Turneffe Atoll, Belize

July 2026

Most of my trips are selected solely based on fishing considerations. However, this trip was an anniversary trip with my wife, who wanted to dive. Therefore, I narrowed the search to places that offered good beginner diving as well as fishing. It ended up coming down to Roatan or Turneffe, and this time we picked Turneffe.

Belize has the second-largest barrier reef in the world, and it is reasonably well protected, so there is plenty of marine life. Turneffe Atoll sits about 30 miles off the coast of the mainland, and has no roads or towns. There are just a couple of small resorts there, and they are pretty spread out, so it has a feeling of remoteness. Turneffe Flats Lodge, where we stayed, is very eco-friendly and tries to have a minimal impact on the environment, which is nice. They have been in business for many years, so they have a good system in place for both diving and fishing.

The flight to Belize from Dallas was quite easy, and we were picked up from the airport and taken to the dock where we boarded a boat to Turneffe. A stiff breeze blew in our faces, but we enjoyed a fairly smooth crossing. Upon arriving at the lodge, we were greeted by various staff and shown to our room. The lodge only houses a maximum of 18 guests, so it maintains an intimate feel. A large flat sits in front of the lodge, and Bonefish can be caught just a few yards from the rooms. You do have to keep an eye out while wading, however, due to the resident crocs.

I only fished three days this trip, as it was more of a getaway than a hardcore fishing trip. Fishing the first day started at 7:30am, and I headed out with my guide. We headed north into some windy conditions, and my fly casting definitely needed some fine-tuning. I had not fly fished for Bonefish in almost 20 years, so I missed or lost the first 5 bites in various ways. My guide was not amused, and actually scolded me more harshly than I would have liked. I really do not like when fishing guides get on my case; polite suggestion is all that is needed or wanted. He did get better as the week went on, either because he mellowed or because I got the technique much more dialed in. Probably a combination of both. After a quick lunch break, I redeemed myself by landing the next 5 Bonefish that bit.

Turneffe Atoll exceeded my expectations in terms of beauty. The clear clean water teemed with all manner of life, and sharks, rays, and fish swam by every few minutes. The area is well protected, especially compared to some other Caribbean destinations, and it really shows. The beauty of the scenery helped ease the pain of the fish I missed.

The fishery at Turneffe primarily revolves around Bonefish, Permit, and Tarpon. Because I had a relatively short time to fish and had not done much flats fly fishing, I decided to focus primarily on the Bonefish. I saw a few Permit, but only made a few casts at them with no takes. I did not even see any Tarpon, although they were certainly around and some other guests landed some. I also brought two popping rods to cast around bait balls we occasionally passed to see if I could pick up some Barracuda, Snappers, or Jacks here and there. More on that later.

A short video of fighting a Bonefish on the flats:

After a good meal and a restful sleep, I woke up ready to improve on the prior day's results. We actually began by fishing the flat directly in front of the resort, and I landed Bonefish on my first and third casts of the day. A great way to start the day. We made our way south to a flat with some bigger fish, and I managed to hook a couple of those, including one that took me into my backing twice. Those Bonefish really pull for their size. I finished the morning with 5 Bonefish landed, and only 1 fish got away when it wrapped the line around a rock. I had my rod tip high trying to avoid that, but sometimes fish get off. Starting the morning 5/6 rather than 0/5 felt great heading into lunch.

After lunch, the Bonefish seemed to evaporate and I was only able to find one school to cast to. That school disappeared after two casts, so I decided to try to fish my popping gear in the mangroves for Barracuda and Snapper. I had a big Barracuda come completely out after missing my popper, and below it I could see some nice big Snapper. I kept casting the popper and a pack of Snapper came up and started shouldering each other out of the way to try to eat it. One pounced on it in a terrific explosion of water, and my relatively light bass rod immediately bent in half. The fish was clearly trying to head back into the mangroves, and so I pulled as hard as I dared to try to steer it away while the guide fired up the engine to try to pull it to the middle of the channel with the boat. After a few heart-stopping moments, we got to the middle of the channel in deeper water and I thought I had a pretty decent chance at landing the fish. The fight was far from over at that point, as the fish made hard runs towards the mangroves on both sides, but fortunately he never quite got there. Eventually he gave up and we got the beautiful Cubera Snapper in the boat. His buddies ignored all subsequent casts, so we headed back to the lodge where we cooked and ate the Snapper. Absolutely delicious.

On the third day, I started out wading for Bones on a flat to the south. I could see some big ones, but they were extremely skittish in the shallow water. Pelicans and cormorants harassed them from above while sharks periodically tried to snatch members of the school, so they moved around a lot. I had to keep chasing them back and forth across the flat, only getting an occasional shot at them. I finally connected on two of them, but eventually we decided to move on. We trolled a little bit near the reef, and I got a beautiful Bar Jack that put up a strong fight on my light gear. I also landed a couple of Cero mackerel. 

We had to head in a little early (apparently something that happens every Friday at the lodge), but wanted to make sure we got another shot at the Cubera spot. The Barracuda was still there, and I managed to get him to eat a Rapala Xrap and landed him. I saw one Cubera, but it wanted nothing to do with my lures, so we called it a day.

Turneffe Flats is a fine lodge and my wife enjoyed her days diving. It was her first time diving, but the staff were very patient and helped her get comfortable quickly. The area is really beautiful and you do not see many other boats fishing. The only real downside were the mosquitoes.

I barely scratched the surface of the fishing, having completely ignored the Permit and Tarpon. Hopefully I have a chance to go back sometime.