Turks and Caicos...Pricey...is it worth it?

[resortdiver]

Never thought about a week on a livaboard. Might drive me stir crazy being a boat that long.
Are there some good resorts , hotels or inns for budget minded folks ? Close to the dive operators.




resortdiver

 

[KeithG]

Never thought about a week on a livaboard. Might drive me stir crazy being a boat that long.
Are there some good resorts , hotels or inns for budget minded folks ? Close to the dive operators.
resortdiver

Please re-consider a liveaboard. But not one that I want to go on that may become fully booked before i get a room...

Most of us liveaboard divers are bored out of our meager skulls. Seeing a newb diver going stir crazy would provide some well needed entertainment.

But, I jest. Why do you think you would go stir crazy? Most liveaboard newbs that I have seen struggle to cope with the constant & close hi-test interaction with fellow dive fanatics. The whole boat is full of people with a significant common interest. Great conversation is guaranteed.

Have a dive question? An equipment question? A creature question? A destination question? You will have a ready source of free-form "quality" opinions. On the up side, you will be exposed to a wealth of dive experiences. Some of them fully believable. Some, not so much.

 

[They call me Tater]

People like different types of vacations. If your just want to relax and dive twice a day. Check out Bohio and/ or Grand Turk.

 

[diversteve]

Never thought about a week on a livaboard. Might drive me stir crazy being a boat that long.
Are there some good resorts , hotels or inns for budget minded folks ? Close to the dive operators.

There's http://www.portsofcallresort.com/ Near a shopping area and not waterfront so it's a little more affordable. I've actually been to Salt Mills Plaza next to it so know the area a little. Grace Bay is one of the nicest beaches in the world so the resorts on it are priced like it. Friday night Danny Buoy's just down the street had a pretty good crowd. Live music and good food - the Explorer crew recommended it.

Close to dive operators is relative. Boats are kept at various marinas. Most of the operators have van shuttles and pick you up at local hotels. Nothing on Provo is very far apart either - the populated areas are clustered together.

For local diving off the Grace Bay area or NW Point off it's about a 5-10min. ride out to the reef.

But the better dives are 45mins. away at West Caicos and French Cay. The liveaboards spend a majority of the week there which is what makes them attractive. Both islands are uninhabited. This is one of the options, the other is the Aggressor. http://www.awoosh.com/Saudio/Saudio_Turks&Caicos.html - thanks to Mike Southard. I did the same trip a couple years ago and saw everything but the dolphins. More sharks than Mike did also.

In order for the Provo operators to get out there, they pick you up in a van at your hotel and shuttle you to a south side marina. Then it's a 45min. boat ride (approx.) to either island. You do two dives and they provide lunch. Back around 2-2:30PM - they don't go particularly early in the morning. If you add the 3rd dive some offer, you'll be back closer to 4:30PM.

Here's one example: http://www.caicosadventures.com/ca_dailygroupdiving.htm

 

[bilboinsa]

Grand Turk is a much better dive spot than Provo. 10 minute boat rides to the most vibrant reefs and walls. Several great operators....i like Blue Water Divers. Hotels much more reasonable than Provo or Caymans. Only drawback is access. That is ok with me. Keeps it less crowded.

 

[batts]

Great information in this thread. A few questions regarding dive operators. We visited Provo 4 years ago and dove with Flamingo. Phenomenal experience in every way. They leave from the south side and frequently dive West Caicos, Sandbourne Channel, and NW point. We're looking to return in November provided we can find a dive shop that dives the same sites. We would go with Flamingo in heartbeat, or AquaTCI which seems like a similarly incredible operation, but the prices are insane. $150.00 for two tanks - essentially no discount for multi day diving. This brings diving to $900 per person for 6 days - not a great fit for our budget considering TCI's expensive lodgings. There appear to be some much more reasonably priced dive operations in Turtle Cove but we haven't been able to confirm that they dive the same dive sites. This is potentially a big deal because what we most loved about TCI diving was the amazing reefs and abundance of sharks (virtually every dive). Does anyone know of more reasonably priced dive operators that leave from the south side marinas? Any idea whether the operators based in Turtle Cove, such as Dive Provo, dive similar areas and see similar numbers of sharks? Any input much appreciated.

---------- Post added January 20th, 2015 at 11:53 AM ----------

Grand Turk is a much better dive spot than Provo. 10 minute boat rides to the most vibrant reefs and walls. Several great operators....i like Blue Water Divers. Hotels much more reasonable than Provo or Caymans. Only drawback is access. That is ok with me. Keeps it less crowded.

Aside from shorter boat rides, what did you like better about Grand Turk as compared to Provo? What did you see while diving there?

 

[mikeycanuk]

Grand Turk is a much better dive spot than Provo. 10 minute boat rides to the most vibrant reefs and walls. Several great operators....i like Blue Water Divers. Hotels much more reasonable than Provo or Caymans. Only drawback is access. That is ok with me. Keeps it less crowded.

Really? Ease of diving for sure, but for what's under the ocean, FC and WC are superior.

 

[bilboinsa]

Aside from shorter boat rides, what did you like better about Grand Turk as compared to Provo? What did you see while diving there?

YMMV, but shorter rides are a huge factor to me. As far as what is underwater there, tons of lush reef structures, many in 40 feet, so colors and tropicals are amazing. Critters likes range from hearing humpbacks underwater to tons of dolphin pods, to schools of cudas, huge turtles and lobsters and crabs, occasional whale sharks, rays of all kinds, including mantas, and white-tip reefers on night dives.