Miami, Florida, lie the Turks & Caicos Islands, mostly undeveloped and sporting a largely unexplored underwater paradise. With a unique history that includes pirates, numerous shipwrecks, visits by Christopher Columbus and Ponce de Leon, Loyalist plantations, German submarines, railroads, Indians, and salt rakers, these islands convey a mystic that few other islands in the Caribbean can match. Fast becoming one of the premier Caribbean travel destinations, the Turks & Caicos Islands attract thousands of visitors each year who come for the superb scuba diving, snorkelling, sportfishing, and sailing.With the Turks & Caicos Islands surrounded by more than 200 miles of fringing reefs, divers and snorkellers find an amazing underwater panorama just beneath the surface. The shorelines offer gorgeous stretches of sandy beaches, numerous secluded coves, and shallow snorkelling reefs for those willing to search for a little piece of paradise off the beaten track. If exploration is not for you, several excellent snorkelling reefs are also easily accessible on all the islands either from shore or via boat excursions. This underwater paradise is also accessible, via glass bottom boat tours, to those visitors who would rather not get their heads wet.
The tiny nation of the Turks & Caicos Islands includes two groups of islands - the Turks Islands, with one island and 10 cays, and the Caicos Islands, with six islands and 30 cays. These islands sit atop two banks of land which rise nearly 10,000 feet from the ocean floor.
The Caicos Islands lie along the northern edge of the roughly triangular shaped, shallow, submerged plateau of the Caicos Bank. Separated from the Bahamas by the 30 mile wide deep water Caicos Passage, this bank extends over 50 miles to the south of Providenciales. With shallow turquoise water less that 25 feet deep, this sand bank sustains a wealth of small coral heads and reef patches, sea grasses, sponges, cushion starfish, lobster, and conch.
To the southeast of the Caicos Bank and separated by the 22 mile wide deep water channel of the Columbus Passage, is the much smaller Turks Bank. The Turks Islands sit along the western edge of this elongated, submerged plateau.
The formation of the Turks & Caicos Islands began approximately 130 million years ago with the accumulation of limestone deposits from reef building corals. This slow growing animal lives only on the outer layer of a limestone base or skeleton that has built up over the ages. The coral base is then inhabited by sponges, tunicates, algae, soft corals, and an assortment of vertebrates and invertebrates forming an amazing variety of shapes and colours on the reef.
By simply putting on a mask and sticking your face underwater, you can see why divers have ranked the Turks & Caicos Islands as one of the top ten dive destinations in the world. The islands' slogan, "Beautiful by Nature" aptly describes this underwater paradise.
Divers are attracted here for the dramatic vertical walls, visibility averaging 60 to over 120 feet, water temperatures ranging from 75 degrees F in the winter to 88 degrees F in the summer, healthy reefs, large fish populations, and the opportunity to dive with large pelagics like sharks, turtles, eagle rays, manta rays, and maybe even Humpback Whales!
A whole new world exists just under the surface for those adventurous enough to explore it, and visiting the underwater world has never been easier. Although not a scuba diving certification which is required to dive nearly everywhere in the world, a PADI (Professional Association of Diving Instructors) program called Discover Scuba Diving will allow non-divers to experience diving. You can be in the water discovering new and exciting vistas in a few short hours.
Scuba diving is relatively easy and safe as long as divers use the appropriate dive equipment and follow some basic safety recommendations, but since diving can be strenuous, participants should be reasonably fit, in good health, and be competent swimmers. Children as young as ten can participate in the Discover Scuba Diving program so this is a great way for parents and children to share an exceptional experience together exploring our vast underwater world.
After spending about one hour reviewing some important safety considerations, learning about the equipment, and how to communicate underwater, the Discover Scuba Diving participant will practice some basic dive skills in a short pool session with an Instructor. Once these short segments are completed, participants are ready to explore the beautiful reefs of the Turks & Caicos with their Instructor.
For those certified divers wishing to improve dive skills or try new activities, a PADI Adventure Dive might be the answer. Economical, easy to complete, and with several types of dives to choose from, Adventure Dives will enhance the enjoyment of the underwater world while introducing new dive skills and activities. The PADI Underwater Photography Adventure Dive is a great way to capture your dive memories. The PADI Peak Performance Buoyancy Adventure Dive will help divers fine-tune their buoyancy through breath control and weight positioning, help conserve air, avoid damage to the reef, and allow the diver to be more comfortable underwater. This is also a great dive if considering underwater photography as divers learn how to closely approach a subject without doing damage to the reef or scaring the subject away. The PADI Fish Identification Adventure Dive covers basic fish groupings and characteristics making fish identification easier. A little paperwork and a short review of important information prior to the dive, and then you simply make a dive with a PADI Instructor and complete a few simple skills on the dive (taking photos, practicing buoyancy, recording fish, etc.).
