DiverEric
Registered
Sometimes, as they say, good luck happens when preparedness meets opportunity. A couple of years ago my brother was walking across the campus of his alma mater where he works. He heard someone calling his name and it turned out to be a fellow former student who was now bringing his own son to school. The got to talking about another alum whom they both knew from more than 25 years ago. His friend said that their mutual friend now ran a scuba business somewhere in the Caribbean. It took me about 30 seconds of searching to find a website and a photo of a guy named Mickey who owned Flamingo Divers in the Turks and Caicos Islands. Yep, my brother said, thats him. They reconnected via e-mail and our good luck streak began.
When our brother found that he could not get the particular week off for we three to go on a scuba trip to Mexico being offered by our primary dive shop, the answer to the problem was simple: Call Mickey! We did so and booked ourselves a trip to Turks and Caicos (more good luck, the trip to Mexico was subsequently cancelled).
Weve recently returned from the trip and here is the report.
The Turks and Caicos Islands are a British Overseas Territory comprised of two groups of tropical islands situated about 600 miles southeast of Miami and south of the Bahamas. The islands are geographically part of the Bahamian island chain and consist of two banks of land which rise like pillars to a height of more than 9,000 feet above the seafloor, with only the last 140 feet or so above water level.
The Bahamas and the Turks and Caicos Banks are built on pieces of the earths crust that broke away when North America separated from what is now the west coast of Africa 200 million years ago during the Triassic period. The Turks and Caicos receive very little rainfall. This factor, plus the porous rock that makes up the land mean that fresh water has been and remains a scarce resource. Water that is absorbed into the land floats on top of the more dense seawater present in the rock. Runoff from rain that does fall is collected, stored and used by the human population.
The source of the name of the island chain is not entirely clear. Some people claim that the term Turks is derived from Mediterranean pirates who plied these waters and that the term Caicos is derived from the name of their boats. While pirates did indeed spend plenty of time here, it seems more likely that the term Turks comes from the great number of Turk's head cacti found on the islands. Their red cylindrical blossoms resemble the fez worn by Turkish men. Caicos is perhaps derived from the Spanish word cayos for little islands or from the Lucayan term "Cape hico" which means "a string of islands".
From Chicago, the two most reasonable routes to reach the islands are through Charlotte on US Air or through Miami on American. We took American and departed OHare at 6:00 one morning and were on the ground on Providenciales (a.k.a. Provo), the main island in the Turks and Caicos, by 2:00 that afternoon. The Grace Bay Car Rentals representative was right outside the terminal and we did some quick paperwork before he gave us the keys to our right-hand drive Honda CRV. They drive on the left down there and it took some getting used to but we handled it well.
It was a ten minute drive to Harbour Club Villas where owners Barry and Marta greeted us like we were old friends. They built these six one-story, one-bedroom villas about ten years ago when they decided to chuck it all and move down there from their home in Canada. The bedroom was air conditioned but we never turned it on because the wind was blowing the whole time we were there and the screened louvered windows provided lots of cross breezes. The villas have no phones and no ovens but everything else is there and each day Marta made the beds, including the two couches that folded out in the living room, and placed fresh flowers in the dining area, bathroom and living room. She had lots of flowers to choose from since she and Barry have carefully cultivated many blooming plants on the property. These villas are truly flower-draped cottages thanks to the more than 45,000 gallons of cistern water storage capacity they installed when they built the place. More good luck: We had the whole place to ourselves since the large wedding party that was coming to occupy every villa was not due until just after we were due to depart. There was a 15 by 20 foot pool, a covered patio area and an oversized gas grill.
To get to the dive shop all we had to do was walk down the driveway behind Harbour Club to the little marina. Flamingo Divers was located in a corner of the marina and there we met Jayne, Mickeys partner. We did some paperwork to be prepared for our diving and shortly thereafter Mickey arrived. My brother and Mickey caught up quickly after not seeing one another for more than 25 years. We then drove the short distance to the IGA and stocked up on food items. That evening the wind persisted and as we went to bed we were grateful for the cooling breezes but it seemed too windy to me and I was concerned that weather might affect our diving.
