Grand Turk or Cozumel for a quick 7 day dive trip?

[Robertcrockett]

Just a generalized pure opinion based question... The money is about the same so it comes down to where the slight edge (if it exists) that one has over the other... Tell me what you think! Were fine with all levels of stay. Boat, shore... drift dives are all fine with us. We can valet dive or James Bond off a skiff... To us it's more about the abundance of life, reef health and an interesting place to spend our evenings. Fill me in.

 

[Hoag]

It really depends on what you want, but I honestly don't think that you would be disappointed with either choice.

The diving at the two locations are both great, but very different. In Cozumel, you will primarily be doing drift diving. It is extremely relaxing and you just literally go with the flow. If you see something that catches your eye, it can be a challenge to try to get back to it.

In Grand Turk, it will pretty much all be wall diving. The wall is only about 100 yards off shore, so the boat rides are typically in the 5-10 minute (or less) range. TCI has a reputation for being very "sharky", but we only saw a pair of sharks one day in Grand Turk. We did, however see a lot of turtles. Grand Turk had a lot of life on their reefs, everything from tiny juvinile Cow Fish to Sting Rays, Groupers and as previously mentioned turtles. I was there in March, and the Humpback Whales were migrating through the area. While we didn't see any while diving, we heard their "whale song" on almost every dive. I stayed at a resort called Bohio. It is a family run little place owned by a couple (Tom & Ginnie) of Canadian expats.

If you want some night life after hours, then Cozumel would be the better choice for you. Grand Turk is not known at all for its night life.

Personally, I liked Grand Turk better than I liked Cozumel, but ultimately, only you will know what suits you best. As I said though, I think both are terrific destinations. Have a great trip!

 

[drrich2]

Never been to Grand Turk; dove once out of 3 cruise ship stops at Coz., so take with a grain of salt:

1.) Coz. is often praised for its 'food scene,' at least if you stay in town and don't do A.I. Is that important to you?

2.) Grand Turks doesn't seem to be hit nearly as often as Cozumel, judging from trip reports. Does the 'off the beaten path' quality make it special for you?

I don't know what you should do, but perhaps answers to those might help?

Best answer...do one & plan the other later. Since people often do Coz. repeatedly, maybe try G.T. now and enjoy Cozumel next time?

Richard.

 

[Saboteur]

It really depends on what you want, but I honestly don't think that you would be disappointed with either choice.

The diving at the two locations are both great, but very different. In Cozumel, you will primarily be doing drift diving. It is extremely relaxing and you just literally go with the flow. If you see something that catches your eye, it can be a challenge to try to get back to it.

In Grand Turk, it will pretty much all be wall diving. The wall is only about 100 yards off shore, so the boat rides are typically in the 5-10 minute (or less) range. TCI has a reputation for being very "sharky", but we only saw a pair of sharks one day in Grand Turk. We did, however see a lot of turtles. Grand Turk had a lot of life on their reefs, everything from tiny juvinile Cow Fish to Sting Rays, Groupers and as previously mentioned turtles. I was there in March, and the Humpback Whales were migrating through the area. While we didn't see any while diving, we heard their "whale song" on almost every dive. I stayed at a resort called Bohio. It is a family run little place owned by a couple (Tom & Ginnie) of Canadian expats.

If you want some night life after hours, then Cozumel would be the better choice for you. Grand Turk is not known at all for its night life.

Personally, I liked Grand Turk better than I liked Cozumel, but ultimately, only you will know what suits you best. As I said though, I think both are terrific destinations. Have a great trip!

Hey Hoag...I've been interested in Bohio for a while now. Last fall it did not work out and ended up at GC. This spring I was hesitant due to concerns on recovery from last years hurricane. How was the infrastructure and condition of the resort? I'm planning a fall trip somewhere.

 

[diversteve]

7 Days total? Look at flight schedules since I believe GT is only accessed via smaller plane from Provo so that could cut into your dive time.

 

[Snoweman]

Deleted.

 

[Hoag]

Hey Hoag...I've been interested in Bohio for a while now. Last fall it did not work out and ended up at GC. This spring I was hesitant due to concerns on recovery from last years hurricane. How was the infrastructure and condition of the resort? I'm planning a fall trip somewhere.

I have not been there since the hurricanes, but this is what I have been told:
The dive sites are deep enough that they survived the hurricanes intact with minimal or no damage. The island, however, was not so lucky. Many areas on Grand Turk including the Bohio sustained significant damage. With a lot of help from their neghbours, and a lot of very hard work, Bohio has finished their repairs and are back up and running at full capacity again. If you have any questions, contact Tom or Ginny at the Bohio and they would be happy to answer any questions that you have.

Personally, I would go back tomorrow if I could.

 

[Snoweman]

Crap. I don't know what I was thinking. I had it in my mind Grand Cayman, not Grand Turk My bad.

 

[Hoag]

7 Days total? Look at flight schedules since I believe GT is only accessed via smaller plane from Provo so that could cut into your dive time.

That shouldn't be a factor. I flew out of Toronto and connected to Provo in CLT. Then I caught the puddle jumper over to Grand Turk that afternoon. On the way home, I caught an early morning (8AM ish) puddle jumper out of Grand Turk and arrived in Provo in plenty of time to catch a flight from Provo to Miami for the trip home.

The schedule for the puddle jumpers is actually quite good to connect with flights to/from the USA.

 

[AdivingBel]

The money is about the same so it comes down to where the slight edge (if it exists) that one has over the other...

The "money being about the same" doesn't sound quite right, but I don't go luxury in Coz...