Whether you decide to try an Adventure Dive or just explore the reef, you will find numerous areas and dive sites to visit. Dive operators are often asked which dive site or area in the Turks & Caicos is the best, and while each may have a favourite dive site, environmental conditions may dictate when certain areas can be visited or make one area or site better than others on a particular day. For example, outgoing tides often reduce visibility as the water swept off the shallow banks becomes clouded with silt and plankton. Typically visibility is better with an incoming tide as clean water from the deep moves across the dive sites. The dive operators are the experts, and they will select the areas and sites offering the calmest conditions and best visibility based upon environmental factors.
Dive areas throughout the Turks & Caicos each have unique characteristics and, in some cases, unique aquatic life. Most areas are accessible to all dive skill or certification levels, but if in doubt ask the dive operator. A number of dive and snorkelling guide books for the Turks & Caicos are also available, which can supply additional information on specific dive sites although many newer dive sites may not be included.
Only 21 miles long, Providenciales (better known as Provo) is the most populated island and the largest center of tourism in the Turks & Caicos. Reputed to be named for the ill-fated French ship La Providentielle, which wrecked on a nearby reef, it has become the favourite Caribbean hide-away for the rich, famous, and those just wanting a quiet, relaxing, convenient getaway.
Most diving off Provo takes place primarily within two marine parks - Princess Alexandra National Park along the north shore and Northwest Point Marine National Park on the northwest end of the island.
The Princess Alexandra National Park extends from Thompson's Cove on the west end to Little Water Cay on the east end. In this area commonly called Grace Bay, approximately 20 dives sites, many with permanent moorings, are located just outside the barrier reef. The short 15 to 20 minute boat rides from Turtle Cove Marina make them popular with those divers either prone to sea sickness or just wanting a little shorter dive day.
The fore reef or upper reef slope along Grace Bay begins between 30 and 50 feet depending upon the site and offers a vast array of soft corals, sponges, and juveniles of many fish species. Recesses in the coral often shelter lobsters and crabs, while Hawksbill turtles and nurse sharks may be found in the shallows. Flamingo tongues abound on the soft corals, and with good observations skills divers will also find nudibranchs on many of the sites.
Exaggerated spur and groove formations are the norm on several of the Grace Bay sites. The spurs are visible as high coral ridges running out to deeper water while the grooves are deep channels of sand, hardpan, or rubble. Pillar coral formations dot the reef top and leading edge of the wall on several sites. Walls vary from gentle terraced, roll-offs to sheer mini-walls, dropping to plateaus at depths of around 100 to 130 feet, before eventually dropping into the abyss of the Atlantic. Huge schools of Atlantic spadefish, horse-eye jacks, and chubs are often seen along the top of the wall.
Tidal changes, northerly winds, and ground swells can drastically affect visibility and currents along the Grace Bay area. Occasional summer plankton blooms may also reduce visibility, but with the bloom comes more abundant fish life and the rare possibility of seeing a giant manta or whale shark.
Popular sites along Grace Bay include Aquarium, Grouper Hole, Pinnacles, Piranha Cove, and the Grotto. This shallow dive and snorkelling site has a maximum depth of about 25 feet and is inundated with caverns, holes, and recesses commonly hiding sleeping nurse sharks and large schools of silversides. Since the Grotto is located very close to the barrier reef, the best conditions exist when the winds are from the southeast and there is little or no ground swell.
Just to the east of Provo near Pine Cay is the Fort George Land and Sea Park offering some excellent snorkelling and a glimpse back in history. Snorkellers will find cannons from a 1790s British fort near shore in only four feet of water. The five named dive sites just off Pine Cay (Football Field and Eagle Ray Pass are the two most popular) can be reached in a 30 to 40 minute boat ride from Turtle Cove Marina.
With reef tops of 35 to 50 feet deep, the upper reef consists of spur and groove formations running out to the steeply sloping reef wall. A great diversity of soft corals, sponges, boulder, brain, and plate corals are found here, and large schools of grunts and snappers are also common with occasional sharks and rays.
Located on the northwest end of Provo and extending from the northernmost tip of the island to just south of Malcolm Beach, is the Northwest Point Marine National Park with about fifteen named dive sites, many with permanent dive moorings.
Accessible from both the north and south sides of the island, this area has vertical walls starting at 35 to 45 feet, shallow fore reefs, swim-throughs exiting at varying depths on the wall, a variety of purple and yellow tube sponges, large elephant ear sponges, and large groupers, making it a favourite of both novices and experienced divers.
Popular sites include Eel Garden, Chimney, the Crack, and Amphitheater, where divers can swim through a 10 to 15 foot undercut area of the wall at about 85 feet. Black coral trees and tube sponges sprout from the wall offering some stunning photo opportunities.
