Turtle Cove, Providenciales, Turks and Caicos – April 18 to 25, 2024

We had a ton of Southwest Airlines points and future credits that were going to expire, so instead of losing them we looked to see where SW flies to in the Caribbean and decided on Providenciales, TCI. Cheaper than Cayman (not really!) and the snorkeling was supposed to be great.

Since we would be flying out of Ft Lauderdale to TCI it was impossible for us to make the trip in one day. We flew to Houston on the 18^th and took the hotel shuttle to dinner at a place called Maria Rita’s since Pappasito’s was beyond their approved travel area. Glad we did! Pappasito has lost its luster since they trimmed their menu down after COVID. This was great food, unfortunately we asked for HOTTER SALSA too late (it was amazing!). The only real downside was it was incredibly loud … and crowded for a Thursday night. The happy hour margarita’s were a waste of money (I should really know better) but the full price ones actually had some tequila in them. Muy Bien!

Got back to the hotel and hit the sack because we needed to catch the 4:00am shuttle to the airport for a 6:30am international flight departure. I think everyone is finally catching on to TSA precheck because that line was actually longer than the regular check in – only plus side, didn’t have to take our shoes and belts off.

All of our flights today were full but fortunately we were one of the first off the plane, we actually deplaned on the tarmac (haven’t done that in ages), got our luggage and made it through customs in record time. We rented a car from an agency that wasn’t located at the airport and they had left the key with the parking lot gatekeeper. Took some time to actually locate the car but once we did we were on our way.

Here are a few pictures flying into Ft. Lauderdale

I’m sure there is probably a logical reason that Florida made a road like this … I just don’t know what it is!

We flew over the Bahama’s on the way to TCI:

TCI uses the dollar, has American type sockets and you can drink the water. The only downside was they drive on the wrong side of the road and the steering wheel was on the wrong side of the car! I can’t tell you how many times I turned on the windshield wipers instead of the turn signal.

First look at TCI:

Our condo was great. It was a one bedroom with a huge balcony that overlooked Turtle Cove and Grace Bay. We made a grocery store run after we managed to get the suitcases to the condo (no elevator, all stairs!). What would have cost around $75 in the US added up to the tune of $200 for 4-1/2 days of groceries – literally EVERYTHING has to be imported. Bacon $12 a pound, Dr Pepper (YES, they actually had DP) was $1 a can, Bread $4, frozen pizza $12 … I could go on, but you get the gist. We ended the day with a walk down the road and to our closest beach access point. It was just okay. Didn’t look like anything I wanted to snorkel. There were very few people on the beach here. It was all deep, soft sand and rather steep to the surf, so beach chairs wouldn’t be ideal here. Hope we find a better beach tomorrow. It seemed like it got dark really quick, maybe it was just a long day.

Our plan was to do some sightseeing in the mornings and in the process scope out potential snorkeling locations. The first day we tried to locate the Bird Rock Trail and were unsuccessful. We did get to drive past some enormous resorts and multi-million dollar homes on the beach. While the beach is public from the low tide point to the dune line, sometimes it’s impossible to find decent beach access.

The first full day we snorkeled at Grace Bay, which was supposed to be the premier location. The public access point we used was a thin, sandy walkway between two resorts, with parking on a narrow street. There was supposed to be a reef accessible from the beach here, as well as a sinkhole. We never found the sinkhole, we eventually found the coral reef located outside of the roped off swimming area for one of the resorts. The coral looked horrible and we didn’t see anything out of the ordinary fish-wise – just the normal fish we see everywhere. Did see one cool thing – what they call clothesline coral – where they are attempting to grow coral. There were a lot of fish hanging around the bottom of this. Fish we saw today: Blue Tang, Parrot fish, Bengal Sergeants, Bermuda Blue Angelfish, Bar Jack, and Plumy porgy. (All the underwater pictures are at the end of this blog)

Beach at Grace Bay:

We went to a lovely church service at Our Lady of Divine Providence and talked to the priest after the service. Turns out this is a mission church and is under the guidance of the diocese of New Jersey!

Sightseeing the next day was to Sapodilla Bay Hill, Chalk Sound National Park and Omar’s Beach Hut. At Omar’s the water was shallow for quite a ways out (think ankle deep on top of white sand) and you could see Conch pens in the deeper water. It is located on the south side of the island and had constant breezes blowing on shore. Our next stop was supposed to be the Sapodilla Bay Hill, but we couldn’t locate it. We continued down the road in the area of Chalk Sound which was a lovely area full of homes instead of the large resorts. Beautiful, multi-million dollar homes overlooking the Sound, which was a creamy baby blue color. We did stop at one beach access point and it was a lovely beach in full party mode but the snorkeling didn’t look promising. We stopped at a convenience store to ask for directions to Sapodilla Bay Hill and after the clerk checked with the manager we were given very general instructions. Think “point that way”. A young man followed us out of the store and asked if we got good directions and I told him no. He said he was going right by it and if we followed him, he would point us in the right direction. Yay! We found it. Was it marked sufficiently? You be the judge. We did find one small sign that was ground level at the side of the path letting us know we were at the correct location. Ok, it’s a hill, that is supposed to have carvings from sailors (or pirates) that were marooned on the island during the 1700s. Did we find some carvings? Yes. Did they photograph well? No. Should I have been climbing the side of a hill that was made up of sand and loose rock in flip flops? No! Did we make it up and back down unscathed? Mostly. I think we both had bloody spots on our arms from the brush. Oh well, at least we found this place.

