diversmith
Contributor
Just want to add a trip report on our Grand Turk vacation in June 2018 at the Bohio Resort. My wife and I went to relax and dive, and it was our first real extended getaway (since Fiji) without any kids in 6 years (since our youngest was born)!! Needless to say, we were really looking forward to the peace & quiet, and a respite from all the craziness that comes along with raising 2 young boys!
We booked thru Caradonna since we had used them for our Fiji trip at Wananavu and the fact that whole package had turned out great and we were very pleased overall with the travel arrangements, resort, food and diving op.
Just to give a little perspective on us, I'm a fireman and my wife is a stay-at-home Mom. I'm a former PADI instructor with a good deal of experience in the Pacific, Caribbean & Middle East, and I taught my wife 11 years ago when we were engaged. She has been diving in Roatan, Coz & Fiji and has done very well building her experience level. We aren't "foodies" - we just want good quality food and drink for the money. We aren't 5 Star hotel types, nor are we "snobby". We can both roll with the "waves" on a vacation and are realistic that there will be minor cons with anyplace you stay and not all things will be absolutely perfect. But we do expect things to be "as advertised" and for people to do their jobs well and treat the guest well, especially when paying a good chunk of hard earned money on a vacation package.
Together, we have stayed at Anthony's Key (lots of bugs but a great vac we both loved), Coz at Park Royal (hated the PR so much we bailed after the first week and went to Occidental Grand which saved our vac and was an awesome experience for the second week), and Wananavu which was a fantastic 12 day vacation. We would happily return to any of those places in a heartbeat (except the Park Royal of course).
We booked 10 days/9 nights with a 10 dive package. We booked a corner king unit to get a better view, bigger bed and hopefully a quieter room. We also booked the "not-so-all-inclusive" package which included breakfast & beverages, lunch with no beverages, and no dinner/drinks included. No alcohol included either (we aren't big drinkers, maybe a couple of cocktails after diving is done or w/ dinner so no big deal for us).
For those wondering, we decided on GT over Provo due to the easier dive site access, on-site dive shop, and a less "touristy" and a more quiet, laid back feel. I had been looking at some very nice Provo resorts on Costco travel that were all inclusive on Grace Bay that were maybe $500-1,000 more than Bohio, but would have included dinner & non-alcoholic drinks for all meals (so pretty close to a wash). Obviously diving wouldn't have been included there so we had to factor in that cost.
I will list the pros:
Very quiet island and resort. The only time this changes is when the cruisers are brought to the resort, but they are kept out of the main part of the beach & the pool.
The beach seems deserted much of the time. This was great for us and we really enjoyed it.
Some of the food was really, really good. Some was just ok.
The dive spots were super close. I think the longest ride was 10 minutes max.
Mostly really, really good diving. The vis kind of tanked for a couple of days but that was the worst of it as far as conditions go. Most of the dive sites we did would be "go backs", especially Black Forest - some really nice black coral at only 80-90 feet.
The staff was mostly friendly and accommodating.
Security was on-site every night, so even though the dive shop isn't secured each night, everything was being watched. No issues as far as safety or theft was concerned.
Low number of divers on the boat, and no cruisers allowed on the Bohio boat.
The water in front of the resort was awesome! We spent a ton of time snorkeling there and saw numerous turtles, spotted eagle rays and tons of live conch shells. Not much reef structure out front but we really enjoyed it for the other things.
The boat trip to Gibbs Cay to freedive for conch and feed the stingrays was a great afternoon trip. 5 different size southern rays and even a little lemon shark up close was really fun to see. Ate a freshly made conch salad and enjoyed some cold rumpunch and beers. The wife loved it!
There was good wifi in the main part of the resort and Ginny provided us with a modem for the room so we could FaceTime with our boys and check in with the grandparents to see how things were with the kids.
My wife loved the friendly burros running around here and there.
Nate the DM/inst was awesome to deal with and a super nice guy.
Now for the cons...and there are quite a few of them!
The resort has a very "aged" feel to it and many things are not in good condition. The dive boats are pretty beat and the main one even went down the last couple of days. Went into the backup that always had 2-3 inches of water in it sloshing around on the deck. Rooms & bathrooms look much better in the pics. Bathrooms are like a Motel 6 from 1978.
Upgrading to the corner king was a waste of money. the only real difference was a little more room in the kitchenette and having a table in the entry. No other differences that I could tell from the other king rooms. The rooms were also very noisy. Lots of noise from other rooms.
The door on our room was extremely difficult to open. So bad that my wife is 5-0" and 105lbs could barely get it opened a few times. There is obviously not a lot of preventative maintenance going on at Bohio.
