Diving Pictures

I still plan to get Dewey to write about his diving in Turks & Caicos but until then, here's some pictures. All pictures were taken by Jane & Mickey at Flamingo Diving.

Tuesday - Our Last Day!

I went into definite "mopey" mode today. It was our last day in paradise & I was not happy about heading back to the "arctic tundra" (which is what I call Calgary). Dewey told me to cheer up and make the most of our last day.

We decided to borrow the sea kayaks from Marta and Barry to head to a couple of beaches just outside the Harbour Club marina. These beaches can only be reached by boat. I was a little worried about kayaking b/c I had never done it before. I realized that you had to have some amount of balance to keep from tipping them and even on my best day I am not exactly "graceful". Thankfully it was a lot easier than I feared and everything went well. We had the whole beach to ourselves. Dewey laid on the sand while I donned my mask and snorkel to see if there was anything to see. There were some rock jetties that jutted out into the ocean that had a bit of fish/reef life. It was a very relaxing morning.

After we headed back to the villa we decided to go to Grace Bays to further our "kite boarding search". No sailing of any kind was going on so we decided to head over to Barefoot cafe for lunch. Afterward we were headed back to the villa when Dewey spied kites off in the distance. We headed over to see what was shaking. We watched the kiteboarders for about 1/2 an hour which just made Dewey even more upset that he didn't get a chance to try kiteboarding on this trip. He will definitely be trying it on the next trip we make where it is offered!

Dewey wanted to head to Hole In the Wall for our last night but Marta and I convinced him that another restaurant would be better for our last night in Provo. We headed down to Mango Reef at the Royal West Indes resort. We both ordered the grilled lobster. The fixed price "meal" also came with an appetizer. Dewey got the conch fritters and I got the mixed greens salad with goat cheese croutons. Both appetizers were very good but it ended up being way to much food. Next time we would share and appy and get another lobster a'la carte. It was a great ending to a wonderful week!

Monday

Monday was another diving day for Dewey. I did NOT want to spend another day at the villa waiting on him to come back so I decided to brave the left side driving to go to the beach. I did not have the nerve to brave the roundabouts so I decided to go to Dog Beach near the villa. I had the entire beach all to myself. I took a book and made a morning of it.

Dewey got back right after lunch. We decided to drive to Long Bay to see a part of the island we hadn't seen before. One of the ladies on the dive boat had told Dewey that they might be kite boarding out there that afternoon. If so, she would let Dewey try out her board. Unfortunately we didn't find them but we did get to see a new lovely part of the island. At first we could not figure out where the access road was for the beach. People definitely frown on people using their private drives for beach access but often the access roads are not marked and are hard to find. We found two that didn't work (one was too sandy & we got stuck & one had a car stuck halfway up it and blocking the road) before we found one that went straight to the beach. We decided to have a nice stroll along the beach. The beach was littered with old broken conch shells from the years of conch fishing off the shores. It was a very interesting sight.

After we returned to the villa, we went to watch the sunset with Barry and Marta. It's amazing how fast the sunsets are in the Carribean! You think you have lots of sunset left & then zip it's gone. We decided to go the Hemingway's on the Beach at the Sands Resort for dinner. Mickey from Flamingo Divers had recommended it. I was a little afraid that we might not get in since we did not have reservation. The host at the restaurant was very gracious and found us a table. Dewey had the grilled lobster and I had the lobster pasta. Both were very good. We will definitely eat there when we go back to visit.

Sunday

Since yesterday's snorkeling experience was so awesome we decided to do some more today! We snorkeled at Coral Gardens but did not see much this time. The sun wasn't as bright so the colors of the reef were quite muted. No "big" (rays, turtles, etc) sea life either. After Coral Gardens we headed over to Smith's reef. We got to feel like "old pros" there b/c we could explain to another couple where to enter the water & where the reef was. The highlight of this snorkel trip was spotting a ray. I definitely recommend both Coral Gardens and Smith's reef as great snorkeling sights. Coral Gardens is much more popular but Smith's reef is shallower so you get to see much more "small" reef life like christmas tree worms, anemones, etc.

One of the guys Dewey & I work with has relatives that live in Turks & Caicos. He told us they work at a restaurant & bar called Calico Jack's in the Ports of Call Plaza near Grace Bay. We decided to head over there for dinner since we figured they would be showing the Super Bowl. Dewey had a burger and I had the Grouper sandwich. The food was good and the ambience was okay. It was fun to eavesdrop on the group there to watch the Super Bowl. It was quite a mixed crew. Overall it was a good dinner....not one of best but pretty good.

