potato cod
Contributor
My husband and I chose TCI for our dive trip based on 1) it was one of the few places we could get to free using our frequent flier miles before they expired or were further devalued, and 2) we'd seen it featured in several of our dive magazines.
Travel: Flight from Buffalo to Providenciales via Charlotte. An easy trip and we arrived in Provo in the mid-afternoon. Trip home was equally smooth. The Carolina BBQ place in the Charlotte airport was quite delicious and I'd never had a deep-fried pickle before. A friend of mine from Kentucky said they're called frickles.
Lodging: We chose to stay at Turtle Cove Inn in the Turtle Cove Marina. We chose this hotel based on the fact that it wasn't a big resort (not our thing at all), its proximity to some of the less expensive restaurants, proximity to Smith's Reef for snorkeling, and the fact that it was one of the cheaper hotels on the island. If you want luxury on vacation or you want to be down in the action of the resort area, this probably isn't the place for you, but we found it very low-key and wonderful for us. The rooms were comfortable, if a bit worn, the pool area was charmingly landscaped with lots of shade (not particularly huge, but we were always the only ones in it), and the yachts in the marina were fun to walk around and gawk at. The shower in the room was fine, but a tub would have been nice for soaking gear at the end of the trip. Also, the beds could have been a tad more comfortable, but after our days of diving we always slept well. If you're in the market for a well-run budget place, this is nice and we'd stay there again. I wouldn't recommend it for a romantic honeymoon, but if you're happy with good budget accommodations, this place fits the bill and we were very satisfied. Less $$ on hotel = more $$ for diving.
Diving: Because we were using frequent flier miles, we didn't have dates that would work with the liveaboards. So, based on several reviews on SB, we chose to dive with Caicos Adventures for our 5 days of diving. They pick you up with their bus in the a.m. and take you to/from the southside marina. Their boat was one of the nicest dive boats I've been on and the crew was great. There was only one boat trip/day, so the pace was relaxed and there was no "be back on the boat in 35 minutes" hooey. You could dive as long as you had air and were within your no deco limit. There was always a DM (or 2, depending on the size of the group that day) in the water leading trips, but you were not required to dive with them. My husband and I didn't ever dive with the DMs, preferring to plan and execute our own dives and because we like to putter along slowly, but they were great on the boat. Because we weren't waiting for the group, they always let us get in the water first since we weren't waiting for the group. This was nice because we don't zoom around so much and accommodated our somewhat longer dives. They served sandwiches for lunch during the surface interval and fruit after the second dive.
Fifi, the owner, captained the boat the last two days of our diving and he was absolutely hilarious and loved to talk. He clearly runs a tight ship and the entire crew was both very professional and very fun. Highly recommended operation! We would love to go back and dive with them again and again.
The diving was out on West Caicos and consisted of stunning wall dives. I haven't dived in that many locations, but the corals, sponges, and marine life here rivaled what we saw at Australia's GBR.
Our dives sites: Tres Marias, Brandywine, Sugarloaf, The Anchor, Blue Chromis Cove, Boat Cove, Riviera Wall, Melissa's Cove, Elephant Ear Canyon, The Anchor 2 (different site from The Anchor), and The Gully.
Some of the highlights: 2 eagle rays including one that made a close pass on our first dive, Caribbean reef sharks, a "collision" of 3 conchs that despite a big empty sandy bottom had all run into each other (when my husband wrote "conch pile-up" on his slate I flooded my mask laughing), southern sting rays that would swim right up to you if you hovered along the sandy bottom, a spotted moray, 2 hawksbill turtles, the biggest lobster I have ever seen, and tons and tons of groupers. These were so rare when we dived the Bahamas last year, so it was nice to see such a healthy grouper population. We saw several juvenile groupers when we were snorkeling too (see below for snorkeling). New fish sightings for us included the queen triggerfish, indigo hamlet, eagle rays, banded butterfly fish, black durgeon, ocean triggerfish, mahogany snapper, and rock hind. The list of reef fish, invertebrates, etc goes on and on, but I'll spare you the complete laundry list of fish. Except that I should mention the giant barrel sponges, huge elephant ear sponges, and bright yellow-green tube sponges. Wow!
This was our first trip diving Nitrox (not much else to do in the winter here) and it was great for the multiples days of diving between 60-85 feet, especially on the 3 dive day.
