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For Divers since 1975 The Private, Exclusive Guide for Serious Divers Since 1975

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Sea Eye Diving/Sitting Pretty Hotel, October 1997, Ruth Van Jones, Punta Gorda, FL.

1999 Chapbook

Turks and Caicos

These islands, situated south of the Bahamas and north of the Virgins, feature awesome walls and some of the clearest water in the world. On a good day, visibility is about 200'.... South Caicos wall, off Cockburn Harbor, has a stone arch at 50', a lip as sharp as a knife, and a breathtaking vertical face.... Provo, the glitzy island, has spectacular beaches, but it's at least an hour's boat ride to the better diving of South or West Caicos. Grand Turk, on the other hand, is a funky, laid-back island that has a wall right offshore. Salt Cay has a guest house and decent diving; West and North Caicos have no dive facilities; a small dive operation on South Caicos has had a series of ups and downs (mostly downs), but it now has a new owner who hopefully will do better... Bring a long-sleeved shirt during the winter months; it can get cool in the evenings, and water temperatures can drop into the mid-70s.... Stop by a post office and check out the marine life commemorative stamps U/W photo contests are held periodically here, and part of the prize is having your photo placed on a stamp.... Don't be tempted by contraband; for decades the Turks and Caicos have been a clandestine refueling stop-over for dope-smuggling pilots from South America; a Customs dope-sniffing dog will greet you in Miami.... For full reviews of the following Turks and Caicos destinations, see: Salt Cay, Undercurrent- July 1998 Grand Turk, Undercurrent- June 1998 Grand Turk Blue Water Divers/Salt Raker Inn, September 1997, Brian Sullivan & Sharon Benoit, Groueton, NH. Diving excellent. Mitch and Carl very accommodating and patient with new divers. Nothing hurried, able to dive as you wish. Boats well kept, although having no one left aboard while diving left us anxious. No large marine life, but still plenty to see. Vis: 80-100 ft. Water: 80-85 degrees. Dive restrictions: 100 ft. maximum, no touch. Salt Raker Inn very laid back and restful. The food was excellent and plentiful. Secret Garden: good open air dining. Jenny and her crew were friendly and made you feel like old friends. Anna Mae's key lime pie is great. Well worth the cost. Only downsides: Packed way too much. Need shorts and tee's only and Provo stop over was horrible experience. Would fly Lynx Air next trip. (Ph: 809-946-2432, Fax: 809-946-2432) Blue Water Divers, February 1998, Ron & Dawn Steedman, Cape Coral, FL. Lynx Air out of Ft. Lauderdale was great. Salt Raker Inn was neat and clean; our suite overlooked the water. Jerry is very nice, however, service and food at their restaurant are mediocre. Bicycling on laid-back island is great and museum is not to be missed. Besides, being fun entertainment at Salt Raker, Mitch is a very personable divemaster. No C-Cards were checked, no checkout dives; Carl asked, "Do you want to dive deep or shallow?" He had no idea of our dive experienced and was often inattentive and preoccupied. We loved the sites, especially "Sand River Canyon" and "McDonald's"-out into the Blue. Vis: 60-100 ft, water: 78 degrees. Blue Water Divers/Salt Raker Inn, April 1998, John and Rebecca Bowman, Homewood IL. Inn was lovely, steps from the beach, and the food was excellent. Get the upstairs suites-our only complaint would be the cockroaches in the bathroom in our downstairs room. Staff friendly and helpful. Blue Water Divers picked us up at the hotel every day. Small groups were wonderful. Diving was spectacular. Water: 74-81 degrees, vis: 60120 ft. Highlight was a 12' Manta ray. Coral healthy and fish abundant. Walls dropped off dramatically to 7000'. Much fun with stingrays during the picnic trip to Gibbs Cay. Felt like family after only a week, especially with divemaster Mitch and the wonderful people we dove with. No fast-paced excitement and fast-food, no stop lights. Donkey droppings everywhere. Visibility not as good as we had hoped, but we'll trade a few 60' vis dives for a manta. Strong current only on one dive, the rest calm. Blue Water Divers/Salt Raker Inn, July 1998, Scott & Tami Brooks, Plant City, FL. Laid back island, beautiful architecture, great big houses left over from the salt raking days. Visit the museum! Islanders are very friendly. Mitch at Blue Water Divers is down to earth, and you will become instant friends with him. His divemaster, Carl, is experienced and friendly. If you are lucky, Carl's grandmother will bake you cookies and peanut brittle! Dive staff is flexible, allowing you the freedom to dive your computers. They keep all your gear and have it ready to go the next morning on the boat. Vis: 50-80 ft. Water: 82-86 degrees. Depth limits, but not constrictive to experienced divers. Snorkeling trip to Gibbs Cay isn't that exciting (unless you have never seen a stingray, then it's exciting for about 5 minutes). Jenny at the Salt Raker Inn is gracious to her guests; they have the best food on the island. Try Pizza night at the Water's Edge Wednesday and Friday (it's really very good). Blue Water Divers/Salt Raker Inn, July 1998, Chuck & Nancy Anson, Oceanside, CA. Flight on Lynx Air from Fort Lauderdale made getting there a breeze. (Our thanks to other chap book