Turks and Caicos

[scubadada]

I will be down in Provo in the middle of May as well. I always use www.aquatci.com when in Provo. Bill and Stephanie are a Husband and wife owner operator company. The boat takes 6-8 divers and are super easy to dive with. Stephanie even supplies some yummy banana bread and fruit for in between dives. Reef sharks will be swimming around you at any time. I appreciate the smaller more personal boats. Most boats in Provo pack them in. Small boats with less people mean less time standing around and more time relaxing and diving.

After your recommendation, I decided to take a look at the Aqua TCI website. I'm a firm believer that you often get what you pay for. I was surprised at the relative cost of diving on T&C. I would generally consider Grand Cayman to be relatively expensive. I took a quick look at the rack rates of 2 and 3 tank dives. I chose 2 GC operators I have used that I knew offered 3 tankers. Caicos Adventures offered a 3 tanker when my son and I visited in 2009. All operators give multi-dive discounts.

If I returned to T&C, I would most certainly go with one of the LOBs. The trip to West Caicos or French Cay just takes too much time. Getting in twice the dives would be extremely attractive.

 

[cruisekingkris]

After your recommendation, I decided to take a look at the Aqua TCI website. I'm a firm believer that you often get what you pay for. I was surprised at the relative cost of diving on T&C. I would generally consider Grand Cayman to be relatively expensive. I took a quick look at the rack rates of 2 and 3 tank dives. I chose 2 GC operators I have used that I knew offered 3 tankers. Caicos Adventures offered a 3 tanker when my son and I visited in 2009. All operators give multi-dive discounts.
View attachment 451734
If I returned to T&C, I would most certainly go with one of the LOBs. The trip to West Caicos or French Cay just takes too much time. Getting in twice the dives would be extremely attractive.

Scubadada,
I was there for the first time in 05 and did my diving with CA. The island was way less crowded then compared to now. CA took us out on the big catamaran (awesome dive boat) and we only had 9-10 divers max that week. We even had FiFi captain the boat and bring his dog on the 3 tank trip. Fast forward 10 years later and they are running a big buisiness, to much cattle not mentality over there. So I switched dive shops.

Yes AquaTCI is more money but in my mind the extra 20 bucks a day is worth it. The island in general is expensive, people don’t go there not expecting that though.

I’m currently booked on the day that the 3 tank is normally done and they don’t have enough people that want to do it. I guess the days of enjoying a full day of diving is going by the wayside. It’s a shame. The spots hit for the 3 tank are better dives.

 

[KathyV]

We've been to the T&Cs two times and each time we spent a week on Provo and then a second week on a liveaboard (Dancer and Aggressor) primarily diving French Caye and West Caicos.

We really enjoyed both trips but I think that the T&Cs are every bit as expensive as the Caymans. They use $USD in the T&Cs but your dollars don't buy very much! And Nassau ranks right up there with the Caymans and the T&Cs among expensive Caribbean destinations. As always, if you do your research in advance you can often find some less expensive (but still good) options at many vacation locations - and sometimes you get what you pay for!

We did some land-based boat dives on Provo but I agree that the best diving we did was from the liveaboards - absolutely gorgeous, lots of life and sharks and rays were commonly seen. And Grace Bay Beach on Provo is incredibly beautiful - plus great conch dishes are commonly available.

You also have options for cost-effective shore diving on Grand Cayman that are not available on Provo or Nassau - and good conch dishes, also!

We met a lot of nice people in both the T&Cs and on Nassau, but the locals on Cayman are really very gracious.

 

[diversteve]

Definitely French Cay for reef sharks - we saw about 2 dozen there over 3 days. I almost landed on one once.Also a little spotted nurse shark followed divers around under the boat.

Probably one of the sharkiest dives I've ever done not counting feed sites and I've dove most of the places mentioned in this thread.

Also I counted almost 2 dozen Stingrays in the open right under the mooring. Many with their companion fish hovering nearby. We also saw one huge Eagle Ray one night. About 1/2 dozen turtles also - they all seemed to be in the shallows above the wall drop-off generally.

 

[tkaelin]

So back to the ops original post I think all agree if you are looking to dive with sharks. Provo is a good choice to see sharks out in the wild or a "regular" dive and no need or option for "diving" from a cage or for artificial feeds. I still think you made a good choice if this is what you are looking for.

 

[tkaelin]

I’m currently booked on the day that the 3 tank is normally done and they don’t have enough people that want to do it. I guess the days of enjoying a full day of diving is going by the wayside. It’s a shame. The spots hit for the 3 tank are better dives.

Had the same experience last summer in Provo. Signed up for the three tank but there was not enough interest. They still ran the trip out to West Caicos as a two-tank and was enjoyable but sometimes it is fun to be out longer getting in the third dive. I also enjoy the three tank trips run by OF on GC.

 

[Wah]

I'm flying down to Provo next weekend and diving with Flamingo. I've heard really good things about them, and they keep the group at a maximum of 8 divers. I dove with both Caicos Adventures and Dive Provo in the past with no complaints, but it will be spring break for a lot of schools, so keeping away from potential cattle boats was a priority for me.

 

[muzikbiz22]

Just got back from a week in Provo. Thumbs up, fantastic week Will provide a trip report in a few days (hopefully).

 

[scubastephb]

After your recommendation, I decided to take a look at the Aqua TCI website. I'm a firm believer that you often get what you pay for. I was surprised at the relative cost of diving on T&C. I would generally consider Grand Cayman to be relatively expensive. I took a quick look at the rack rates of 2 and 3 tank dives. I chose 2 GC operators I have used that I knew offered 3 tankers. Caicos Adventures offered a 3 tanker when my son and I visited in 2009. All operators give multi-dive discounts.
View attachment 451734
If I returned to T&C, I would most certainly go with one of the LOBs. The trip to West Caicos or French Cay just takes too much time. Getting in twice the dives would be extremely attractive.

Thought it was worth clarifying these figures-on TCI the boats have to make a 45-50 minute journey to The Dive sites. In Cayman it’s 10 to 15 minutes. That’s a lot of difference in fuel and that’s fuel costs on Provo are just under $6 A gallon I think you can see why there is a price difference and it’s not price gouging by the dive operators but covering the high operating costs.

 

[BoatingDave]

So I'll be down in Provo over Xmas with my son. I'm trying to decide between Dive Provo and Aqua TCI. Both seem to have reasonable reviews, though I am staying much closer to Dive Provo. Any reason to not just do Dive Provo? We are both AOW, just looking for some chill diving.