The pool water looked absolutely disgusting the first couple of days so we never did go in it the entire trip. We both didn't feel like taking a chance with that pool water and possibly getting sick on vacation!
Too many cruisers invade the resort! It seemed a little less bothersome on the days we did 2 tanks since they are usually starting to head out around 3pm and we only had to deal with them after getting back from diving. And they are mostly obnoxious, loud and I saw many of them acting like slobs and littering on the beach. I know Bohio loves getting them there because they make a killing on F&B and renting loungers out. I have a newfound disdain for cruisers (wife & I are not cruisers) after seeing so many of them in action up close & personal. Even witnessed a near brawl one day between an A-hole cruiser and Captain Meat of Bohio.
One of the biggest let-downs was the advertised SUP paddleboards. We really like SUPing and were really looking forward to using the 2 boards every day. We went to take them out the first day and found one of them was missing the fin and that both of them were really beat up and too small for most adult males (ie me!). No fin equals no go for one of us. The deck surfaces were really worn out and slick so they were basically complete junk! A real bummer to say the least. Don't advertise something if it doesn't work!!
If you think you are going to use the bicycles at the resort, don't count on it! Several were sitting there with flat tires and all of them were beat up and rusted out. I can't imagine the last time any maintenance was done on them. We managed to find one girls & one boys bike that were usable and ventured out one afternoon/evening. If you're a group of 3 or more, don't count on having enough bikes.
There is no system of signing a receipt for any food or drinks during your stay. They just ask for your room number when ordering. I recalled seeing a review somewhere that a person went to check out and noticed many more charges on his room tab than what he had done. I told my wife to keep a log of what we ordered for lunch, dinner & drinks during our stay. I'm going to have to dispute about 200.00 worth of F&B with my credit card because it just doesn't add up. We were already running late to leave for the airport (for reasons explained below) and they didn't want to prepare the final tab the night before leaving so I didn't have the time to try to go thru everything when checking out.
And last but definitely not least...we ran out of water in the rooms and all the public restrooms the last 2 mornings we were there! Let's just say my last shower there was not so enjoyable! Imagine trying to get ready to catch your flight out and you are left standing in the shower all soaped up and the only option is using cold bottled water to try to get rinsed off!! I wasn't real happy to say the least. And the worst part was the unconcerned attitude from Tom & Ginny when we reported it to them both times. Well, actually the worst part was trying to figure out where 2 of us were going to go to the potty!! Run that thru your head for a minute! They just passed the buck & blamed the gov-run desal plant. I'm sorry, for what we paid, making sure there is running water shouldn't be my problem. Totally unacceptable!!
We booked thru Caradonna since we had used them for our Fiji trip at Wananavu and the fact that whole package had turned out great and we were very pleased overall with the travel arrangements, resort, food and diving op.
Just to give a little perspective on us, I'm a fireman and my wife is a stay-at-home Mom. I'm a former PADI instructor with a good deal of experience in the Pacific, Caribbean & Middle East, and I taught my wife 11 years ago when we were engaged. She has been diving in Roatan, Coz & Fiji and has done very well building her experience level. We aren't "foodies" - we just want good quality food and drink for the money. We aren't 5 Star hotel types, nor are we "snobby". We can both roll with the "waves" on a vacation and are realistic that there will be minor cons with anyplace you stay and not all things will be absolutely perfect. But we do expect things to be "as advertised" and for people to do their jobs well and treat the guest well, especially when paying a good chunk of hard earned money on a vacation package.
Together, we have stayed at Anthony's Key (lots of bugs but a great vac we both loved), Coz at Park Royal (hated the PR so much we bailed after the first week and went to Occidental Grand which saved our vac and was an awesome experience for the second week), and Wananavu which was a fantastic 12 day vacation. We would happily return to any of those places in a heartbeat (except the Park Royal of course).
We booked 10 days/9 nights with a 10 dive package. We booked a corner king unit to get a better view, bigger bed and hopefully a quieter room. We also booked the "not-so-all-inclusive" package which included breakfast & beverages, lunch with no beverages, and no dinner/drinks included. No alcohol included either (we aren't big drinkers, maybe a couple of cocktails after diving is done or w/ dinner so no big deal for us).
For those wondering, we decided on GT over Provo due to the easier dive site access, on-site dive shop, and a less "touristy" and a more quiet, laid back feel. I had been looking at some very nice Provo resorts on Costco travel that were all inclusive on Grace Bay that were maybe $500-1,000 more than Bohio, but would have included dinner & non-alcoholic drinks for all meals (so pretty close to a wash). Obviously diving wouldn't have been included there so we had to factor in that cost.
I will list the pros:
Very quiet island and resort. The only time this changes is when the cruisers are brought to the resort, but they are kept out of the main part of the beach & the pool.
