Diving South Caicos? Is it any good?

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Good news is that CC is negotiating with InterCarribean Airlines for chartering flights to S. Caicos. Getting there from Provo will not be an issue.

Here's some information about getting to South Caicos:

Getting to South Caicos | Visit Turks and Caicos Islands

"...The island’s airstrip was built by the United States during World War II to support a submarine tracking station, and was later used by the Coast Guard..."

Here's some information about the airport on South Caicos:
South Caicos Airport (XSC) | Visit Turks and Caicos Islands

And there's also a Ferry that runs between Provo and South Caicos twice a week.
 
Unfortunately CC shut their travel division down. Sue Pritchard was let go and they now refer you to Maupin Travel. This has been the only fly in the ointment for me so far. They’re a corporate travel company and do things “that” way. One of my customers got charged a $30 cancel fee by them in addition to that levied by the airline for a flight cancelation. It will be interesting to see how this works out.
 
Unfortunately CC shut their travel division down. Sue Pritchard was let go and they now refer you to Maupin Travel. This has been the only fly in the ointment for me so far. They’re a corporate travel company and do things “that” way. One of my customers got charged a $30 cancel fee by them in addition to that levied by the airline for a flight cancelation. It will be interesting to see how this works out.

That's too bad, the CC Travel Department was great and they really knew all the best flights to get folks to the Sister Islands.
 
Unfortunately CC shut their travel division down. Sue Pritchard was let go and they now refer you to Maupin Travel. This has been the only fly in the ointment for me so far. They’re a corporate travel company and do things “that” way. One of my customers got charged a $30 cancel fee by them in addition to that levied by the airline for a flight cancelation. It will be interesting to see how this works out.
Very disappointed to hear that. The Reef Fantaseas folks were very easy to work with.
 
Good news is that CC is negotiating with InterCarribean Airlines for chartering flights to S. Caicos. Getting there from Provo will not be an issue.
That would be very good if they can run a slightly later flight. My preferred choice would be to come in from FLL on Southwest (have companion pass and lots of reward pts). The SW flight comes in at 2:25pm and the Intercaribbean schedule is currently flying to South Caicos at 3:45pm. There is a fast track service available to jump the customs lines that is about $70pp, but I would prefer to not need it if possible.
 
That would be very good if they can run a slightly later flight. My preferred choice would be to come in from FLL on Southwest (have companion pass and lots of reward pts). The SW flight comes in at 2:25pm and the Intercaribbean schedule is currently flying to South Caicos at 3:45pm. There is a fast track service available to jump the customs lines that is about $70pp, but I would prefer to not need it if possible.

I like Southwest too because of their generous baggage policies.
 
They’re chartering flights for us based on ourcarrival times. I imagine that given the increased traffic that CC will get, IC airlines will be scheduling flights to accomodate those passengers.
 
Interesting article in the May 28, 2021 TC Weekly News about Reef Divers expansion to South Caicos .

This article says the JEM Worldwide has taken over management of the property but the more recent Cayman Compass article said that JEM Worldwide had purchased the East Bay Resort. Maybe they were finalizing the purchase agreement before announcing their expansion?

I wonder what they mean by "making sure the airport gets done"?


East Bay Resort to get new management with improved amenities

East Bay Resort to get new management with improved amenities
28-05-2021-05-29-44-am-5655350.jpg

East Bay Resort in South Caicos is the first luxury hotel in ‘The Big South’ (Image: East Bay Resort/Facebook)
Delana Isles•
May 28, 2021

An investor from the Cayman Islands has struck a deal with the TCI Government to take control of East Bay Resort in South Caicos.

This was revealed by Deputy Premier Hon. Erwin Jay Saunders on Thursday, May 20, during a post Cabinet briefing with the media.

Hon. Saunders said the company is looking to make the resort into an extension of its property in the Cayman Islands.

Cabinet has since approved a development order regarding the expansion proposal by JEM TCI Holdings for the TCI resort.

"They’re going to scale up and do more development with that. So people of South Caicos should expect bigger things coming from the East Bay hotel,” Saunders said.

The minister added that the investor already has investment in East Caicos and is now looking to take over the management of the East Bay resort.

"And they’re looking into having direct flights into South Caicos, so they are negotiating with the Government about making sure the airport gets done.”

