Turks and Caicos

[ns2ny]

Hey, we are planning a trip for 4 to T&C early January and wanted to see if anyone here knows of some exceptional deals or recommendations.

My wife is not interested in travel to the other island so we land in Provo and stay there (saving time and money).

Any input is much appreciated.

 

[ScottNY]

Hey, we are planning a trip for 4 to T&C early January and wanted to see if anyone here knows of some exceptional deals or recommendations.

My wife is not interested in travel to the other island so we land in Provo and stay there (saving time and money).

Any input is much appreciated.

My wife and I just got back on Friday from a week at Beaches. It's an all inclusive. Not cheap, but not most expensive either. I've no idea on the details of what deals they might have. But what we liked was the diving is included as well. (Which means 2-tank AM dives, they have a PM one tank dive. Night dives - when they run them - are extra. (I think $80.))

The pros of the place are their own beach, some HobieCats and other water toys, tons of pools, plenty of kid activities if you need to park them somewhere. The main negative - in our opinion - is that the food is average. It's not bad. Just average. If you're hard core and want to do a lot more dives, it might not be your place. If you want other stuff as well and no hassles, check them out.

Have fun!
Scott

 

[RumJunkie]

Hey, we are planning a trip for 4 to T&C early January and wanted to see if anyone here knows of some exceptional deals or recommendations.

My wife is not interested in travel to the other island so we land in Provo and stay there (saving time and money).

Any input is much appreciated.

We stayed in T&C back in April 2005 at Harbour Club Villas and dove with Flamingo Divers. It was a low hassle setup as we walked right down the hill from the villa to dive operation. Kind of reminded me of the Ocean Frontiers setup in Grand Cayman. The diving in T&C was excellent IMO, and we really lucked out as we were the only 2 people on the dive boat, lucky for us as we needed direction from dive master still being new to diving. The room was complete with a kitchen so we were able to pick up groceries, beer, etc. and save $ on eating out. I had sticker shock from beer prices over there at $40 US for a case of beer. There was an interesting conch farm there where you take a little guided tour and learn about the conch farming operation. As far as "exceptional deals" go this might not be it, but we did save some $ cooking our own meals and the place had a pool and DirecTV...therefore money wasn't wasted on nightlife. Oh yes, and free use of a kayak.

Enjoy it!

 

[robbcayman]

I was there in 2006 and there isn't much of a night life. Still though, the beaches and diving more than make up for that. I don't know if I have any suggestions for cheap deals, but I will say you're going to an awesome place. We're talking about going back in December 2010 we liked it so much, just a real peaceful place.

The walls took my breath away and I don't think you will be disappointed. Have fun and dive safe.

 

[Tim Ingersoll]

Check out the air/hotel package deals at the Sands or any of the other Provo resorts. They generally have the best deals. I always dive with Caicos Adventures when I'm down there. Love them to death. Be aware that your dive day with them will be 8-2 or 3.

 

[robbcayman]

Check out the air/hotel package deals at the Sands or any of the other Provo resorts. They generally have the best deals. I always dive with Caicos Adventures when I'm down there. Love them to death. Be aware that your dive day with them will be 8-2 or 3.

Tim, I too dove with Caicos adventures and it was a great experience. I was afraid of the cattle dive type operationg, but they were the exact opposite. When we go back that's who I will be diving with.

 

[Jack Ryan]

Keep your options open, we dove with CA for one week while in Provo mid November. Two out of three days of diving I counted twenty five plus people on board. If the conditions are poor, you will be limited to the same dive sites. With the amount of people they crammed on board I would look for a different operation on our next trip. Not going into details, problems do happen with that many people.

Don't get me wrong, the diving as a whole was fantastic but a little crowded for my liking.

 

[d3v1l6]

Club Med.

The wife and I spent 7 days at the Turkoise Club Med in June 2008. Now you must understand that I was on leave from Afganistan, so my opinions might be somewhat distorted.

The whole flight, airport pick-up and check-in process was painless. The hotel rooms were nice, nothing fancy, but then again, we spent most of our time in or on the water and at the bar. Food wise, the main dining facility was great, only real complaint was that there was only one "reservation only" restaurant, and the menu in said restaurant was nothing spectacular.
The resort staff was excellent, friendly and animated without being annoying. They hosted all sorts of events, games and sports.

As far as scuba diving goes, we both had decided we would get our OW while in T&C. Sure it's slightly more expensive, but diving in the Caribbean is definately more appealing to me than diving in Alberta lakes. Club Med fortunately had a full blown PADI dive op on the resort. They provide a variety of courses and offer various dive packages for resort guests. Dive staff were awesome, providing great instruction and advice, making it pretty easy to jump into the ocean for that first OW dive. All diving was extra $$$.

All and all, very good trip. Hoping to go back sometime in the next couple of years.

 

[ns2ny]

Thanks all for the replies and good information. We are leaving this weekend and I will be certain to post up a report once we return