Dive Provo, Providenciales, T&C

[Doc Harry]

Review

This is a review of diving on Providenciales and the dive shop Dive Provo
Dive Provo
Providenciales, Turks & Caicos
The best of the Turks & Caicos Scuba Diving | Dive Provo

For the past 4 years we have been going to Bohio Dive Resort (Bohio Dive Resort) on Grand Turk Island. Bohio is a wonderful little dive resort. However, Grand Turk took a direct hit from a recent hurricaine, and Bohio was not quite ready to re-open in early December, so this year we stayed on Providenciales instead of Grand Turk.

On Providenciales, we dove in three locations; all three locations were wall dives.

1. West Caicos
2. French Key along the southern edge of the Caicos shelf
3. Northwest point of Provienciales

All three dive locations were pleasant, and each had a slightly different character.

We saw a lot of reef sharks in the West Caicos - at least 3 or 4 on each dive (sometimes more). Northwest point also had a lot of sharks, but not as much as the West Caicos. We did not see any sharks south along the edge of the Caicos shelf.

For the most part, the reef over the wall was very beautiful and reminded me of the Great Barrier Reef. On top of the wall, the reef looked pretty beat up by the hurricaine, and it was mostly sand with a few battered coral heads here and there

The current was very slight, except for one day when it was ripping like Cozumel.

The only issue we had with the wall dives off Providenciales is that the top of the wall is at about 50-60 feet. This means that our friends diving on air ran out of NDL fairly quickly on the second dive, and had to ascend off the bottom despite having plenty of gas. (Compare this to Grand Turk, where the top of the wall is at 20-30 feet.)

I believe that you really need to be diving Nitrox to get the most out of Provo. We used EAN32 and I was able to get 55-60 minute dives each time because I had plenty of NDL remaining.

All of our dives were boat dives with Dive Provo. This is a first-class dive op and we enjoyed the DMs and boat crews. Boat rides out to the dive sites were about an hour. Lunch and bevereages was provided. They picked us up at our hotel at 8:00 a.m. and has us back at the hotel between 2:30 - 3:00 p.m. Our dive group was allowed to go off by ourselves each dive, the only limitations being (a) no deco and (b) be back at the safety stop in one hour with at least 700 p.s.i.

 

[drrich2]

Enjoyed your report. So you're from Appalachia? Way back around late 1999 I visited Hazard, KY in that general region for a job interview; interesting place.

You mentioned seeing sharks, and they're usually mentioned in T&C trip reports. Did you see any species other than Caribbean reef sharks? Or maybe nurse sharks? See many rays? Did you find the day boat trips out to the dive sites overly long (a couple of other people have reported trip times of 15 minutes to an hour)?

I've been told live-aboards give you the best diving in that region; do you not like live-aboards, or did something topside call you?

Where did you stay on land? Any interesting land activities grab your eye?

Provo has a rep. for being quite expensive (and a look at hotel listings on Trip Advisor did little to persuade me otherwise). Did you find it to be so?

And now the big question; you obviously liked Bohio Dive Resort/Grand Turk enough to be a repeat customers (no small praise, considering the many popular options in the Caribbean & southeast Florida). Now, you like Dive Provo/Provo. Of the two, got a favorite?

Richard.

 

[Hoag]

My first trip to TCI was to Provo and staying at the Best Western (now the Ports of Call) and diving with Dive Provo. Then I did a trip on the Turks & Caicos Explorer 2 and my most recent trip was to Grand Turk & the Bohio.

I agree, while the Bohio is worth going to and returning, Dive Provo is a very well run op and a class act. We were there in March several years ago, and the whales were migrating through the islands. On the way out to our very first dive, we did a sudden high speed run for a few minutes and then the throttles were pulled back and the engines were shut off and the boat just started to drift. A few seconds later, a Humpback and her calf surfaced right beside the boat. It was magical. Unfortunately, we had a couple people who were on the boat (part of our group) who were doing their open water check out dives on that trip. How do you ever top an experience like that and they hadn't even jumped in the water yet?

Glad to hear you enjoyed your trip. Hope you have some pics.

BTW, now that you have dove with Dive Provo, if you ever run into Alan at a dive show or something, do not be surprised if he recognizes you as a former customer.