This will mean more tourists visiting the sister island, which according to the deputy premier is a good thing,

"It is a pretty nice hotel and it’s probably being operated as a three star… you’ll certainly see their quality of service raised.”

Hon. Saunders said that along with an increase in the quality of service, more job opportunities will open up for residents in the island.

"At the minimum it will reduce the unemployment rate, because as they scale up they will need to hire more persons.

"South Caicos’ population is about 1,000, so hiring 50 more people would be a huge change for South Caicos, and of course beautify South Caicos because the Government is ensuring that as the airport gets done we will have to put in more infrastructure to cater to East Bay… and we’ve got another resort that’s a five star resort.”

All of this, the deputy premier said, will mean more money circulating in the South Caicos economy and more jobs, which he said will have a "huge impact” on the economy of the island.

Located on the pristine East Bay beach, East Bay Resort was the first luxury resort in South Caicos.

The four star resort is 100 percent beachfront and offers a host of luxury amenities, rivalling almost any five star facility on Providenciales.

Guests can enjoy a beachfront pool, swim-up bar, open-air restaurant, spa, fitness centre, tour desk, PADI-certified dive shop, tennis court, and free airport transfers among others.

The hotel advertises itself as "an affordable alternative to expensive Turks and Caicos all inclusive resorts”, winning the Tripadvisor’s Travellers’ Choice award over two consecutive years - 2019 and 2020 - among other notable awards.
 
I might be able to offer more specifics about diving in South Caicos! I spent a couple of years living and on working on the island at the school/research facility that's there! It has been 7 years since I was last there so I haven't visited East Bay resort since it has been open, but the following is true from my experiences and from those I know that have been there visited more recently... Feel free to message me with specific questions!

Accommodations/Logistics:

Like others have said, East Bay resort is probably your best bet for diving on South Caicos. They are located very close to most dive sites and have an onsite dive shop (the only one...) in addition to boats/marina infrastructure. From the news posted here, it sounds like their dive infrastructure is going to be improving soon too!

Sailrock is the only other resort on the island, but they are located quite far from the dive sites/entry points. They originally started as more of a private residence community, though I do believe they now have some more traditional resort type suites. The east side of the island (especially going up towards the northern tip where Sailrock is located) is protected by a very shallow, very dense barrier reef. Great for snorkeling and other on the water activities, but very very difficult to navigate through by boat to reach the deeper side where diving would be possible. For this reason, I don't believe that Sailrock has every built any sort of dock or marina infrastructure, nor has boats of their own. I'm guessing that they contract with East Bay if guests do want to dive during their stay.

I'm sure both resorts will suggest particular itineraries for reaching South Caicos by plane or ferry, so I would probably suggest to follow their recommendation. I have taken both - the plane is definitely more convenient, but was very small when I was there and was often weight limited and a bit tricky with groups and/or lots of luggage (especially larger bags). I know they've been talking about upgrading the airport for many years... Not sure if this has happened yet. The ferry is cheaper and much easier to navigate with big groups and/or lots of luggage, but is very schedule limited by the tides.

Diving:

Most of the diving done at the school (SFS CMRS) happens off of the south side of the island, following the contour of the wall that runs along the east side of South Caicos and continues south, down the east side of Long Cay (the uninhabited long skinny island south of South Caicos). East Bay resort has created a dive site map (below) which does match up very well with my experience diving there.

The satellite figure (also below) gives you a better sense of the underwater contour of the wall, in addition to showing the sand banks that surround the north and west sides of the island (these are very shallow - think 1-3 feet or less depending on tides).

We would regularly dive sites 3-15 on the map below. The main reef running along most of these sites starts around 45-60 ft and continues down. In some areas there's a major secondary drop off around 100-120 ft. Sites 10-15 are more in the 40-60+ ft range, while 3-7 are more in the 60-100+ ft range. We used sites 8 and 9 primarily for snorkeling and freediving as they are more like 20-30 ft. It was very common to see hawksbill and green sea turtles, stingrays and spotted eagle rays, and reef sharks. Sometimes we would see large grouper, moray eels, and squid. I saw two 12ft+ great hammerheads at the deeper drop off but these are pretty rare. On multiple occasions we saw congregations of spotted eagle rays of 100+ individuals, and sometimes we would get whales and dolphins swimming along the wall that you could see underwater.

