Dive Review of Blue Water Divers/Osprey Beach Hotel in
Turks and Caicos/Grand Turk

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Blue Water Divers/Osprey Beach Hotel, Oct, 2008, by Michael Judd, OR, USA ( Sr. Reviewer 11 reports). Report 4549.
No photos available at this time
Ratings and Overall Comments 1 (worst) - 5 (best):
Accommodations		Food
Service and Attitude		Environmental Sensitivity
Dive Operation		Shore Diving	N/A
Snorkeling	N/A
Overall Rating
Value for $$
Beginners
Advanced
Comments	Conditions on Grand Turk were slowly returning to normal, just a few weeks after the island was hit hard by Hurricane Ike. Only some of the rooms at the Osprey Beach Hotel were open. My room was comfortable, large, and right on the beach. Daily maid service was good. A gallon of water was provided in the mini-fridge initially, but after that I had to buy my own (which seems like a silly thing to be cheap about). Food at the restaurant was just OK, and not cheap ($12 lunch, $20 dinner); I preferred Michael's restaurant, a block up the street. If you want to try the local brew, Turk's Head, go with the light rather than the dark. The town (Cockburn) and the island in general, were quiet and relaxed (although it's hard to say how much of that was the lack of visitors due to the hurricane). Cruise boats dock at Grand Turk now, but they are at the far south end of the island, and most passengers apparently stay at "Disneyland" down there. The small Turks and Caicos national museum was interesting, although it is not open to the public since the hurricane (the director, who I met on a dive, was nice enough to give me a private tour - thanks again, Neal). Cockburn Town is a good place for old houses, if you like that sort of thing. Less "touristy" than many Caribbean Islands. Blue Water Divers was great. Owner Mitch, office manager Monica, and dive assistant Jesse were all friendly and helpful. For example, Mitch was nice enough to drive me to the grocery and liquor stores to save a long hot walk. On a number of the dives there were two Blue Water guys for just one diver, although I don't imagine that ratio is standard. They picked me up from the beach at the hotel. Dives are all along the west side of the island, so no trip is more that 15 minutes. Entry is by back roll from their aluminum sled; exit by handing BC/tank up from the water and climbing small ladder. It works fine. The only provisions on the boat were warm bottles of water. Surface interval between the two morning dives was spent on the boat; Mitch does a good job of filling the time with BS (I mean that in a good way, Mitch). At the end of the day, BC & reg are left on the boat and taken back to the shop to be cleaned for the next day by their staff. It's all wall diving, although "wall" is a bit of an overstatement; it's never more than 100 feet vertical, and in many places more accurately described as a steep slope. The typical tour was to go out along the wall at 60 - 80 feet, then back at 40 - 50 feet. That worked OK, although the dives could have been longer. Lots of coral, but much of it is shades of brown. As in many Caribbean sites, there are very few large fish, but lots of interesting small stuff. Saw turtles on the majority of the dives, and a few stingrays. The visibility was usually 60-80 feet, occasionally less. The wall is on the lee side of the island, so mostly a smooth surface with little current. Overall, I'd rate the diving good, but not great.
Reporter and Travel
Dive Experience	251-500 dives
Where else diving	Palau, Thailand, Maldives, Indonesia, Cocos, Fiji, Philippines, Chuuk, various Caribbean
Closest Airport		Getting There
Dive Conditions
Weather	sunny	Seas	calm
Water Temp	80-82°F / 27-28°C	Wetsuit Thickness
Water Visibility	60-80 Ft/ 18-24 M
Dive Policy
Dive own profile	no
Enforced diving restrictions	Generally followed divemaster, although could vary up and down to some extent.
Liveaboard?	no	Nitrox Available?	N/A
What I Saw
Sharks	None	Mantas	None
Dolphins	None	Whale Sharks	None
Turtles	> 2	Whales	None
Ratings 1(worst) - 5 (best):
Corals		Tropical Fish
Small Critters		Large Fish
Large Pelagics
Underwater Photography 1 (worst) - 5 (best):
Subject Matter	N/A	Boat Facilities	N/A
Overall rating for UWP's	N/A	Shore Facilities	N/A
UW Photo Comments	[None]

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Dive Review of Blue Water Divers/Osprey Beach Hotel in Turks and Caicos/Grand Turk

Blue Water Divers/Osprey Beach Hotel, Oct, 2008,

Ratings and Overall Comments 1 (worst) - 5 (best):

Overall Rating

Reporter and Travel

Dive Conditions

Dive Policy

What I Saw

Ratings 1(worst) - 5 (best):

Underwater Photography 1 (worst) - 5 (best):

Dive Review of Blue Water Divers/Osprey Beach Hotel in
Turks and Caicos/Grand Turk