Beaches/snorkeling: Turtle Cove Inn is about a 5 minute walk to the far end of Grace Bay, which is perhaps the most beautiful beach I have ever seen. Beach dunes and grasses separate the beach from the homes. A great thing about our location near the Marina is that there was no one else on the beach at this end of Grace Bay other than the odd resident coming down from their home. The warm crystal turquoise water was amazing and Smith's Reef started about 10-15' offshore and was great for snorkeling during the surface interval. There's another reef, Coral Gardens, closer to the resorts, but Smith's Reef was nice because we were the only ones on the beach/reef.
Dining: We didn't rent a car, so we ate all our meals at the few places right along the marina. The hotel itself had a little convenience store that offered coffee, tea, and delightful fresh pastries in the a.m. We also ate at Shark Bites, which has a lovely patio overhanging the water. The food was basic bar food, but they made great piña coladas. Also, during dinner our first night, a big lemon shark swam by twice and we really enjoyed the "shark-side dining." The next night we discovered the Tiki Hut, which was having its Wednesday night BBQ ribs and chicken with peas and rice. Delicious open air dining complete with the resident heron and cat that were always present. The West Indies Chicken Curry and Jerk pork and chicken were also great. They also made a fabulous conch salad with citrus, red, green, and scotch bonnet peppers. There's a conch farm on the island and they were very abundant on the dives, so they certainly appear to be harvested sustainably and I didn't avoid eating them like I usually do. We frequently had breakfast at the Tiki Hut also. Very friendly staff and our favorite place to eat. Finally, we also ate at Aqua, connected to the Turtle Cove Inn. Beer on the patio overlooking the marina was nice and the night we had dinner we both ordered their Shrimp 3 Ways special: coconut shrimp, bbq shrimp, and shrimp with mango chutney. Very delicious, but more expensive than Tiki Hut. Also, the music at Shark Bites and the Tiki Hut was usually much better than the cheesy stuff played at Aqua.
Photos: Sorry I can't post any. The brand new underwater camera leaked 15 minutes into our first dive at 75', so we don't have pics from the trip. :depressed: The camera has been sent in for pressure testing. We did the required leak tests and are ~95% certain it was a housing defect and not operator error, so hopefully this will be happily resolved.
Travel: Flight from Buffalo to Providenciales via Charlotte. An easy trip and we arrived in Provo in the mid-afternoon. Trip home was equally smooth. The Carolina BBQ place in the Charlotte airport was quite delicious and I'd never had a deep-fried pickle before. A friend of mine from Kentucky said they're called frickles.
Lodging: We chose to stay at Turtle Cove Inn in the Turtle Cove Marina. We chose this hotel based on the fact that it wasn't a big resort (not our thing at all), its proximity to some of the less expensive restaurants, proximity to Smith's Reef for snorkeling, and the fact that it was one of the cheaper hotels on the island. If you want luxury on vacation or you want to be down in the action of the resort area, this probably isn't the place for you, but we found it very low-key and wonderful for us. The rooms were comfortable, if a bit worn, the pool area was charmingly landscaped with lots of shade (not particularly huge, but we were always the only ones in it), and the yachts in the marina were fun to walk around and gawk at. The shower in the room was fine, but a tub would have been nice for soaking gear at the end of the trip. Also, the beds could have been a tad more comfortable, but after our days of diving we always slept well. If you're in the market for a well-run budget place, this is nice and we'd stay there again. I wouldn't recommend it for a romantic honeymoon, but if you're happy with good budget accommodations, this place fits the bill and we were very satisfied. Less $$ on hotel = more $$ for diving.
Diving: Because we were using frequent flier miles, we didn't have dates that would work with the liveaboards. So, based on several reviews on SB, we chose to dive with Caicos Adventures for our 5 days of diving. They pick you up with their bus in the a.m. and take you to/from the southside marina. Their boat was one of the nicest dive boats I've been on and the crew was great. There was only one boat trip/day, so the pace was relaxed and there was no "be back on the boat in 35 minutes" hooey. You could dive as long as you had air and were within your no deco limit. There was always a DM (or 2, depending on the size of the group that day) in the water leading trips, but you were not required to dive with them. My husband and I didn't ever dive with the DMs, preferring to plan and execute our own dives and because we like to putter along slowly, but they were great on the boat. Because we weren't waiting for the group, they always let us get in the water first since we weren't waiting for the group. This was nice because we don't zoom around so much and accommodated our somewhat longer dives. They served sandwiches for lunch during the surface interval and fruit after the second dive.