The fringing reef running from the north side of Provo to West Caicos also offers numerous dive sites. There are no dive moorings along this stretch of reef, but large sand areas allow easy, secure anchorage. Razor's Edge and Tons of Sponges offer some fantastic diving with the opportunity for close-up encounters with spotted eagle rays, sharks, and turtles. Both are only about 45 minutes by boat from South Side Marina.
Tons of Sponges is also home to several large southern stingrays that can usually be found buried in the sand near the anchor point. The rising ridge of coral that runs along the edge of this sand area contains a number of recesses where channel clinging crabs, spotted drums, and eels are often found.
About ten miles southwest of Provo is the island of West Caicos. This six mile long island, with its unique history of pirates, salt rakers, a Loyalist plantation, German U-boats, and drug runners, has become identified with some of the best wall diving in the world. While much of the north and east sides of West Caicos is less than ten feet deep and dotted with numerous coral heads, offering some great snorkelling, the west side of the island is rugged iron shore with ancient exposed reef toward the southern end of the island. Just a few hundred yards off shore, stretches more than two miles of dramatic underwater walls.
Although requiring a more extended dive day (1 hour boat rides from South Side Marina), the West Caicos Marine National Park offers virgin diving at its best with pristine sheer walls and a wide variety of marine life. With about twenty named dive sites, visibility typically over 100 feet, and calm surface conditions, West Caicos is a favourite with both divers and dive operators. Novice and experienced divers can explore shallow sites with maximum depths of 45 feet, like Mickey's Place or Coney Island, where nurse sharks are often encountered in the small caves along the mini wall. The top of this mini wall is dotted with fire coral, sun anemones, and sink holes, most containing giant anemones.
Most divers, however, visit West Caicos to experience the dramatic walls dropping off into the abyss of the Caicos Passage. The upper reef starts between 45 to 55 feet deep with large sand basins on the north end of the island to more lush coral encrusted upper slopes on the south end of the island. Large stands of pillar coral, tube sponges, soft corals, and giant barrel sponges are common on the upper reef.
Walls may be sheer drop-offs of more than 6000 feet on some sites (Land of the Giants) or the more common double walls (Whiteface, Driveway, Boat Cove and Gully) where the first wall drops to around 150 to 200 feet, plateaus out for several hundred feet, before dropping off into deep water. Several sites (Wayne's Place, Driveway, and Magic Mushroom) also have coral buttresses extending out from the wall face into deep water. Undercuts and crevices are common and make excellent hiding places for channel clinging crabs, lobsters, and the occasional juvenile or adult spotted drum, moray eel, or Hawksbill turtle.
At the south end of the island is a site named Whiteface (aka Spanish Anchor). The focal point of this site is a short, partially enclosed sand chute starting on the top of the wall around 50 feet and exiting on the wall at about 77 feet. A five foot tall, coral encrusted ship's anchor from the 1700s is embedded in the wall of the chute. This site is also the territory of a six foot reef shark, nicknamed Stanley, who occasionally swims quite close to divers offering great photo opportunities. Just at the entrance to the chute, an adult spotted drum and a large channel clinging crab can usually be found peeking from the crevices in the coral.
At the north end of the island at the Gully is another semi-enclosed swim-through beginning at around 55 feet and coming out on the wall at about 85 feet. A large colony of brown garden eels inhabits the sand basin near the mooring. Just to the north of the swim-through are two scarlet-striped cleaning shrimp that will offer a free manicure to the patient diver. A rare red banded lobster can also often be found near the exit point on the wall, as well as, a giant anemone and an azure vase sponge.
The dive sites Sunday Service and Isle's End on the south end of West Caicos display a more gently rolling terraced wall with less prominent coral formations. These sites tend to have more soft corals, and divers frequently see basket starfish, hamlets, and schools of juvenile barracuda. A rarely seen batfish and a honeycomb moray eel have also been found near the old mooring on Sunday Service.
While Southwest Reef is not a commonly dove area, it offers a nice change of pace. An old anchor embedded in the reef top reminds divers of the perils faced by ancient mariners visiting our shores. Located at the southeast end of West Caicos, this area has a deeper reef slope of 50 to 70 feet. Even though the walls can be quite sheer, they are not as impressive as those of nearby West Caicos. Due to strong currents, variable visibility, and the lack of dive moorings, most dive operators only visit this area when conditions elsewhere are unfavourable for diving.
Located between French Cay and Southwest Reef is Molasses Reef, the site of the oldest known European shipwreck discovered in the America's. Believed to have sunk in 1515, the wreck was excavated from 20 feet of water in the 1980s, and the artifacts retrieved are on display at the Turks & Caicos National Museum on Grand Turk. Since little evidence of the wreck remains, most diving takes place on the deep water side along the wall where spotted eagle rays, sharks, and Nassau groupers are common.
