Suggested Books for Turks & Caicos

[QQQ99999]

I am headed to Provo (staying at Club Med) in January and I would like to learn as much as I can about TCI before my arrival. Does anyone have any dive books or travel books that you would recommend?

Any other suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Shangrl]

I don't think there are many out there with the exception of the Lonely Planet one titled Bahamas and T and C. I am very familiar with T and C and most of the islands. I've been three times this year and am going back for holidays. The best stuff is on the internet..do a google on T and C and you'll find trip reports, articles and great links.
Provo is what Nassua was 15 years ago and perhaps Caymen as well but compared to Grand Turk..it is bright lights, big city. Pick up the November issue of Scuba Diver..the cover story features Provo, Salt Cay and Grand Turk. It is a great article about all three islands. Have a blast, you will enjoy T and C.

 

[THX1138]

Agree, see my prior posting in Trip Report/ Provo. Enjoy. John

 

[QQQ99999]

Will do. Thanks for the suggestions.

 

[mbs]

Will do. Thanks for the suggestions.

We were at clubmed last January... Just a heads up that if the weather is rough like it was when we were there the boat will most likely not qo out. After a couple of days we freaked out and called other dive ops which go out from the marinas and ended up having
a few really nice days of diving with Dive Provo. Clubmed did refund the price of 3 days diving so that was good! Also its such a pleasure diving with a small op rather than the massive clubmed cats.

 

[QQQ99999]

mbs,
thanks for the information. I was considering booking the 3 day dive package with club med and then booking a couple other days with a dive operator (such as Caicos Adventures or Dive Provo) because I am afraid that club med may not be hitting the best dive sites but rather the most convenient. Any input?

Were you able to dive at all thru club med? And/or did you hear any feedback from other guests who did? Any help would be appreciated.

thanks

 

[miketsp]

Have you checked the rules with the dive operator you are going to use at T&C Club Med?
I was talking to a friend that told me that they were severely limited in depth when they went there last year.
Like if both members of a buddy pair did not have computers then you had to stick with a DM in shallow depths (below 20m I don't remember exactly) and even if you did both have computers then you are restricted to 30m max and they would check all computers after every dive. Of course they will rent you a computer...
If you got back to the boat with a computer error (either computer) or having passed 30m (either computer) then you would be penalised and not allowed to dive for a period!
What the *&%$!!!!
This is Disney level of safety taken too far.
If I'm a qualified adult diver then I expect to be able to decide my own profile.
Probably worth asking before you go so you can always choose another operator if necessary.

 

[QQQ99999]

mbs,

Also, do you have any tips/suggestions/feedback regarding club med turkoise?

Thanks.

 

[QQQ99999]

miketsp,

I will have to try to check into those issues. I know I had read something similar to that regarding one of my potential vacation destinations but I didnt remember that it was T&C club med.

Thanks

 

[miketsp]

miketsp,

I will have to try to check into those issues. I know I had read something similar to that regarding one of my potential vacation destinations but I didnt remember that it was T&C club med.

Thanks

Just to make sure I wasn't spouting BS I ran a search on Google about Club Med at T&C. The web has many pages with complaints about the "newbie" treatment exactly like my friend described.

Here's an example:
http://www.debbiescaribbeanresortreviews.com/turks/turksreview1.html
search down the page for "computer" and you'll find this

Scuba Diving – This is what I came for and was VERY disappointed in! Club Med uses buddy pairs so you can go out and see the reef yourself. The navigation is very easy most of the time since there are specific sand channels you can use. Every time you go out and come back you have to give your time and depth to the DM – what’s with that? I don’t know any other place in the world which has this practice, it treats people like newbies. Most people ended up giving the usual – 60 feet for 40 mins on the second dive no matter what the computer read. I hated this since my air consumption is good and my computer is very conservative. There was one extra trip, the trip to West Caicos wasn’t worth the extra $100 so that was a waste. ALL of the second dives were terrible, there was no visibility. I asked if we could stay near the first spot which had good vis each day, but then there was some fight between the DM and the Captain. The captain said something about needing to get back for the 2:00 dive and having lunch. So, instead of giving the guests a good second dive, the captain wrecked the whole thing and got his way. The night dive was the same, no vis and wasn’t worth the time. Some of the dives just had nothing to see – maybe a lobster or two. Compared to either Roatan, Antigua, Cozumel, or St Martin - Turks and Caicos diving was a bust and not recommended.