The Island

Discover the Turneffe Atoll

Located on a Geological Wonder

Nestled on the coral island of Little Caye Bokel, our resort sits at the southern elbow of one of the world’s unspoken wonders, the Turneffe Atoll. Formed centuries ago, Belize’s Turneffe Atoll was once an oceanic mountainous peak. With time and tectonic shifts in the earth’s crust, the peak sank to the sea floor, leaving only a coral reef around its perimeter. The coral continued to grow upon itself into a string of coral islands, which we know today as the Turneffe Atoll: a tangle of land, lagoons, channels and reefs—and the lifeblood of the Caribbean’s world-renowned diving and fishing.

Quick Facts

Acres of Private Island
14
Miles from the Great Blue Hole
30
Luxury Accommodations
25

An Island of Legends

1500 BCE–1200 AD

Indigenous Mayans inhabited the island originally, with Turneffe Atoll providing both a home and a livelihood as an outpost of fishing and self-preservation.

1600s

With the turn of the 17th century came Europeans, shipping routes and pirates, who commanded the Atoll’s channels, hiding away on its islets and marauding ships.

1941–1961

Mr. Ethlin Young established a fishing camp on Little Caye Bokel before selling the property to Mr. Victor L. Barhothy in 1961.

1962

A worldly American, Mr. Barhothy built the first offshore fishing lodge in Belize on Little Caye Bokel, known today as Turneffe Island Resort.

2001–Present

Under new family ownership since 2001, the resort is home to three of its original buildings, as well as an outdoor bar and pool, and a string of private villas along its white sand shoreline.

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