Four Perfect Tropical Nights: Providenciales, Turk and Caicos
story and photos by Tab Hauser tab@tabhauser.com
In trying to find the perfect extended weekend I look for several things. The first was the need for an inexpensive direct flight from New York. I also had to have a beautiful beach in a laid back environment. Next, throw in good diving and snorkeling along with a little island exploring and I would have my destination. After a little bit of research I found air fares to the island of Providenciales (Provo for short) in the Turk and Caicos to be what I needed. The Turk and Caicos Islands are part of the British Overseas Territories. They are located south of the Bahamas or 575 miles southeast of Miami. What made this an ideal destination is that it was a direct 3 hour flight from New York with a reasonable price of $130 each plus taxes on the shoulder season that we went.
Somerset "Boutique" Condo Resort Breakfast In New York, Lunch in Grace Bay
The area to stay on Providenciales is on Grace Bay. This fine powder 12 mile long beach offers a variety of accommodations of which many are condo rentals. We picked The Somerset because of its excellent ratings and stayed in cottage five. The Somerset's location is perfect as our spacious 2 bedroom condo (not really a cottage) was one minute from the pool and another minute to soft sandy beach of Grace Bay. We also liked this location because there is nothing better than walking to dinner on the beach. Also, we liked the fact that this area of the beach does not get crowded. Check in was fast and with the concierges' help we had a two tank dive the next morning booked for us. After being taken to our condo it was a quick change and stroll over to the beach where did not move for the next four and half hours ending our day with a pretty sunset. There is something to be said about breakfast at home and lunch on the beach in the tropics.
View From Our Lounge Chairs Before Leaving Beach Maureen Has A Close Encounter Of The Turtle Kind
Maureen With Shark In The Distance Curious Shark Patrolling the Reef
On our first morning we were off to the deep. The Turk and Caicos are surrounded by the third largest coral reef in North America and is known as a premium dive spot along with excellent snorkeling. After signing all the forms with Dive Provo and paying at the shop we drove to the Turtle Cove Marina to get on board the boat. Here Dive Master Dan made sure our gear fitted well before departing and then went over the safety procedures on the boat. Fifteen minutes later we arrived at a dive site called The Aquarium. Dan did a dive briefing on the sight inviting anyone to follow him around or go off on their own if they wished. Once we jumped overboard it was more than obvious as to the sights name. Here we saw small tropical reef fish darting in and out of the coral as well as snappers, groupers and sharks cruising above it and around us. The sharks ranged in size from Four to Six feet and looked at us with a curious eye. One four to five footer came within 3 feet of Maureen and I giving us as much an inquisitive look as we gave it. Seeing sharks that close always has me "concerned" at first but my training and experience always kicks in saying I will not be lunch because people are normal prey not to mention I am just a little too big to eat. (I will have different thoughts of course if I see a large bull or great white shark!)
Looking Up From the Depths A Lion Fish That Is Not Indigenous
Still caution being prudent I did put the 14 inch extended strobe part of my dive camera between this beautiful creatures nose and ourselves regretting I did not get the close up picture I wanted. Another fish we saw that is stunning to watch but should not be here was a large lion fish. In fact it was probably one of the largest lion fish I have seen. Lion Fish were introduced years ago into this region and are considered a nuisance because they have no natural enemies. Their long poisonous spikes that surround their body assure them no one will harm them and in return they eat everything off the reef. Dan told us later that they spear them when they go out. It is the only thing allowed to be removed from this natural preserve. Our second dive was called the Spire and is better known for its coral than fish. The Spire was the first named dive site of Provo and is called that because of the way the sand and coral sits in the water as seen by early pilots. This second dive had us go through mini-canyons of coral. With water temperatures at 84 degrees we found this dive comfortable and stayed down nearly an hour before our air ran low. After our dive and lunch near the marina it was back to the beach for the rest of day finishing it off with another pretty sunset.
Pretty and Nearly Deserted Malcolm Beach What Is In A Name
Sunday was our day of island exploring. We loaded the car with our snorkel gear, cameras, a good map, water and made our way west along the north coast. We drove past Blue Hills continuing until we reached an intersection with Northwest Point where we crossed over and to get to road going to Malcolm Beach. We continued for several miles on a beat up dirt road. Having the extra ground clearance made the ride easy and quick. Regular cars will scrape the bottom on a few sections of this road especially they are carrying anyone in the back seat. If it rained before you go do not attempt coming here with a 4 X 4. Upon reaching the end you find a paved parking lot (we thought that was strange considering the road). There was also a covered area that overlooked this pretty and near empty section of Providenciales. The only piece of civilization here the exclusive Amanyara Resort at the far end of the beach. What makes Malcolm Beach unique is that it gives you a fine powder sandy beach with good snorkeling just off shore and some solitude. Our experience has been that anytime you get a beach with good snorkeling it is just a matter of time before the coral is stomped out by careless fins. This place seems to remain empty perhaps due to everyone content with staying on Grace Bay or maybe due to the road getting there. If that is the case we hope it remains unpaved.
