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Onboard with Provo Turtle Divers

by David Miner

Seven thousand foot walls with deep blue, crystal clear water and magnificent corals, sponges, and marine life awaken a kindred ocean spirit in all divers who beckon to take the plunge. The Turks and Caicos Islands are tucked away on the border of the Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea, just north of Puerto Rico and southeast of the Bahamas. White limestone peaks project from the water creating odd-shaped islands, which cater to our terra-firma designed bodies, but also creating magical, deep walls just offshore to satisfy our need to submerge below the waves and dive some of the best walls anywhere in the world. The Turks and Caicos Islands are a wall diver’s dream come true.

If you’ve never done a wall dive, then dropping into the water and swimming out over a wall, especially one that drops to 7,000 feet deep, is an exhilarating experience. The water is so blue in the Turks and Caicos that the deeper you look down the wall, the blacker the water gets. In some places, the walls are so vertical that it looks like you’d drop straight to 7,000 feet if you dumped all the air in your BC. In other places, the walls stair step slowly with ledges, overhangs, and outcroppings making for interesting exploration.

The walls are located just offshore the island providing several different dive profiles. The tops and lips of the walls are typically in 45 to 65 feet of water. Drifting down the walls can take you anywhere from 65 feet deep to well over hundred feet deep on any give dive. The tops of the walls are teeming with marine life, spectacular corals and sponges, and beautiful rippled white sandy patches. The lips of the walls and face of the walls are also teeming with all kinds of fish, spectacularly large sponges and corals, and the occasional sightings of reef sharks, hammerhead sharks, sea turtles, manta rays, spotted eagle rays, and large schools of jacks and other types of fish. Life is thriving on the walls, especially the corals and sponges. It’s amazing just how large barrel sponges can grow! Water temperatures averaged around 80 degrees Fahrenheit. We chose to dive full 3mm wetsuits and added a 2mm vest when needed.

For our wall diving adventure, we flew into and stayed in Providenciales, referred to as “Provo” for short. Provo is one of eight islands and some 40 cays. The islands are a British Dependent Territory and are generally flat, with a few rolling hills. The climate is mild with an average temperature of 83 degrees F, but summer month temperatures can reach 90 to 95. Consistent easterly trade winds temper the hot days and keep it comfortable. The local people are termed “Belongers” and are primarily descendants of African slaves who were brought to the islands to work on the salt ponds and cotton plantations. The islanders are very friendly and helpful and work in the many tourist-related jobs on the islands. Provo is one of the main attraction areas of the islands and offers some of the best diving opportunities. We explored those diving opportunities during our four days of diving.

Dive day one: Northwest Caicos
Dive sites: Amphitheater and Eel Garden

On day one, we were picked up at our hotel at 8:30 AM. The bus stopped at several other hotels picking up divers who were visiting from all over the world. The bus ride offered us the ability to see other parts of the island and some of the other hotels as we made our way to Turtle Cove Marina, home for Provo Turtle Diver’s dive shop and dive boats. After checking in and signing the waivers, we boarded Chuck’s Honey, a 46-foot Newton dive boat, picked our spot and began setting up our gear. The captain briefed us on the boat’s safety features, introduced the crew, and quickly got us on our way to the first dive site, Amphitheater.

Being that Amphitheater was our first dive site, we didn’t know what to expect. Dropping into the water, visibility was top to bottom and white sandy patches and coral mounds littered the bottom 45 feet below. Peering further, the water turned a dark blue and the bottom vanished. There it was, the first big wall of the trip. Dropping to the bottom, we kicked excitedly out to the lip of the wall, where the bottom turned vertical and vanished deep into the abyss. Swimming down the wall, we could tell instantly how healthy the reef was. Large growth of sponges and corals blanketed the wall. Plate corals covered large areas and looked like a protective armor. We maintained an 85 to 100 foot depth hoping not to miss anything. Marine life abounded in every nook and cranny. We couldn’t help think, we still had three more days of diving to go!

After reaching a good turnaround point, we moved up the wall to the lip to begin our swim back towards the boat. The top of the wall offered spectacular views in all directions. Huge barrel sponges, corals, and fish of all kinds filled the frame of every shot. There was no shortage of marine life to check out. We were keeping a good lookout just off the wall in case a large critter decided to swim by. Luckily for us, we caught a reef shark cruising down the wall on a nice morning swim. We were in his playground, enjoying the things he sees everyday.

