Providenciales Dive Operators

[Tim Ingersoll]

People can look back, but I'm pretty sure I am the only ScubaBoard newbie that has posted glowing reports on Turtle Divers, so it was a little hard not to believe that it was intented towards me, especially when a couple of posts before someone was "suggesting" that people were posting positive reports because of some other motive, which I don't believe is the issue. People usually feel strongly about the things that they believe in. You see it on this board all the time from some of the DIR people, the anti-agency people, etc, etc. It doesn't mean that they are wrong, just that they believe in what the believe.

Well said. Point taken.

 

[ONESPEED]

So what happened to all the dining and night life tips I was promised?

 

[Tim Ingersoll]

Theres not a lot of night life on Provo. Unless your at a resort the only happening place that I know of is some of the bars down in the Ports of Call area that have live music and whatnot on weekends. There are a ton of great restaurants on Provo. Its hard to go wrong. Two of my personal favorites are Coco Bistro and Caicos Cafe. Both are located in the Ports of Call area. Its hard to go wrong but eating out is pricey.

 

[allistoy]

We use CA because of the crew's great attitude and helpfulness and mainly because FiFi does not place bottom time restrictions on divers. You are allowed to dive to your comfort level and not grouped into a cattle crowd dive mentality. There is always a D.M. hanging around on the bottom waiting for those people who enjoy those long lazy dives.

 

[Damselfish]

If I am evaluating, I want to know the reasons why someone feels that something is better than something else, and I feel more comfortable with facts rather than statements. If something is wrong, I want to know about it rather than just hearing that the operation sucks, not that you said this. I see it all the time in other forums that I particpate in, usually golf-related, where someone will say "This facility sucks". I want to know why it sucks. Did they aerate the greens recently? Are the fairways brown and thin? I generally skip the statement posts, and look for the ones with some meat.

An aside about this. I agree just saying something is good or bad is not as helpful as saying why. But typically there have been many meatier reviews about most popular places on other threads here. And people don't feel like typing the same stuff all over again, or taking their time to do the search for someone to find the threads for them. So if they bother to reply at all, it will often be short.

 

[Bieszczat]

ONESPEED,

On places to eat and hang out. I have always gone with the misses, therefore any singles area has not been scouted out so to speak.

Tiki Hut as mentioned before is a good place for traditional grill and fried food and drinks. Shark Bites is a good bar to hang out with a decent view. When you get there, you need to start asking around right away and ask where the bands are playing and when. I know there was a "circuit" that some of the local bands play island style music. At least the last time I was there....about 18 months ago. I went to St.Maarten and Saba last year and took a break from Provo.

As for nicer dinning fare, my wife and I liked the Terrace, but now I think it is called Aqua. A sunset dinner is spectacular with view of the about 1/2 of grace bay from about 80-100 ft above sea level. The Baci was a good Italian restaurant. Each of the resorts have their own restaurants and I recall Hemingway's at the Sands was good. The Plantation, relatively new area with shops and restaurants, is also a spot to hit. It has a restaurant or two and bar. I can't recall the exact name, but I want to say Caicos Cafe is a good spot for fresh grilled fish of all kinds with French flare cuisine.

Did a quick search, you can use this link for more ideas.

http://www.turksandcaicostourism.com/tctb/activities/dining/

Take care and have fun. I will be going back in July...not soon enough!

 

[Bieszczat]

One more bar to check out...the Banana Boat. I remember the last time I was there, it was really packed several times. It is more of a local bar hangout if I recall properly, but fun atmosphere the couple times I stopped in. Some places can be hit and miss depending on the day and time of year. Because I do not recall the Banana Boat being a place to try to visit until our last visit.

Peace,
Tony

 

[pm3009]

We dove with Ocean Vibes (http://www.oceanvibes.com) a couple of weeks ago when we were in Provo. Out of all of the Dive Ops that I've dove with on many different Islands, Ocean Vibes was the most organized. JR and Regas (Rodrigas), the dive masters, were extremely friendly and helpful. The boat was extremely clean, and they served a nice lunch every day. Only 4 to 6 divers each day on the boat which is a nice big 45' boat. Picked us up at our hotel, always carried everything for us. Just a class A operation. If I ever go back to Provo, I wouldn't dive with anyone other than Ocean Vibes. The only negative I found about diving in Providenciales is it is EXPENSIVE! $105 per day for a 2 tank dive. Granted, it's a 45 minute boat trip and gas is expensive there right now, and they give you lunch, but it's normally $60-$70 for a 2 tank dive on other Islands. All of the dive ops on Provo seem to charge the same. There is also construction EVERYWHERE. So many Mega Huge resorts. I prefer the smaller laid back Islands.

Pam