Da Conch Shack Lunch Conch : Looks Good, Tastes Great
After seeing an assortment of fish on the reef we decided to head back mid
island to find the road that would take us to the south shore to check out.
Driving back we stopped at one of the islands local institutions for lunch
called the "Da Conch Shack" located on the water. This is an informal conch and
rum place offers seating under the palm trees or in the shade under the
awnings. The conch here cannot get any fresher as we saw one person taking it
out of the shell and then sending it to the kitchen to be cooked. I had the
cracked conch and fritters combo. The menu also has local fish as well as
chicken or vegetable Creole that were equally as good. There is a fine rum
tasting menu as well as frozen drinks and cold beer to go with this good and
reasonably priced food.
After lunch we drove to south shore. We passed the industrial area near the airport and then got into the wealthy section where we saw different large homes with great views either finished or in various stages of building. Some due to the economy looked abandoned for some time. We also checked out the new cut sleepy marinas in the middle of the island. This area also had more development as you can see where there are hopes to carve up another section for a gated community. In driving around Provo we noticed "the settlements" as the villages lived in by the locals are called looking kept up. We did not see the same level of disrepair on homes as we have seen on other islands. From the south shore it was back to our beach for a couple of hours before heading off to Walker Marina where we were going with "Catch The Wave" for a two hour sunset trip.
Being boat people we can almost never get enough of being on the water. There are several companies in season that operate a two hour sunset cruise that basically slowly cruised in the bay with music, snacks and a weak rum punch. We were undecided about going but after making a call we were told because of the full moon the last couple of nights the glow worms would be out and the cruise would be extended to see them. We also liked the fact that the boat was less than half full that evening.
"Catch the Wave" ran a nice evening. Once on the water the energetic staff started to pass out the rum punches and took out chicken wings, fruit and chips. It was not long before the bow on this motor catamaran was turned into a make shift dance floor and everyone was having fun. After the sunset the captain went up the channel near the marina where we waited for the first fluorescent green creature to float up in the dark water. What we saw was a brightly glowing worm about the size of a child's pinky just appear on the surface. Usually seconds after it appeared you would see a disturbance in the water speeding towards or around it and then pop, the creatures color would explode to what looked like millions of tiny dots in the same fluorescent bright green. In reality what we saw was a female releasing thousands of eggs in what looked like a mini galaxy exploding on the water. Then as predicted by the crew, the last of the glow worms disappeared in 15 minutes and it was back to the dock.
The Friendly Crew From Ocean Vibes Resting Nurse Shark Under Ledge 8 Feet Down
The next morning we decided we wanted another boat outing because we know the snorkeling is really good here. We called around to see where we can get on one of the half day boat trips offered. Wayne of Ocean Vibes was the first to call back and said if we can be ready in 30 minutes the boat would pick us up at 8:45 in front of the Somerset. He also explained the trip and we agreed. As we were the first people to get picked up the crew immediately changed CD's from their fast moving local island tunes to what I would call " a generic safe rock beat" for tourists. Maureen and I looked at each other puzzled so I called out in very good humor that we did not come to the island to hear "white people" music from the States. Both the captain and mate cracked up laughing and smiling and eagerly changed the CD's to what they were listening to before we boarded. This worked out well as when the rest of the guests came aboard several minutes later and were bopping up and down to the lively island beat as we cruised to the coral reef twenty minutes away. (It was one of the many funny encounters we have had in our travels when you respect and understand the locals and was a source of inside humor for the four of us that day)
Male Rock Iguana Female Rock Iguana
Snorkeling on the reef this day was excellent. Here we found the water very clear with the depths ranging from 5 to 15 feet. That made it just deep enough for people not to stand and ruin the coral. For 45 minutes we spotted lots parrot fish, a barracuda, a six food sand shark resting under a ledge, among the other beautiful fish the live protected off shore. From here we headed to Little Water Cay to see the endangered Rock Iguana that also lives protected there. After landing on the beach we spotted a few males a couple females as well some juveniles while strolling around. This is also a good place to see what an island looks like when left in its natural state.
