Dive Provo=cattle boats

[boulderdiver]

Had pleasant recollections of TCI 15 years ago at Turtle cove Inn with Turtle Divers. Against my better judgement I listened to my local dive shop and booked Dive Provo and Comfort Suites.
Ike apparantly has spoiled the diving. Very Poor viz, limited sea life although some people saw a reef shark and nurse shark. It was not by any stretch worth an hour trip each way in an undersized boat with 15 divers plus crew. They have a small rinse tank for compact cameras, one boat has a table big enough for one big rig, another doesn't. I got off the boat. The trip was a total waste of money and I feel I lost my most enjoyable experience of the year _ my annual dive trip.
The dive operation has no clue that in this economy, you don't treat guests like cattle.
The beaches are beautiful but the place has been Caymanized and overdeveloped. Food is dreadful and way overpriced. Service better than GC, however.
Comfort Suites is cheap, clean but you might as well be in Kansas with a few palm trees _ No view of the water. They charged $20 for a lost room key. No comparison with magnificent resorts on the beach.
Also, cab drivers try to rip off tourists. Check fare ahead of time. "Free" rides to casino are not free. Tip equal to cab fare is expected.
Will never go back, or suggest anyone goes there for a dive trip. Beach vacation yes, either at a family friendly resort or as far away as possible for those who want peace and quiet on vacation. And for those who dive, stay away from the Provo Divers cattle boat operation and its attitude.

 

[smokey braden]

boulderdiver,
welcome to this board.
thank you for the trip report.
sorry to hear your trip was not perfect.

 

[Tim Ingersoll]

Welcome to the board. Hope you didn't join just to dump on TCI. Stick around and contribute. For instance, what did you like about Provo?

 

[BlueFrog]

Welcome, I would like to ask which dive sites you visited? I've found time of year and site location are very important in TCI. Unfortunately my experience with Dive Provo was the same as yours however I looked and found other dive operations that "get it" and treat divers like their guests and not cattle. I'm sorry you had a bad experience with TCI and hope you give it another try in the future.

 

[HowardE]

Like any trip anywhere... visibility is a day to day factor that nobody can predict. I was in TCI shortly after Ike, and there were both good days and bad days.

I also stayed at the Comfort, and while it's not the Hilton. It's a comfort inn. What else do you expect from a comfort inn? If you want dom perignon, don't order the korbel.

While I didn't dive with Dive Provo, I did meet a lot of the staff, and they were all friendly, and knowledgeable about the local diving, and things to do. Sure they have a large boat, but didn't you see that before you signed on?

Welcome to SB.

 

[boulderdiver]

Been to Little Cayman and Bonaire 3x each for most of my Carib diving. Spoiled by the Pacific (Indonesia, Fiji etc) . I wasn't expecting much but I recalled nice coral and viz 15 years ago with a few matas, sharks etc.

 

[Tim Ingersoll]

Doubt you saw a manta. Very likely you are recalling spotted eagle rays which can be abundant in TCI. Unfortunately the diving in TCI can vary depending on weather and season. It can very well be hit or miss.

 

[ThomasPro]

I went back in April and the diving was good. I will say that this was the worst weather I have seen down there in the last 4 years. Water was a bit colder and it was windy 7 out of the 11 days we were down there.

The food, as always was great. Tiki Hut had the ribs and we did Cabana Bar, Gecko Grill (which is now called soemthing else but I will forever know it as the former!) Mango Reef was great and so was Coyaba.

Stayed at Ocean Club East and they made a few mistakes this time. Wrong room when we checked in, call for extra blankets ignored (x2) but once we discovered all the mistakes were made by the same person, we just went to someone else and everything was fulfilled on time and as expected.

Diving: West Caicos, no French Cay due to weather. Did 8 dives and saw sharks on 6 of them including 1 dive that featured 6 of various sizes and 3 at one time! Eagle Rays, turtles (although rare on previous trips we saw at least 5 this time), Lionfish (Yep, they are there!!), and lotsand lots of schooling Jacks, parrotfish, etc.

very nice diving!

Went to Smith's Reef and it was fun but a little hard to find. they have Turtles and we saw a small Eagle ray as well as some nice snapper and grunts. Parrotfiah and Squirrelfish as well.

We hung out at Sharbite with a few dive instructors from caicos Adventures and had a blast with them. We even saw the lemon shark (I think it is a Lemon shark, although at very first glance I could have sworn it was a nurse shark) from the pier. Supposedly there was a 10' bull shark in the marina until a couple fisherman caught and killed it. Not sure if that is just rumor or idle "bar fly" talk.

Can't wait to go again and I hope it is not more than a year away.

One bit of bad/sad news: We noted an increase in crime on the island and this was due to a lot of short term immigration of individuals from Jamica and the DR or Hati that would commit crimes with the iintention of fleeing the island shortly afterwards. We were told this by the locals and the DI's we hung out with. the good news is that the Police understood the problem and were moving in swiftly to crush this element. They seemed very concerned which was good.

 

[ReedFamily]

was thinking about changing vacation plans to go to turks and caicos but not anymore. Thanks for making my decision a little easier.

 

[Tim Ingersoll]

Supposedly there was a 10' bull shark in the marina until a couple fisherman caught and killed it.

I love humans. "Look its a beautiful awesome graceful work of nature.....lets kill it."