ScottNY
Contributor
Just got back on Friday from a week at one of the Sandal's places called Beaches in Turks & Caicos. Diving first, then resort...
* Was able to dive Sunday through Friday; though what they call 'rough' seas limited Monday to a single tank. What they do at this resort when the seas are a bit rough is use a van to bring you to the lee side of island. The boat meets you there and you head to a site like West Caicos.
* Among the various dives was French Cay, West Caicos, Ampitheater and Chimney. In all cases, the water was high 70s - low 80s. Perfectly comfortable in 3mm.
Angelfish Video
YouTube - AngleFishDefendsTerritory
Turtle Video
YouTube - Dive1_Turtle
* There are typically moorings at the popular sites and short swims to reefs/walls. The walls are amazing. Completely full of all the usual reef fish; also we had several shark sitings, some large turtles, several barracuda.
* From Beaches, (in Grace Bay area), the sites were either a 45 - 50 minute boat ride, but could be as little as 20 minutes. Depends on the site. There's plenty of options and the 8 dives I took were hardly enough to explore all there is there.
Dive Operator & Resort
=================
* Wife and I stayed at the Sandal's resort Beaches, which is an all-inclusive type place. the dive operation is great. I know there's other operators on the island with great reputations, but we really didn't have time to check them out. These folks had nice boats though. They have several Neptune type boats well outfitted for diving. And the staff is both friendly and competent. You should know that they do dive particular profiles though. They do try to separate newbies from advanced, but still, there's going to be a clear profile so I'm not sure this is the place if you want to dive your own computer with your buddy. In speaking with other divers and a couple who've been coming to the place for years, everyone had a high opinion of their operation and safety attitude.
* One pro here is that the diving is part of the all inclusive package. Though night diving is $80 extra and they might not run a boat unless enough people. They generally schedule an AM two tank dive and PM one tank dive. Their version of 'rough seas' may force some car travel to other side of island. I'll admit I got a little queasy on the rough day, but as an FYI, there version of rough is Northeast's typical day. Their version of poor vis is 60'. Anyway, you can store your own gear at their shop either locking it up or just leaving it in the back. This might change if they're in the busy season. If you're looking to do 3 - 4 dives per day, you may be better off with a dedicated place, unless you want to mix up whom you're diving with. If you want to dive in AM and have tons of other stuff to do, this place rocks.
* They have a small pool and do PADI training on site. So non-divers can quickly get certified and have a great place to do their OW requirements.
Resort
=====
* Pros * Usual island thing. Super friendly staff, etc. They have a variety of price points for rooms. My wife and I went a little cheap, (which still ain't really "cheap"), as we knew we wouldn't be in the room much. There's a whole bunch of pools, hot tubs, bars, restaurants, etc. And if you have kids, there's lots of stuff for them to do and places to park them while you do something else for awhile. Same is true if you're with a non-diver or partial diver. My wife went diving for a few days, but then had enough. So I didn't have to worry about her not having other things to do, (like water aerobics or other activities). We were able to use the HobieCats, play a little tennis, (they have racquets and balls), etc. (We didn't use the spa at all, so can't say much aobut that.)
* Cons * The food is average. Not bad. But average. That may be part AI, part the island's location, etc. Maybe we were spoiled. Last year we were at the Palace in Cozumel and their food - even at the average grill place - was a solid B/B+ and the Italian place was an A. We were surprised. Anyway, the food at the 16 restaurants on site is hit or miss. I liked the Italian place and the Arizona's restaurant. The rest, average. The internet connectivity was a bit spotty. Yeah, I know, vacation. Still, I needed to be online. It was ok once going, but a bit of a hassle. Lastly, we did notice some bugs in our room. This seemed limited to a corner close to the outside door and I've seen worse, but still... that didn't thrill us.
Overall: I'd recommend the place and I'd stay there again. Though next time I'd venture out past the gates. I'd never not explored before on other trips, but in spite of the few negatives of the place I can't ignore the fact that we never bothered to leave for want of anything. I think next time we might upgrade on the room thing a bit as well. (We were in whatever the 2nd to last tier is and stayed in the West Wing of the main building.) And again, I have to mention the staff. Friendly, attentive, and in the case of the dive operation, seemed safe, competent and yet still fun.
