the opportunities to leap forward, continue to scale our impact and lean into new innovations and untapped opportunities for marine conservation. 

We continually strive to become a forward-thinking organisation that delivers on our goals and commitments to our stakeholders with fresh approaches and not being afraid of steering away from a “normal approach.” This approach is not only applied to our programmes of work but also internally and carries over to our Culture of Care for our team.” — JJ Harvey, Operations Director

reef world foundation

The Reef-World Foundation is immensely grateful for the continued support of its grant funders: UN Environment Programme, IUCN’s Blue Natural Capital Financing Facility, Adventure Travel Conservation Fund, PADI Aware Foundation, and World Nomads Footprints Program.

Reef-World would also like to express its gratitude to international partners whose vital support has resulted in significant tangible benefits for our work and mission: PADI; Professional SCUBA Schools International (PSS); Explorer Ventures; 1% for the Planet; ZuBlu; Snorkel Venture, GSTC; Dive O’Clock; Seven Dragons; DiveAssure and Eco Beach, without whom these achievements would not be possible.

The full 2023–2024 Annual Impact Report is available on Reef-World’s website.

Continue Reading

E-Newsletter Sign up!

Instagram Feed

Popular