Turks and Caicos

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!

Lateralus

Contributor
Messages
99
Reaction score
35
Location
Washington, DC
# of dives
50 - 99
Where should I stay in Providenciales?

Traveling with a 4 month old baby girl. Want to be by the beach (walking distance) with bar service for my wife.

Also, want to get a few dives in again. What Dive Op should I look into? I'm reading a lot about French Cay and that is the best dive area in the island? I'm wondering if there are Dive Ops that hit this on a 2 tank dive.

Any Shore Diving in PLS?
 
We stayed in the central Grace Bay area (lots of options), and dove with Caicos Adventures. Both were excellent choices for us. Great beaches, w/ access to restaurants, bars, shopping, etc., plus was very clean/safe/family-friendly. Great diving as well. It has been a while since we were there, but this should be a good starting point for your research.

Some possible downsides are that Provo is pretty spread out, so we ended up staying in our general neighborhood for the most part. Another possible issue is that a lot of the good diving is on the side of the island. The dive operator would pick us up each morning in a bus that would hit all the other hotels in area, then drop us off at the pier on the south side. From there it was a long (but very enjoyable) boat ride to the dive sites and back, so it is a full day. Something to factor-in if you have family or other members in your party that do not dive.

Hope this helps!
 
My son and I had a great visit to T&C. We stayed at Ports of Call, fine for us, I would stay at a bit more upscale hotel on the beach if I were visiting with my wife and baby. There are very many. Grace Bay is beautiful, rivals Seven Mile Beach.

We also used Caicos Adventures. They were an excellent operation. Their boat, Caicos Cat makes the long trip to West Caicos or French Cay fast and smooth. You should not count on getting back from a 2 tanker until mid afternoon. We found the diving very good, many Reef Sharks, nearly every dive. Good wall diving.

I don't think there is much shore diving. We did one night dive from Coral Gardens, OK, not memorable. We did a couple of 1 tank afternoon dives in Grace Bay, they were unremarkable.

Best of luck
 
We stayed in a one bedroom suite at the Royal West Indies the last time we were on Provo. The RWI is right on the gorgeous Grace Bay Beach. This was before the 2017 hurricane smashed the island but I understand that the RWI has been repaired/rebuilt but I haven't been there recently.

Having a suite with a kitchen and a washer/dryer would be nice when traveling with a small baby, and I imagine they will be willing to provide a crib for use during your stay. When we were there they had an adults-only pool and a family pool so that might work well for your group.

Restaurants can be expensive on Provo, so being able to prepare some simple meals and then go out for a special meal is a nice option.

We rented a car on Provo and it was very helpful with exploring the island, visiting places to eat, and buying groceries.

We stayed at Ports of Call for a night after we got off the Aggressor and it was very nice and more economical than many other options but we wouldn't want to stay there for several nights - we prefer having a kitchen. Also, it is located in a nice area, close to some restaurants and shopping, but it is not on the beach - which would be nice for a family vacation.

Just an FYI, Provo is very expensive IMO. I think that it is just about as expensive as Grand Cayman even though they use the USD as currency in the T&Cs. A lot may depend on the time of year you will be traveling and you might want to look for some kind of airfare and hotel package offering - or ask a Travel Agent to research the best options. They may charge a fee but it's usually not bad and worth it - at least to me.

If you are doing land-based diving then be aware that the best sites like West Caicos and French Cay are distant from Provo and you will be spending much of the day in a boat. There is some decent diving closer to home, but it may not be the best. We have done some land-based diving from Provo but we prefer a liveaboard - but that won't work for a family trip.

I am not aware of any shore diving around Provo, the reefs are rather distant and they start a little deep. The walls and corals are not as beautiful as I have seen in some places further South, but nice and healthy (at least they were before the hurricane) and you will see lots of large animals like sharks, rays, and turtles.

One more comment, I think that the water is rather cold especially in early winter and spring - similar to Florida and the Bahamas but it warms up in the summer and fall.

Let us know what you decide and have a great trip!
 
We stayed at the Alexandra (and booked through Costco!) which is part of the T & C Collection hotels, which are 3 all inclusive resorts. Stay at one and you get privileges at all 3. Although with a baby you will not be able to go to the adults only Beach House.

We loved it, right on grace bay, affordable, spacious rooms with full kitchens, laundry and the food was good & plentiful. very nice pool area and ping pong, pool table, etc. Good activities during the day and evening if that is your thing. They did have a DJ several nights, so you may want to look at a room away from the action if you decide to go.

The Windsong looked nice, that is right by the better snorkeling on Grace Bay (Coral Gardens and a short walk to Smiths Reef) where you can see turtles, rays, fish and tons of corals. But I believe it is about equal priced as Alexandra and not all inclusive.

Good Luck and enjoy the island!
 
Just spent a week there in June. Ports O Call is economical and clean. Not on the beach, but a stones throw across the street. 50 feet away from Ports O Call is Dive Provo. Great staff, great dive op. Grocery store is very close. Had a fantastic week there ! Yes, go to French Cay, was amazing. The 2 dive spots were Rock n Roll, and G-Spot. The boat ride there is stunning as well, as long as the conditions are favorable. I'll go on record and say that Turks & Caicos is more expensive than Grand Cayman.
 
Forgot to add I only dove on Aggressor, but did see day boats near us for most of the trip. Definitely longer rides, but great diving if you don;t mind the time!
 
Just spent a week there in June. Ports O Call is economical and clean. Not on the beach, but a stones throw across the street. 50 feet away from Ports O Call is Dive Provo. Great staff, great dive op. Grocery store is very close. Had a fantastic week there ! Yes, go to French Cay, was amazing. The 2 dive spots were Rock n Roll, and G-Spot. The boat ride there is stunning as well, as long as the conditions are favorable. I'll go on record and say that Turks & Caicos is more expensive than Grand Cayman.

I agree, Cayman is also expensive but I think that you have more choices across a wider range of prices in Cayman than in Provo. And while we are on the subject - Nassau isn't cheap either!

One nice thing about all 3 of these destinations is that it is usually pretty easy to get there from many spots in the US and Canada, and you can often find decent prices on airfare.
 
We stayed at "Inn at Grace Bay" last August and really liked it because it was like staying in an apartment rather than a hotel. Walking distance to the beach, shops, and restaurants. Dove with Dive Provo.
 

Back
Top Bottom