 

[Doc Harry]

drich2
1. We did not see any sharks other than Caribbean reef. One group did see a large tiger.
2. Lots of sting rays, lots of turtles, lots of barracuda
3. We were diving with an elderly couple, they don't like live-aboard diving and neither does my wife
4. If I were to do a live-aboard again, I would not waste my time or money in the Caribbean. I prefer Asia and Australia,
5. The boat rides were intolerably long at 1 hour. On Grand Turk the rides are 2 minutes.
6. Provo is very, very expensive and there is a 23% tax for us tourists.
7. We are looking forward to returning to Bohio next year. That's where we got married.
8. I left my Nikon d300s rig at home for this trip
9. The reef off the wall is really spectacular, I must say

 

[tkaelin]

Thanks for the report. The boat rides out to west caicos and French Caye are long. Between the pick and drop from your hotel you are gone most of the day. Yes Provo is very expensive, Cayman - Bermuda type expensive but like every else there are ways to save. We like Provo for a short trip. We love the beaches, I like the long days out on the boat for a couple days and my wife likes the shorter 1 tank grace bay dives. Unfortunately the diving is also very expensive and we have not discovered any shore diving options so for a week long trip we prefer an island that gives us good shore diving options.

 

[drrich2]

Thanks for the added feedback, guys. Turks & Caicos is interesting. I like to pick apart the pro.s & con.s of dive destinations against each other, hoping forum readers find it useful. I'd like to do a live-aboard to T&C, but I'm curious about how land-based T&C gets discussed on ScubaBoard. For example, the impression I'd gotten from other posters:

1.) When divers say 'Turks & Caicos,' they mostly mean Caicos (and for land-based, mostly Provo). When they talk about Grand Turk, they just say 'Grand Turk.' The 2 live-aboard boats don't routinely hit Grand Turk.
2.) Turks & Caicos has been said to have amongst the best diving in the Caribbean. I read that more about Little Cayman, but still...
3.) That diving averages deeper than some places because the reef wall starts deeper, but T&C is very 'sharky' with reef sharks, and a lot of people like to see Caribbean reef sharks.
4.) Provo is said to have world-class beaches (not unlike Grand Cayman's 7-Mile Beach?).
5.) Provo is said to be quite expensive, comparable to Grand Cayman.
6.) Grand Cayman has good diving, but it's reputedly better at the east end, which is pretty far from the civilization and 7-Mile Beach region of the west coast, and the 'best of the Caribbean' class diving is said to be Little Cayman.

So in theory, one might anticipate Provo would rival or exceed Grand Cayman in forum trip reports & 'mind share,' offering the great beach (ala Grand Cayman), great diving (ala Little Cayman), and yet...it doesn't. If I understand correctly, the issues...

1.) Grand Cayman's day boat rides are often much shorter. Provo's average long.
2.) Grand Cayman offers shore diving to offset rather expensive boat diving costs; Provo does not.
3.) Grand Cayman is a cruise ship port and while that means Georgetown is periodically inundated with cruisers, it also creates a strong tourist market for topside day excursions (e.g.: dolphin encounters, the Turtle Farm - both of which some people disagree with, but if that's your thing, they're there).

Grand Cayman seems to be the main comparator against Provo I see mentioned on forum threads. Does anyone see a flaw or significant omission in my reasoning? Is there any other regional dive destination that's a good comparator for these 2?

Thanks!

Richard.

 

[Hoag]

Thanks for the added feedback, guys. Turks & Caicos is interesting. I like to pick apart the pro.s & con.s of dive destinations against each other, hoping forum readers find it useful. I'd like to do a live-aboard to T&C, but I'm curious about how land-based T&C gets discussed on ScubaBoard. For example, the impression I'd gotten from other posters:

1.) When divers say 'Turks & Caicos,' they mostly mean Caicos (and for land-based, mostly Provo). When they talk about Grand Turk, they just say 'Grand Turk.' The 2 live-aboard boats don't routinely hit Grand Turk.
2.) Turks & Caicos has been said to have amongst the best diving in the Caribbean. I read that more about Little Cayman, but still...
3.) That diving averages deeper than some places because the reef wall starts deeper, but T&C is very 'sharky' with reef sharks, and a lot of people like to see Caribbean reef sharks.
4.) Provo is said to have world-class beaches (not unlike Grand Cayman's 7-Mile Beach?).
5.) Provo is said to be quite expensive, comparable to Grand Cayman.
6.) Grand Cayman has good diving, but it's reputedly better at the east end, which is pretty far from the civilization and 7-Mile Beach region of the west coast, and the 'best of the Caribbean' class diving is said to be Little Cayman.

