Tundrahog
Registered
Figured since Ed just posted this and we were there at about the same time and used the same hotel and dive shop I'd just add in my 2 cents. Ed and I knew each other from a Juliette trip last fall and happened to run into each other at dinner.
Our room had a small kitchen, so we we were able to pick up supplies, and had breakfast and lunch in the room most days. As Ed said food was expensive so this made a big difference. We thought the restaurant at the hotel was quite good. They mixed the specials daily and the staples were all good. We were there long enough to be able to try most of the dishes and I managed to make my way through the mixed drink list. I ended up with the rum punch being my staple and developed a liking for I-AIN-GA-LIE one of the local beers. Also BBQ night on Wednesday and Saturday was very good. Other food venues I'd recommend are the Sandbar just up the street and the one you shouldn't miss is Jack's Shack just outside the cruise port.
We set up our COVID test through Omni Care before flying down. The nurses came right to our room and we had our results in our e-mail before they left.
Diving-I also dove with Smitty at Grand Turk Diving. There was quite a difference site to site along the wall. Some, as Ed said, were not real "fishy" there were others where we were literally surrounded by schools of fish. Sharks were common as well as rays and turtles (I was lucky to be on the dolphin dive as well) The final day, the water was stirred up so we went south near the cruise port and dove near an old pier. it was very shallow and the dive lasted about and hour and a half. We saw lots of life there including a stonefish, a flounder a couple rays and some conch. Smitty also harpooned a couple lion fish and fed them to a beautiful Moray eel. GT Diving in general was pretty solid for diving the boats are small, and not recommended if you have mobility issues. they also generally were separating the Cruise ship passengers from the "islanders" so they don't run into scheduling issues. Our boat was always out longer. If you like dogs there were about 4 that hung around the dive shop, including Jagger who is a big pit bull missing one of his front legs. He liked to play with the toys in the yard and have his belly rubbed
We didn't do anything topside except a morning at the cruise port to get a few souvenirs, and a whale watching tour with Deep Blue Charters. I highly recommend this outfit. they were very attentive to the whales behavior, coming in slow and if the wales moved off they didn't chase them. two adults (males?) swam around the boat for a bit and settled on the bottom, we were able to slide in the water and snorkel with them for a few minutes. we also saw two separate mother calf pairs, one of which had a huge male with them.
This was probably the most relaxing vacation I've had. My day was wake up at 6:30 or so , make breakfast in the room, wander across the street to the dive center at about 9, do a couple dives. come back, have a light lunch then nap, or lounge on the patio or beach until dinner. The Islanders were all friendly and we never felt unsafe or uncomfortable at any time. We may go back again, at first we thought we might be bored after 2 weeks, but once we settled in It was very pleasant.
Our room had a small kitchen, so we we were able to pick up supplies, and had breakfast and lunch in the room most days. As Ed said food was expensive so this made a big difference. We thought the restaurant at the hotel was quite good. They mixed the specials daily and the staples were all good. We were there long enough to be able to try most of the dishes and I managed to make my way through the mixed drink list. I ended up with the rum punch being my staple and developed a liking for I-AIN-GA-LIE one of the local beers. Also BBQ night on Wednesday and Saturday was very good. Other food venues I'd recommend are the Sandbar just up the street and the one you shouldn't miss is Jack's Shack just outside the cruise port.
We set up our COVID test through Omni Care before flying down. The nurses came right to our room and we had our results in our e-mail before they left.
Diving-I also dove with Smitty at Grand Turk Diving. There was quite a difference site to site along the wall. Some, as Ed said, were not real "fishy" there were others where we were literally surrounded by schools of fish. Sharks were common as well as rays and turtles (I was lucky to be on the dolphin dive as well) The final day, the water was stirred up so we went south near the cruise port and dove near an old pier. it was very shallow and the dive lasted about and hour and a half. We saw lots of life there including a stonefish, a flounder a couple rays and some conch. Smitty also harpooned a couple lion fish and fed them to a beautiful Moray eel. GT Diving in general was pretty solid for diving the boats are small, and not recommended if you have mobility issues. they also generally were separating the Cruise ship passengers from the "islanders" so they don't run into scheduling issues. Our boat was always out longer. If you like dogs there were about 4 that hung around the dive shop, including Jagger who is a big pit bull missing one of his front legs. He liked to play with the toys in the yard and have his belly rubbed
We didn't do anything topside except a morning at the cruise port to get a few souvenirs, and a whale watching tour with Deep Blue Charters. I highly recommend this outfit. they were very attentive to the whales behavior, coming in slow and if the wales moved off they didn't chase them. two adults (males?) swam around the boat for a bit and settled on the bottom, we were able to slide in the water and snorkel with them for a few minutes. we also saw two separate mother calf pairs, one of which had a huge male with them.
This was probably the most relaxing vacation I've had. My day was wake up at 6:30 or so , make breakfast in the room, wander across the street to the dive center at about 9, do a couple dives. come back, have a light lunch then nap, or lounge on the patio or beach until dinner. The Islanders were all friendly and we never felt unsafe or uncomfortable at any time. We may go back again, at first we thought we might be bored after 2 weeks, but once we settled in It was very pleasant.
