Swimming with Sharks in Turks & Caicos
We just returned from 5 blissful nights in Turks & Caicos! Let me just start by saying…
The water in Turks & Caicos is some of the most beautiful in the world.
The turquoise color is breathtaking and a result of the island being surrounded by a sandy bottom. (sandy bottoms + clear water = paradise) As a result, you can easily spot fish, dolphins, rays, etc. from shore or a boat so any visitor can enjoy the ocean!
We arrived midday to Providenciales, picked up the world’s tiniest rental car (who we appropriately named Tina), crammed dive gear, 2 large suitcases, and 6 carryons into this baby, and headed to our Air BnB. The Gulicks rarely travel during peak season and since we were in the dead middle of peak season for the Caribbean, Air BnB was our only affordable option. We traveled with Curtis’ sister and her friend so a rental home was not only a great value but allowed us to hang out in the evenings together instead of retreating to different hotel rooms.
Evening 1 consisted of unpacking, hitting up the liquor castle, and heading to dinner at Mango Reef. We highly recommend Mango Reef! We all loved our dishes (order the Seafood Pasta) and even spotted a turtle swimming around the marina.
Our first full day, we headed out to dive in some of the clearest, calmest waters I’ve ever experienced! (Sis & Friend don’t dive so they slept in and enjoyed some beach time) Our dives were booked with Dive Provo, who Curtis used the first time we visited Turks, and they are wonderful to work with. They were laid back but still very professional and the dive guides had each been all over the world diving. It was fun to swap stories!
If you’ve been following along, you’ll know that I’ve had a panic attack on 2 out of my last 3 dives so I was quite apprehensive to get back in the water. With over 100 dives under my belt, these attacks (below the surface) are new so our primary reason for booking this trip was to do some easy diving and remind myself that I’m a good diver. While I had some mild panic a few minutes into the first dive, I quickly found my groove, centered myself, and just kept swimming. (thanks Dory!)
The second dive greeted us with multiple sharks, a few rays, and loads of fish. There was almost zero current and visibility was 100+ feet on each site (we dove French Cay) so the dives were impressive from that aspect alone.
After completing our dives, we met up with our guests and headed to the world-famous Grace Bay beach to watch the sunset at Flamingo Cafe. We noticed quickly that unless you’re staying at one of the resorts on the beach, the options for sunset/beach dining are extremely minimal. (you can dine at the resorts but be prepared to $$$) Flamingo was a fantastic option that had great bar food and a new favorite beach beverage of mine, the Raspberry Colada!
Day 2 welcomed us with Diving the Northwest Point of Providenciales and we were big fans of the dive sites! The boat dropped us just a few meters from the wall and we basically played with Caribbean reef sharks for an hour each dive. I was in Heaven!
That afternoon/evening, we headed to the world-famous Da Conch Shack to indulge in the local specialty, Conch. The island is currently trying to keep up with the demand for conch on islands around Turks so what was once a thriving fishing area has now been severely overfished in search of this delicacy. Da Conch Shack has been working closely with conservation groups and local fisherman to fish conch from various places now to allow reefs to recover. After learning a bit more about the conch issues around Turks, we decided to order other items from the menu (and avoid it at other restaurants) to show that tourists mainly want to visit for the epic views. The moon that evening was spectacularly bright - so much that we were able to capture pics with our phones!
Day 3, Curtis continued diving while sis, friend, and myself all slept in before heading back to Flamingo Cafe for lunch (cocktails). Afterwards, we headed to Long Bay Beach and despite a bit of rain and clouds, had a blast doing beach photo shoots and navigating the pot-hole filled roads. (Note: Tina cars are not made for large pot holes. Trust me, I’ve done the legwork)
We picked up Curtis and headed back home to get all dressed up for a nice dinner across from our house, only to discover it was closed one day a week and that day was Monday. (Also known as the day we all got dressed up and drove 100ft to the restaurant) That led us to Mr. Grouper for dinner instead, which was delicious! We definitely recommend it. (spoiler alert: order the grouper)
Day 4, our final full day on the island, was insanely windy so while Curtis head out for another day of diving, we all decided to hit up a fun restaurant we found in a dining magazine in our house (4 days too late) that was right on the beach. We loved it! The view was gorgeous and the food was much better than we were expecting. 8 mudslides later (and 3 to go), we migrated north to make reservations at Hemingways for dinner, the restaurant at the hotel we stayed at 10 years earlier. It’s crazy how a few things can jog your memory 50 countries ago!
Dinner that evening was phenomenal. We all splurged on local lobsters and listened to the waves crash just a few feet away. Our night ended with everyone falling asleep on the couch with stomachs aching from eating and laughing too much. (is there a better combo than that?!)
We had half a day on the island before we flew home and we took the opportunity to visit Da Conch Shack again because we loved the views before. Little did we know we’d be greeted with 30mph winds! Fun fact: sand is an excellent exfoliant. ;)
Flying home was fun because The Gulicks found business seats routing back. (Availability is hard ya’ll) And business routing from MIA - DFW is a unicorn route as they fly the 777 with lay-flat seats! Being in row 1, we heard every single comment on the walk back lol. The only thing better than business class is business class for free. Learn to love your airline miles!
We all parted ways at DFW and met our pup, Moet, at home with open arms. It was a perfect traveler’s vacation.