Turks and caicos questions...or???

[yellowfish]

Just got back from diving Curacao, and looking for bigger fish, larger quantities of fish life. Starting to plan next spring break dive trip.
So here are some questions for Turks and Caicos. Provo or Grand Turk?
We prefer small dive groups, a great dive op of course, and a place that has great snorkeling too, for late afternoons after diving.
I just read a review on another forum that Grand Turk is really littered with bottles and car parts and garbage, in the water and all along the island. My son will be interested in bone fishing too.
Looking for a great beach resort, do not want an all inclusive like Club Med or Beaches, or even something that huge.

Anyone have any advice for island and resort/dive op?
We will be flying from west coast, so some other islands are too hard to get to. Thanks for any advice.

 

[IslandBreeze]

Just got back from diving Curacao, and looking for bigger fish, larger quantities of fish life. Starting to plan next spring break dive trip.
So here are some questions for Turks and Caicos. Provo or Grand Turk?
We prefer small dive groups, a great dive op of course, and a place that has great snorkeling too, for late afternoons after diving.
I just read a review on another forum that Grand Turk is really littered with bottles and car parts and garbage, in the water and all along the island. My son will be interested in bone fishing too.
Looking for a great beach resort, do not want an all inclusive like Club Med or Beaches, or even something that huge.

Anyone have any advice for island and resort/dive op?
We will be flying from west coast, so some other islands are too hard to get to. Thanks for any advice.

Provo is our favorite. We have been there several times and one more time is never enough. I would suggest Coral Gardens on Grace Bay. It's a moderately priced smaller condo style spot right smack dab in front of the Bight Reef. I have spent countless hours on that reef and they just refurbished the reef markers which has been a long project but very cool.

From the shore, you can wade right in and see some of the most amazing sea life and some StingRays once in a while. JoJo the Dolphin, also frequents that area of the Bay too. She’s legendary down there. But if you head down early in the morning....say - 9am, you might see one of the large Sea Turtles swimming through.
They are very curious and will swim right up to you at times!

Somewhere bar is right there too. What a great place to hang out after the dive. They also do night dives right from the shore there and Caicos Adventures can hook you up with whatever you need. Shoot me an email if you want more info, pictures, condo management info, area info....whatever you need......

 

[yellowfish]

Who did you dive with? What was the dive boat like and how many out on the boat each morning?

 

[koozemani]

I'd recommend Flamingo divers. Smaller boat and they make runs out to West Caicos.

 

[yellowfish]

koozemani...you have been diving with them? may I ask where you stayed ? did you get picked up by them or have to get to their boat?

 

[koozemani]

I stayed at the royal west indies resort. I would recommend it, although in another thread I was informed that their house restaurant relocated off site. There were other restaurants nearby, as well as a grocery store. Food is expensive!! We opted for breakfast in the room.

Flamingo is run by a couple (Mickey and Jane I think) who seem to do it all themselves. They did pick me up and drop me off at the resort. One in the water, the other tending to the boat. In the water, they were attentive to the group and great at picking out critters to see.

I also dove with Dive Provo. They were more of a large boat op. it was still a good experience, but they were limited to the NW point of Provo.

We also booked a Dream Day Getaway with Caicos adventures. I would call it a must do, especially if you'll be with nondivers who want to snorkel. 3 snorkelling sites, saw dolphins, lunch on a beach, a visit to iguana island, and plenty of rum punch(if you're into that). They picked us up on the beach outside the resort.

 

[pugdiver]

We are huge fans of Provo as well. Great climate and stress free island. We have stayed at the Sands and at Beaches although there are some great villas for rent as well. THe big diver ops are Caicos Adventures, Provo Turtle Divers, Dive Provo, Flamingo Divers, and Blue Unlimited. They all have there positives but we like the smaller numbers that a few offer. They all have websites and are more than willing to respond to email in my experience. If you are set on Grace Bay then most of the resorts are good quality and from Around the Sands to Club Med you can walk to Regent Village for shopping. Many great restaurants but it is pricy. If you are looking for more info, dive or otherwise feel free to PM me.

 

[yellowfish]

Can you tell me a little bit more about Caicos Adventures? I am wanting to dive ( my family of 3 divers that is) with a very well equipped (safe!) boat whose dive operation only takes out small groups ...definitely not more than 12. Thank you.

 

[Abidon]

I just got back from a trip to Provo last week, and the dive outfit I used was Ocean Vibes. They have a 43' dive boat and they limit their # of divers to 12 max; although they probably could squeeze 4-6 more divers on the boat if they wanted to. On the two days I went diving with them, there were 4 divers one day, and 6 divers the other day. Advanced/experienced divers were allowed to explore the sites on their own, or you could buddy-up and follow the DM. On the day I went when there were 4 divers, one of them was a DSD, and he was assigned his own instructor. The other two divers were advanced, and they chose to explore the reef on their own until they ran low on air; so that left me to buddy-up with the DM. What a great crew to dive with all-around, and I would dive with them again in a heartbeat. On both days, they took us to West Caicos to dive the walls, and it was 100'+ vis with lots of marine life. Tropical fish, turtles, sharks, lionfish, eels, and more coral than you can shake a stick at.

As for lodging, we stayed at Reef Residence which is behind the Windsong Resort and next to Coral Gardens. Our moderately priced room had a full kitchen, king-sized bed, and a hide-a-bed in the living room. This was a great place to stay with only a one minute walk past the Windsong to Grace Bay Beach. Bight Reef in front of Coral Gardens is a wonderful as previously described (wish I would've known about the night diving beforehand :doh. The week we spent in Provo was as relaxing and enjoyable as we could have possibly hoped for. We've already started inviting friends to join us when we return in a couple of years.

 

[kavatski]

I'll second the above - Ocean Vibes is one of the two operations on Provo that we dive with (Flamingo is our first choice, but getting a booking can be hard). Ocean Vibes has a big, comfortable boat, good crew, small groups, and provides a lunch with cold drinks and snacks, which is a bonus for those of us that get the post-dive munchies.

Heading down in a month, actually, and will be diving with both Flamingo and Ocean Vibes that week.