contributors for the info). Islanders are friendly, wall diving is well worth the trip. Blue Water Divers takes good care of you. We made 19 dives only did three sites twice, but that was because we asked to return for a second look. Carl and Mitch are safety conscious and know the reefs well. Saw turtles on several dives and two spotted eagle rays in courtship (8'). Vis 50 ft. average. Gibbs Cay with Sea Eye Divers is a must. $35 each includes: rum punch, sodas, boat, ride, barbecued lunch, conch ceviche, snorkel on Fringe Reef and the sting rays that come to play in the shore of the Cay. All are great fun. Smitty and his crew treat you right. The Salt Raker Inn is convenient and comfortable. Jenny Smith runs a very efficient Inn and staff makes you feel right at home. Divers are picked up daily at the beach just across the one way street in front. Nice sandy beach and a fun snorkel. Vis: 40-80 ft. Water: 80-82 degrees. Dive restriction: enforced 100 ft. Blue Water Divers/Salt Raker Inn, September 1998, Anthony V. Dresden, Arlington, VA. 7th trip to Grand Turk.Blue Water the oldest and best operation. I was often the only diver but Mitch or divemaster Carl or Conchy always made it a memorable dive. Walls and reefs healthy with an excellent variety of tropicals and a few reef sharks, turtles, dolphins and supermale midnight blue parrotfish. No mantas this trip which was uncharacteristic; relaxing, enjoyable and effortless diving. Salt Raker Inn has great character and charm thanks to Jenny Smith who owns the inn. You can choose one of the beautiful suites in the old house or a less expensive, simpler beachfront or garden room off to the side. Food is very good at the outside restaurant with barbecue a couple of nights a week and friendly bar and service. Vis: 25-100 ft. Water: 80-85 degrees. Dive restriction: 100 ft. Oasis Divers, January 1998, Bruce Medway, Roselle Pk., NJ. Like going back in time. You fly a small prop plane so limit your luggage. The island is laid back, there isn't one T-shirt shop. Roosters crowing are the morning alarm clock. The people are friendly, everybody smiles and says good morning. Oasis Divers provided the best service. Everette, the owner came to our hotel to welcome us, took our gear; gear was washed and on the boat each morning. The wall is a five minute ride. The diving is easy and while not eye popping, very enjoyable. Vis: 70-80 ft. Water: 78 degrees. Dive restrictions enforced were 130 max, no deco. (Ph: 800-892-3995 or 809-946-1128, Fax: 809-946-1128, e-mail: oasisdiv@caribsurf.com, Website: www.oasisdivers.com) Oasis Divers/Salt Raker Inn, January 1998, J. Michael Dywan, Phoenix, AZ. Bring snack food and coffee! All food is flown in. Prices high. Unusual diving with El Niño side effects: intermittent rains kept us from a full week of wall diving. Blue water off walls are beautiful. Vis: 30-80 ft. Water: 77-80 degrees. Dive restrictions: 100'/60 minutes. Very laid back. Try the conch chowder anywhere, fantastic. All three dive operations are good. The island is trashy, no can recycling. Ready to blossom as a new dive paradise. Underwater is pristine with fish population comparable to Bonaire, but less intimidated. Everyone was nice. Natives are very polite, kids are fun. South end of island has pinnacles, neat cave swim-thrus a must dive. Island has little to see, walls are close enough for shore dives although not as close as Bonaire. Oasis Divers/Turks Head Inn, February 1998, Gregg M. Gaylord, Sheboygan, WI. Winds wiped out diving on wall first 2-3 days. Shallow east island diving not thrilling. Excellent diving with Everette, the co-owner of Oasis, friendly and gregarious. native of Grand Turk. Excellent guide showing us the rich black corals and encouraging us to listen to the whale song that permeates the waters this time of year. Vis: 50-75 ft. Water: 80-82 degrees. Dive restrictions: 100 ft. with computer, surface with 500 psi. Oasis kept my gear overnight and put it on the boat the next morning. Pick divers up so transportation/car rental not needed. Turks Head Inn a stones throw from the dive operation and clearly the class of the island. Rooms decorated in an antebellum style with amenities usually seen only in more expensive and more prestigious locations. Fly direct to Grand Turk from Ft. Lauderdale, plane changes and reliance on island hoppers can be unnerving. Oasis Divers/Salt Raker, March 1998, Helene Boatner & Bill Greynolds, Arlington, VA. Oasis runs a no hassle, laid back, fun and professional dive operation. Everette met our group at the hotel, checked C-cards, handed out waiver forms. Dive leaders knowledgeable and helpful; good explanations and handled equipment smoothly. Dale led our check out dive and the next few; she's full of enthusiasm and great at pointing out small creatures. Austin took over; attentive and charming; did a super job. Dive sites varied and interesting; especially liked The Tunnels, The Library, and a night dive at Tiki Hut-spotted lobsters, crab, flamefish. Everett followed humpbacks during an afternoon boat ride, one adult pair and two mothers and calves. Vis: 75-100 ft. Water: 77-82 degrees. No dive restrictions enforced. . . . Accommodations at the Salt Raker were comfortable and reasonable. Food okay and service was attentive. Wednesday barbecue, accompanied by songs from Mitch Rollins is a nice way to spend an evening. . . . Several guests lost valuables when office