Plan a trip

Three Atolls

Ambergris, then Turneffe, then Lighthouse Reef by private boat or atoll lodges, and a short flight back.

An aerial view of white surf breaking in lines over a reef, with green-blue water behind it.
A sandy beachfront path beside a pastel-painted dive shop, with palms, docks and boats on turquoise water.
A small open motor boat on clear, pale turquoise water beside a wooden dock with a slatted wooden crab trap on it.
A night sky full of stars above the tops of coconut palms, with the lights of a town strung along the shore in the distance.

Overview

For snorkellers and divers who came for the water and want as much of it as possible. You start on Ambergris for choice and comfort, move out to Turneffe for walls and flats, and finish at Lighthouse Reef, the furthest atoll, before a short flight back to the mainland.

This is the route most exposed to weather. We build in a spare day and never put the long crossing at the end of the trip.

The route, stop by stop

01 · Ambergris Caye · 3 nights

Settle in, dive or snorkel Hol Chan, and fish the flats if you like.
Flight from BZE, about 15 to 20 minutesCheck before you travel

02 · Turneffe Atoll · 3 nights

An atoll lodge for the southern walls, the flats and the lagoons.
Private boat, about 1 to 1.5 hoursCheck before you travel

03 · Lighthouse Reef · 2 to 3 nights

Half Moon Caye's wall and booby colony, and the Blue Hole if it suits you.
Private boat, weather permittingCheck before you travel

How the nights split

  • Reef: 8 nights
  • River: 0 nights
  • Coast: 0 nights
  • Best months: March, April, May, JuneCheck before you travel

Good for

  • Certified divers
  • Strong snorkellers
  • Anglers

Worth knowing

Overnight options on Lighthouse Reef are very limited; we may suggest a liveaboard for this leg.

Not suited to young children or nervous sailors.

Other routes

Each one is a starting point, not a package.

All routes
10 to 11 nights

River to Reef

A river lodge in Cayo, down the Hummingbird Highway to Garifuna Hopkins, then out to South Water Caye or Glover's Reef.

  • Cayo → Hopkins & Dangriga → Glover's & South Water
  • Best: Jan, Feb, Mar, Apr, May, Nov, DecCheck before you travel
  • Works with children
A still, green river between banks of dense forest, seen past the railings of a bridge.
12 nights

The Southern Coast, Slowly

Hopkins, then Placencia (Gladden Spit in season), Cockscomb, Toledo and Punta Gorda, and the Sapodilla Cayes.

  • Hopkins & Dangriga → Cockscomb Basin → Placencia → Toledo & Punta Gorda
  • Best: Feb, Mar, Apr, MayCheck before you travel
  • Works with children
An open-sided beach bar with a white roof among coconut palms, tables and stools on the sand, and a lounger in the foreground.