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Satellite view of the Great Blue Hole, a circular deep-blue sinkhole ringed by shallow turquoise reef within Lighthouse Reef, Belize — Belize Barrier Reef

Belize Barrier Reef · Belize · Reef

Turneffe Island Lodge's Front Porch

Deep grooves cut through reef and slope off the lodge

Area photo: Axelspace Corporation · CC BY-SA 4.0

The Front Porch is the site off Turneffe Island Lodge, at the Caye Bokel end of the atoll's south-east corner. A shallow reef at 12 to 15 metres runs out into a steeper slope dropping to greater depth, and both are cut by deep grooves that gather the fish, with spadefish, turtles and grouper on the ledges.

Also known as Front Porch.

Where it is and how deep

Depth profile of Turneffe Island Lodge's Front Porch: typical dive 12–15 m (40–50 ft) 18 m · Open Water30 m · Advanced40 m · Recreational limit12 m15 mtypical dive
Depths on a shared scale to 40 m (130 ft); dashed lines mark common certification limits.

17.1850° N, 87.8950° WApproximate position — the dashed circle shows where the site lies; your operator's briefing has the mooring.

The dive

Sites in the south east of the atoll share one shape, and this is the example: a shallow reef at 40 to 50 feet, 12 to 15 metres, that ends in a steeper slope running out to greater depth. Several deep grooves cut across both the reef and the slope, and they are what the dive is organised around, because they are what attracts the marine life on this stretch.

Spadefish, the batfish, are a regular sight over the site, and both loggerhead and hawksbill turtles use this part of the reef. Groupers wait out the daylight hours in the ledges on the slope, so it is worth dropping over the edge and looking under it rather than staying on the reef top for the whole dive. The shallow depth leaves the time to do both without rushing.

Marine life and season

  • Sea turtles
  • Groupers
Month-by-month season rating for Turneffe Island Lodge's Front Porch
JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
GoodGoodPrimePrimePrimePrimeGoodFairOff-seasonOff-seasonFairGood

Season follows Belize Barrier Reef: Whale sharks aggregate at Gladden Spit around the March–June full moons; September–October bring the highest hurricane risk.

Sources

  1. Turneffe Atoll dive sites — Dive The World

More dive sites in Belize Barrier Reef

Reef

Alfredo's

Gullies cut across a submerged spur-and-groove reef

15–25 mintermediate

Wall

Chinaman's Wall

Eagle rays off a sponge-hung wall on Turneffe's east coast

20–25 mintermediate

Pelagic & blue water

Gladden Spit

Whale sharks feeding on snapper spawn between March and June

to 40 madvanced

Blue hole

Great Blue Hole

Ice-age stalactites hanging from 30 m inside a 124-metre shaft

5–40 m · max 124 madvanced

Wall

Half Moon Caye Wall

Garden eels on the sand, then a wall that falls past 914 m (3,000 ft)

to 15 mintermediate

Channel & pass

Hol Chan Marine Reserve

A 9-metre reef cut, with nurse sharks and stingrays next door

1.5–9 mbeginner

Wall

Long Caye

Coral gardens on the lip of a wall that falls several hundred metres

10–15 mintermediate

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