safe was broken open and robbed; could have spoiled the week, but Salt Raker covered all losses immediately. Local authorities were efficient and cooperative in investigating and in providing substitute travel documents. . . . Restaurants: Water's Edge offered the best combination of food, price and setting. Turks Head was good but expensive. Small restaurants catering to locals have good island food at good prices; the Diplomat is a five minute walk from the Salt Raker and another is on the main road at the north end of the seawall. Oasis Divers/Turks Head Inn, May 1998, Butch Raines. Went through Provo customs in crushing heat. The airport is in sad shape. It's open air but the walls keep breeze out. No airconditioning. Several poor souls wearing jeans and long sleeves. Luggage room is too small to accommodate all the passengers. After fighting to get my bags and trunk, I only had 10 min to make my connecting flight on a tiny 8 seater on Turks and Caicos Airlines. . . . 5-10 min cab ride for $8. Entered a courtyard paved with stone containing several sets of tables and chairs, a hammock, and trees and plants. Very impressed with service. Turks Head dinner. Mahi-mahi, sirloin steak, around $18, worth every penny; Death by Chocolate was heaven; Dinner at the Waters Edge, on the beach, opens toward the water, deck, tables and chairs, food above average. . . . Awakened by the rooster in the vacant lot next door and in morning; across the street relax on the beach and snorkel. . . . Oasis divers two blocks away. Boats are about 28' with outboard in back, ladder on each side. A steering wheel, cooler, a covered area with benches on each side and front. Plenty of room for 6-8 divers. Tanks stored in back in racks. You board from the beach by wading to boat. The longest ride 10 min. The DM brings your gear to the front of the boat, you put it on and do a backward roll, or you can jump in and don it. Do one dive, return to the beach for new tanks while doing a surface interval. Coral Gardens-Petted 70 lb. grouper named Alexander; Canyons-turtle, grouper being cleaned; McDonalds-manta. Library-Night dive-4 large stone crabs, swimming/feeding Moray, feeding Grouper. Vis 35-75', temp 77 degrees, slight current. Barracuda, trumpet fish, large grouper, large queen trigger, parrot fish, coral, sea fans, sponges. Fantastic, easy dives. . . . The last day, we just relaxed on the beach. At the appointed time, a taxi took us to the airport. In Miami, it was a mad rush to get to the customs lines first. Total chaos. Sea Eye Diving, September 1997, Sheila McIntyre, Brunswick, OH. Best and easiest diving with walls and sites that will knock your socks off. With more than 15 years experience and 1700 dives, the most fun I've had outside high voltage wrecks of North Carolina. When Cecil says Get on the boat with 500 psi and never crabs about my hour and a half dives, he'll get my dive money any day. And I'm not talking about 40 foot depths, either. Number one with Little Cayman! Great to be treated like an adult, responsible diver! (Ph: 649-946-1407, Fax: 649-946-1407, e-mail: ci@caribsurf.com) Sea Eye Diving/Sitting Pretty Hotel, September 1997, Sherwin Isenberg, Los Angeles, CA. Pleasant and calm diving. Water: 81-83 degrees. Vis: 60-100 ft. Never dove with more than 3 other divers. Very laid back. Two morning dives, one afternoon, one night if desired. Reef very intact. Large number of small tropicals and some bizarre, including a foot long sand leveler that was a ringer for a guinea hen! Perfect place for beginners to improve skills and enjoy nice dives. For advanced, not a large degree of excitement. Sea-Eye diving very professional and helpful. Hotel adequate and boats leave from send a beach. Smitty is a superb guide. Though I arrived late at night, Cyril was there to meet and orient me. Good service.Hotel has 24 rooms (some with kitchen) on beach convenient to town and market. Rooms spacious, with private patio, A/C. Hotel food OK. Gourmet food at Turks Head Inn, but pricey. Great local dishes at Diplomat's Cafe. Local museum worth a visit. . . . Sea Eye has four 24' Carolina skiffs with good boarding ladders. They pick you up from the beach in front of your room and take care of your gear for your stay. 2 tanks in morning with surface interval on beach. All dive sites less than 5 minutes from hotel. Best wall diving. Fantastic drop offs and undercuts with no current. Divemasters show you best locations or let you do your own thing. Fish life mediocre. Nothing big. Great corals (black) and sponges. Sea Eye Diving, December 1997, Kendall Botellio, Phoenix, AZ. Diving was excellent! Reefs very healthy! Saw some sharks, turtles, huge crabs, great night dives! Vis: 60-80 ft. Wtr: 78-80 degrees. Only drawback is on dive boat, all staff enters water, so no one is supervising the surface. Besides that it is a great operation! Very friendly people. Sea Eye Diving/Sitting Pretty, March 1998, Bill Chambers, Brooklyn, NY. Vis: 80-120 ft, water: 80 F. Easy, laid back place. Cecil and Connie run excellent operation. While operating on island time, the small, friendly, well-equipped operation is a joy. Sitting Pretty is basic and food is mediocre, but with other restaurants close by it's hardly a big deal. Sea Eye Diving/Sitting Pretty, March 1998, Mr. & Mrs. Richard S. Donley, Pittsburgh, PA. Booked into the Sitting Pretty and moved after one night because of a terrible mold