Trip Report Turks & Caicos Explorer II 8/21 - 8/28/21

[stuartv]

Hey @stuartv



My son and I did a land based trip from Providenciales in 2009. We saw Reef Sharks on nearly every dive, often several. My avatar is a picture of one of a pair that swam with us for about 15 minutes at the cut in the wall at Boat Cove. I saw far more Reef Sharks on that trip than I have seen on any other trip in the Caribbean. I wonder if there are less sharks now, or you just hit it during a slow period?

Yeah, I have no idea. What time of year were you there? I guess that could make a difference. I know in NC, the time of year makes a huge difference in whether you see sharks.

 

[scubadada]

Yeah, I have no idea. What time of year were you there? I guess that could make a difference. I know in NC, the time of year makes a huge difference in whether you see sharks.

We were there in the middle of July

 

[gizmo1972]

Cozumel diving was different to me. In Turks & Caicos, since the main reef wall started deeper (around 40-50', IIRC), divers who tended to be worse on air didn't have the luxury to dive as shallowly above the rest of the group and still see much going along the wall. Max. depths weren't necessarily deeper, but average depths were.

In Cozumel, there was more variation between different sites (e.g.: the Palancar sites were distinct from others), and a person could dive more shallowly (though we often had flat bottom beneath us, unlike T&C, which was along a wall)...but current speed varies with depth, so an 'air hog' drift diving a good bit higher in the water column doesn't drift at the same rate as the guide and other divers deeper down.

I mention this because if someone has trouble with gas consumption cutting dives short, I'd suggest the Caymans (unlikely a live-aboard option going forward, from what I've read in another thread; hope I'm wrong about that) or one of the Belize Aggressors, since the option to stay shallower than the group is more practical.

Your right the Average dives are around 2o ft deeper and it can bite you in the butt! if your not CAREFUL!! also 30% to 32% is great ! the best ! ITS NOT a hardship ONLY getting 30% really!!!!

 

[scubadada]

Your right the Average dives are around 2o ft deeper and it can bite you in the butt! if your not CAREFUL!! also 30% to 32% is great ! the best ! ITS NOT a hardship ONLY getting 30% really!!!!

My son and I dived off Providenciales from land in 2009. The dives were not significantly different than other dives in the Caribbean. Max depth was 95 feet (79-117), avg depth was 56 feet (51-63). dive time was 64 min (59-70). These dives were with Caicos Adventures. All dives were with AL80s.

 

[stuartv]

My son and I dived off Providenciales from land in 2009. The dives were not significantly different than other dives in the Caribbean.

This. I definitely enjoyed it. But, I don't see any reason to spend the extra money it cost to fly to TCI again, over going to Cozumel. Actually, one difference there was there was virtually no current at anytime in TCI. I enjoy the drift diving in Coz, so that might be a reason to choose Coz over TCI, even if cost were equal.

 

[drrich2]

But, I don't see any reason to spend the extra money it cost to fly to TCI again, over going to Cozumel.

I've seen sharks (other than nurse sharks; I think black-tips; also saw nurse sharks) in Cozumel, but from what I understand it's not known as a 'sharky' destination, unlike T&C and the Bahamas. For that matter, I saw a decent number of reef sharks in the Caymans and outer atolls region of Belize. Divers who are specifically eager to see sharks another than nurse sharks may take an interest in Turks & Caicos (which I'll say again, usually means 'Caicos,' since only people headed to Grand Turk for land-based diving seem to dive the 'Turks' part of it. Strange naming convention...).

 

[stuartv]

I've seen sharks (other than nurse sharks; I think black-tips; also saw nurse sharks) in Cozumel, but from what I understand it's not known as a 'sharky' destination, unlike T&C and the Bahamas. For that matter, I saw a decent number of reef sharks in the Caymans and outer atolls region of Belize. Divers who are specifically eager to see sharks another than nurse sharks may take an interest in Turks & Caicos (which I'll say again, usually means 'Caicos,' since only people headed to Grand Turk for land-based diving seem to dive the 'Turks' part of it. Strange naming convention...).

We saw nurse sharks on one dive site (which we dived 3 times). We saw Reef Sharks (not Black Tip) on almost every dive, but I think it was usually just one, seen multiple times during the dive. It was like there was one shark for each area that we dived. There was at least one site, though, where we saw at least 3 different reef sharks, that were all swimming close enough together to be sure it was 3 different sharks. 2 of them were actually together and 1 was not far behind.

I was really hoping to see a hammerhead, but didn't.

 

[drrich2]

My black-tips were in Cozumel, not T&C; just saw nurse and reef sharks in T&C. If you want a hammerhead, you've got options. If you're okay with shark feed diving, Emerald Charters out of Jupiter, FL, aims for great hammerheads part of the year. From what I understand someplace around Bimini in the Bahamas has them, too. There are schools in the Galapagos (which I saw - scalloped hammerheads, not great hammerheads); IIRC, they are also at Cocos Island and Malpelo (and I think the Socorros).

 

[Catito]

Here's a small sampling from the 1500 photos I shot...

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Nice photos. Thanks for the report.

 

[stronj1]

Great trip report. Love the octopus and shark photos!