So in theory, one might anticipate Provo would rival or exceed Grand Cayman in forum trip reports & 'mind share,' offering the great beach (ala Grand Cayman), great diving (ala Little Cayman), and yet...it doesn't. If I understand correctly, the issues...

1.) Grand Cayman's day boat rides are often much shorter. Provo's average long.
2.) Grand Cayman offers shore diving to offset rather expensive boat diving costs; Provo does not.
3.) Grand Cayman is a cruise ship port and while that means Georgetown is periodically inundated with cruisers, it also creates a strong tourist market for topside day excursions (e.g.: dolphin encounters, the Turtle Farm - both of which some people disagree with, but if that's your thing, they're there).

Grand Cayman seems to be the main comparator against Provo I see mentioned on forum threads. Does anyone see a flaw or significant omission in my reasoning? Is there any other regional dive destination that's a good comparator for these 2?

Thanks!

Richard.

@drrich2, your post sums things up fairly well, but I would like to add (clarify) a couple points.

First, wrt Provo:
The two common complaints that people have about dive trips to Provo are the boat rides and the expense. True, the best diving is not generally located right near Provo and if you are doing a land based trip, 45 minute to 1 hour boat rides to the dive location are not uncommon. This is a good news/bad news thing. The bad news is that there are a lot of people who do not want to spend 2 hours on a boat just getting to and then home from the dive sites. The good news is that this means that there are fewer divers on those sites and with fewer divers, the sites do not feel the same "pressure" as say those in Nassau Bahamas feel with boatloads of divers hitting the same reefs every day. It also means that in general these dive sites will tend to attract primarily people who know what they are in for and are able to do effectively dive the walls and are there specifically to dive those walls.
The other thing to address about Provo is the cost. True, if you stay on a nice resort right on the beach, the costs add up very quickly, but there are ways to mitigate the cost of a trip to Provo. When I went, I stayed at the Best Western. This hotel is now called the "Ports of Call". It is about a 5 minute walk to the beach (all beaches in TCI are public access). It also shares a parking lot with Dive Provo, so getting to the dive shop every day is a simple matter of walking across the parking lot. When I stayed there, IIRC there was a grocery store that had a deli that you could get everything from hearty sandwiches to pizza at and that was an economical way to get supper.

Next, wrt Grand Turk:
Grand Turk is a little bit of a PITA to get to. You fly into Provo, and then take a "puddle jumper" over to Grand Turk. When I was there, I stayed at a resort called Bohio. It is run by a couple of Canadian expats named Tom & Ginnie. By comparison, while Provo has boat rides approaching an hour, most dive sites at Grand Turk are within 5-10 minutes. A typical day would be get up and have breakfast, then get into your wetsuit. The boat will show up and your gear (except mask & fins) will already be on it with your BCD set up on a tank. After the dive, the boat will come back to Bohio and you will place your lunch order. While you are doing that, the crew will swap your BCD & reg over to a new tank & then you go do your 2nd dive. After that, you shower & change and go have lunch. For the most part, the afternoons are up to you. I didn't see the dive op catering to the cruise lines, however, the cruise ships are very much a key factor in the island's economy and it is hard not see them in the afternoons.

Whether you opt for a LOB, or a shore based trip to either Provo or Grand Turk, I think that TCI offers a lot to the well informed diver/traveler. Just be aware of what to expect and you should have a great trip. ... and yes, most dives are wall dives and they do tend to be fairly sharky with Caribbean Reef Sharks and the odd Nurse Shark (other species have been seen there too, but not nearly as common).

 

[Doc Harry]

I like to pick apart the pro.s & con.s of dive destinations against each other....

Richard, I think your assessment is fairly accurate. Thank you.

As far as Caribbean diving is concerned, it's hard to beat Little Cayman.

 

[KathyV]

I'm sure that it is common knowledge to many on SB that I am a big fan of the Caymans for Caribbean diving, but we have enjoyed 2 great liveaboard trips out of Provo (Dancer and Aggressor) and the most recent Aggressor trip was in November 2013. On both trips we also spent a land-based week on Provo relaxing and vacationing and we loved the island. On the first trip we did a couple of land-based boat dives, I can't remember who we dived with but my general thoughts are that the dives were good, the boat trips were long and they were pricey. But if we had arranged for a package of multiple dives they would probably be cheaper. As far as I know, shore diving isn't much of an option around Provo.