smell. Had trouble the first few days with the dive operator leaving even close to on time. We did straighten that out. Disappointed when after spotting two whales offshore right at the dive sites, we didn't get to go find them and snorkel with them. It was even worse when we found out the other dive boat did. Two tank dive. Vis: 50-80ft. Water: 75-77 degrees. Dive experience relied on the guide they assigned you; while other dive guides were great, ours seemed to have an attitude. Sea Eye Diving/Turks Head Inn, April 1998, Jim Urquhart, Phoenix, AZ. Great get-away-from-it-all dive location. AA from MIA then Turks and Caicos Airways to Grand Turk. Charged extra over 70 lbs. Stayed at historic (built in 1840) Turks Head Inn. Very interesting. No nightly entertainment or a five star luxury hotels. Idiosyncratic 150 year old building and laid back and friendly people. Upstairs room has a nice balcony to sit on and enjoy the garden view below. All rooms have A/C but would not recommend room #5 as it is by the kitchen and rather odoriferous. . . . Dived Cecil Inghams Sea-Eye Diving. Great bunch! Very helpful, good natured and interesting. Also recommend Gibbs Cay Snorkel and Barbecue. Free-dived for our own conchs for fresh salad. Snorkeled and fed stingrays. A mini stingray city without the crows! Great wall dives! Blackforest a must! Also a good late afternoon dive is the old pier. Pistol shrimp, anemones (knobby and corkscrew). McDonald's and the tunnels nice also. Vis: 50-150 ft. Water 79-80 degrees. The Library is a great night dive. Great wide angle photography on most dives. Don't forget to hit the duty-free in Miami as it's rather expensive for cocktails. Also Waters Edge Bar has the best fried grouper sandwiches! (Cajun style). Have fun! Sea Eye Diving/Turks Head Inn, May 1998, Beverly Tisnower, Chicago, Il. Turks Head Inn was lovely. New managers, Simon and Andrea seem very nice. Rooms are clean, comfortable, charming, and each a little different. Food was pretty good, but a bit pricey. By the way, if your package includes breakfast, as they promise it does in off-season, bring it in WRITING (print your e-mail). Packages and prices may vary, depending on who arranged your trip. . . . Sea Eye Divers turned out to be disappointing. Dive briefings were . . . brief: Pointed out the direction of the wall, and direction we would go (depending upon current that we would find out once we descended). Our divemaster was hung over a few mornings, and informed us not to follow him, because he was going "deep" (about 150 feet)! Said the "deep" cleared his head! All and all, with diving conditions as good and simple as they were, a thorough briefing was not critical. But we may have benefitted more by anticipating what we might see or look for in fish and critters! . . . Diving itself was incredible. Water 80 degrees. Vis 60-150, with most days/sites averaging about 100 ft. All wall diving, with the widest, lush assortment of corals and fish you can imagine. Only 1 or 2 morays, nurse sharks, and Hawksbill turtles, but they rounded out the week nicely. The night dive found the usual suspects (octopus, many huge bugs (lobsters), a few 2-foot crabs, and parrotfish asleep atop sponges). The highlight was 3 dolphins passing us on the wall. One was huge (10 ft), an 8 footer, and the baby was 5-6 ft. long. By the way, the wall was way too far for shore diving (we tried), but we had fun trying! . . . Gibbs Cay was a barbecue (burgers and dogs and fish, scheduled about once a week after the 2 day dives are done. It's $35 and lots of fun. They provide a little rum punch and coolers for you to bring your own or beer or whatever. They bring frozen small fish for you to feed the stingrays (some are huge). A volunteer corps goes out again to freedive for conch to make the conch salad! My buddy freedived (35 feet) for two conch, but my ears gave out halfway down. Nothing to do at night! There's a restaurant next door called the Water's Edge (mediocre food), and the restaurant at the Guanahani Hotel is very good, but a long walk. We mostly met our dive buddies for dinner and drinks, and that was it! Sea Eye Diving/Arawak Inn, June 1998, Ricky Tuss, Wilmington, DE. Beautiful, healthy, corals. Sponges in great shape and quantity. The fish life was sparse. Few pelagics, saw an eagle ray in the distance; same with a large nurse shark, hawksbill turtle, short snorkel with dolphins. Shore diving was OK. Didn't seem to be normal for people to do 4 or 5 dives a day. Sea Eye DM's were OK, but not helpful. No warning about currents. Malcolm with Sea Eye was useless. We were given freedom to dive our own profiles. Smitty did an excellent job with the Gibbs Cay trip. No water on the boat. Connie was wonderful setting up the trip. Sky King is excellent airline. Arawak Inn was super, large clean rooms. The restaurant had a limited menu, but the food was good. Limited rinse facilities for scuba equipment. Vis: 50-80 feet, water: 81-83 degrees. Nice place to get away from the rat race. Sea Eye Diving, June 1998, Steven A. Dingeldein. Fine week of diving. Smitty was one of the best divemasters I've had. He spent time showing us stuff underwater and clacked rocks he carried to get our attention. He was helpful and attentive on board and taught us things that improved our diving skills. Did night dive at the Library and another 1 hour 41 minute dive at the old pier; saw 1/2 dozen octopus