The beach seems deserted much of the time. This was great for us and we really enjoyed it.
Some of the food was really, really good. Some was just ok.
The dive spots were super close. I think the longest ride was 10 minutes max.
Mostly really, really good diving. The vis kind of tanked for a couple of days but that was the worst of it as far as conditions go. Most of the dive sites we did would be "go backs", especially Black Forest - some really nice black coral at only 80-90 feet.
The staff was mostly friendly and accommodating.
Security was on-site every night, so even though the dive shop isn't secured each night, everything was being watched. No issues as far as safety or theft was concerned.
Low number of divers on the boat, and no cruisers allowed on the Bohio boat.
The water in front of the resort was awesome! We spent a ton of time snorkeling there and saw numerous turtles, spotted eagle rays and tons of live conch shells. Not much reef structure out front but we really enjoyed it for the other things.
The boat trip to Gibbs Cay to freedive for conch and feed the stingrays was a great afternoon trip. 5 different size southern rays and even a little lemon shark up close was really fun to see. Ate a freshly made conch salad and enjoyed some cold rumpunch and beers. The wife loved it!
There was good wifi in the main part of the resort and Ginny provided us with a modem for the room so we could FaceTime with our boys and check in with the grandparents to see how things were with the kids.
My wife loved the friendly burros running around here and there.
Nate the DM/inst was awesome to deal with and a super nice guy.
Now for the cons...and there are quite a few of them!
The resort has a very "aged" feel to it and many things are not in good condition. The dive boats are pretty beat and the main one even went down the last couple of days. Went into the backup that always had 2-3 inches of water in it sloshing around on the deck. Rooms & bathrooms look much better in the pics. Bathrooms are like a Motel 6 from 1978.
Upgrading to the corner king was a waste of money. the only real difference was a little more room in the kitchenette and having a table in the entry. No other differences that I could tell from the other king rooms. The rooms were also very noisy. Lots of noise from other rooms.
The door on our room was extremely difficult to open. So bad that my wife is 5-0" and 105lbs could barely get it opened a few times. There is obviously not a lot of preventative maintenance going on at Bohio.
The pool water looked absolutely disgusting the first couple of days so we never did go in it the entire trip. We both didn't feel like taking a chance with that pool water and possibly getting sick on vacation!
Too many cruisers invade the resort! It seemed a little less bothersome on the days we did 2 tanks since they are usually starting to head out around 3pm and we only had to deal with them after getting back from diving. And they are mostly obnoxious, loud and I saw many of them acting like slobs and littering on the beach. I know Bohio loves getting them there because they make a killing on F&B and renting loungers out. I have a newfound disdain for cruisers (wife & I are not cruisers) after seeing so many of them in action up close & personal. Even witnessed a near brawl one day between an A-hole cruiser and Captain Meat of Bohio.
One of the biggest let-downs was the advertised SUP paddleboards. We really like SUPing and were really looking forward to using the 2 boards every day. We went to take them out the first day and found one of them was missing the fin and that both of them were really beat up and too small for most adult males (ie me!). No fin equals no go for one of us. The deck surfaces were really worn out and slick so they were basically complete junk! A real bummer to say the least. Don't advertise something if it doesn't work!!
If you think you are going to use the bicycles at the resort, don't count on it! Several were sitting there with flat tires and all of them were beat up and rusted out. I can't imagine the last time any maintenance was done on them. We managed to find one girls & one boys bike that were usable and ventured out one afternoon/evening. If you're a group of 3 or more, don't count on having enough bikes.
There is no system of signing a receipt for any food or drinks during your stay. They just ask for your room number when ordering. I recalled seeing a review somewhere that a person went to check out and noticed many more charges on his room tab than what he had done. I told my wife to keep a log of what we ordered for lunch, dinner & drinks during our stay. I'm going to have to dispute about 200.00 worth of F&B with my credit card because it just doesn't add up. We were already running late to leave for the airport (for reasons explained below) and they didn't want to prepare the final tab the night before leaving so I didn't have the time to try to go thru everything when checking out.
And last but definitely not least...we ran out of water in the rooms and all the public restrooms the last 2 mornings we were there! Let's just say my last shower there was not so enjoyable! Imagine trying to get ready to catch your flight out and you are left standing in the shower all soaped up and the only option is using cold bottled water to try to get rinsed off!! I wasn't real happy to say the least. And the worst part was the unconcerned attitude from Tom & Ginny when we reported it to them both times. Well, actually the worst part was trying to figure out where 2 of us were going to go to the potty!! Run that thru your head for a minute! They just passed the buck & blamed the gov-run desal plant. I'm sorry, for what we paid, making sure there is running water shouldn't be my problem. Totally unacceptable!!