Scott
* Was able to dive Sunday through Friday; though what they call 'rough' seas limited Monday to a single tank. What they do at this resort when the seas are a bit rough is use a van to bring you to the lee side of island. The boat meets you there and you head to a site like West Caicos.
* Among the various dives was French Cay, West Caicos, Ampitheater and Chimney. In all cases, the water was high 70s - low 80s. Perfectly comfortable in 3mm.
Angelfish Video
YouTube - AngleFishDefendsTerritory
Turtle Video
YouTube - Dive1_Turtle
* There are typically moorings at the popular sites and short swims to reefs/walls. The walls are amazing. Completely full of all the usual reef fish; also we had several shark sitings, some large turtles, several barracuda.
* From Beaches, (in Grace Bay area), the sites were either a 45 - 50 minute boat ride, but could be as little as 20 minutes. Depends on the site. There's plenty of options and the 8 dives I took were hardly enough to explore all there is there.
Dive Operator & Resort
=================
* Wife and I stayed at the Sandal's resort Beaches, which is an all-inclusive type place. the dive operation is great. I know there's other operators on the island with great reputations, but we really didn't have time to check them out. These folks had nice boats though. They have several Neptune type boats well outfitted for diving. And the staff is both friendly and competent. You should know that they do dive particular profiles though. They do try to separate newbies from advanced, but still, there's going to be a clear profile so I'm not sure this is the place if you want to dive your own computer with your buddy. In speaking with other divers and a couple who've been coming to the place for years, everyone had a high opinion of their operation and safety attitude.
* One pro here is that the diving is part of the all inclusive package. Though night diving is $80 extra and they might not run a boat unless enough people. They generally schedule an AM two tank dive and PM one tank dive. Their version of 'rough seas' may force some car travel to other side of island. I'll admit I got a little queasy on the rough day, but as an FYI, there version of rough is Northeast's typical day. Their version of poor vis is 60'. Anyway, you can store your own gear at their shop either locking it up or just leaving it in the back. This might change if they're in the busy season. If you're looking to do 3 - 4 dives per day, you may be better off with a dedicated place, unless you want to mix up whom you're diving with. If you want to dive in AM and have tons of other stuff to do, this place rocks.
* They have a small pool and do PADI training on site. So non-divers can quickly get certified and have a great place to do their OW requirements.
Resort
=====
* Pros * Usual island thing. Super friendly staff, etc. They have a variety of price points for rooms. My wife and I went a little cheap, (which still ain't really "cheap"), as we knew we wouldn't be in the room much. There's a whole bunch of pools, hot tubs, bars, restaurants, etc. And if you have kids, there's lots of stuff for them to do and places to park them while you do something else for awhile. Same is true if you're with a non-diver or partial diver. My wife went diving for a few days, but then had enough. So I didn't have to worry about her not having other things to do, (like water aerobics or other activities). We were able to use the HobieCats, play a little tennis, (they have racquets and balls), etc. (We didn't use the spa at all, so can't say much aobut that.)
* Cons * The food is average. Not bad. But average. That may be part AI, part the island's location, etc. Maybe we were spoiled. Last year we were at the Palace in Cozumel and their food - even at the average grill place - was a solid B/B+ and the Italian place was an A. We were surprised. Anyway, the food at the 16 restaurants on site is hit or miss. I liked the Italian place and the Arizona's restaurant. The rest, average. The internet connectivity was a bit spotty. Yeah, I know, vacation. Still, I needed to be online. It was ok once going, but a bit of a hassle. Lastly, we did notice some bugs in our room. This seemed limited to a corner close to the outside door and I've seen worse, but still... that didn't thrill us.
Overall: I'd recommend the place and I'd stay there again. Though next time I'd venture out past the gates. I'd never not explored before on other trips, but in spite of the few negatives of the place I can't ignore the fact that we never bothered to leave for want of anything. I think next time we might upgrade on the room thing a bit as well. (We were in whatever the 2nd to last tier is and stayed in the West Wing of the main building.) And again, I have to mention the staff. Friendly, attentive, and in the case of the dive operation, seemed safe, competent and yet still fun.
Scott