Fifi, the owner, captained the boat the last two days of our diving and he was absolutely hilarious and loved to talk. He clearly runs a tight ship and the entire crew was both very professional and very fun. Highly recommended operation! We would love to go back and dive with them again and again.
The diving was out on West Caicos and consisted of stunning wall dives. I haven't dived in that many locations, but the corals, sponges, and marine life here rivaled what we saw at Australia's GBR.
Our dives sites: Tres Marias, Brandywine, Sugarloaf, The Anchor, Blue Chromis Cove, Boat Cove, Riviera Wall, Melissa's Cove, Elephant Ear Canyon, The Anchor 2 (different site from The Anchor), and The Gully.
Some of the highlights: 2 eagle rays including one that made a close pass on our first dive, Caribbean reef sharks, a "collision" of 3 conchs that despite a big empty sandy bottom had all run into each other (when my husband wrote "conch pile-up" on his slate I flooded my mask laughing), southern sting rays that would swim right up to you if you hovered along the sandy bottom, a spotted moray, 2 hawksbill turtles, the biggest lobster I have ever seen, and tons and tons of groupers. These were so rare when we dived the Bahamas last year, so it was nice to see such a healthy grouper population. We saw several juvenile groupers when we were snorkeling too (see below for snorkeling). New fish sightings for us included the queen triggerfish, indigo hamlet, eagle rays, banded butterfly fish, black durgeon, ocean triggerfish, mahogany snapper, and rock hind. The list of reef fish, invertebrates, etc goes on and on, but I'll spare you the complete laundry list of fish. Except that I should mention the giant barrel sponges, huge elephant ear sponges, and bright yellow-green tube sponges. Wow!
This was our first trip diving Nitrox (not much else to do in the winter here) and it was great for the multiples days of diving between 60-85 feet, especially on the 3 dive day.
Beaches/snorkeling: Turtle Cove Inn is about a 5 minute walk to the far end of Grace Bay, which is perhaps the most beautiful beach I have ever seen. Beach dunes and grasses separate the beach from the homes. A great thing about our location near the Marina is that there was no one else on the beach at this end of Grace Bay other than the odd resident coming down from their home. The warm crystal turquoise water was amazing and Smith's Reef started about 10-15' offshore and was great for snorkeling during the surface interval. There's another reef, Coral Gardens, closer to the resorts, but Smith's Reef was nice because we were the only ones on the beach/reef.
Dining: We didn't rent a car, so we ate all our meals at the few places right along the marina. The hotel itself had a little convenience store that offered coffee, tea, and delightful fresh pastries in the a.m. We also ate at Shark Bites, which has a lovely patio overhanging the water. The food was basic bar food, but they made great piña coladas. Also, during dinner our first night, a big lemon shark swam by twice and we really enjoyed the "shark-side dining." The next night we discovered the Tiki Hut, which was having its Wednesday night BBQ ribs and chicken with peas and rice. Delicious open air dining complete with the resident heron and cat that were always present. The West Indies Chicken Curry and Jerk pork and chicken were also great. They also made a fabulous conch salad with citrus, red, green, and scotch bonnet peppers. There's a conch farm on the island and they were very abundant on the dives, so they certainly appear to be harvested sustainably and I didn't avoid eating them like I usually do. We frequently had breakfast at the Tiki Hut also. Very friendly staff and our favorite place to eat. Finally, we also ate at Aqua, connected to the Turtle Cove Inn. Beer on the patio overlooking the marina was nice and the night we had dinner we both ordered their Shrimp 3 Ways special: coconut shrimp, bbq shrimp, and shrimp with mango chutney. Very delicious, but more expensive than Tiki Hut. Also, the music at Shark Bites and the Tiki Hut was usually much better than the cheesy stuff played at Aqua.
Photos: Sorry I can't post any. The brand new underwater camera leaked 15 minutes into our first dive at 75', so we don't have pics from the trip. :depressed: The camera has been sent in for pressure testing. We did the required leak tests and are ~95% certain it was a housing defect and not operator error, so hopefully this will be happily resolved.
), so someone else couldn't even come in and continue building, they would have to tear the whole thing down and start over.