Saturday

Today was the best day yet! We didn't have anything planned so we decided to spend the day snorkeling. First, though I wanted to find an underwater camera that we could take snorkeling. One of the local dive shops were a part of a magazine photo spread that included a rental camera....unfortunately, come to find out they only rent to divers who dive with them. Bummer! So we headed to Provo Divers to see what they had. They also didn't rent out their camera's to snorkelers but they did have cheap reusable underwater cameras for sale. Sold! Unfortunately the cameras are film cameras so I won't be able to post the pictures until after we get home (if they are any good). Provo Dive is also where we bought t-shirts for Will & Dewey as souveniers. They have great stuff.

After that shopping adventure we headed to Coral Gardens to snorkel. We had heard the snorkeling was great but we hadn't been there yet. It was even BETTTER than we'd hoped. On our first snorkel outing we saw a spotted ray and a sea turtle. The main reef is buoyed off b/c it is so shallow. You snorkel around the edges. There are sea grass patches to the right and left of the reef where rays, turtles and other creatures like to hide. We saw all kinds of amazing fish. The coolest thing was that it was right on shore. No boat ride or anything! We stayed in the water about 1 1/2 hours so I was famished by the time we got back to shore. We headed to Barefoot Cafe for lunch. I had a BLT and Dewey had the all-day breakfast. The food was pretty reasonable and yummy.

After eating we headed back to Coral Gardens for another go. By the time we got back it was almost 4pm so the light was not as good as earlier in the day. On this snorkel adventure we saw turtles 6 different times (but we think it might have been the same 2 or 3 turtles), another ray, a huge puffer fish (probably 1 1/2 to 2 feet long) and lots of other fish. By the time we got back out of the water it was almost sunset and we were cold and tired. We headed home to Harbour Club.

As we pulled in to the parking lot at Harbour Club, Marta met us to see how our day was. She then invited us to watch the sunset with her and Barry over the marina. We had to hurry b/c it was almost sunset already! We ran and dropped our stuff in the villa and headed to their villa. They have a little area set up on an outcrop overlooking the marina that is the perfect place to watch the sun set.

After showering and changing we decided to try "Hole in the Wall" for dinner. Mickey from Flamingo Divers had recommended it to Dewey as having the best jerk chicken on the island. We're always looking for the "best" places so we had to try it. YummmY!!!!! Dewey had the jerk pork and I had the jerk chicken. Both came with coleslaw and rice with peas. Dewey and I agreed that it is the best food we've had yet. The jerk seasoning was very flavourful without being overwhelmingly hot. Plus, Dewey decided to try his had and the video slot machine while we were waiting for dinner and he won enough money to cover dinner.

After dinner we headed to IGA to pick up some ice cream for desert. I had managed to stay away from the ice cream aisle on our earlier visits to the store. This time I was AMAZED to see that they easily have 2X or even 3X more selection of ice cream here than in Calgary. That is just WRONG!

Friday

Today Dewey had a dive trip planned so I took the opportunity to relax, catch up on the blog and read. I headed out for the pool right after breakfast....the villas have a very small, very cold pool but the deck around it is great for sunbathing. Dewey got back from diving at around 1:00 pm. He was very pumped because he got to see a 6 foot reef shark on his dive. He didn't get to see any whales unfortunately but he could hear them. He said that it was very loud so he kept hoping to catch a glimpse but it didn't happen. He also saw many different types of fish including a huge puffer fish and a huge lobster. I asked why he didn't bring the lobster home for dinner! I will post some pictures of the dives later. The dive master on the dives took lots of pictures and is going to burn a CD for Dewey on Monday after his next dive.

After lunch at the villa we decided to go to the Conch farm. Turks and Caicos has one of the few industrial conch farms. Conch has been overharvested in many areas of the world where people eat them. Most of the conch from this farm is exported to Florida for consumption there. A conch takes 4 years to reach maturity. The farm has about 5.5 million conch in various stages of maturity. It was very cool to go see.





After the conch farm we needed to do some souvenier shopping. We headed out to Grace Beach where we saw some shops the other day. We bought T-shirts for Dewey and the kids. After that we decided to drive to Chalk sound on the southwest part of the island. The water is beautiful and blue. Unfortunately, there are many, many large vacation homes built along the sound so there really isn't any public access. It's really a shame especially b/c the rest of the island has great public beach access even where there is lots of development.

After that we headed home for a bit of a siesta and then out for dinner at Hey Jose's. Hey Jose's is a Mexican food place. The prices are reasonable and the food is pretty good (not as good as Austin but on par or better than Calgary). One warning....the frozen margaritas are HORRIBLE. There is not lime taste at all. It basically tastes like a tequila slushy.

