TRIP REPORT Provo/ Turks Caicos

[allistoy]

The reefs generally start from 40 to 60 feet to the edge of the walls which drop to 6000 feet. Some areas have a shelf at about 150 feet then straight down. Dives with Caicos Adventures are not timed you dive your own limits. Generally people are in for 40 to 90 minutes dependent upon you air consumption. If you prefer to do your own thing while diving you do not have to follow a divemaster led tour. They are extremely flexible as to diving preferences. The staff can acommodate a variety of personal preferences to suit most peoples needs.

 

[traciedee]

The reefs generally start from 40 to 60 feet to the edge of the walls which drop to 6000 feet. Some areas have a shelf at about 150 feet then straight down. Dives with Caicos Adventures are not timed you dive your own limits. Generally people are in for 40 to 90 minutes dependent upon you air consumption. If you prefer to do your own thing while diving you do not have to follow a divemaster led tour. They are extremely flexible as to diving preferences. The staff can acommodate a variety of personal preferences to suit most peoples needs.

That's good to know. I hate when everyone has to follow the leader. Also for T&C-- what is customary to tip at the end of your dive trips? Seems like everywhere we go the situation is a little different. Any suggestions?

 

[allistoy]

I usually allow for $10/day. I wait until the last day and then adjust the tip based on the overall service provided by the staff. This way I can tip extra for exceptional service or less for poor service. I leave the final tip with the office in an envelope with the staff names I would like to tip. They are very good about making sure you tips are divided properly amoungst the staff, this way there is no chance of the tip disappearing as I have heard happens occasionally with other operations.

 

[allistoy]

here's a little friend to get you ready for the trip.

 

[nor'easter]

Thanks for the report. will be there and diving with them in Dec. i can't wait.

I'll be there in Dec (24-31) as well, diving with Caicos Adventures, based on all these recommendations. I'm not staying on Grace Beach, but at the Miramar in Turtle Cove - I figure the $1000 savings more than makes up for the shuttle to the beach. I'll be sure to post my reviews. Thanks for all the helpful posts.

 

[Damselfish]

I stayed there (Miramar) for a few days back when it was the Erebus. Nothing fancy and needed some maintenance at the time. But adequate, especially when spending much of the day on the boat. The restaurant was pretty good. There are stairs/path to get down to Turtle Cove where there are more good restaurants.

 

[alashas]

HI Damselfish and others,

We are 2 families, 4 adults and 5 teenagers, who are looking at a villa on Smith Reef for our dive vacation next summer. We will probably do 3 2 tank days, although several of us may dive more. The villa on Smith is appealing in part because it is supposed to be within walking distance of Turtle Cove Marina, where several dive shops and a number of restaurants, 6, I think, are located. We envision eating breakfast and lunch in our villa (or lunch on the dive boat?), and walking to various restaurants at TCM for dinner. I've been reading reports of restaurants varying in price on Provo, but it looks as though most of the restaurants at TCM are reasonably priced, is that correct? Also, is it correct that the Smith Reef area is within a 10 minute or so walk of TCM?

What restaurants do you recommend at TCM?

Which dive shop at TCM do you recommend? With a group our size, should we consider chartering our own dive boat? It sounds as though the larger boats handle the longer trips to dive sites better than smaller ones.

We understand that Smith is a very good snorkeling reef, which we will probably do on non-dive days, but how is the beach itself at Smith? I know it is not as pleasant as the beach at Grace Bay, but is it a nice enough beach to walk along, swim, etc? How easy or difficult is it to take a shuttle or taxi to GB? We will probably rent one vehicle for errands and transporting our dive bags to a dive shop at TCM, but do not envision doing much driving.

Any advice about these matters and/or others related to vacationing in T&C is greatly appreciated!

http://community.webshots.com/user/suelarhast

 

[Tim Ingersoll]

If you do a search on the board you will come up with a lot of info. Magnolia, Bacci, Tiki Hut, Aqua are all good. Bring lots of money. Caicos Adventures is the best dive op. IMHO. They are not at TCM but they have a shuttle to pick you up every morning. Smith Reef is probably the best snorkeling on the island. The beach there is ok. There is an island bus called the Gecko that you can catch to GB.

 

[THX1138]

I agree with the above. Also, on the Lower Bight Road there are some good restaurants and an Irish Bar. Check with Avis on internet, they have good deals on weekly rental of cars and some mini-vans. Enjoy

 

[Damselfish]

I think it's good to have a car on Provo to get to some other restaurants and shopping that you can't walk to, things are spread out. But if you can walk to TC you can get away without it. You don't need it for diving. As far as diving I'd dive with Caicos Adventures and let them pick you up and take you to the boat. They serve lunch on the boat. (Doesn't matter where dive ops are located - you don't want to leave from TCM except maybe for a night dive, with any of the ops going to the better places like West Caicos you will leave from the other side of the island to make the boat trip shorter. They keep their boats in a marina there.)

There's a range of restaurants, though they skew to the higher end.