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

Salt Cay Divers/Tradewinds Guest Suites, Jul, 2006,

by Barb, Fl, USA . Report 2588.

No photos available at this time

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

Accommodations 4 stars Food 4 stars
Service and Attitude 4 stars Environmental Sensitivity N/A
Dive Operation 5 stars Shore Diving 3 stars
Snorkeling N/A
Value for $$ N/A
Beginners 4 stars
Advanced 5 stars
Comments 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 : [tradewinds.tc link]

Salt Cay Divers: [saltcaydivers.tc link]

Reporter and Travel

Dive Experience 501-1000 dives
Where else diving Florida, Cozumel, Saba, Bonaire, Bahamas, Micronesia
Closest Airport Getting There

Dive Conditions

Weather sunny, windy Seas choppy, noCurrents
Water Temp 76-78°F / 24-26°C Wetsuit Thickness 3
Water Visibility 80-100 Ft/ 24-30 M

Dive Policy

Dive own profile yes
Enforced diving restrictions [Unspecified]
Liveaboard? no Nitrox Available? N/A

What I Saw

Sharks 1 or 2 Mantas None
Dolphins 1 or 2 Whale Sharks None
Turtles > 2 Whales None
Corals 4 stars Tropical Fish 4 stars
Small Critters 4 stars Large Fish 3 stars
Large Pelagics 2 stars

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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Note: The information here was reported by the author above, but has NOT been reviewed nor edited by Undercurrent prior to posting on our website. Please report any major problems by writing to us and referencing the report number above.

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