Thursday....first full day here

Dewey and I decided to sleep in today since we had gotten very little sleep the night before in New York. We finally dragged ourselves out of bet at around 10, ate breakfast at the villa and headed for the beach. We were planning to go back to Coral Gardens but we decided to do some exploring first. We ended up driving all the way to Leeward on the eastern-most part of the island. The beach there had the same amazing sand but the water wasn't as clear. The sand is so fine that any disturbance at all causes it to cloud the water. We laid around soaking up the sun for awhile and then we decided to try snorkeling. It was pretty much a lost cause b/c the cloudiness of the water kept us from really being able to see anything.

After that we headed back to the villa for lunch. After lunch we headed down to the marina to check out the dive boats. Dewey has a two tank dive scheduled for tomorrow so he wanted to see where he needed to go and when. His dives are scheduled with Flamingo Divers and they leave from the marina right below Harbour Club. We walked around the marina and found the dive shop. Dewey was able to get all his paperwork done & his equipment rented so everything will be ready to go in the morning. The boat captain said that they may go try to dive with whales tomorrow. Dewey is very excited but doesn't want to jinx it!

Somehow on the way back to the villa we manage to lose the keys to the car. We had planned to head right to the beach but instead we spent an hour looking for the keys. Come to find out we had dropped them when walking back from the marina. Dewey and I combed the route 4 times before we finally found them. Not to be deterred from snorkeling, we climbed into the car. This time we headed to Smith's reef just north of Turtle Cove. It was getting close to sunset so we tried to hurry. We jumped into the water & started snorkeling. We had walked down the shore & finally just said "might as well get in here" because we couldn't really tell where the reef was. We puttered around looking at lots of sea grass thinking "where the hell is it". We were still having fun, mind you, because we say some ginormous starfish and some other interesting fish. Then Dewey signalled to me and sure enough there was the reef. It is a small reef but it is in very shallow water so you can get right up to it snorkeling. We saw tons of fish (including squirrel fish...my fave), sea cucumbers, some kind of sea worm & lots of other life. The highlight was a large grouper hiding in the reef. He opened his mouth and a shrimp went in and started cleaning. It was really a sight. We may try to rent an underwater camera for our next snorkeling adventure so that we can capture those kind of moments on film!

When we surfaced the sun was about to set so we headed for shore. We walked back to our stuff and met a great family from Washington state. They, like us, had planned this trip last minute to escape the cold. We each shared our tips for the island with each other. They had visited Grand Turk before coming to Provo and really liked it. We may have to go visit there one day.

Dinner tonight was at the Tiki Hut. We don't usually do repeats so early in the trip but we were starving and didn't have a lot of time to decide. Plus they had a crab and corona special. Come to find out it was quite expensive though ($36 for the crab only) so we decided to get snapper instead. It was very tasty (though not as tasty as Da Conch shack) and it was a fillet which made eating much easier.

After that we headed back for a relaxing night at the villa. A note on pictures......we haven't been carrying our camera around b/c we don't want to leave it in our car while we snorkel. This has led to a definite lack of pictures. We do plan to take more pictures but it may be in one big wack instead of each day.

Paradise Finally

We arrived in Turks & Caicos at around noon. We had been given Customs cards on the plane so we thought we were good to go. We then learned that we had to fill out these other cards (Immigration cards we later found out). We filled them out & filed through pretty quickly. I then rescued Dewey's bag from one of the many porters (vultures) waiting to "help" you with your bags. They seemed very nice but with only 3 bags we really didn't need any help. Plus I have a bit of an issue with someone grabbing your bag off the belt before you get there. As we were waiting for the other two bags, Dewey starts ripping up the form we had been given on the plane. I said "Ummmm, what are you doing?". He said "Well, we're through, we must not need these". I then pointed at the customs door we had to go through to get out of the airport. Oops. Two more forms later we were through customs & out into the parking lot.

While in Turks & Caicos we are staying at Harbour Club Villas. Barry & Marta are the owners. The are Canadians who used to live in Banff (about an hour away from Calgary where we live). I found Harbour Club while doing research online. There are 6 private one bedroom villas at Harbour Club which are self catering. We liked having the option of having a kitchen so we don't have to eat out at every meal. They are also very helpful with setting up your rental car and diving excursions. They suggested we rent a car with Scooter Bob (another Canadian). They said that the car would be waiting on us at the airport & it was no problem. Our little Kia Sportage rental had seen better days. Dewey was a bit worried b/c it seemed to have lots of rattles & funny noises. As soon as we turned onto the road to Harbour Villas he saw why. The main road from the airport was nicely paved but once you turn off of it you are usually on "dirt" roads. Harbour Club is on Venetian Road & some of the potholes could swallow a car! Okay, that's a bit of an exageration but it is very bumpy.