Flamingo Divers usually dives off of Northwest Point or French Cay or West Caicos. All of these locations are about a 1-hour boat ride from their dock. Winds from the southeast meant that West Caicos was the best choice. Our luck held and, although it was a somewhat bumpy ride most days, we did not miss any diving due to weather. Their boat is a 28-foot Delta with a single screw powered by a diesel engine. Mickey gave us a thorough safety briefing and the boat was equipped with emergency oxygen, a first aid kit, life preservers, a life raft, radios, magnetic compass and the cleanest head (bathroom) I have ever seen on a scuba charter boat. There is a large roof so it was easy to get out of the tropical sun if you wished. They take a maximum of 8 divers per trip. Each side of the boat features benches with scuba tanks lined up behind the benches. Mickey and Jayne handled all of our gear and we never had to do a thing other than enjoy the day and the diving. Departure from the dock is at 8:30 or earlier if all guests have arrived. Two dives are scheduled and return to the dock was usually somewhere between 1:30 and 2:15. In the event that all divers agree to do so, I got the impression that they would do a 3rd dive but I also got the impression that they were not particularly eager to do so and thus delay our return until something like 3:30 or 4:00. Its their business to run and I respect that but I could have used a 3rd dive each day.
In no time at all we were on site west of West Caicos for our first dive. West Caicos is located on the western fringe of the Caicos Bank. Within a couple hundred yards of the west coast of the island, the depths drop off to hundreds and then thousands of feet. We suited up quickly and then jumped in. Currents are not much of a factor here so it was easy to simply float behind the boat until we were all ready to descend. We dove down to the reef at a depth of 30 to 50 feet and then descended over the dramatic wall to 100 feet. One of my brothers and I were breathing Nitrox (32%) so we were a little limited on depth but there was no need to venture deeper since there was plenty to see at 100 feet.
I came here expecting decent Caribbean diving. What I found was very good Caribbean diving, probably on a par with just about the best Caribbean I have ever experienced. Water temps were 82 or 83 degrees all week, regardless of depth. My 3mm shorty wetsuit provided plenty of warmth. A couple of us did get one or two very minor stings from something in the water but the sensation passed quickly with no other problems. Visibility was a little down from the usual. We estimated it at between 40 and 60 feet all week.
We saw one or two other dive boats from Provo on a couple of days and on a couple of other days we saw large live aboard boats but other than that we pretty much had the place to ourselves. First dives of the day were down onto the wall. Second dives were to the top of the wall and along the surrounding reef structure. Hard corals, sponges and other structures appeared pretty healthy and large areas of open sand provided plenty of area for the boats to drop anchor without damaging the reef. On some areas there were moorings that the scuba boats used. I saw what was probably the largest barrel sponge I have ever seen as well as several stands of very fine pillar coral that are among the best Ive ever seen. Fish life here is great too. We saw sharks on one dive and plenty of other fish including some big groupers, huge areas populated by garden eels, lots of plate corals on the walls and most of the usual fish you would expect to see in this part of the world plus one you would not expect to see: The lion fish, a native of the Pacific Ocean, has pretty thoroughly invaded this corner of the Caribbean. I would estimate we saw lion fish on about 5 of the 10 dives we did. All in, I bet we saw a dozen lion fish. Mostly, they hung out under the overhangs but I saw 2 of them swimming in the open. It is said they are voracious hunters and that they have very few predators.
On one dive we moved along the top of the wall and found ourselves in a large school of creole wrasse. On a couple of safety stops we found ourselves the focus of schools of 40 or more horse eye jacks circling in the distance. These were fishy dives. Between dives we would spend an hour long surface interval drinking water & munching fruit, chips and cookies provided for us. They also had towels on board for us to use.