Little Water Cay
From Little Water Cay the captain took us to a channel where he threw out the anchor and invited us to snorkel in the current for conch. Between one guest, the captain and mate five large conch were gathered. With the conch on board we headed off to the remote beach on what used to be Fort George. If you are lucky and are here at low time the crew can try to point you to some old canons below the water line. While we were beach combing and swimming the crew shelled and prepped the conch. Once cleaned the conch was chopped along with tomatoes and peppers which was then added to a nice sauce. I have had conch served up in the past as cerviche, cracked or flash fried, made into fritters, sautéed with Creole sauces but not prepared sashimi style. The taste of the raw conch was very mild and picked up some of the flavor from sauce that it was stirred up with. There was ample portions to go around. A bonus of this snack was that each of the guests were given the large and pretty shell to take home. On the ride back to Grace Bay the mate gave those interested a description of what we were passing on shore. After being dropped back off at the beach in front of the Sommerset we did a quick run to the Grace Bay Gourmet to hit their salad bar for a takeout lunch on the beach. The rest of the afternoon was beach side sometimes floating on the raft or water noodles the resort supplied as well taking out the resort Hobie Cat and sailing up and down the beach in the perfect off shore breeze. For dinner that night we decided to walk bare feet in the ocean five minutes to dinner where our table was under the stars and fifty feet from the ocean.
Rum Punch Evenings
With a 1:30 flight out on our last day we woke up early and went to the beach to make the most of the time we had on this extended weekend. It was also nice to know on Providenciales there is not a big rush at the airport and arriving just over an hour to an hour and half before most U.S. destination flights departs should be ample time. We leisurely left the Sommerset after a quick check out and drove to Scooter Bob's for the lift back to the airport. Bob's son advised us that we were still a little early to get to the airport so we decided one last outdoor lunch at the Tiki Hutt next door would work fine. That turned out to be a good idea as the grilled grouper sandwich and the grouper fish and chips we ordered were delicious. It did not hurt to have one more rum punch to wash it down before the flight.
After spending 4 nights on Providenciales I can only ask myself why would anyone want to go to Nassau in the Bahamas when they can take nearly the same time and flight expense to visit here. Providenciales and Nassau do differ. Nassau has the large expensive casino - hotels and crowds. Providenciales has a couple of small casinos if you like to gamble and a more laid back atmosphere with diverse accommodations on one the longest beaches. The restaurants I feel are more numerous here and less expensive than Nassau. I especially like the fact you can walk on the beach to dinner in a perfectly safe atmosphere each night). I also felt perfectly safe walking around the business area of Grace Bay at night. As for Grace Bay, it is listed as one of the top beaches in the world by many magazines. What I there are no high rise hotels or condos making it crowded except perhaps during holiday weeks. A bonus if you have a car is the ability to visit several other good but smaller beaches
IF YOU GO:
Most Airlines fly into the Turk and Caicos Providenciales airport. From New York you can get there direct on American or Jet Blue in just under 3 hours.
Somerset Lap Pool With Infinity Pool Near Beach
Accommodations:
The Somerset web site can be found at www.thesomerset.com . They can emailed at Reservations@thesomerset.com. We liked "Cottage 5" as we found it spacious, totally complete and perfectly comfortable for any family. The kitchen at this place can make any chef happy with top of the line appliances. While we did not cook dinner that week we liked having food in the fridge and not having to run out to lunch all the time. Breakfast is included with your suite. We were pleased to have made full use of their powerful blender each day with homemade frozen cocktails. This petite size resort condo has a narrow lap pool where you can swim in an artificial current as well as an infinity pool closer to the beach to linger with a cocktail. The Sommerset offers a full restaurant and pool bar in season.
Getting Around:
Before leaving we rented a small 4 X 4 from Scooter Bob's. While one does not need a car on the island, we like the mobility of going when we want and where we want with having to wait on or pay for taxis. Our vehicle was $60 and found it worth it because nearly everywhere we wanted to go the taxi fare was about $10 per person. That makes one taxi ride for two people costing more than half of the price of the rental and having the rental would allowed us to explore the island as well as having different dining options. The reason for renting a 4 X 4 was to visit Malcolm Beach on the far side of the island where the higher clearance would be needed. An alternative way to get around would be renting a bicycle as the roads are flat and most things are close by. If you rent a car remember that driving is British style here so keep to the left. While I have a lot of experience driving on the "other" side my secret to keeping me focused is to put a post it note on the windshield with "Think Left" written on it.
Scooter Bob's can be found at www.scooterbobstci.com. Bob does not have the shiniest fleet on the island when you compare it to the chain rental car companies but his service was the best we have seen in the tropics along with competitive rates. At the airport we saw people in the heat waiting at the rental counters to be served. With us, we just walked across the street and saw our name on the windshield of our comfortable little 4 door Toyota 4X4 and got in. Attached to keys on the visor was a note asking us to stop by the office on the way to the Sommerset to sign the contract (which took 3 minutes).
