Advice on Grace Bay Turks and C

[jcpiota]

Good info from other threads, so thanks for that first. Questions:

Would you get a car?

For shore diving does a local DM have to go with you or do you grab and buddy and tank?

Will be doing video. Heard Grace bay is very nice and tame. Nice but standard reef stuff. Heard night dive is good. What dive sites would offer 'different' or challenging subjects?

That should be enough begging for one thread. Thanks to all for the advice in advance.

 

[sct4a]

I'd recommend renting a car. Its nice to drive out to some of the other hot spots for dinner and see some of the other resorts and shopping.

There isnt really shore diving around provo. Plus none of the shops will ever rent gear unless your going out on a boat with them. Despite how much you try and bribe them Even if you could get your hands on a tank and gear I think it would be a bit silly and a waste of time to shore dive around grace bay since there just is not much to see. I'd just hook up with Cacios Adventures and go on their boat trips they are the best shop on the island and know all the best sites.

 

[Tim Ingersoll]

What he said

 

[redseal1tx]

In response to your question regarding interesting and challenging sites, a few of my favorite spots are:

Northwest Point - Providenciales
Amphitheatre - The wall drops vertically to an amphitheater formation that is undercut 10-15 feet to a sandy bottom in 90 feet. There is enough clearance to sit on the white sand in the Amphitheatre and watch the aquarium of fish swim by.

Thunderdome - This site was originally part of the televsion program set for a French game show, the Thunderdome was a large steel structure that used to be a full dome that you could swim into. Unfortunately, Hurricane Frances (Aug/Sept 2004) caused it to finally collapse.

Chimney - The swim through is full of sponges and wire coral and brings you out on the wall at around 90ft. At the end of the dive, in the general area of the mooring, a small seahorse has been seen.

WEST CAICOS
The Gulley - The wall begins in about 50 feet and the top lip of the wall is a dense coral reef with many cleaning stations. The gulley gets it's name from the cut in the reef that forms two distinct sections before dropping off vertically. The vertical drop has many undercuts covered in sponges and black corals and long tentacled anemones.

Whiteface (aka The Anchor) - Just north of the mooring is a crack in the wall with a large anchor embedded at 70 feet. As you pass by the anchor drop down to about 95 feet and you'll see a garden gnome tucked back in a grotto.

Driveway - Scattered coral heads that leads into a sand chute that extends down through the reef from 50 feet to a ledge at around 80-100 feet where the wall drops vertically to the depths. There is usually a large Grouper waiting for divers as they start the descent into the chute; he's very photogenic and doesn't shy away from photographers.

 

[Big John]

The above sites are great. North wall was another favorite. No you don't need a car not a bunch to do off the resorts and the dive ops will usually pick you up. Unfortunately the reef drop off in grace bay is just too much a swim out to shore dive. Cant wait to be back to TCI 18 days and counting!

 

[Eduardo]

Lot's of good information here. Renting a car is not necessary if all you plan to do is dive and hang out at the hotel. It is nice if you like to explore some of the out of the way beaches like Malcolm's Beach, Bonefish point and Leeward. OR if you like to visit Da Conch Shack for a rum punch and cracked conch (highly recommended).

We were there last summer and rented from Grace Bay Car Rental. They were very competitively priced and had great service when we asked for a favor in changing cars. Also, depending on where your hotel is located, you might find it helpful to have a car to get to the grocery store. Remember they drive on the left...which is freaky at first for Americans but doesn't take more than a day to get used to. Except that you'll probably keep hitting the washers instead of the blinkers on the steering column!

I dove with Caicos Adventures and Provo Turtle Divers and can highly recommend both of them. For more information than you probably want or need....see my wife's Tripadvisor trip report on TCI.

TCI Trip Report: Turquoise is my new favorite color! - Turks and Caicos Forum - TripAdvisor