On one evening we hosted Mickey and Jayne to dinner at a place they enjoy on the island. Other than that one dinner out and one lunch, we had all of our meals back at the villa. Our days consisted of getting up, having a light breakfast, walking to the dive boat and on return to the villa we would lounge by the pool filling out our logbooks and plotting dinner which was followed by hitting the rack early while the winds blew through the villa.
Quote of the trip: This road was once paved, right?
When our brother found that he could not get the particular week off for we three to go on a scuba trip to Mexico being offered by our primary dive shop, the answer to the problem was simple: Call Mickey! We did so and booked ourselves a trip to Turks and Caicos (more good luck, the trip to Mexico was subsequently cancelled).
Weve recently returned from the trip and here is the report.
The Turks and Caicos Islands are a British Overseas Territory comprised of two groups of tropical islands situated about 600 miles southeast of Miami and south of the Bahamas. The islands are geographically part of the Bahamian island chain and consist of two banks of land which rise like pillars to a height of more than 9,000 feet above the seafloor, with only the last 140 feet or so above water level.
The Bahamas and the Turks and Caicos Banks are built on pieces of the earths crust that broke away when North America separated from what is now the west coast of Africa 200 million years ago during the Triassic period. The Turks and Caicos receive very little rainfall. This factor, plus the porous rock that makes up the land mean that fresh water has been and remains a scarce resource. Water that is absorbed into the land floats on top of the more dense seawater present in the rock. Runoff from rain that does fall is collected, stored and used by the human population.
The source of the name of the island chain is not entirely clear. Some people claim that the term Turks is derived from Mediterranean pirates who plied these waters and that the term Caicos is derived from the name of their boats. While pirates did indeed spend plenty of time here, it seems more likely that the term Turks comes from the great number of Turk's head cacti found on the islands. Their red cylindrical blossoms resemble the fez worn by Turkish men. Caicos is perhaps derived from the Spanish word cayos for little islands or from the Lucayan term "Cape hico" which means "a string of islands".
From Chicago, the two most reasonable routes to reach the islands are through Charlotte on US Air or through Miami on American. We took American and departed OHare at 6:00 one morning and were on the ground on Providenciales (a.k.a. Provo), the main island in the Turks and Caicos, by 2:00 that afternoon. The Grace Bay Car Rentals representative was right outside the terminal and we did some quick paperwork before he gave us the keys to our right-hand drive Honda CRV. They drive on the left down there and it took some getting used to but we handled it well.
It was a ten minute drive to Harbour Club Villas where owners Barry and Marta greeted us like we were old friends. They built these six one-story, one-bedroom villas about ten years ago when they decided to chuck it all and move down there from their home in Canada. The bedroom was air conditioned but we never turned it on because the wind was blowing the whole time we were there and the screened louvered windows provided lots of cross breezes. The villas have no phones and no ovens but everything else is there and each day Marta made the beds, including the two couches that folded out in the living room, and placed fresh flowers in the dining area, bathroom and living room. She had lots of flowers to choose from since she and Barry have carefully cultivated many blooming plants on the property. These villas are truly flower-draped cottages thanks to the more than 45,000 gallons of cistern water storage capacity they installed when they built the place. More good luck: We had the whole place to ourselves since the large wedding party that was coming to occupy every villa was not due until just after we were due to depart. There was a 15 by 20 foot pool, a covered patio area and an oversized gas grill.
To get to the dive shop all we had to do was walk down the driveway behind Harbour Club to the little marina. Flamingo Divers was located in a corner of the marina and there we met Jayne, Mickeys partner. We did some paperwork to be prepared for our diving and shortly thereafter Mickey arrived. My brother and Mickey caught up quickly after not seeing one another for more than 25 years. We then drove the short distance to the IGA and stocked up on food items. That evening the wind persisted and as we went to bed we were grateful for the cooling breezes but it seemed too windy to me and I was concerned that weather might affect our diving.