Diving:
We used Dive Provo with their offices located near the Seven Stars Hotel traffic circle. Like other outfits, they will offer free pick up and drop off service. Dive Provo was one of the better dive companies we have used. We liked the fact you can do our own thing underwater or simply follow the dive master around which we did because he knew the reefs very well. Our dive master Dan, was patient and helpful. Dan navigated us around in a slow and deliberate process. We had dive freedom with the assistance of a guide if we wished. Visit them at www.diveprovo.com
Sunset Cruise:
We used "Catch The Wave" which can be found at www.catchthewavecharters.mobi
If you are there after the full moon you may find the glow worms interesting. The captain and mates gave us a party feel and made us most welcomed. They played all different music and motivated us to shake to the tunes. I appreciated the captain turning towards a sail boat while the sun was sinking so I can get the picture I wanted.
Half Day Trip:
We were pleased with the service and energy of the staff of Ocean Vibes for our half day snorkel-beach-conch trip. These are people who seem to really like their job and make sure you have as much fun with them as possible. You can book in advance going to www.reefpeepers.com or www.oceanvibes.com .
Food:
To us, food is one of the joys of traveling. We like to
try the local offerings. We dined from casual to elegant and had good results
with one exception. Everyplace we ate at was outside with either an umbrellas or
a roof to shade you if you wished. 
From Gourmet (left) To Casual (Conch Served Two Ways)
Grace Gourmet: To start with, having a condo was great because we were able get snacks, rum, sandwiches, salad and good produce here. It was not having one less meal out. Grace Gourmet is a medium size upscale supermarket. On most items we found the prices to be reasonable and the quality excellent. One can also shop at the IGA off the main road for more of a selection and possibly lower prices.
Tiki Hut at Turtle Cove Marina is where we had one dinner and one lunch. The conch chowder here was one of the best I have had. This was followed by tender crack conch. Overall we liked this place for the price, diverse menu, service and food.
The Green Bean at Turtle Cove has good coffee, salads and sandwiches
Anacouna is an upscale restaurant that you need
to drive or take a cab from the Sommerset. For an outdoor bar - lounge, this
is a place to visit for a pricey drink. I will say the atmosphere is great in
the way it is laid out with couples seating, outdoor fireplace, torches and
more. As for a restaurant, don't eat here! The food portions are very
small and very expensive and to top it off, not nearly as flavorful as other
places. I ordered the paella which was nothing more than a small bowl of the
local rice and peas topped with a two shrimps, two scallops, two pieces of
sausage and one dried piece of chicken. It was served with a side of "seafood
sauce" to pour over. I got ripped off paying over $30. Maureen ordered a
chicken dish that was nicely prepared but had only four small slices and cost
$23. My first course was interesting but overpriced for the portion that was a
medley of conch cooked served four ways. The presentation was pretty but lacked
substance and in some case taste. Also, they try to up sell you on bottle water
but if you decline they wind of pouring it anyway. (The tap water on the island
is very good)
Bay Bistro: This wonderful restaurant is next door to the Sommerset. As with many places, you really should make a reservation here and request to sit out doors. We found too inside just too hot. Our table for the night was set in its own area next to the sand that was private and romantic. The food and service could not have been any better. Our regret is that we did not eat here again.
Hemingway's was a several minute walk from the Sommerset. We found this a pleasant casual place on the water that was good. I recommend this place for lunch rather than dinner. In our opinion it would be better to spend the extra $20 at the Bay Bistro for dinner than have dinner here. Hemingway's is a good family place.
Da Conch Shack: We liked this very casual place for lunch so much that we were tempted to come back for dinner and would have if we stayed another night. Do not miss going here.
Hotel Bar Hopping:
One of the fun things we did was visit some of the hotels at night that had nice outdoor bars. When you arrive on the island pick up the local tourist book as they have updates as to what is hot and when. Many play music on different nights of the week.
Island Facts:
Providenciales is a laid back and a relatively safe place. Crime is not an issue but use common sense like you would at home like not leaving valuables in a car that can be seen. One local told us he leaves the car unlocked and with nothing inside. Because our 4 X 4 had no closed trunk we hid our valuables in the engine compartment when we were off snorkeling. While we were not worried about getting broken into, out of sight, out of mind is always best. We found walking on the beach at night perfectly safe and was one of our nightly things to do. It should be noted that the water is perfectly safe to drink on this island and tastes good. Other common sense facts here would be stay hydrated and sun screened. While mosquitoes were not a nuisance we found that a little spray on our legs while sitting at dinner was needed when there was no breeze. Lastly, we did not see "island time" to be as a problem here as other places we visited in the past. Dinners were usually prompt enough and we did not mind waiting the extra time anyway while sitting and enjoying the atmosphere. Power is DC 110 and they use U.S. dollars. Dinner dress at all places is island casual.
For questions email me at tabh@hascorelays.com
www.tabhauser.com
(This is property of Tab Hauser and may be used with permission)
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