Dive Review of
Salt Cay Divers/Tradewinds Guest Suites in
Turks and Caicos/Salt Cay

Florida, Cozumel, Saba, Bonaire, Bahamas, Micronesia 

Dive Conditions

[Unspecified]  

[None]  

Overall Rating

7/9/06 – 7/16/06  Salt Cay – Turks and Caicos

Absolutely wonderful trip!!  If you can’t relax in Salt Cay, then I doubt
you could relax anywhere. 

We started our trip from Fort Lauderdale Florida.  We stayed at the
Tradewinds Quest Suites on Salt Cay.  The Tradewinds is a simple 5 room
hotel on Salt Cay.  The accommodations were simple, but quite comfortable. 
Debbie at the Tradewinds was wonderful! Working with a gal from our group,
she helped coordinate our trip from start to finish.  All we had to do was
arrange our flights to Grand Turk.  Arrangements were made for us to be
picked up at the airport and transported to our vessel for the crossing to
Salt Cay.  We were even able to order some provisions in advance and she
was kind enough to place them in our rooms.  We were very well informed by
Debbie as to what was available and what was not.  We took some items such
as some fresh fruit and cheeses.  It was not an issue bringing them in, as
they were for personal consumption.  

Our diving was set up with Salt Cay Divers.  We were very pleased with
their operation - safe, friendly, knowledgeable and very flexible.  Dive
sites were beautiful.  Mostly wall diving… so pick your depth. The reefs
were very healthy and held a lot of life. Our group really enjoyed diving
with Salt Cay divers.  They did a check-out dive with us to assess our
skill levels.  Once comfortable with us, we pretty much dove our computers.
 We were not required to stay on top of each other.  We were able to spread
out and really enjoy some nice long relaxing dives.  There was minimal
current on most dives.  We had a front come thru the first couple of days
which made the water a little choppy, but certainly did not cause any
issues. We set up our gear the first day and from that point it was taken
care of for us.  We never moved it again until the last day to take it off
the boat.  

On Salt Cay, supplies can be limited, though we never knew it.  We ate
& drank like kings.  We tried most of the available restaurants on the
Island, but found ourselves at Debbie’s small open air restaurant most of
the time -Great food and great drinks.  You could have a yummy meal and
watch the sunset over the water.  Debbie makes a mean Cosmo & a great
Margarita too!   

Another favorite for our group was “Pat’s Place”.  Pat is a lovely lady and
a fabulous cook.  She opens her home to serve meals on her large very
comfortable porch.  Don’t pass up Pat’s Cracked Conch!!  It is WONDERFUL as
was everything else we sampled.  Meals at Pat’s were served family style
and allowed for a taste of many different entrees.  We were celebrating a
birthday one evening and Pat went the extra mile! Not only did she decorate
the porch for the occasion she baked a wonderful homemade cake.  As if that
weren’t enough, she presented the birthday girl with a gift.  This was just
one illustration of the character of the folks on Salt Cay.  

I recommend for anyone considering this trip to do some research into Salt
Cay.  It’s not for everyone.  It is a very small island (currently 63 full
time residents – soon to be 65… a set of twins is on the way!)
If you’re more into the 5-star resorts and luxury suites, then Salt Cay is
probably not for you.  You won’t find a Starbucks on this island!  However,
if you want to go to a lovely little island, meet some wonderful, friendly
people, dive some beautiful sites, snorkel, fish, go hiking, bicycle the
island, beach comb for sea glass or simply do nothing at all – I recommend
the ocean side hammocks for that last one – then Salt Cay is perfect for
you.

Thanks so much to Debbie, Ollie, Sean, Anya (spelling?), Graham & Ann
for making our trip so special.  There were 12 of us and none were ready to
leave our friends at Salt Cay.  We’ll go back! 

Tradewinds Guest Suites :    http://www.tradewinds.tc/

Salt Cay Divers:   http://www.saltcaydivers.tc/
 

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