and got photos of the elusive batfish! Gibb's Cay the best event of the trip. He and his son went with us on a snorkel trip to the Herald. Sea Eye Diving/Guanahani, June 1998, Glenn and Donna Puyear, Denton, TX. Just read June Undercurrent. You guys pretty well nailed it. We really like G.T. Our third trip but first one in ten years, not much has changed. Diving walls still very good. Vis: 75-100 ft. Water: 82-84 degrees. Restriction enforced for diving was 100 ft. depth limit. Sea Eye Diving/Salt Raker Inn, July 1998, Steven A. Dingeldein, M.D., Burlington, NC. Delta had engine trouble and; heck of a time getting to Fort Lauderdale in time to catch our flight with Lynx Air International. Lynx flies a 19-seat twin engine direct to Grand Turk; they delayed the flight two hours so we could make it. Flying Lynx saved $200/person over flying American to Provo and an inter-island airline to Grand Turk. Some bags didn't make it for 48 more hours thanks to Delta. Customs in Fort Lauderdale is heaven compared to Miami airport. . . . Sea Eye Diving was great. We did 15 dives including two night dives. Vis: 50-75 ft. Water: 85-90 degrees. Depth and time limits were suggested, not enforced. Dived the first day with Cecil Ingham and the rest of the time with Algrove Smitty Smith (except two Nitrox dives). Walls were breathtaking. Typically only 1 divemaster on the boat and he comes up first. They get your weight belt, and you slip off your tank and BC and they haul them aboard. Occasionally I came up earlier and getting in the boat solo with tank was tricky. Easy backroll into the water. If you want a rinse bucket for a camera let them know and they are placed on board. Surface intervals on shore; nice snorkeling. Afternoon dives if you wish. McDonalds a nice site with an arch. Lots of typical Caribbean (well, Atlantic) fish. Library with good close-up and macro possibilities. Biggest groupers at Annex, a nice site; nothing special Tiki Hut; saw green moray attack a puffer and a nice turtle. Library night dive. Great dive with all sorts of bioluminescence. Sandy Canyon: manta and turtle. Alexander the Grouper lets all of us pet him. Old Pier perhaps the best dive, done mostly at 15 feet, max 45 feet. We did a 1:41 minute dive. 5-6 octopuses, got a great photo of a spotted moray, sand diver, orange goatfish, and a batfish. Tunnels; a nice tunnel from 40 feet out over the wall at 80 feet. Smitty found all sorts of animals for us that I would have missed. Gibbs Cay snorkel trip is the highlight; Smitty, and the 4 kids bailed out of the boat and went free diving for conch. At the beach 8-10 southern stingrays were waiting for a handout, as friendly as Cayman's Stingray City but without the crowds; eagle ray joined us as well. Lunch of conch salad, hot dogs and hamburgers; snorkeled on a nice reef. Nice turtles, nurse sharks. Worth the $35/person. Snorkeled Herald, a ship that sank in 1890; free swimming sharp-tailed eel and nurse shark. Salt Raker Inn: the feel of a bed and breakfast; 12 units, 5 in the main old house and 6 in the newer unit; neat small 1 bed unit with bath in the back. Good king size bed and two twins in the connecting unit. clean and tidy. Food good. Jennie Smith (owner) and Phyllis helpful; Phyllis gave me a ride to the airport to pick up late bags. Water's Edge (nice but slow; pizza on Wednesday) and Turks Head Inn (very expensive and slow). Enjoyed Mitch, owner of Blue Water Divers, and Dave play guitar and sing one night. Showed underwater slides one night. Bought his music CD; quite good. Blue Water works with Salt Raker and most divers there were as happy with them as we were with Sea Eye. . . . Not much in the food stores. People are nice, great museum. Sea Eye Diving/Turks Head Inn, July 1998, Gary Lemme, Holiday, FL. Walls lush, with tunnels, crevasses, sand shoots, and large orange elephant ear sponges. Top of wall alive with fish life. Every site seemed to have a resident 'cuda and a few Nassau and tiger groupers, some large. Wide angle fantasy land. Our guide Malcolm was great, keeping his eye on everyone but never saying anything when I strayed, which I always did. Connie Russ was great. When I flooded my Nikonos V + 15 mm lens, she rinsed it, boxed it, and shipped it out for me. Vis wasn't the best (50-90 ft.) but the water was very warm. (Below 150' it was cold and clear). Jen and Larry of Carib. Adventures in Ft. Lauderdale (1-800-433-DIVE) for suggesting Turks Head and Sea Eye. . . . Turks Head Inn charming. Our upstairs room had porch overlooking gardens and the sea, a 4-poster bed, mini fridge, t.v., coffee maker. Food excellent. The managers Andrea and Simon wonderful people who work hard to make the Turks Head a charming and friendly hotel. They let us use their bikes anytime. They waited tables, fixed the A.C. served drinks, from sun up to sundown 7 days a week. People on the island are friendly and very nice. The only rude people we encountered all week were some spoiled divers from New York City. When my wife was sick in bed from too much sun, (use sunscreen here) the maid would sit on her bed, hold her hand and ask if she could do anything including getting my wife a doctor. Servers in the dining room and Malcolm, Smitty, Grumps, Connie and Cecil from Sea Eye were also nice. . . . Despite what they might say, there is no shore diving or snorkeling, at least around town. Wall too far to comfortably swim from shore and I am