edoralive
Contributor
TLDR:
Great diving, great people, amazing wall, expensive island.
Booking:
We booked through PADI, and it turned out to be a great decision. This was a short notice trip and we were having trouble finding accommodations. PADI showed up as having one room left with the hotel and dive operator and we booked it.
Unfortunately, Blue Water Divers suffered some sort of fire right before our arrival, which necessitated finding a new shop. Thankfully, PADI alerted us to the problem and even sent our info on to Grand Turk Diving Co., which was slightly more affordable than Blue Water.
The rebooking is what made it a great decision. I’m sure we could have figured it out, but it was nice to be directed to a backup plan.
Booking through PADI is easy as pie, too. I’ll do it again if I can’t figure it myself.
Getting there:
Grand Turk is not Provo. Lots of planes fly to Provo, and you’ll need to jump onto a regional carrier to get you the rest of the way. I know it’s obvious, but I didn’t realize we were on a different island, and had to panic but two tickets to GT. The planes board like a free-for-all, so if you don’t want a windowless seat like the one I had, get in line quick.
Cabs on GT are expensive for the length of trip: $7 from the airport to the hotel per person, about a five minute ride. We only took three cabs while we were there, so it wasn’t too bad. We walked most everywhere, and felt quite welcome and safe.
Lodging:
We stayed at the Osprey Beach Hotel as part of the PADI deal. The hotel is cute, small, and directly on the beach. We had a first floor room, and it was ten paces from the door to the sand. The hotel isn’t a Waldorf or anything, but we were quite happy with the accommodations and their proximity to the dive shop, just across the alley from the hotel itself.
The hotel has a restaurant on site and it was fine. A little cheaper than some of the other spots on the island. Breakfast ran around $10. Dinner around $20-25 each. Few vegetarian options and fewer (as in none) vegan options.
Food on the island is expensive, and our room had only a fridge making the problem more challenging to solve. The cheapest dinner was $60. The most expensive was $160. Bohio offered the best food, but was a hike. There are a couple grocery stores on the island. There are also rapid COVID tests available both in hotel with planning, and via a 15 minute walk.
We did not rent a car and so walked most places or called a taxi. Folks in down were quite friendly and helpful. The cruise ship days meant the town was loaded with tourists.
Surface Life
There's not much to do except relax on Grand Turk, and perhaps chase down some expensive meals. There is a lighthouse to see, if that's your thing, and I think you can ride horses in the ocean or something, but our surface intervals were spent napping and lounging beachside. My wife, who is not a diver, was happy to relax. If adventure is your thing, it's tough to find topside. We did spot two groups of whales on two different days from our patio. That was pretty cool.
Dive shop:
Due to the aforementioned fire, we ended up with Grand Turk Diving Co, which is about as close to the hotel as a shop could be.
A couple things I liked:
I’ve heard Grand Turk is a top 5 global destination and I’ve also heard it’s just so-so. It was pretty outstanding. Temp low was 77. The ride to the sites was anywhere from 5-10 minutes and the wall is spectacular.
The reef seems to be hurting a bit and it wasn’t particularly fishy, but the views were stunning. Sharks on every dive, more turtles than I’ve seen outside of the Benwood in Key Largo, and a pod of dolphins on our very last dive, along with a moment with four turtles munching together on some grass. Depths ranged from 25-105, with most hikes along the wall around 50', but ultimately the wall plummets to 7,000’ so there’s a lot to see. Beyond seeing, you could also hear both whale and dolphin song on several of the dives, though the whales remained elusive.
The boats are something like a valet service. You give the crew your gear and they set it up on the boat. When you’re ready to dive, you put your fins on and they pass you your BC. When you surface, you remove your BC and pass it up before climbing the ladder while the crew swaps tanks. I was able to set my gear up in the AM, which I was thankful for.
Conclusion:
Grand Turk is lovely. I don’t know if we’ll visit again, simply because it’s such a hike from Minneapolis, but the island is a lovely low-key, laid-back place to spend some time in the water. English is the primary language, although you’ll hear Spanish and a Haitian Creole, and the USD is the currency. Those things make it an attractive getaway for slubs like me who have few global skills. We we to return, I think I’d check out another dive shop.
Great diving, great people, amazing wall, expensive island.
Booking:
We booked through PADI, and it turned out to be a great decision. This was a short notice trip and we were having trouble finding accommodations. PADI showed up as having one room left with the hotel and dive operator and we booked it.
Unfortunately, Blue Water Divers suffered some sort of fire right before our arrival, which necessitated finding a new shop. Thankfully, PADI alerted us to the problem and even sent our info on to Grand Turk Diving Co., which was slightly more affordable than Blue Water.
