Tim Ingersoll
Contributor
Back Sunday from Providenciales. Flew USAir. Flawless travel there and back. Direct flight out of Charlotte daily. I flew in Wednesday and returned Sunday. I took the Nitrox course with Caicos Adventures. When I got in I checked in at the Renaissance Hotel (http://www.villarenaissance.com/) and walked over to the Sands for the course. I had purchased the book materials from our local dive shop and met the instructor Kenard at the Sands to do the course. I had completed the tests ahead of time and spent approximately two hours going over the answers at the resort. The next day I did the two Nitrox dives and was certified. Caicos Adventures uses EAN32. Thursday is the three-tank dive. A front had moved through and the weather was iffy for diving. Air temperature was 90 degrees for all dives. Weather was mostly sunny with light to moderate trade winds. Water temperature was 82-86 degrees the whole week. Some wind and quite a bit of chop the first day. When iffy weather happens the only place to dive around Provo is the sheltered area around Southwest Reef. All three dives were on the Southwest Reef. The sites were jokingly named "Here, There and Way Over There." All dives were wall dives. Southwest Reefs is not the best diving but the only diving available when the surf is up. The tank fills were all 3000 plus for the week. Caicos Adventures fed us with sandwiches on two tank dives and on the three tank we had doughnuts after the first dive and after the second dive we had sandwiches, potato salad and chips. Gatorade and water were always available. There were up to 25 divers on the boat each day but it is a big enough dive platform so it never felt crowded. http://www.tcidiving.com/
Dive 1. Max depth 95 feet. Duration 50 minutes. Vis was less than what I was used to because of the weather (50-70 feet). Experienced a thermocline in the ocean which was interesting. The water moving along the top of the wall at about 60 feet was a good ten degrees cooler. The difference was visible. Lots of schooling fish and very healthy reef, however, not as much fish life as I have been accustomed to. Dove with a new 3 mm Henderson gold farmer john. Creatures of note were lobsters, a crab out in the day and a large turtle.
Dive 2. Max depth 90 feet. Duration 45 minutes. Not much to see besides the usual suspects. There was a busted up lobster trap and lots of the usual fish.
Dive 3. Max depth 85 feet. Duration 35 minutes. Spotted eagle ray. 2 large crabs out and about. Lobsters. I pulled on a my 3 mm shortie over the farmer john on this dive and was glad to have it to ward off the chills after the first two dives.
Dive 4. Max depth 105 feet. Duration 45 minutes. Dive site Double D (named for two rather mammary shaped mounds on the floor). French Cay is a sand spit about an hour south of the dock. The wall and diving is pristine. We spotted a big turtle at the edge of the wall. There was a current flowing over the wall and down. Definitely a factor.
Dive 5. Max. depth 92 feet. Duration 45 minutes. Dive site Gorgonia Wall. Nurse shark right under the boat. Nice big turtle. Found a cleaner shrimp. Reef shark out in the blue.
Dive 6. Max depth 105 feet. Duration 45 minutes. Dive site Boat Cove, West Caicos. Flying gunard right under the boat. Never seen before by me. Really cool. Here is what it looks like: http://www.fragileocean.com/0301.htm Also found an isopod which is a parasite similar to a remora. It looks like this: http://www.rshimek.com/images/Rocinella belliceps.jpg Wierd looking and can't be good for a fish. Two new creature sitings on one dive is always cool!
Dive 7. Max depth 90 feet. Duration 45 minutes. Dive site Tons O'Sponge. Located in the boat channel between Provo and West Caicos. Biggest southern stingray I have ever seen was right under the boat. Five feet across and it actually had height. It was a monster. Literally took your breath away. Three sharks accompanied us over the wall and were visible for most of the dive. A spotted eagle ray appeared to do a full loop de loop out in the blue. Never saw that before and would have said it not possible if I hadn't seen it. My dive log says "Most excellent dive".
