Tips for Providenciales in Turks and Caicos?

I am headed to Providenciales next week (May 13-18). Does anyone have any suggestions for dive operators or dive sites to see? Or any other suggestions? I know it's short notice, so thanks for any help.

The best diving is probably off West Caicos or French Cay. Caicos Adventures, Dive Provo, others go there. They'll probably pick you up, shuttle you to a south side marina (assuming you're in/near Grace Bay) and then it's about a 45min. boat ride, 2 dives plus lunch. So plan on being back around 2:30, 4:30 if you add on a third dive. My pick if conditions allow would be French Cay - it's really sharky. We saw several on every dive, Stingray's by the moorings, cuda, turtles etc. Some of the big coral heads near the mooring are mini-ecosystems/nurseries also. And the wall is just a profusion of coral on coral down to about 6000' or so...

I don't have a recommended operator since we did a LOB. Some of the NW Point sites are good dives also - just not Thunderdome.

Dive Provo. Here is my write up from last year. A number of others have written about them. I'd post those links but I'm on my iPad and it's not as easy for me to do

http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/greater-caribbean-bermuda/462508-great-week-diving-tci.html

Be prepared for long boat rides and deep minimums.

We regularly dive Provo from a liveaboard and so avoid the long trips to dive sites. Did it once from shore and where unhappy campers. Too much transit time.

the top of the wall on most dive sites can be as deep as 50 feet. No real chance to spend the last half of your dive on 15 foot shallows.

But great diving. It is on our top 3 Caribbean goto list (with Bonaire & Belize). I highly recommend it.

P.S. Do not expect great food. Good food. Expensive food. Not great food.

My experience was much different from giffenk.

With the exception of our day out at G-Spot and French Connection (one hour out), we were in the water within 20 minutes of leaving the dock.

As far as depth, there is as much to see at 30-40 feet as there is a 70-80 feet. Since my dive partner (20 y/o son of my g/f) expends far less air than I, I stay shallower than he does, with just as positive a dive.

And the food is exceptional, as good as anywhere I've been in the Caribbean. You just have to go off the beaten path and find the right places. Da Conch Shack, Shark Bites, Hemingways, Bugaloos, Flamingo Cafe and the Tiki Hut were all great. Expensive, yes, but the whole island is, much the same as Grand Cayman. The highlight of food is the Thursday night Fish Fest where many of the local restaurants set up in the park and serve their wares along with live music and other entertainment.

Hope you have as great a time as we did!

we stayed at beaches and dived with them,so no input as to operators...
but the diving was great!!!!
we did ten dives,all different locations including 2 dives at west caicos
lots of good vids of marine life
i like boat rides and talking to other divers,so long distances were non-issue!
hope you enjoy as much as we did!
have fun
yaeg

On dive operators, I have not seen any postings complaining of any. Most reviews seem positive. We dove with dive provo and we enjoyed them. If you dive multiple consecutive days you drop of your equipment the day before you dive and don't pick it up until the end. It always appears on the boat you are assigned. We loved the diving. Sharks on every dive. Grace Bay dive sites are closest, maybe 20 minutes out. We did a three tank safari with lunch one day out to French Caye and we were out all day. Loved the diving out at West Caicos as well. If you are not familiar with T&C, check it out on google earth and you can see the large expanse of shallow water to the west. It roughly forms a triangle. While some sites have longer boat rides, the water is so spectacularly beautiful we enjoyed every minute of it.

We found the food good and the price typical for the Caribbean and no more expensive than any other island. We thought our best meals were at Jimmys Dive Bar right next to Dive Provo. It is local and low frills, not a fancy put on a sport coat kind of place, but we thought the seafood was very very good especially for the price. I had grouper in creole sauce one meal and mahi mahi picata another and both meals were very good. There is also a large supermarket next to Dive Provo that has everything you could want plus a deli and hot and cold bars. Enjoy the trip. My only negative on T&C is the comparatively high airfare costs. More than twice what we pay for GCM.

tkaelin:

We thought our best meals were at Jimmys Dive Bar right next to Dive Provo. It is local and low frills, not a fancy put on a sport coat kind of place

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Glad you mentioned Jimmy's. I love the place, but many people find it a little too "different". I heard it's up for sale. Tempting, tempting!

I would echo most of the comments made earlier but would add the following:

if you are looking for a quick and inexpensive lunch or afternoon snack hit the Patty Place in grace bay village.

Most of the dive operators are great. I usually go with Dive Provo if not on a live aboard. Flamingo Divers are very good but book up very early as they only take 8 on hue boat. Caicos adventures is a solid operation as well.

In terms if expense. The restaurants are priced as you would find on any island. Remember most things are shipped in. For a nice night out try coco bistro, seven at the seven stars, bay bistro. For more casual da conch shack, sailing paradise. If you have a rental head out to las brisas in chalk sound across the street form sapodilla bay.

I know you are leaving soon but if you have any questions contact me through private message and I can get back to you quickly.