scubakittymarie
Registered
I am planning a dive trip for next July. Any suggestions as to whether to go to Grenada or Turks and Caicos? We prefer all inclusive.
Thanks,
Thanks,
Grenada or Turks and Caicos?
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Mantasscareme
Contributor
I've never been to Grenada but I just left Providenciales, Turks and Caicos yesterday. It was an awesome trip. I stayed at the Ocean Club West (not all-inclusive) and dove with Caicos Adventures, a solid, well run dive operation that does all of the best sites.
Turks and Caicos diving is a blast. The better dive sites are a 45 minute- 1 hour boat ride from Providenciales, but the seas were calm enough so that wasn't a problem for anyone on board. Dive sites are all pretty similar, they are made up of a sandy bottom dotted with coral heads leading to a wall. The walls crest pretty shallow, 35-60 feet at most sites, and according to the DM, drop 7000 feet. The terrain is spectacular in itself. The walls are coated with a good layer of sponge growth, including barrel sponges big enough for a diver to climb into. Huge schools of fish come to feed off the wall, everything from creole wrasse to horse-eye jacks to what my buddy thought could have been tuna (I wasn't sure). I really didn't expect such a concentration of life on an Atlantic dive.
For me, the best part of the trip were the pelagics. Now, granted, this wasn't the Galapagos, but it was still pretty impressive for an Atlantic/Caribbean dive. There were reef sharks on half of the dives, many of which weren't afraid to swim in for a close look. Nurse sharks were also around. On my last dive at French Cay (one several remote dive sites accessible as a day-trip from Providenciales), I saw two eagle rays, one of which must have been 7 feet across. Throughout the week, people saw a manta ray and dolphins (yes, underwater), but I was unlucky and saw neither. Conditions couldn't be easier, bathtub warm water and zero currents. I'm going to get a lot of flack for this, but I would compare this diving favorably to the East End of Grand Cayman.
The island itself is not the most dramatic. It's mostly flat and covered with little stunted trees, bushes and cacti. What Providenciales does have is Grace Bay, my all time favorite beach in the world.
The one thing to note is that this island is EXPENSIVE. But since you're going with all inclusive, I'm not sure that's gonna be an issue. Providenciales does have a Club Med and a Beaches. I'm not sure if they insist that you dive with their on-site dive operations, and I'm not sure how good they are.
Either way, happy travels.
Turks and Caicos diving is a blast. The better dive sites are a 45 minute- 1 hour boat ride from Providenciales, but the seas were calm enough so that wasn't a problem for anyone on board. Dive sites are all pretty similar, they are made up of a sandy bottom dotted with coral heads leading to a wall. The walls crest pretty shallow, 35-60 feet at most sites, and according to the DM, drop 7000 feet. The terrain is spectacular in itself. The walls are coated with a good layer of sponge growth, including barrel sponges big enough for a diver to climb into. Huge schools of fish come to feed off the wall, everything from creole wrasse to horse-eye jacks to what my buddy thought could have been tuna (I wasn't sure). I really didn't expect such a concentration of life on an Atlantic dive.
For me, the best part of the trip were the pelagics. Now, granted, this wasn't the Galapagos, but it was still pretty impressive for an Atlantic/Caribbean dive. There were reef sharks on half of the dives, many of which weren't afraid to swim in for a close look. Nurse sharks were also around. On my last dive at French Cay (one several remote dive sites accessible as a day-trip from Providenciales), I saw two eagle rays, one of which must have been 7 feet across. Throughout the week, people saw a manta ray and dolphins (yes, underwater), but I was unlucky and saw neither. Conditions couldn't be easier, bathtub warm water and zero currents. I'm going to get a lot of flack for this, but I would compare this diving favorably to the East End of Grand Cayman.
The island itself is not the most dramatic. It's mostly flat and covered with little stunted trees, bushes and cacti. What Providenciales does have is Grace Bay, my all time favorite beach in the world.
The one thing to note is that this island is EXPENSIVE. But since you're going with all inclusive, I'm not sure that's gonna be an issue. Providenciales does have a Club Med and a Beaches. I'm not sure if they insist that you dive with their on-site dive operations, and I'm not sure how good they are.
Either way, happy travels.
Depends on what you want to see. The reefs are good at both Grenada and Provo with a slight edge to Provo. JoJo lives near Provo and you never know when he might show up. No guarantee, but it's amazing to dive with a wild dolphin. He's getting a little long in the tooth, so if you want to see him, you might want to make a trip to Provo soon. OTOH, if you like wrecks and sharks, Grenada is the place to go. They have awesome wrecks and there are tons of Nurse Sharks. We saw Caribbean Reefs every time we dived the Bianca C (the Andrea Doria's sister ship). As for lad activities, Grenada is the most interesting. Waterfalls, spice and rum production, beautiful mountain roads, it's worth several trips around the island. Either way you go, you've made an excellent choice.
CODMAN
Contributor
Just for your info, at Club med there is no obligation to use their dive OP. In fact, I strongly suggest you use another, such as Caicos adventures. They rule. They'll pick you up in the morning at Club med, and pop you back off at the end of the day.
Hope this helps!
Hope this helps!
OP
scubakittymarie
Registered
Thanks for the suggestions. Any suggestions on which hotels or dive operations for which island. I still haven't decided where to go.
Instead of Provo you might consider Grand Turk. IMO, the diving is as good as at West Caicos or French Cay. Boat rides to the sites are only a few minutes. It's a nice, quiet place with good beaches. Some places do offer meal plans if you want AI but most visitors tend to dine around.
As Walter said, if you want wrecks and the chance of shark encounters, go for Grenada. The Bianca C is often called the Titanic of the Caribbean as it is the largest liner wrecked in that body of water (but while it is often compared with the Andrea Doria, they weren't sister ships the Doria was built in Italy, and the Bianca C was built in France) and some of the wrecks on the Atlantic side (King Mitch, etc) are great in their own right.
Aquanauts Grenada are among the best day-boat operations on the island, in my opinion. Peter and Gerlinde run a very tight ship and know their stuff.
Provo had some nice walls, and we did actually see quite a few reef sharks out near French Cay. I dived with Dive Provo and again was impressed with their operation.
So, wrecks and slightly more challenging diving conditons, Grenada. Walls and pretty reefs, Provo.
Mark
Aquanauts Grenada are among the best day-boat operations on the island, in my opinion. Peter and Gerlinde run a very tight ship and know their stuff.
Provo had some nice walls, and we did actually see quite a few reef sharks out near French Cay. I dived with Dive Provo and again was impressed with their operation.
So, wrecks and slightly more challenging diving conditons, Grenada. Walls and pretty reefs, Provo.
Mark
Damselfish
Contributor
By all-inclusive you mean you just want to pay one price and have all your meals there, or you want the toga party and crab races kind of place? There's lot's of places where you can get a meal package, even if you wouldn't normally think of them as classic "AI." You want diving to be included too? You want diving to be on site?
Classic AIs like like Beaches or Club Med generally have a rep for doing a lousy job at the diving part, and you'd be better off diving with someone else. There are dive resorts that include meals and diving, some do a good job at food and some don't. Then there are the rare places that do a pretty good job of all 3.
Classic AIs like like Beaches or Club Med generally have a rep for doing a lousy job at the diving part, and you'd be better off diving with someone else. There are dive resorts that include meals and diving, some do a good job at food and some don't. Then there are the rare places that do a pretty good job of all 3.
OP
scubakittymarie
Registered
I was just looking for a place that meals and drinks were included. I don't care about entertainment. Diving is my priority. I just don't want to go somewhere that we are spending hundreds a day for food and drinks.
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