The Renaissance resort was mostly empty. It was very nice but has no restaurant amenities. It is condo living. Full kitchen. On-site freshwater pool. Right on the beach. You will need to rent a car. There is a bar with live entertainment about 1/4 mile away with loud music on Friday and Saturday night.
Ate at Mognolia Restaurant and Caicos Cafe. I would highly recommend both. The sashima platter at Caicos Cafe was the best I have ever had.
Caicos Adventures, as always, was a great dive op. They simply do not disappoint. Very professional. DM available on every dive but freedom to do your own thing if you choose. The Nitrox course was a great step in my dive training and I don't think I will dive anything else in the future. I really noticed a difference in my fatigue level post-diving.
Overall it was a great break. I have been to Provo ten times and I would go again in a heartbeat.
Dive 1. Max depth 95 feet. Duration 50 minutes. Vis was less than what I was used to because of the weather (50-70 feet). Experienced a thermocline in the ocean which was interesting. The water moving along the top of the wall at about 60 feet was a good ten degrees cooler. The difference was visible. Lots of schooling fish and very healthy reef, however, not as much fish life as I have been accustomed to. Dove with a new 3 mm Henderson gold farmer john. Creatures of note were lobsters, a crab out in the day and a large turtle.
Dive 2. Max depth 90 feet. Duration 45 minutes. Not much to see besides the usual suspects. There was a busted up lobster trap and lots of the usual fish.
Dive 3. Max depth 85 feet. Duration 35 minutes. Spotted eagle ray. 2 large crabs out and about. Lobsters. I pulled on a my 3 mm shortie over the farmer john on this dive and was glad to have it to ward off the chills after the first two dives.
Dive 4. Max depth 105 feet. Duration 45 minutes. Dive site Double D (named for two rather mammary shaped mounds on the floor). French Cay is a sand spit about an hour south of the dock. The wall and diving is pristine. We spotted a big turtle at the edge of the wall. There was a current flowing over the wall and down. Definitely a factor.
Dive 5. Max. depth 92 feet. Duration 45 minutes. Dive site Gorgonia Wall. Nurse shark right under the boat. Nice big turtle. Found a cleaner shrimp. Reef shark out in the blue.
Dive 6. Max depth 105 feet. Duration 45 minutes. Dive site Boat Cove, West Caicos. Flying gunard right under the boat. Never seen before by me. Really cool. Here is what it looks like: http://www.fragileocean.com/0301.htm Also found an isopod which is a parasite similar to a remora. It looks like this: http://www.rshimek.com/images/Rocinella belliceps.jpg Wierd looking and can't be good for a fish. Two new creature sitings on one dive is always cool!
Dive 7. Max depth 90 feet. Duration 45 minutes. Dive site Tons O'Sponge. Located in the boat channel between Provo and West Caicos. Biggest southern stingray I have ever seen was right under the boat. Five feet across and it actually had height. It was a monster. Literally took your breath away. Three sharks accompanied us over the wall and were visible for most of the dive. A spotted eagle ray appeared to do a full loop de loop out in the blue. Never saw that before and would have said it not possible if I hadn't seen it. My dive log says "Most excellent dive".
The Renaissance resort was mostly empty. It was very nice but has no restaurant amenities. It is condo living. Full kitchen. On-site freshwater pool. Right on the beach. You will need to rent a car. There is a bar with live entertainment about 1/4 mile away with loud music on Friday and Saturday night.
Ate at Mognolia Restaurant and Caicos Cafe. I would highly recommend both. The sashima platter at Caicos Cafe was the best I have ever had.
Caicos Adventures, as always, was a great dive op. They simply do not disappoint. Very professional. DM available on every dive but freedom to do your own thing if you choose. The Nitrox course was a great step in my dive training and I don't think I will dive anything else in the future. I really noticed a difference in my fatigue level post-diving.
Overall it was a great break. I have been to Provo ten times and I would go again in a heartbeat.
