Turks And Caicos (provo) Dive Spot Review

Please register or login

Welcome to ScubaBoard, the world's largest scuba diving community. Registration is not required to read the forums, but we encourage you to join. Joining has its benefits and enables you to participate in the discussions.

Benefits of registering include

  • Ability to post and comment on topics and discussions.
  • A Free photo gallery to share your dive photos with the world.
  • You can make this box go away

Joining is quick and easy. Log in or Register now!

Did a little quick checking online. If I understand correctly, Caicos is not one of those 'cruise ship playground' type destinations with lots of excursions? People diss cruise ships, but areas pandering to that market often offer a range of activities - jungle hikes, ATV group rides, horse back riding, Mayan ruin tours, parasailing, etc...So, aside from a beautiful beach scene (I am not a beach person) and eating well at restaurants, what else besides diving do the tourists do there?...

We've spent time on Provo and we really enjoyed it. It is quite expensive. The US dollar is the unit of currency but I would say that the prices are comparable to Hawaii or the Caymans. There are some ways to curtail the costs, like rent an apartment or condo and plan to prepare some meals.

We are not big fans of the beach either but Grace Bay is really amazing, the water and sand are gorgeous - even nicer than Grand Cayman's Seven Mile Beach IMO. We did spend some time enjoying the beach and water. There are a lot of watersports and boating activities and there are some nice shops and restaurants. It can also be fun to tour the island and visit places like the Conch Farm or eat with the locals at the Conch Shack. I am sure that there is a golf course for those that like to golf - not me!

I have never tried land-based diving from Provo but I have read that the boat trips can be long and that you are likely to spend much of your day in the boat just to dive 2 tanks - at least if you want to go to the better sites.

We have done 2 liveaboard trips in the T&Cs and very much enjoyed spending some time on land before boarding the LOB. I can tell you that the diving around French Cay and West Caicos is great. Beautiful healthy walls, lots of sea life, large critters on every dive (sharks, eagle rays, turtles, and more). The reefs start a little deeper than in some areas of the Caribbean but the dives are very manageable. We dived from the LOB at permanent mooring sites, no drift dives or panga dives.

But if you want a place with good diving and lots of land-based activities then Grand Cayman is an excellent choice. There are many things to see and do and not all of them are expensive, either.

If you head to Cayman Brac then the diving is better than GC IMO but there is not much to do besides snorkel, dive, and enjoy nature. Which is fine with me but probably not very exciting for someone looking for non-diver activities.

The CBBR recently upgraded their property with a huge infinity pool to make the hotel more attractive to divers traveling with others. The beach at the resort is nice for sunning yourself but it is not a great spot for swimming or snorkeling IMO. The resort has a small spa and an exercise room and free use of bicycles. They also have tennis courts (and basketball, I think.) They offer some entertainments each night like trivia and bingo. We love it there but I'm not sure that it would be a great family vacation destination. Although when I was kid my family used to go to a cottage on a lake in Indiana so CB is a whole lot better! But we had fun in Indiana anyway!

Little Cayman is very similar to CB but the diving is even better. There are more hotels and resorts than CB, but it is still very quiet and small.

Not many restaurants on either CB or LC but the few they have are pleasant, mostly local venues. They have great lionfish tacos at The Hungry Iguana on LC.
 
Last edited:
And on the other side of Provo, rather far away from Grace Bay and the bigger hotels and shopping areas, there is a wide shallow bay called Chalk Sound and it is completely gorgeous. I grabbed this picture off of TripAdvisor, but it doesn't do it justice. Provo and the T&C Islands are a beautiful place to visit.

ChalkSoundProvo.jpg
 
What beach is that in the photos?
  • Pic 1 is Grace Bay near Coral Gardens
  • Pic 2 is Grace Bay near The Sands at Grace Bay Resort
  • Pic 3 is Long Bay Beach on the south side of the island
  • Pic 4 is Iguana Island just off the east end of Provo (Provo in the background)
  • Pic 5 is Taylor Bay on the southwestern side of the island (near the airport)
 
Great beach photos! I don't know who you are using for diving but Dive Provo was pretty open to suggestions regarding dive sites. My third day (I haven't wrote about those 2 dives yet) Was at West Caicos as well and I talked to them about where I've dove already and they made sure not to do those sites again. So if you read my blog and some of the sites sounds interesting to you then I recommend asking about visiting them. May will bring different weather than I had in March so you might have even more variety.
Thanks - I'm diving with Aqua TCI (small shop - max of 8 divers), but may do a night (dusk) dive with Dive Provo too. Your blog is timely and useful - thanks!
 
For those of you that took a look at the blog thank you ! any comments are appreciated as I hope I can be helpful with dive spot reviews and photos.

I like your descriptions of the dives, and the gear you used, etc. Technical, informative, and detailed.
 
Thanks - I'm diving with Aqua TCI (small shop - max of 8 divers), but may do a night (dusk) dive with Dive Provo too. Your blog is timely and useful - thanks!
Thank you for the kind words. Im glad you find it helpful. I talked to Dive Provo about their afternoon/ night dives and they are at the Grace Bay section of the wall. I have heard great things about the night dives as well. Sadly the weather was to windy to have a boat on that side of the island when I was there but the week after they moved a boat to Grace Bay side. I would be interested to know what you thought of Aqua TCI, I heard great things about them as well but the cost was a little higher for the people getting certified. I plan on using them in the future to get a better understanding of all the outfits in Turks and Caicos.
 
I like your descriptions of the dives, and the gear you used, etc. Technical, informative, and detailed.
Thank you for taking the time to read it and the kind words about it. I always thought reading about the dive sites before visiting them was a interesting way to prepare for the trip and so my goal was to provide the same insights I would have wanted to know.
 

Back
Top Bottom