When we arrived at Harbour Club we were met by Marta & Barry. Our villa was all ready to move in to. There are palm trees & other tropical trees all around. The interior of the villa is very nice with terra cotta tile floors & wicker furniture. Everything you need for a comfortable stay is there including books, magazines, maps, etc. The louvered windows and ceiling fans keep it nice and cool. Plus there's an AC in the bedroom if it gets really hot.

Dewey and I changed into our shorts & set off to see the island. First we had to run to Scooter Bob's to sign paper work. Then we went to Tiki Hut for lunch. The deck at Tiki Hut looks out over the marina so we had plenty to look at while we ate our lunch. There were a few mega-yachts in dock. I can't even imagine how much those cost! Dewey had the Hawaiin panini (ham, cheese & pineapple) and I had the Jerk Chicken sandwich. Both were great. Food in Turks & Caicos is not cheap. Our lunch was around $35 USD with two sandwiches, a coke and a beer. Not outrageous but more along the lines of a mid scale restaurant in the US.

After lunch we wanted to go look at the beach. We hadn't packed our swimsuits so we just walked around a bit. We visited Coral Gardens which is one of the prime shore snorkelling spots on the island. It is on the North side of the island while where we are staying is on the south. All of the big resorts are on the North side. The beach was absolutely breathtaking with very white sand & crystal clear blue water. We will definitely have to make a trip back to snorkel.

After the beach we headed to the island's only IGA Supermarket to pick up some supplies. I was shocked to see that the IGA here had a better selection than most of the stores in Calgary! They definitely play to the Americans & the Canadians as I saw many name brands I recognized from both countries. One note, everything (except fish and conch) is imported onto Turks and Caicos. So when you see prices that seem a bit high understand that that piece of food did quite a bit of traveling before it got there.

After we went back to the villa to unload & rest a bit, we headed to a little beach about a 5 minute drive from Harbour Club. There isn't any beach access at Harbour Club but you don't really care. The villas are a quite oasis from all the hubub and construction on the North Shore. Plus every beach on the entire island is no more than 20 minutes away (most are about 10 min). Marta directed us to this beautiful little beach that we never would have found otherwise!

After getting back from the beach we headed to Da Conch Shack for dinner. I had heard this place mentioned over and over as a place to go to get a feel of the island. They had recently moved to a new "upscale" location in Blue Hills. We passed the place at first b/c the sign isn't lit. We turned around and headed back. You have to go through the trees to get to the seating area so we weren't 100% sure we were at the right place. We finally figured it out though and sat down to order. I ordered cracked conch with cole slaw and rice with peas and Dewey ordered red snapper steamed island style with plantains and rice with peas. Everything was really tasty. Conch is one of the main foods of the island. I wasn't sure what to expect. I thought it might be a bit rubbery but the cracked conch wasn't at all. By the way, cracked conch is conch that has been pounded, floured & fried. At Da Conch shack they pull the conch out of the ocean right before they cook it for you so that it is at the height of freshness. You can tell! Dewey's snapper tasted amazing but the fish was not boned so picking the bones out was a bit of a task. We finished up dinner with icecream with rum raisin sauce.

Getting There

Dewey & I left Calgary on Tuesday, Jan 30th at the very do-able time of 12:50pm. We didn't know what to do because we're used to flight times at the butt crack of dawn! It was downright civilized to get up at a normal time, get our stuff together & head for the airport. The first leg of our journey would take us to the JFK airport in New York to stay overnight before heading to Turks & Caicos the next morning. As much as I wanted to head to the airport wearing flip flops and a t-shirt a reality check on weather.com told me that I should bring my coat and wear winter clothes. We stayed overnight at the Courtyard Marriott at JFK. Pretty overpriced hotel but all the others in the area got comments like "I give it one star b/c this review board won't let me give it any less than that". The hotel was a-okay & they had a shuttle to zip us back and forth from the airport. Though we were sooooo close to New York, we decided to play it safe & stay at the hotel for dinner since we had to get up really early the next morning.

We were downstairs at 5am to catch the shuttle to the airport. We could have waited a while b/c security & check-in were a breezes. Better safe than sorry though! We got on the plane & everything looked like it was a go UNTIL.....the pilot heard a weird noise from the engines. We sat on the tarmac for around an hour seeing if letting the engines "warm up" would help. No such luck....back to the gate we went. Thankfully, maintenance was there in a flash & they let the pilot know that the noise we heard was perfectly normmal for this type of "new" plane. So off we went (thank goodness) heading to the Caribbean. A little late but much better than never!