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Dive Review of Dive Provo /Ocean Club West in
Turks and Caicos/Providenciales

Dive Provo /Ocean Club West: "Walls good enough to endure long rides", Dec, 2015,

by David Hardie, NY, US (Reviewer Reviewer 4 reports with 1 Helpful vote). Report 8793 has 1 Helpful vote.

No photos available at this time

Ratings and Overall Comments 1 (worst) - 5 (best):

Accommodations 5 stars Food 5 stars
Service and Attitude 5 stars Environmental Sensitivity N/A
Dive Operation 4 stars Shore Diving N/A
Snorkeling N/A
Value for $$ 4 stars
Beginners 4 stars
Advanced 5 stars
Comments We booked through Reef & Rainforest at the last minute, so we got the last room at Ocean Club West for the week after Christmas. Ours was a studio and did not have ocean view, but it was good overall. It had a washer and dryer in the unit (wish we had known that in advance!) and a kitchenette. The screened-in porch was great - we never closed the sliding door. Grace Bay beach is fantastic, and this place may have the best hotel gym ever. A truly great grocery store is a few blocks away, and some restaurants are within walking distance.

Our weeklong package included five days of diving with Dive Provo, a first rate operation located a few blocks away -- easily walkable. (Provo Divers is onsite at the hotel, but Undercurrent reviews seem to favor Dive Provo.)

Dive Provo does two-tank trips daily, using three 36-foot boats that hold up to 16 or 18 divers. They normally have a berth at Turtle Cove Marina on the north side of the island, but they were using only a marina on the south side because of damage at Turtle Cove. It is about a 10-minute bus ride from the dive shop.

The diving during our trip was all at West Caicos and Northwest Point, although we hear they sometimes dive Grace Bay and French Key. Both areas have multiple sites and are part of the national marine park. The downside is that boat rides are about an hour ... and can be choppy (especially on the return).

All diving is on walls, and we liked the ability to dive our own profiles (computers required and max depth of 100'). Navigation is foolproof because they put a yellow sausage at the top of the wall behind the boat. Swim to the wall and go left or right, then turn around at 1500 psi. When you get back to the sausage, you can generally see the boat.

Sharks were a highlight. We saw them on 6 of 8 dives. There were also turtles, lobsters, crabs, morays, and even a manta that we saw from the boat just before entering the water.

The boat was a bit crowded during a busy holiday week, with three crew members for 15-18 divers. Each trip included some who were doing checkout dives or Discover Scuba dives, so one guide was dedicated to those small groups. A second guide was in the water for anyone who wanted to tag along, and the third crew member remained on the boat.

The downside is the long boat rides, which where 50-60 minutes. Two tanks took up most of the day -- we arrived at the shop at 8:00 and returned there about 2:30. But they had sandwiches on board so at least we weren't hungry.

Overall, we really liked Provo. It beats Grand Turk because of the gorgeous beach and plenty to do when not diving. And the wall diving was good enough to make the long rides tolerable.
Websites Dive Provo   Ocean Club West

Reporter and Travel

Dive Experience 251-500 dives
Where else diving Throughout the Caribbean
Closest Airport Providenciales International Airport (PLS) Getting There Nonstop flights from NY and other cities

Dive Conditions

Weather sunny, dry Seas choppy
Water Temp 77-78°F / 25-26°C Wetsuit Thickness 3
Water Visibility 80-100 Ft/ 24-30 M

Dive Policy

Dive own profile yes
Enforced diving restrictions Max depth of 100' but not strictly enforced. Length of dives generally limited to 1 hour.
Liveaboard? no Nitrox Available? yes

What I Saw

Sharks Lots Mantas 1 or 2
Dolphins None Whale Sharks None
Turtles 1 or 2 Whales None
Corals 4 stars Tropical Fish 4 stars
Small Critters 4 stars Large Fish 4 stars
Large Pelagics 5 stars

Underwater Photography 1 (worst) - 5 (best):

Subject Matter 5 stars Boat Facilities 4 stars
Overall rating for UWP's 4 stars Shore Facilities N/A
UW Photo Comments One table that was shared with sandwiches, etc. Most photographers were only using GoPro.
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Note: The information here was reported by the author above, but has NOT been reviewed nor edited by Undercurrent prior to posting on our website. Please report any major problems by writing to us and referencing the report number above.

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