a strong swimmer, if you want afternoon dives pay $25 and take a boat dive. Library and Black Forest could be some of the worlds most beautiful night dives. Gibbs Cay trip was great, my wife loved feeding the sting rays. Sea Eye Diving/Turks Head Inn, August 1998, Judy Arbeznik, Medina, OH. Our second trip to Grand Turk. Smitty short on briefings but long on service, working with newbies and pointing out neat staff. Smitty's Special Night Dive was incredible. Turned lights off, the bioluminescence was awesome! On other dives, we sighted a lone 8' Hammerhead, a huge manta ray and hundreds of schooling juveniles. Pure white sea anemone. Did an underwater wedding with Sea Eye taking care of all the details! It was unique. Vis: 75-100 ft, water: 85-87 degrees. Turks Head Inn was very nice, clean and neat, A/C, mini-bar, (stayed at Salt Raker before but this is a step up). Food tasty, plentiful and varied but expensive (all restaurants are!) Managers Simon and Andrea were nice, pleasant and available. Staff congenial. Sea-Eye Diving/Turks Head Inn, August 1998, Thom & Betty Hall, Myrtle Beach, SC. Sea Eye put out three boats the same night. We dove McDonald's Arch. Later dove the library which was an excellent night dive. Vis: 60-80 ft, water: 80-83 degrees. Turks Head adds 10% service charge to room and meals. We loved hour plus underwater times with a divemaster. Food at Turks Head was awesome; service was great, extra clean accommodations. Providenciales Beaches, May 1998, Jason De Salvo, Montclair, NJ. Check out dive in the pool took an hour and was a complete waste of time. (I've logged over 200 dives and offered my log books). Manager of the dive operation is an arrogant kid and his attitude rubs off on other staff. Did not want to let me and my buddy buddy dive because we don't have advanced certs. After reasoning with him for 10 minutes he finally allowed us. 3 dives/day and on the boats things were fine. We dove our own profiles, in first and out last. Decent option for a family trip when you want to do a couple of dives. Vis: 40-120 ft. Water: 78-80 degrees. Dive restrictions: max. depth 110 ft., 500 psi, reasonable bottom time. (Ph: 649-946-8000, Fax: 649-946-8001) Beaches, June 1998, John W. Shanks, Jr., Tulsa, OK. Dive operation left a lot to be desired for experienced diver. They require everyone to do a refresher course, which wastes one of two tanks available as part of the package. That would have been fine if I had not dived in quite sometime or often. Caters to resort divers very well. They did try to keep the experienced divers together but time limits were the rule. I came up with +1000 psi often and that sucks! Vis: 80-100 feet, water: 78-80 degrees. Beaches, September 1998, Patrick Hammer, Alsip, IL. Vis:100 ft, water temp: 82-83 F. Beaches was great. I have been around-this was worth writing about. Club Med, October 1997, Vickie and Ron Pierce, Las Cruces, NM. Just completed a dive trip to Club Med. It was unbelievable that upon returning home mail there was the most recent undercurrent with an article on Club Med diving. We wish we had read that article before making this trip, because it very accurate. We actually had to carry all of our gear and swim several hundred yards out to the dive boats. After trying to adjust to the poor system at Club Med we ask for our money back on the diving and hired Caicos Adventures and spent 3 wonderful days doing the all day trips to West Caicos. We have made our first and last dive trip to Club Med. Club Med Turkoise, December 1997, Teresa Leisen/James Sellinger, New York, NY. Having visited this resort in June '97, we expected the same gorgeous weather. High winds and torrential downpours caused all dives to be canceled for four days. The dive team took a few diehard divers, James and I included, out diving in the storm, but 12 ft. swells caused a hasty retreat. Vis: 10-20 ft. Water: 78-80 degrees. Great divemasters. . . . Rent a jeep and drive to the Northwest tip of the island, beautiful beach with Tiki huts, remnants from an old French sitcom. Awful resort food. (Ph: 800-258-2633 or 809-946-4491, Fax: 809-946-5501) Dive Provo/Turquoise Reef, 1998, Ramona Sponseller, Fredricksburg, VA. Good, great vis 50-80 feet, even disposable underwater cameras took great pictures. Beautiful beach. Two sharks snorkeling! (black tip, white tip). Very clean island, one of the prettiest in the Caribbean. . . . Helpful, courteous people at Dive Provo. . . . Bad food, expensive, hard to get enough people to go to middle Caicos. (I went but heard many people wanted to but couldn't. I went because I was persistent. Don't really go out of the way for extras). Take you to same places every time. (The places that fill the boat). Taxi rides expensive to get around-car rentals $70 a day! (Ph: 800-234-7768 or 649-946-5029, Fax: 649-946-5936, e-mail: diveprovo@caribsurf.com, Website: www.diveprovo.com) Dive Provo/Comfort Suites, July 1998, Greg Cates, Arlington, TN. Comfort Suites new and reasonable price. Across street from beach at Turquoise Reef (being rebuilt as Allegro Diamond Resort). Vis: 75-150 ft, water: 82-86 degrees. Dive Provo gives best service. Dive Provo/Le Deck Beach Club, July 1998, Dave & Rachael Kasper, W. Bloomfield, MI. Water 82, vis: 60-100. Divemasters gave limits on depth and times (more conservative than tables). It pays big time to be first in the water out of 20+ divers because the time limits