Back at the boat, we burned up our gas exploring the large coral heads teeming with life just under the boat. With time running out, we pulled our safety stop and climbed back on the boat knowing that that was just our first dive and there were many more coming.

Our second dive for the day was at Eel Garden, another great wall dive offering sightings of all kinds or marine life. The area is aptly named Eel Garden due to the large number of ribbon eels making their home in the bright, white sand on top of the wall. Their heads and a portion of their bodies stuck straight up from holes in the sand keeping watch on everything that swam by. They ducked away deep in their holes when our large figures approached. The dive was another fantastic wall dive with huge sponges and corals projecting from the wall. Every inch of the wall had growth of some kind. Small tropical fish, grouper, spanish mackerel, and angel fish cruised the giant aquarium we were diving in making for a great second dive.

Back on the boat, the captain fired the engines and pointed the boat in the direction of Turtle Cove Marina. This day of diving had ended, but three more days awaited and we new they would be great.

Dive day two: Northwest Caicos and West Caicos
Dive sites: Grand Canyon and Rock Garden Interlude

On day two, we boarded Chuck’s Honey, which was our dive boat for the entire trip, headed out of the marina, through the channels, and out the break in the fringe reef surrounding the island. Northwest Caicos was our destination for dive one, and after rounding the tip of the island, we moored to a dive site known as Grand Canyon. In some ways, all of these wall dives could have “Grand Canyon” in their name with that massive 7,000-foot drop.

Grand Canyon offered many of the same experiences as day one. The massive wall, clear blue water, and magnificent marine life were intoxicating. The allure of the wall, beckoning you to go deeper and deeper, was a powerful feeling. It was hard to realize just how deep you were with these incredible conditions without looking at your depth gauge.

For dive two, the captain headed for West Caicos, a small island (mostly uninhabited right now) further west. Just offshore West Caicos, the wall created numerous dive sites and Rock Garden Interlude was first up. Giant striding off the back of the boat in calm seas and into clear, blue water required little persuasion from the boat crew. When the dive gate opened, little time was wasted before we were swimming in another world.

The wall peeled away and bent straight down just like on our other dives with incredible sized growth of tube sponges, searods, barrel sponges, and hard corals. The plate corals again looked like armor plating covering and protecting the wall from intruders. After spending about 45 minutes looking at everything possible, we surfaced to the finale of day two. On the way back to the dock, we polished off the fruit and snacks provided by the boat crew, soaked up some rays, and talked about the great things we’ve seen so far.

Dive day three:

West CaicosDive sites: The Gulley and Driveway

Again we were picked up at our hotel at 8:30 AM, but this time we headed to the south side of the island where we parked the boat the day before. Moving the boat made for a shorter boat ride to West Caicos, the day’s diving destination. After about a 50-minute boat ride, we moored to our first dive site, The Gulley, quickly suited up, paired up with our dive master, and plunged into the water. Coral mounds abounded on top of wall

The Gulley is aptly named, with a beautiful cutout in the lip and top of the wall offering a fun swim through. The swim through starts on top of the wall and ends on the face of the wall, where you emerge into a giant, blue void with the floor dropping straight down. It’s like opening a door and stepping out into nothingness. Cruising out away from the wall with nothing between you and the bottom but 7,000 feet of water is a very cool feeling. It’s as close to a space walk as you’ll probably ever get. Again, the usual suspects of marine life pleased our watching eye, but in addition, we were blessed with a sea turtle sharing his space with us. It appeared that he was in search of breakfast and wasn’t worried at all with our presence.

Driveway was the second dive of the day with another fantastic wall experience and marine life galore. After almost 45 minutes of exploring the area, we returned to the boat to find a large school of Jacks circling under the boat. It made for a quick safety stop but also offered some great video and photo opportunities. The Jacks seemed to love the camera as they continued to cruise by to see what was going on.

Dive day four: West Caicos and Northwest Caicos
Dive sites: Spanish Anchor and Boat Cove
Night dive: Northwest Caicos
Dive site: Aquarium West

We awoke for our last day of diving, knowing that we had two morning dives planned and a night dive to cap off the trip. It was a little bittersweet, as we couldn’t wait to go diving, but knowing that it was all soon to be over for this trip.

