Diving
Dove with Art Pickerings Provo Turtle Cove Divers. They have several boats some large and some smaller. I would not put any into the category of cattle boat. Because of the weather (unusually windy) the choices of dive sites was somewhat limited and it was a longish ride out to the dive sites so in some sense, bigger is better. A six pack would have been impossible. The captains and DMs are helpful without being intrusive and one of the nice things was that we could follow the DM on a guided tour or we could 'do our own thing.'

Jan 2
Blown out so we got to find out what you can do on Provo when you are not diving.
1) Eat
2) Drink
3) Go to the conch farm
4) Eat
5) Drink
6) Golf or play tennis
7) Watch grass grow
8) Eat
9) Drink

You get the drift. There is not much to do. It is a very small island. It is worth a trip to the Conch Farm to see the two trained conch that will come all the way out of their shells. You will even learn how to tell the males from the females (sames as us basically just located differently.) Take a book or two cause if the weather is bad you may need them. If the weather is not bad and you are not diving AND you have four wheel or other high clearance vehicle, it is worth a trip to Northwest Point to snorkel. Pretty beach and some pretty offshore corals. But BE AWARE, the road is only marginally a road. Staying on the left is not an issue in places so much as staying on the road.

Jan 3 (all dives except the night dive on the 6th were on West Caicos)
A better day but still rough. Went out on the largest boat for a two tank dive. First site was called the Gulley because of a sand chute leading down to the wall. This is a wall dive on a 6000 foot wall. The wall on West Caicos is quite spectacular. Max depth 88FSW water temp was 82 on the surface and 79 at depth. Visibility was about 80 feet but there was a wicked current running from N to S. The sand flats were carpeted with garden eels. Lots of smaller fish but few of any size. Spotted several lobsters.

Second dive was at Rock Garden Interlude with a max depth of 69FSW and the same basic conditions. The current was bad and detracted from the overall dive but by the next day it had died off. Lots of opportunities for MACRO photography on this dive site. Lots of worms, garden eels, Flamingo Tongues, shellfish, lobsters, etc.

Jan 4
Started the day out on White Face. Another section of the wall. Max depth 98FSW (my depth - most others were at 100FSW or more but I was poking around on top of the reef looking for pictures.) Same water temps but the visibility was much improved. Saw some larger fish including a barracuda that seemed to think the boat was his territory.

Second dive was back at the Rock Garden Interlude at a max depth of 86FSW. This is really a good spot for taking a camera. Found lots of crinoids up in the reef, smails, a couple of cleaning stations.

Jan 5
The wall dive today was Elephant Ear named for the elephant ear sponge you see on the cover of the guide for T&C. It should be called the LATE Elephant Ear since the sponge is now decaying (or by this time decayed) on the bottom. No one knows the how or why but it is gone. Max depth 98FSW with the same temps but vastly improved viz. I estimated viz at 100+ feet. Lots of crinoids in the reef. Large grouper looking for a handout.

Second dive was at a spot called Boat Cove with a max depth of 86FSW. But the surface interval here is worth a mention. During the SI, they pulled the boat into shore and we snorkeled. There were some spots where there were undercuts in the shore making small caverns. Spotted several lobsters in one and a nurse shark in another. On this dive I was attacked by that vicious denison of the reef the damsel fish. Must not have liked the camera or maybe it just didn't like me. Later, we spotted a pretty good sized gray reef shark but they are tame by comparison. For a while, I watched a hermit crab making its way across the bottom.

Jan 6
First spot was the Magic Mushroom (dont ask.) Max depth of 94FSW. More of the same wall with lots of the same sights to see. The most interesting thing on this dive happened during our safety stop when an OW student on his very first dive swam by struggling with bouyancy because his tank had come undone and was headed for the surface.

Second dive was Becky's Bountiful Bottom (left cheek.) Sorry ladies I'm not clever enough to make up something like that. Only the demented mind of a DM in the islands could come up with that name. Found a little tiny (less than an inch) conch making its way across the bottom as well as its larger brethren. Lots of fish and pretty coral formations. Max depth on this dive was 50FSW. Once again the surface interval provided some interesting snorkeling so keep those fins and mask handy.

Third dive of the day was a night dive on Grace Bay. Since the weather problem had been North winds, this was our first trip out onto Grace Bay and it was a bit rough. But it was a fantastic night dive. A pretty sunset and then a great dive. Spotted a fantastic basket star on the back of a sea fan just as it opened up shop for the night. Lots of shrimp including some mantis shrimp. Brittle stars urchins, lobsters, coral polyps, etc etc. The moon was strong enough that even at 80FSW you could see without a light. Absolutely fantastic dive.

Jan 7 We didn't get to dive since I had foolishly put us on the early AM flight to Miami instead of the PM flight. Instead we drove out to NW point and snorkeled.

Some Notes:
It is a long trip out and back and since everything runs on island time, you are likely to be getting back about 2 or 2:30. By the time you clean gear and yourself, figure 4 before you can eat lunch. That spoils your dinner. We solved that after the first day by taking sandwiches on the boat and having lunch during the SI.

If you have a choice, put yourself on the PM AA flight to Miami. Otherwise you will waste a day looking at other people diving while you sit with little or nothing to do.

If you rent a car, rent it when you need to rather than for the duration. There aren't that many places to go and the taxis are plentiful and cheap (though not as cheap as Cozumel.) You may recognize some of the rentals if you have ever rented a car on Coz. The cars from here go to Coz after they have been so used up they are unsafe by BWI standards.

Eating:
Food is expensive since everything (except conch) is imported. A gallon of milk is almost $5. That plus service will not be up to the standards you may expect in your hometown. It will be slow. But hey, you in a hurry?? Where you going??

The Tiki Hut
Has the advantage of being the bar for the Turtle Cove Inn. Serves OK breakfasts and burgers but has the SLOWEST service imaginable. You can run a tab but it is NOT part of the hotel so must be settled separately when you are ready to leave.

Banana Boat
Down the dock to the left from the Turtle Cove Inn. OK nachos and pretty good service. Since it is on the walk from the dive shop to the hotel, it is a convenient spot to stop for a cold one after a hard dive.

Terrace
Also at the hotel and has the reputation of being the best restaurant on the island. It may be. The food was very very good and the wine list not bad for 80 miles N of Haiti. It is also probably one of the MOST expensive plaves to eat on the island. BTW, do yourself a favor and make a reservation. You probably don't need one but if you don't have one, they look at you like you have lobsters crawling out of your ears (even though the place is empty) and run for the manager to see if they can 'squeeze you in.'

Shark Bite Down the dock to the right but take the road in front of the hotel to the left its easier. Good burgers and pretty good service. The Nachos were enough to feed a small army. The Blue Shark is a burger with bacon and bleu cheese (yum yum.)

Hey Joses
On the Leeward highway towards town (such as it is.) Pretty good Tex-Mex. Whoda thunkit.

Kathies Deli
Big tip. Up the hill from the hotel to the Leeward Highway and straight across next to the NAPA auto parts store. They open at 6AM and have a good selection of fresh muffins and other pastries and also make other breakfast items. This is also where we went to get the sandwiches we took on the boat for lunch. The Tiki Hut will do it but these were better and less expensive and one was enough for both of us. A good selection of deli meats and cheeses.

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