During my time there, one of the liveaboard boats did visit South Caicos pretty regularly (Aggressor maybe...?). They would anchor off of Dove Cay and dive these same sites. Most of these sites are minutes from East Bay resort, though the sites down near the south end of Long Cay could be pretty tough to get to if it was choppy.

I also had the opportunity to dive sites 20-21 once, and they had more impressive reef topology as suggested by their names (deep channels in the reef), but seemed to have less fish life.

Dive-Site-Map-Final.jpg

Map-of-the-primary-study-sites-around-South-Caicos-copied-from-Google-Earth.png
 
I might be able to offer more specifics about diving in South Caicos! I spent a couple of years living and on working on the island at the school/research facility that's there! It has been 7 years since I was last there so I haven't visited East Bay resort since it has been open, but the following is true from my experiences and from those I know that have been there visited more recently... Feel free to message me with specific questions!

Accommodations/Logistics:

Like others have said, East Bay resort is probably your best bet for diving on South Caicos. They are located very close to most dive sites and have an onsite dive shop (the only one...) in addition to boats/marina infrastructure. From the news posted here, it sounds like their dive infrastructure is going to be improving soon too!

Sailrock is the only other resort on the island, but they are located quite far from the dive sites/entry points. They originally started as more of a private residence community, though I do believe they now have some more traditional resort type suites. The east side of the island (especially going up towards the northern tip where Sailrock is located) is protected by a very shallow, very dense barrier reef. Great for snorkeling and other on the water activities, but very very difficult to navigate through by boat to reach the deeper side where diving would be possible. For this reason, I don't believe that Sailrock has every built any sort of dock or marina infrastructure, nor has boats of their own. I'm guessing that they contract with East Bay if guests do want to dive during their stay.

I'm sure both resorts will suggest particular itineraries for reaching South Caicos by plane or ferry, so I would probably suggest to follow their recommendation. I have taken both - the plane is definitely more convenient, but was very small when I was there and was often weight limited and a bit tricky with groups and/or lots of luggage (especially larger bags). I know they've been talking about upgrading the airport for many years... Not sure if this has happened yet. The ferry is cheaper and much easier to navigate with big groups and/or lots of luggage, but is very schedule limited by the tides.

Diving:

Most of the diving done at the school (SFS CMRS) happens off of the south side of the island, following the contour of the wall that runs along the east side of South Caicos and continues south, down the east side of Long Cay (the uninhabited long skinny island south of South Caicos). East Bay resort has created a dive site map (below) which does match up very well with my experience diving there.

The satellite figure (also below) gives you a better sense of the underwater contour of the wall, in addition to showing the sand banks that surround the north and west sides of the island (these are very shallow - think 1-3 feet or less depending on tides).

We would regularly dive sites 3-15 on the map below. The main reef running along most of these sites starts around 45-60 ft and continues down. In some areas there's a major secondary drop off around 100-120 ft. Sites 10-15 are more in the 40-60+ ft range, while 3-7 are more in the 60-100+ ft range. We used sites 8 and 9 primarily for snorkeling and freediving as they are more like 20-30 ft. It was very common to see hawksbill and green sea turtles, stingrays and spotted eagle rays, and reef sharks. Sometimes we would see large grouper, moray eels, and squid. I saw two 12ft+ great hammerheads at the deeper drop off but these are pretty rare. On multiple occasions we saw congregations of spotted eagle rays of 100+ individuals, and sometimes we would get whales and dolphins swimming along the wall that you could see underwater.

During my time there, one of the liveaboard boats did visit South Caicos pretty regularly (Aggressor maybe...?). They would anchor off of Dove Cay and dive these same sites. Most of these sites are minutes from East Bay resort, though the sites down near the south end of Long Cay could be pretty tough to get to if it was choppy.

I also had the opportunity to dive sites 20-21 once, and they had more impressive reef topology as suggested by their names (deep channels in the reef), but seemed to have less fish life.

View attachment 670425
View attachment 670426

This is fantastic, detailed information, thank you so much!

One question, is there anything else to do on the island beside watersports and sunbathing? The Reef Divers East Bay Resort will be all-inclusive, but if someone wanted to rent a car and explore the island for a day - is that possible and what would they see?

Thanks again!
 
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