West Caicos was again our destination as there were still some great dives we hadn’t done there yet. First up was Spanish Anchor, which is a fantastic swim-through cutout in the top and lip of the wall containing a boat anchor that has become part of the reef and dating back 300 to 400 years. It’s believed that the anchor was from Spanish ships that explored this area a long time ago. The anchor hangs straight down looking as if it’s still doing its job. It’s rusty and grown into the reef, but still well intact and easily recognizable for being 300 to 400 years old and submerged in saltwater.

After an hour or so surface interval, we made our way to the last dive of the day, Boat Cove. Boat Cove gets its name because there is a small cove on the island where you moor to the reef. Boat Cove also had a great swim through cutout, massive barrel sponges and corals, and the same great wall experience we’ve had the whole trip. We stayed down as long as possible soaking up everything we could. We only had one dive left, the night dive, before heading home.

The night dive took place just offshore from Turtle Cove Marina at a great dive site called Aquarium West. Heading our before dark, we prepped dive gear, checked our lights, and discussed the reef. This wasn’t a wall dive, but a reef in 50 to 65 feet of water. The moon was full as the sun set offering excellent ambient light. The reef is a spectacular “aquarium” like playground for fish species of all kinds and tons of other interesting critters. On our dive alone, we saw four different kinds of lobster, a spiny lobster, spotted lobster, slipper lobster, and a red-banded lobster. The other great thing about the night dive were the number of glow worms drifting through the water, turning on and off, creating a dance of light. Turning off our lights, we watched in amazement of just how many glow worms there were and how much light they really gave off. It was a great finale to our four days of diving and something we would never forget.

Divingindepth.com hooked up with Provo Turtle Diver’s for four days of incredible wall diving. You can’t go wrong with this outfit. They make it very easy for you, which is nice when you’re on vacation. Each morning they pick you up at your hotel with the Provo Turtle Diver bus and take you to the boat. At the end of the day, they take you back to your hotel.

They have two of the best dive boats available, a 36-foot and a 46-foot Newton specifically designed for diving. The boats offer friendly gear accommodation, camera tables, fresh water showers, standup heads, plenty of seating, smooth rides to and from the dive sites, and a sundeck to catch some rays. Provo Turtle Diver’s staff and crew are very accommodating and helpful. Dive masters accompany you on every dive, and they keep the dive groups small…typically three to six divers per dive master. Dive days are based on two-tank trips and usually last around six hours depending on where you’re diving. Fruit, snacks, and drinks are available after every dive. If you need dive gear, Provo Turtle Diver’s can take care of that with their full line of rental gear. Tanks and weights are provided, and if you want to dive nitrox, they’ll pump that for you as well for an additional charge. If you’re looking for a full-service dive shop and charter that will take you to the best diving in the area and cater to your every diving need, then you can’t go wrong with Provo Turtle Diver’s. Check out their website at www.provoturtledivers.com, call them at 800-833-1341, or email them at info@ProvoTurtleDivers.com.

Staying in Provo offers all of the same amenities as home. There are many hotels ranging from very expensive, luxurious resorts to small, private hotels tucked away from the hustle of a big resort. We opted for small and private and stayed at the Caribbean Paradise Inn. It’s a small and quiet hotel, but offers nice rooms, a continental breakfast, a pool, and only a few minutes walk to one of the best beaches in the world, Grace Bay Beach. Provo Turtle Diver’s has a list of some hotels to stay where you can book your diving and room as a package deal. Go to http://www.provoturtledivers.com/Resort.html.

There are many great restaurants on the island, ranging from very expensive to moderately expensive. Food was definitely more expensive than we expected, so make sure you plan accordingly. Many of the restaurants are spread out on the island, so having a rental car or picking up a bus trolley pass is recommended. Most of the other sporting activities are centered around the water and include fishing, sailing, windsurfing, sea kayaking, snorkeling, and boating. The islands also offer golfing, tennis, horseback riding, and beautiful national parks and reserves, which offer wilderness hiking and exploring. Shopping is also available throughout Provo.

There are a number of major airlines flying into Provo, so shop around for the best fares. We flew Delta, but US Airways and American also fly to Provo, as well as several others.

The Turks and Caicos Islands are home to some of the best wall dives anywhere, so if diving walls is on the top of your list, you can’t go wrong planning a trip here. Spectacular marine life, visibility, and blue water make for some incredible diving. The Islands are going through a drastic change with the influx of resorts and condos, but there are still places to stay and go that are quiet and reflect the “island style,” so head to the Turks and Caicos Islands and get your wall diving fix.