are by the clock, not your dive timer. Best diving at the Northwest Point, West Caicos and French Caye. Standard procedure is to be picked up at your hotel, process paperwork at the shop, then walk to boat or a bus ride to the opposite side of the island. Dive Provo staff transports, handles, rinses and stores your gear and deliver your rinsed gear to your hotel on the last day. Trek to West Caicos consisted of a van pickup at our hotel, a wait at the shop for a bumpy bus ride to the Sapodilla Bay departure point, a snooze on the dock awaiting the boat, and leisurely hour-plus motor over to West Caicos. Finally splashed down at 11:15 a.m. Underwater terrain beautiful, vis 80 feet, critters more plentiful than Grand Turk. Blackcap basslets swarmed around feathery black coral, queen triggerfish (one tried to open a clam by jetting water and crunching at the sturdy shell), large black margate, yellowfin grouper, schools of bar and horse-eye jacks, great barracuda. Northwest Point: pea-sized spotted juvenile smooth trunkfish, profuse black corals, Atlantic spadefish, and dramatic cracks & chimneys through the wall. If only the photographer passengers had not been so pushy, us seemingly unimportant nonphotographers might all have had a good look, Diving is fantastic, worth any delays and minor inconveniences. More people, cars, roads, and supplies than on Grand Turk. Few buildings over three stories and good landscaping, casino, golf course, and shopping districts. LeDeck has 26 rooms, each comparable in size to Holiday Inn, tiny bathroom, open closet, and a small balcony or patio facing the lush courtyard. Food at Le Jardin, their oceanfront restaurant, expensive, but great variety and fresh. Lovely beach (same as every other resort on the 12-mile Grace Bay Beach). Rock-hard, uncomfortable beds, undrinkable briny tap water (bottled water: 1.5 liters for $3 at the restaurant), tattered bath towels, bugs, Air conditioners so underpowered that they couldn't cool the room, no sympathy from the manager. All this at a hefty price. Eat there, don't stay there. Flamingo Divers/Ocean Club, July 1998, John Fortier, Jr., Pascoag, RI. Dive operation well run; boat was limited to 12 max. 2 guides. Vis: 85-90 ft, water: 80-85 degrees. Alex good at spotting critters; good attention to details and makes sure each diver feels at ease on the trip. (Ph: 809-946-4193, Fax:809-946-4193) Provo Turtle Divers/Ocean C lub, March 1998, Bill Chambers, Brooklyn, NY. Vis: 80-100 ft, water: 80 F. Good, solid operation. Excellent diving on two days when other operations canceled due to misty rain and wind. 9 eagle rays floated down the wall toward us twice. Superb. Long boat rides are a drag. Ocean Club is luxurious, large and resort. Quite a distance from other restaurants. You need a rental car or are dependent on expensive taxis. (Ph: 809-946-4232, Fax: 809-946-4326) Provo Turtle Divers/Turtle Cove, April 1998, Marjorie MacDonald, Marine City, MI. Our second trip here; better than the first time. Airline lost (for 4 days) my dive gear. Dive operator lent me every thing I needed, no charge! Very accommodating, took us wherever we wanted to dive, no hassles about gear or Buddy Diving. Couple of days it was rough. They took us by van to the boats, no problem. Vis: 100-150 ft., water: 80 degrees. Careful and considerate of our gear and cameras, video. Provo Turtle Divers/Ocean Club, May 1998, Kathy O'Connor, Virginia Beach, VA. Lots of varied diving close to Provo, e.g. Pine Cay, West Caicos-short boat rides (one half hour) the norm. Ocean Club an excellent resort. Gorgeous beach and pools, nice restaurant, large suites; well run, with Provo Turtle Divers' shop on site. Provo Turtle Divers had excellent staff, boats, photo equip. Went to best sites. Saw reef sharks and eagle rays often. Vis: 70-100 ft. Water: 81-83 degrees. Diving restrictions: 120 ft. depth and no time limits. One hour twenty minutes from Miami, everyone speaks English. The local currency is the US dollar, you can drink the tap water. Provo Turtle Divers/Erebus Inn, August 1998. Ray and Teresa Mars, Scaggsville, MD. Vis: 40-100 ft. Temp: 84-86 F. Coincided with hurricane Bonnie so not a good dive trip due to weather. Dove only three of six days; vis poor. One nurse shark allowed close approach. Weather hot and most places not air conditioned. Dive operation courteous and helpful. Boat accommodated 14 or more very well. Crew, Rock, Drew and Joan helpful; could follow guides or go on own. Erebus Inn close to dive shop and Turtle Cove restaurants. Room and towels not clean. Sheets only changed after we took off bed after 5 nights. Pool nice, room a/c great, TV from satellite. Fitness Center adjacent and well equipped. Some locals friendly, others definitely not customer oriented. Tiki Hut great food. Prices high. $50 for meals for 2. West Caicos Dive Adventures/Club Med June 1998, Pete DiPino, Elk Grove, IL. Pickering and Flamingo Divers go to the same places as Club Med. Diving was like this. Display your knowledge/ability by keeping good track of your multi level dives and you'll have a great time. If you are solo or want to dive with the guide or group plan on dealing with many beginners. Bring a partner or find somebody good to buddy with. $125 covers unlimited boat diving (up to 3/day) plus 1 night dive for 7 days! Dive 2 tank at 8:00, 1 at 2:00. Most dives are at 40-60 foot descent at a wall. Divemaster briefs on site and gives depth limits. 