Flamingo Divers usually dives off of Northwest Point or French Cay or West Caicos. All of these locations are about a 1-hour boat ride from their dock. Winds from the southeast meant that West Caicos was the best choice. Our luck held and, although it was a somewhat bumpy ride most days, we did not miss any diving due to weather. Their boat is a 28-foot Delta with a single screw powered by a diesel engine. Mickey gave us a thorough safety briefing and the boat was equipped with emergency oxygen, a first aid kit, life preservers, a life raft, radios, magnetic compass and the cleanest head (bathroom) I have ever seen on a scuba charter boat. There is a large roof so it was easy to get out of the tropical sun if you wished. They take a maximum of 8 divers per trip. Each side of the boat features benches with scuba tanks lined up behind the benches. Mickey and Jayne handled all of our gear and we never had to do a thing other than enjoy the day and the diving. Departure from the dock is at 8:30 or earlier if all guests have arrived. Two dives are scheduled and return to the dock was usually somewhere between 1:30 and 2:15. In the event that all divers agree to do so, I got the impression that they would do a 3rd dive but I also got the impression that they were not particularly eager to do so and thus delay our return until something like 3:30 or 4:00. Its their business to run and I respect that but I could have used a 3rd dive each day.
In no time at all we were on site west of West Caicos for our first dive. West Caicos is located on the western fringe of the Caicos Bank. Within a couple hundred yards of the west coast of the island, the depths drop off to hundreds and then thousands of feet. We suited up quickly and then jumped in. Currents are not much of a factor here so it was easy to simply float behind the boat until we were all ready to descend. We dove down to the reef at a depth of 30 to 50 feet and then descended over the dramatic wall to 100 feet. One of my brothers and I were breathing Nitrox (32%) so we were a little limited on depth but there was no need to venture deeper since there was plenty to see at 100 feet.
I came here expecting decent Caribbean diving. What I found was very good Caribbean diving, probably on a par with just about the best Caribbean I have ever experienced. Water temps were 82 or 83 degrees all week, regardless of depth. My 3mm shorty wetsuit provided plenty of warmth. A couple of us did get one or two very minor stings from something in the water but the sensation passed quickly with no other problems. Visibility was a little down from the usual. We estimated it at between 40 and 60 feet all week.
We saw one or two other dive boats from Provo on a couple of days and on a couple of other days we saw large live aboard boats but other than that we pretty much had the place to ourselves. First dives of the day were down onto the wall. Second dives were to the top of the wall and along the surrounding reef structure. Hard corals, sponges and other structures appeared pretty healthy and large areas of open sand provided plenty of area for the boats to drop anchor without damaging the reef. On some areas there were moorings that the scuba boats used. I saw what was probably the largest barrel sponge I have ever seen as well as several stands of very fine pillar coral that are among the best Ive ever seen. Fish life here is great too. We saw sharks on one dive and plenty of other fish including some big groupers, huge areas populated by garden eels, lots of plate corals on the walls and most of the usual fish you would expect to see in this part of the world plus one you would not expect to see: The lion fish, a native of the Pacific Ocean, has pretty thoroughly invaded this corner of the Caribbean. I would estimate we saw lion fish on about 5 of the 10 dives we did. All in, I bet we saw a dozen lion fish. Mostly, they hung out under the overhangs but I saw 2 of them swimming in the open. It is said they are voracious hunters and that they have very few predators.
On one dive we moved along the top of the wall and found ourselves in a large school of creole wrasse. On a couple of safety stops we found ourselves the focus of schools of 40 or more horse eye jacks circling in the distance. These were fishy dives. Between dives we would spend an hour long surface interval drinking water & munching fruit, chips and cookies provided for us. They also had towels on board for us to use.
On one evening we hosted Mickey and Jayne to dinner at a place they enjoy on the island. Other than that one dinner out and one lunch, we had all of our meals back at the villa. Our days consisted of getting up, having a light breakfast, walking to the dive boat and on return to the villa we would lounge by the pool filling out our logbooks and plotting dinner which was followed by hitting the rack early while the winds blew through the villa.
Quote of the trip: This road was once paved, right?