We've never visited Grand Turk but because there is a cruise ship port on GT, I would guess that they offer topside attractions on the island, including shopping and restaurants and other non-diving activities.

The first time we visited Provo we stayed at the Comfort Suites (now Ports of Call) and we also spent one night there during our recent trip after getting off the LOB. It's reasonably priced and very nice. It's not on the beach but it is easy walking to nearby restaurants and shops. Our rooms had a mini-frig but no kitchen and eating out on Provo gets very expensive. I suggest looking for a condo or apartment with a full kitchen instead. During our second trip in 2013 we stayed one week on Grace Bay Beach at the Royal West Indies and it was great and we also had an ensuite washer and dryer.

If you are a beach lover then I think that Grace Bay is even more beautiful than Cayman's Seven Mile Beach and the waters around Provo are astonishingly lovely shades of blue. And if you take a drive out to Chalk Bay you will be amazed by the beauty of the water.

I think that Provo is every bit as expensive as other top Caribbean destinations even though the US dollar is the official unit of currency. But as others have said, there are ways to somewhat control expenses, including preparing some simple meals for yourself.

There are wonderful restaurants on Provo so you can have a great dining experience, but most of them are outdoors and I don't think that the mosquito abatement program on Provo is as effective as Grand Cayman - at least not when we were there. Of course it is no surprise that there are mosquitos in the Caribbean, but I am very reactive to mosquito bites and we had to start looking for indoor dining options - and there aren't many.

TCI is also on the Zika caution list so that may be an issue of concern for young couples of child-bearing age. They have also had a few outbreaks of norovirus on Provo - mostly at the big Beaches resort - so we drank bottled water during our most recent visit. The Caymans have been taken off the Zika-watch list and we have never had concerns about drinking the water or eating the food on any of the Cayman islands.

But we love cracked conch and Provo is one of the best Caribbean destinations for conch in our experience.

The T&C diving along French Caye and West Caicos is gorgeous, and in addition to beautiful reefs, healthy sea life, and lots of reef sharks, turtles, and sting rays - we also saw many lovely eagle rays. The walls do start a little deeper but it is usually easy to stay near the top of the wall if that is a concern.

Another thing that I liked about the T&C liveaboards is that they travel along the reef system and I didn't have any problems with seasickness. I got very seasick during the deep water crossing from Grand Cayman to Little Cayman on the Cayman Aggressor.

During our last trip to TCI the Aggressor office warned us about robberies and crime against tourists and advised us not to walk around at night. We rented a car so that was fine but I was a bit afraid to venture out by foot onto the beach at night, and that was too bad.

Apparently the crime situation has gotten worse over time and in July 2017 the US State Department issued a travel crime warning (see below) for US Citizens visiting TCI, primarily Provo. After the recent hurricanes they haven't issued any new crime warnings so maybe the criminals left town and set up shop someplace else? I don't know but it is something to be aware of if you plan to visit Provo. Another reason why staying at a large complex with security might be a good idea.

I haven't been there since the recent hurricanes so I cannot comment on current conditions, but we have many good memories of Provo and TCI diving!

Security Message for U.S. Citizens: Turks & Caicos, Violent Armed Robberies in Providenciales

US State Department Warning for the T&Cs

 

[mcohen1021]

We did Provo in 2013. We were trying to get there on FF miles and stay cheap. I ended up on a 2 stop AA flight from DFW to Provo for 30k miles. And for 30k FF miles, AA bent us over and screwed us as bad as they cound, between flight changes, cancelations, longer layovers AND A FREAKING AIRPORT CHANGE IN HOUSTON. I hate AA.

We found the most economical way to stay was with Club Med. We had a car, which was not that expensive and explored all over the island. We also did Thanksgiving Dinner @ the Thursday night fish fry. Holy crap batman, hold on to your wallets, criminal element is there, thank god for the police presence. If you think the cost of Club Med is high, DO NOT GO. One restaurant offsite, we had 4 drinks and 2 appetizers - $96 out the door.

Diving, we used an AWESOME (can’t stress this enough) dive op, Flamingo Divers – Mickey and Jane are GREAT and the groups are small!!!!! Yes, the diving is AWESOME.

I would love to go back, but yes, the trip to the reef really was 45+ minutes. It’s ok a few times, but eventually it becomes a beat down.