100 ft max to 130 ft max. with computer. Second dive: 50 ft, 40 minutes no matter how long surface interval or how shallow previous dive. Many groupers, squid, octopus on night dive, small grey reef shark, rays, angels, large healthy coral. Vis: 35-70 feet, water: 80-85 degrees. Large lobster and barracuda, 2 turtles. . . . West Caicos Adventures: Fifi, the owner showed what he promised. one large 10+ ft hammerhead shark and upon decent of lst dive at 90 ft. a 6-ft grey reef shark figure-eighted for about 5 minutes. Large groupers and jacks. Large tropicals and angels in abundance. Pate at lunch/wine for post dive shot! Food at Club Med was healthy and abundant and better then average. Service was a 10! Only drawback: you get tired of the constant commotion. Seven days/diving/air/room/food/beer and wine/sailing/skiing/windsurfing and crazy activities. From Chicago $3500 for 2. West Caicos Dive Adventures, June 1998, John W. Shanks, Jr., Tulsa, OK. Off West Caicos the clarity at the surface to the white sand bottom created a splendid turquoise. Fi-Fi, the owner, was an extraordinary individual. Saw a big eagle ray but other than that it was typical coral, fishes, and good visibility. Vis: 70-90 feet, water: 78-80 degrees. Fi-Fi tried like crazy to find something big but nature rules. We were treated well, had a good time, and I was glad I went. The 6000' wall dive was a rush. West Caicos Adventures, January 1998, Bruce Medway, Roselle Pk, NJ. Only dives West Caicos and French Key. Long boat rides (1 hr.+) but the pay off is great walls. Visibility usually 100 ft or better. Water: 78 degrees. Dive restrictions 130 max, no deco. The walls start in about 50 ft. and some sites are vertical. Many groupers, cudas, snappers, stingrays, saw eagle rays almost every dive. On our last dive, I counted 13. Salt Cay Salt Cay Divers/Mount Pleasant Guest House, January 1998, John York. Outstanding! After a $13 plane ride from Grand Turk we were not sure what to expect, but it was great. Hospitality of Bryan Sheedy at Mount Pleasant was superb. Food at Mount Pleasant was better than anything on Grand Turk. Freshly ground Kenyan coffee and bagels in the morning and fresh fish at night. Rooms were clean and the closest to the dive shop of any on the island. Diving great. Ollie our divemaster was friendly, quick with a smile and knowledgeable about the dive sites. Very professional and always gave a thorough briefing. Dove the Endymion wreck and stopped to snorkel with the humpback whales, awesome! A 45-foot humpback curiously came up to us to investigate. Incredible. (Ph: 649-946-6906, Fax: 649-946-6922, e-mail: scdivers@caribsurf.com, Website: http://exposonline.com/scuba) Salt Cay Divers/Mt. Pleasant Guest House, February 1998, Doug & Amy Daza, Evansville, IN. Guest dived with 3 humpbacks the day before we arrived. No whales during our visit. Vis: 30-100 feet. Water: 78-79 degrees. Excellent corals, fantastic walls. Point Pleasant a shallow (81-151) dive but one of the best. Lizard fish, eagle rays, southern stingrays, spotted moray, huge barracuda, numerous reef fish. . . . Small dive groups. Debbie and Ollie, the divemasters, were fantastic! 24' Carolina skiffs. Ten minute boat rides to most sites. Debbie and Ollie allow you to dive to your ability. Take a night dive with 01lie, he is always up to it and will make sure you miss nothing. Mt. Pleasant Guest House was nice. No hot water but should be fixed soon. Brian Sheedy was a great host. Felt at home right away. The food was great and plentiful. The bar is the local watering hole and prices reasonable. Locals very friendly. Best experience yet. Salt Cay Divers/Castaways, August 1998, Doris & Bob Schaffer, Fallbrook, CA. Salt Cay Divers and Debbie and Ollie are knowledgeable, competent, accommodating, flexible and fun. Use two Carolina Skiffs (fast, comfortable, efficient) and let divers dive own profiles in accordance. Vis: 30-70 ft. Water: 83-86 degrees. Food at Mt. Pleasant Guest House is very good but the facility is overwhelmed by more guests than it can handle. Finally gave up, went marketing (at Grand Turk) and cooked most meals ourselves. South Caicos Club Carib, August 1997, Lynn Willis, Madeira Beach, FL. Remote location, desolate, dry, not lush. No shopping, island people are not the most friendly. The resort promised things it could not deliver (except the quality of diving). We were promised unlimited diving, trips to offshore island, BBQ, deserted beach (resort located on a cliff), bicycles (flat tires), bar, band and karaoke, (the bar closed at 8 p.m.), refrigerators in rooms (none). Staff revoked working papers (which were reinstated a day later). Dive staff quit. Management had attitude. Staff did not want to do night dives. They did finally work with us and we did enjoy our stay. But if was rough going the first few days. Diving was 2-1 tank dives per day. No beach diving unless 8' of water is diving. Vis: 70-100 ft. Water: 80-83 degrees. Diving restrictions: depth limits of 130 ft. Club Carib, August 1997, Tina Lewis, St. Petersburg, FL. We were sold unlimited diving but got two dives a day. Vis: 75-100 ft. Water: 82-85 degrees. Walls started at 60 ft to 70 ft. No shallow diving. Several other things we were sold didn't surface but we could live without: TV, refrigerators, bicycles, live band, TV/VCR in lounge. 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