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The Elbow, Turneffe

Turneffe Atoll, Belize · 15–40m · advanced · exposed

Current-swept southern tip of Turneffe Atoll where snapper school in the thousands.

Conditions today

Retrieved · refreshed hourly

poor

Poor — 1.3m effective waves made worse by short-period chop.

Limiting factor: period

Wave height
0.9–1.3m
Wave period
5.2–5.7s
Wind chop
0.3–0.9m
Sea temp
28.8–29.1°C

Ranges span today's hours. Wave height here is the raw sea state — the rating scales it for how exposed the site is. Exposed — open water with nothing to block the swell, so it is scored at full height.

Next few days

  • TodayPoor — 1.3m effective waves made worse by short-period chop.poor
  • FridayPoor — 0.9m effective waves made worse by short-period chop.poor
  • SaturdayMarginal — 0.7m effective waves made worse by short-period chop.marginal

Each day is scored over its morning dive window, the same as today's rating.

Dive briefing

AI-generated

The Elbow is rated poor today because of short-period chop compounding the swell. The rating itself reflects conditions at this exposed site: 1.3m effective waves in a 5.2–5.7 second sea state will make for a rougher descent and ascent than calmer days. Depths run 15 to 40 metres, so you'll need advanced certification. Sea temperature is 28.8–29.1°C.

Divers commonly log Atlantic Blue Tang, Stoplight Parrotfish, and Caribbean Bluehead Wrasse here, along with Great Barracuda and various angelfish. The snapper schools this site is known for will still be present, but the chop may affect your time on the reef. This is a current-swept site that rewards experience; come back on a better-rated day if you can.

Written by Claude (claude-haiku-4-5-20251001) from the rating, forecast, and sightings on this page — it has no other source and cannot look anything up. Treat it as a summary, not as local knowledge.

Commonly seen here

Most-recorded species near this site, ranked by research-grade iNaturalist sightings from divers, snorkelers, and naturalists.

Species come from iNaturalist — research-grade sightings logged by divers, snorkelers, and naturalists nearby. The ranking reflects what people photograph most, not guaranteed abundance. Ask a local operator what's actually being seen. Species names link to iNaturalist for range maps, seasonality and more photos. Photos by iNaturalist contributors under Creative Commons licences — individual credit on hover.