These pics were taken from Omar’s:

Chalk Sound National Park:

Sopodilla Hill and sailor (pirate?) rock carvings on the rocks:

This afternoon we snorkeled at Smith’s reef, which ended up being the closest location to our condo. It was awesome! Its location is where the marina puts the boats out from Turtle Cove. Once again, it was NOT marked. We flagged down a car coming out of the area and he told us where to park and that they had seen turtles. Yippee!

It was a small beach area with about half a dozen nice lounge chairs. We got all our snorkel gear on and headed for the least rocky area of the beach to get into the water. There were rocks along the boat channel and there was a little bit of coral along this part of the beach in relatively shallow water. We saw two turtles who were more interested in staying away from us then eating sea grass. Some reef fish and what might have been a tentacle of an octopus. Still better than yesterday’s snorkel. After we’d been in the water for a couple of hours we got out and were putting our equipment away and talked to someone who had also been snorkeling but further down the coast. He pointed out an area that was marked by orange buoys and said that was the best snorkeling. Lots of turtles, coral, and he’d even seen a shark. Guess where we’re going tomorrow? (Underwater photos at end)

Our sightseeing for the next day was to Long Bay Beach, located on the south side of the island. The tourist information said that this is a popular area for the kiteboarders and it was also supposed to be a good shelling spot. We have yet to find any shells on the shore so far.

This island is only 37 square miles, 17 miles long by 1-1/2 to 8 miles wide. We’re staying in about the middle of the island so it doesn’t take us very long to get anywhere. The section of the coast at Long Bay Beach is lined by huge homes with privacy gates at the roadway and we were hard pressed to find public beach access. When we did find it, it was 1) unmarked, and 2) about a half a mile away from the beach on a soft sand road that prohibited vehicles. By the time we got to the beach I was exhausted from walking in sand up to my ankles. It was a very pretty beach, with gorgeous homes, and there were a couple of kiteboarders. What there wasn’t was seashells …. NOT ONE! … And we hiked down the beach about ½ mile. If you walk a half a mile and don’t see a seashell, walking further down the beach would have been pointless. So we did the logical thing and walked back. God was smiling on us this day because when we got back to the sandy road there was an older man putting his kiteboard into the back of this 4 seater all terrain vehicle. He offered us a ride, which we gladly accepted, and when he dropped us off at the road he pointed out his multi-million dollar home across the street!!

So far, the morning has been a bust and I have one more place that I’d like to visit. It’s called Pirate’s Cove and it’s located on the southwest corner of the island. It take us about 20 minutes to get to the turnoff. We were on a paved road for about the first two miles and then it changed to a cross between loose rock and road grated rock. We’re in a rental car, right? We can do this, right? If we’d had my Jeep it would have been a no brainer, but every hill that we crested, doing about 10 mph just gave us more rocky road and we couldn’t even see the water yet. We ended up doing the prudent thing and turning around and heading back. Next stop Smith’s Reef.

The area to snorkel that was pointed out to us the previous day is about a half to ¾ of a mile down the beach. The question is … walk the beach carrying our snorkel gear or just swim? We opted to swim. I’ve had my fill of walking on the soft sand beaches today. We took our time and saw turtles along the way, guess that’s why this area is called Turtle Cove!

There was a lot of coral here, not the healthiest, but coral and where there’s coral, there’s fish. We probably spent an hour and a half here just meandering among the coral, the fishies, and the turtles. We saw Blue Tang, Buffalo Trunkfish, Barracuda, Needlefish, big fish – either yellowfin tuna or snapper (they were too deep and riding along the sea grass line so the pics weren’t very good), and puffers. Where we hit paydirt was on the swim back. We saw 2 squid, a batfish and a brown jellyfish. See my Facebook page for a video of the batfish – it actually “walks” on the ocean floor – pretty bizarre!

We finished up our time on TCI with the obligatory shopping trip. There is a touristy shopping area called Saltmills that we went to. It was your typical beach type souvenir shops with a couple of local artist spaces sprinkled in. We got my mom a hat and a fish wall hanging for my travel wall.

The return home was uneventful and on two of the 3 flights home we got a row to ourselves … practically unheard of these days. It was a good trip. Got to see most of the island and found a great snorkeling area.

Last look at Providenciales, Turks and Caicos:

Here’s the underwater pictures. A lot of things effect the clarity of these photos. For example: How deep the water is, the amount of cloud cover, or the amount of silt in the water.

This is a type of Parrotfish – they look like Indian corn to me!

Barracuda

Jolthead Porgy:

Wrasse:

Parrot fish:

Bengal Sergeant which is a type of Damsel fish:

Bermuda Blue Queen Angel Fish

Clothesline coral – attempt to grow coral for future transplant:

Green Turtle

This turtle was inside some coral. I don’t know if he got caught and is deceased or if he’s just sleeping. I have seen them wedge themselves under a coral shelf to sleep but I don’t know how long they can stay underwater before they need to surface to breathe. This one was here the entire time we were snorkeling which made me think he’s probably dead.