About 18 miles south of Provo on the southern edge of the Caicos Bank, is the small uninhabited island of French Cay. Part of the Bush & Seal Cays National Sanctuary, this sand island is home to numerous nesting birds and rock iguanas. During late summer, nurse sharks invade the area to breed in the shallows around the island.
With several established dive sites but only two moorings, French Cay can quickly become crowded. The upper reef slope at French Cay starts at about 40 to 45 feet. Very indistinct spur and groove formations direct divers out to deep water where dramatic, and often sheer, walls form a backdrop for deep water gorgonians, sponges, and black coral.
Scalloped hammerheads, nurse, and reef sharks, spotted eagle rays, giant mantas, and turtles are occasionally seen here. From January to late March, this is also a favourite for divers hoping to catch a glimpse of humpback whales on their migration to and from the Silver Banks off the Dominican Republic. Huge schools of horse-eye jacks and large barracudas are often seen on the upper reef slope. Spotted scorpionfish can be found sitting patiently on the bottom waiting for the unwary fish to venture too close.
These types of sightings make French Cay a favourite and frequently requested location, but unfortunately, weather is a determining factor in being able to dive this area. Strong winds can make for rougher sea conditions than those found at West Caicos, Northwest Point, and Grace Bay. Visibility is also quite variable and can drop from over 100 feet to less than 40 feet when the outgoing tide carries the silt and plankton from the Caicos Bank out over the reef.
On the southeastern edge of the Caicos Bank is the small island of South Caicos. The Admiral Cockburn Land and Sea Park, including about fourteen dive sites, is located on the southern end of South Caicos and extends along the east side of Long Cay.
Popular sites include the Airplane Wreck and The Arch. Both sites offer spur and groove formations on the upper reef with the top of the wall starting at about 60 feet. There is a shallow plateau between 85 and 110 feet before dropping into the abyss of the Columbus Passage. Since South Caicos no longer has a dive operation, diving must be arranged with a private charter from one of the other islands.
The Turks Bank, with only three main dive areas, lies just across the Columbus Passage below South Caicos.
Located on the west side of Grand Turk, the Columbus Landfall National Park, containing about twenty dive sites, is best known for the short boat rides, spectacular walls, and unusual marine life like sea horses and frog fish, which are seldom seen elsewhere in the Turks and Caicos.
With the lip of the wall just 25 to 50 feet deep, and many sites protected from the prevailing trade winds most of the year, these are popular dive sites for both new and experienced divers. Two "must do" trips include a shore dive or snorkel excursion at the Old Pier/South Dock. Macro photographers will find this a favourite dive, but check with local dive operators before making a shore dive here as the new cruise ship dock construction may make this site off limits. A visit to Gibb's Cay, just east of Grand Turk, also offers the opportunity to snorkel with friendly southern stingrays.
Seven miles south of Grand Turk sits the small island of Salt Cay. Only about two and one half square miles in size and with a population of a little over sixty people, this island is best known for its history of salt raking, which ended as recently as 1970, and the migration of humpback whales during the winter months.
Most dive sites are only five to ten minute boat rides. Some excellent snorkelling and shallow shore diving can be found in depths of only 25 feet. Divers can explore around the huge stands of pillar and elkhorn coral, and in a number of caverns, swim-throughs, and overhangs, which offer a myriad of hiding places for fish and lobster. Occasionally a tarpon or spotted eagle ray may even make a brief visit to the area. Sixteen miles south of Salt Cay is the unsalvaged wreck of the 1790s British man-o-war, HMS Endymion. Broken up, the wreck, along with several exposed cannons and anchors, sits on the reef in about 40 feet of water. Two other wrecks also lie nearby. Best diving is between May and November when conditions are the calmest although currents and surge are nearly always present. Lots of fish and healthy corals inhabit the reef, which in places comes to within 15 feet of the surface.
Good buoyancy skills and close attention to depth and bottom time are essential when diving in the Turks and Caicos to reduce the risk of decompression sickness. The deeper depths of many of the upper reef slopes and walls offer very little opportunity to reduce accumulated nitrogen at the end of the dive so, for added safety, the use of a dive computer is recommended. Although we do have a state-of-the-art recompression chamber on Providenciales, divers will find the better place to spend their vacation time is underwater.
We hope you are able to visit some of our wonderful dive and snorkel areas while here. To find out more about diving or snorkelling and available trips during your visit, please contact any of the dive or snorkel operators listed in this publication. For more information about the Turks & Caicos Islands and its history check out "A Brief Introduction to the TCI," "Historic Highlights," and "Our Other Islands" found elsewhere in this magazine.
