Turks and Caicos

[Lateralus]

If I am staying in Providenciales, is it possible to do a day trip dive to Grand Turk, or would I need to stay on the island of Grand Turk to do that? I'm hearing all the good dive spots are in Grand Turk.

In other words, are there dive ops that take you to Grand Turk dive sites from Providenciales?

 

[JackD342]

Dive Provo site says you need to stay on Grand to dive it, it is 90 miles from Provo.

I suppose a live aboard might go there though.

 

[PoolsOpen]

If Grand Turk is not feasible, try diving in West Caicos. From Providenciales its only 1.5 hr boat ride and a 2 dive trip can be done in one morning...
I did it when I stayed at Beaches and the diving was great..

 

[DawgFan]

We went to Provo last year for Spring Break. Stayed in the Grace Bay vicinity. There are a few operators like AquaTCI, Flamingo Divers and a few others that go to Northwest Point and West Caicos and that's what we did. If you search older threads you'll find commentary on these operators.

We had a rental car and the dock was about a 15 minute drive from our condo. Google maps was pretty accurate on drive time. If you don't have a rental car, most of the operators offer a pickup service depending on where you are staying.

Boat rides were generally 45 minutes each way. I like boats so length of the boat rides didn't bother me and I did enjoy the diving at NW Point and West Caicos sites.

 

[Hoag]

I have been to TCI 3 times. The 1st was a shore based trip to Provo. The 2nd was a LOB (Turk & Caicos Explorer II), and the 3rd time was a shore based trip on Grand Turk.

There is no way to dive Grand Turk while staying in Provo unless you spend a LOT of money. Think in terms of chartering your own boat & crew for the entire day and count on a very long day (not to mention the additional costs of and the extended crew day). As @JackD342 said, it is about 90 miles between the two islands. This means several hours transit each way even in a "go fast boat". Even while on the LOB, we did not go over to Grand Turk.

There is a lot of great diving in and around Provo and West Cay (about an hour transit). If you really want to go to Grand Turk, your best option would be to add a couple days onto the end of the trip and catch the "puddle jumper" flight from Provo to Grand Turk.

Keep in mind though that whether you dive at Provo, or at Grand Turk, the diving will be pretty similar. It will be a wall that starts at about 50 - 75 feet and drops off into the abyss. The water will be crystal clear with very little current and there will likely be sharks and/or turtles.

 

[drrich2]

I don't believe either of the 2 live-aboards routinely hit Grand Turk. The names used may create confusion; the greater region is called 'Turks & Caicos,' but people using that term seem to be headed to Provo. the great majority of the time, diving part of Caicos (e.g.: Provo & West Caicos on my live-aboard trip; sometimes a live-aboard hits French Cay).

When people head to the 'Turks' part, it's generally Grand Turk, and they say they're going to Grand Turk, not 'Turks and Caicos.'

I'm not saying no one ever dives some of the other islands, but that's how I see the terminology play out in online discussions.

Richard.

P.S.: My research notes on the region from planning my trip.

 

[tkaelin]

Have you done the 3 tank all day with Dive Provo? Check it out if you have not.

 

[Joneill]

Have you done the 3 tank all day with Dive Provo? Check it out if you have not.

I did one with Aqua TCI and it was great!

 

[Joneill]

I don't believe either of the 2 live-aboards routinely hit Grand Turk. The names used may create confusion; the greater region is called 'Turks & Caicos,' but people using that term seem to be headed to Provo. the great majority of the time, diving part of Caicos (e.g.: Provo & West Caicos on my live-aboard trip; sometimes a live-aboard hits French Cay).

When people head to the 'Turks' part, it's generally Grand Turk, and they say they're going to Grand Turk, not 'Turks and Caicos.'

I'm not saying no one ever dives some of the other islands, but that's how I see the terminology play out in online discussions.

Richard.

P.S.: My research notes on the region from planning my trip.

The Provo day boats hit French Cay as well, if weather/ seas permit. Great (and “sharky”) sites there, but I heard it was hit hard with last year’s hurricanes, so not sure if French Cay has recovered.

 

[Damselfish]

Too far, if you want to dive Grand Turk, practically speaking you need to stay there. But boats from Provo go to West Caicos and sometimes French Cay (like the liveaboards) so you can do that, that’s also good diving.

Many years ago there was a period of time when Wind Dancer departed from Grand Turk and also dove Salt Caye and South Caicos. (It was actually our very first liveaboard.) They started doing it when a suitable dock became available, forget if it was new or had just needed repair. Then they moved that boat to Cocos. It would be nice if one of the liveaboards would do itineraries there again, don’t know why they don’t seem to.