The rebooking is what made it a great decision. I’m sure we could have figured it out, but it was nice to be directed to a backup plan.
Booking through PADI is easy as pie, too. I’ll do it again if I can’t figure it myself.
Getting there:
Grand Turk is not Provo. Lots of planes fly to Provo, and you’ll need to jump onto a regional carrier to get you the rest of the way. I know it’s obvious, but I didn’t realize we were on a different island, and had to panic but two tickets to GT. The planes board like a free-for-all, so if you don’t want a windowless seat like the one I had, get in line quick.
Cabs on GT are expensive for the length of trip: $7 from the airport to the hotel per person, about a five minute ride. We only took three cabs while we were there, so it wasn’t too bad. We walked most everywhere, and felt quite welcome and safe.
Lodging:
We stayed at the Osprey Beach Hotel as part of the PADI deal. The hotel is cute, small, and directly on the beach. We had a first floor room, and it was ten paces from the door to the sand. The hotel isn’t a Waldorf or anything, but we were quite happy with the accommodations and their proximity to the dive shop, just across the alley from the hotel itself.
The hotel has a restaurant on site and it was fine. A little cheaper than some of the other spots on the island. Breakfast ran around $10. Dinner around $20-25 each. Few vegetarian options and fewer (as in none) vegan options.
Food on the island is expensive, and our room had only a fridge making the problem more challenging to solve. The cheapest dinner was $60. The most expensive was $160. Bohio offered the best food, but was a hike. There are a couple grocery stores on the island. There are also rapid COVID tests available both in hotel with planning, and via a 15 minute walk.
We did not rent a car and so walked most places or called a taxi. Folks in down were quite friendly and helpful. The cruise ship days meant the town was loaded with tourists.
Surface Life
There's not much to do except relax on Grand Turk, and perhaps chase down some expensive meals. There is a lighthouse to see, if that's your thing, and I think you can ride horses in the ocean or something, but our surface intervals were spent napping and lounging beachside. My wife, who is not a diver, was happy to relax. If adventure is your thing, it's tough to find topside. We did spot two groups of whales on two different days from our patio. That was pretty cool.
Dive shop:
Due to the aforementioned fire, we ended up with Grand Turk Diving Co, which is about as close to the hotel as a shop could be.
A couple things I liked:
- The boat crews were great. All three dudes I met were outstanding. Super friendly, patient, and had some great stories to tell (particularly Smitty).
- The location is about as convenient as it could possibly be. The beach is immediately adjacent to the hotel. The dive shop is immediately across the alley. Easy peasy.
- They run a tab for you and you settle when you’re done with the week.
- The dogs are friendly.
- Prior to leaving on the trip, the owner said the temp was 68 degrees. That’s drysuit temps and caused a bit of consternation. The temp was actually 78, as confirmed by other dive shops and then by the DMs on site.
- I was hoping yo get on afternoon dives, but was told they weren’t going out all three days we were there (they went out two of the days; I missed them both). Communication in general was challenging.
- The valet service is uncomfortable to me. I don’t really love having other folks handle my gear, and indeed my tank slipped from my BC on my second dive, which was a first.
I’ve heard Grand Turk is a top 5 global destination and I’ve also heard it’s just so-so. It was pretty outstanding. Temp low was 77. The ride to the sites was anywhere from 5-10 minutes and the wall is spectacular.
The reef seems to be hurting a bit and it wasn’t particularly fishy, but the views were stunning. Sharks on every dive, more turtles than I’ve seen outside of the Benwood in Key Largo, and a pod of dolphins on our very last dive, along with a moment with four turtles munching together on some grass. Depths ranged from 25-105, with most hikes along the wall around 50', but ultimately the wall plummets to 7,000’ so there’s a lot to see. Beyond seeing, you could also hear both whale and dolphin song on several of the dives, though the whales remained elusive.
The boats are something like a valet service. You give the crew your gear and they set it up on the boat. When you’re ready to dive, you put your fins on and they pass you your BC. When you surface, you remove your BC and pass it up before climbing the ladder while the crew swaps tanks. I was able to set my gear up in the AM, which I was thankful for.
Conclusion:
Grand Turk is lovely. I don’t know if we’ll visit again, simply because it’s such a hike from Minneapolis, but the island is a lovely low-key, laid-back place to spend some time in the water. English is the primary language, although you’ll hear Spanish and a Haitian Creole, and the USD is the currency. Those things make it an attractive getaway for slubs like me who have few global skills. We we to return, I think I’d check out another dive shop.
I'm sure the view during your ride was better than ours.
