To no one's surprise more than my own, by mid morning on my first day on the Atoll, I found myself with a companion, sitting alongside a pretty flat, watching guide Daniel rig up a leader. The Turneffe Flats orientation session, complete with descriptions of the Atoll's beauty and tales of fishy encounters that might befall us on the flats, had quickly turned a "maybe" into a "why not?"

After the orientation, rods are snatched from their holders on the deck of Turneffe Flat's signature red-roofed cabanas.

A short walk to the dock leaves the sun deck and infinity pool behind. The R&R program, for now, will have to wait.

It's not long before it dawns on me that this is an easy sell. Casting lessons in the grass outside the fly shop don't hold a candle to class held on the Turneffe Atoll's sun drenched flats.

All the frustrations facing the first time angler are so much more easily handled with the sound of the surf crashing in the distance, and a warm Caribbean breeze blowing through your hair.

The challenges are there, without question. Far more so, in fact, that they are on any stream or river. But who cares? Just look around.

Eventually the morning's training sessions yield results and this healthy bonefish is pulled from what Daniel calls "easy water." The reward is no less sweet for this fact, and as the reel screams on the fish's second run, I can see grin laden glances thrown my way, with questions about why anyone would fish for trout building for later.

Many of the atoll's flats, however, can be quite challenging. Due to its unique geography, anglers on the atoll commonly fish flats very close to or even in the surf. The powerful currents can quickly push and pull at delivered fly, adding a entirely new dimension to the already complicated task of presenting a fly to a school of bonefish.

Matters are only further complicated by the atoll's ubiquitious coral. A running fish can quickly slice leader and line on often razor-sharp coral.

Permit are considered by most to be the main attraction at Turneffe Flats, and the waters that surround it afford plentiful opportunities to take shots at them. Long days are spent poling sunny, permit-friendly flats like the one seen here, but the atoll's lagoons also afford anglers shots at large groups of feeding permit.

Barracuda are readily found on the atoll and are overlooked by only the most foolish of visitors.

A six or seven pound cuda, like this one, will pull as hard as another fish three or four times its size. These are powerful predators that rarely fail to put on a show.

Even when blue skies and warm tropical breezes yield to clouds and rain, angling opportunities persist.

This day's storm, which rolled in to dash hopes, ended up being a blessing that led to some of the trip's finest catches.

Weather can be welcome in the lagoon, too, where groups of 15-30 permit can be found, tipped up, feeding in water that is deeper than your average flat.

This healthy permit, pulled from the lagoon's waters after the school it was feeding in was incredibly generous in allowing us far too many chances, is a hearty one hand lift.

The fish's silvery, iridescent sides reflect the myriad colors of the lagoon's waters and the skies above.

The Turneffe Flats eco-adventure program, which it terms the "Atoll Adventure Program" includes a rich bevy of opportunities such as scuba courses, flats walking, birding, mangrove tours, sea kayaking, manatee and dolphin viewing -- and lots of snorkeling Turneffe Atoll's amazingly diverse coral reefs.

There's exploring to be done on the resorts grounds too, where giant crocodiles like this one lurk.

And resident iguana 'Stella' prowls for watermelon.

All in all, save for a single day, the R&R program is largely abandoned and this once-again greenhorn angler voluntarily and eagerly spends four days angling on the atoll's flats and soaking up the deft tutelage of Turneffe Flats guide Daniel.

As more hours are logged on the flats and these "novice" eyes repeatedly spots tails at a distance before I do, I find myself sincerely wondering if I'm the angler with the third best fish spotting skills in the boat.