So while between jobs, I figured I'd get another dive trip in. Seems to be a running gag with me. I was half planning to go to Hawaii this year, but the timing wasn't quite there, so figured I'd try somewhere closer to home. So I packed up the scuba gear and headed to Grand Turk. An ambitiously named spit of land (7 miles long, 1.5 mile wide) and had a great time. The island was so small and laid back. Plus it was the off season, so it was very quiet.
The diving was very intimate and personal, as the skiffs only held six-to-eight. Most dives there were four of us. And most of those were long time almost-residents... so I was practically just diving with locals. If I stayed in Providenciales (aka Provo, the big resort island), it would be a 30+ minute trip to the dive sites. On Grand Turk, it was five: it was so close we came back to shore between the two morning dives. I mostly shot video on this trip, so most of the photos are plane/beach shots.
The first evening on Grand Turk I decided to go for a walk and just kind of explore the area bit, but then it started to raining pretty heavily so I took shelter in The Atrium, which was nearby restaurant, where I ran into Andrea and Eva and we had dinner together. They were a mother and daughter from Ecuador that liked to travel. I would run into them a number of times during my stay: Grand Turk is a pretty small island, and being the off season only a few restaurants were open.
So the first day of diving was good. It didn't start out so well: overnight there were some pretty heavy thunderstorms and I got woken up by dogs and cars a bunch, plus the beginning of the day was overcast and drizzling. But we went out diving anyways. Apparently dives are rarely canceled on Grand Turk. I was expecting the water to be warm enough to not wear a wetsuit, but I ended up wearing my shorty which turned out to be the right decision. We motored out to Blacksmith Rock, which was just "alright" until we hit the wall. Then it became much more impressive as it just dropped off into the abyss. A nice first dive with a couple of turtles and nurse sharks. That evening I walked to the Grand Turk in and had dinner it was a delicious red snapper in Thai curry sauce which was fantastic. The only problem was if you order fish before the sun has set the flies come out en mass!
Day two was definitely much more interesting. We dove at a site called Fish Pond and was probably one of the more spectacular dive sites I've seen yet. It was just coral as far as you could see and the whole thing was shaped like a giant shallow bowl. As soon as we went under, we saw tons of fish and turtles. It was a shame it was still overcast. If the sun has been out, I think it would have been even more impressive.
Day three the weather was much better: it was clear and sunny in the morning. We went diving at The Tunnels which was some nice wall diving. The diversity was amazing and the coral structures seemed very healthy. The second dive at Mama Nature and it was a beautiful dive. Although I saw a ton of fish, I apparently missed a whole bunch of things like turtles and rays. But I had a great time looking looking at all the little details.
Day four we dove at a site between Smitty's and Twin Anchor, and then under the cruise ship dock. It was an interesting contrast between dives. The first I was really cool wall dive. It was what you would really expect from a wall dive. Just gorgeous coral formations dropping off into blackness. The terrain and site were pretty amazing, but I didn't see much. Jill, who stayed at the top of the wall, apparently had a dolphin come visit, but the rest of us were looking at a lobster deeper down and missed it! The second dive was under the cruise ship dock and while it sounds like that wouldn't be all that interesting, it actually turned out to be pretty cool. Most of the area was just rock and coral rubbble. We picked up a bunch of random cruise ship garbage. But between long sections of nothing, there would be some great eel fines and Smitty spearing lionfish.
Day five was only a single dive so I could get my 24-hours before flying. And it turned out to be a "best for last" situation. On the boat was only Smitty, Jill, and Danielle, and we dove at Alien Nation. As soon as we hit the water, I knew this one would be special. We dropped into 25' of water to a sandy bottom and isolated coral heads; and right below the boat a seahorse and a pipe fish! And the dive just got better from there. We headed out towards open ocean, and the sandy bottom gave way to coral formations, and then the wall. We got to swim with two turtles close up, found three drumfish, and had a friendly grouper following us the entire dive! Smitty was trying to lure out a garden eel, without realizing our grouper was still with us: he got an easy lunch. At the tail end of the dive I was looking at some great Corkscrew Anemone and Pederson shrimp. I also got to find my own pipefish!
That evening I did some swimming at the beach and caught sight of the tiniest flounder which was actually "chasing" me around. I guess I was stirring up the bottom and finding it food, but it was funny to watch him follow me.
Another day, another puddle jumper... back to Provo. I pretty much took it easy on Provo. Just walked around the tourist area, visited Grace Bay, went on my quest to find Voltaren gel, had some good food. Chatted with some locals and some out-of-town divers. A nice end-cap to the trip. The next day, I'd be at the airport way early... and then the plane was delayed. So I spent a long time at the airport. So got a massage and just chilled out.
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