By Jett Britnell
Beneath my fins there was nothing but a fathomless cobalt blue. I had moved out and away from the relative security of an immense drop-off and was suspended in open water. Feeling somewhat small and vulnerable, I was awed by the tantalizing, electric blue of innerspace. I was silently praying that something big might fly by, and if that something had huge teeth and an appetite, I would see it...before it saw me.
Circling down below, at about 180 feet, I could see two large black tip reef sharks. Displaying no interest in me whatsoever they slowly dissolved into the depths. Since nothing else seemed to be moving around out there, except for some ocean triggerfish, I swam in closer to the wall and paused to photograph some of the dramatic fans of deep-water gorgonia. From the corner of my eye, I detected something flapping casually toward me.
With the sweeping bird-like ruffling of their powerful wings, two spotted eagle rays materialized from out of the blue. If I had any chance of intercepting them I knew that I had to move quickly.
I shadowed the rays long enough to get into camera position. Just when they
were about to fill the frame of my viewfinder they gracefully turned away,
then flew around again. You can well imagine how thrilled I became when
three more eagle rays arrived on the scene. Judging from the incessant "clang!,
clang!, clang!," sound from someone banging a metal rod against a scuba
tank, my companions farther down the wall must have met up with some spotted
eagle rays too.
This all happened on my last dive in the Turks and Caicos archipelago. We were diving at a very remote and exposed site called Southwest Reef. I was told that it had been almost two years since a Dive Provo boat had dropped anchor here. Manta rays, spotted eagle rays and several different species of sharks are known to patrol the edges of these magnificent walls, but we never expected such large numbers.
The Turks and Caicos islands are comprised of two scenic island groups separated by the 22 mile wide Columbus Passage. To the West are the Caicos group: West Caicos, Providenciales, North Caicos, Middle Caicos, East Caicos and South Caicos. To the East are the Turks group: Grand Turk and Salt Cay. The chain lies some 575 miles southeast of Miami, about one and a half hours flying time, with the Bahamas about 30 miles to the Northwest and the Dominican Republic some 100 miles to the South east. The name Turks and Caicos is derived from the Turk's head "fez" cactus found on the islands and Caicos comes from the Lucayan Indian phrase caya hico, meaning string of islands.
Providenciales, or more commonly known as Provo, is surrounded by nearly 40 nearby islands and uninhabited cays (pronounced keys). For the most part, these are low-lying islands with broad shallow sandy flats. The islands are arrayed around two large limestone plateaus, the Turks Bank, with 7,000-foot deep offshore waters that serve as major transit points for humpback whales. Between February and March the whales migrate between the Turks and Caicos group through the 22-mile wide Turks Island Passage on their annual migration to nearby Mouchoir Bank.
The diving attractions here are the stuff of legend. Breathtaking wall dives, sharks, dolphins, manta rays, spotted eagle rays, giant orange elephant ear sponge, impressive stands of pillar and elkhorn coral, dramatic gorgonian fans, gigantic barrel sponges, colourful reef fish and an encyclopedic range of marine invertebrates of various shapes and colours. However, to witness all this subsea splendor in all its regal glory you'll need the services of a reputable dive operator.
Dive Provo, on Providenciales, is such an operation. Conveniently located
on the grounds of the Turquoise Reef Resort, Dive Provo is full service
PADI 5-Star dive facility. Dive Provo's professionally trained staff conducts
full day diving excursions and offers all levels of scuba instruction, including
the Reef Environmental Education Foundation (REEF) Marine Identification
Program and includes the complete REEF course in dive packages.
There is also a full service photo/video center on site managed by Dive Provo's resident photo pro, Kevin Roby, who offers expert advice and a full array of services including E-6 film processing, Nikonos and video rentals, custom photo and video instruction as well as flexing his stand up comedic talents on the back deck of the dive boat.
Owing to the shallow topography of the inshore reefs, there is no shore diving to speak of on Provo. Divers are whisked to the dive sites in fast vessels like Dive Provo's new 42-foot twin jet-drive dive boat. Apart from going over the dive plan, the dive master stresses the importance of maintaining proper buoyancy so as to not damage the coral. All the local dive operators are environmentally concerned as evidenced by the fact that all the dive sites have permanent moorings.
Diving at many of the fabulous sites off Northwest Point I was amazed by the number of large and very friendly groupers I saw. On more than one occasion I was able to simply reach out and hold these fearless groupers as they gently balanced themselves on my hand. Vast silvery schools of big, horse-eyed jacks and blue striped grunts were common as were the Creole wrasse, damselfish, French and gray angelfish, rock beauties, banded butterflyfish, queen triggerfish and queen parrotfish. I even completely ignored a couple of flamingo tongues on a sprig of purple gorgonian in favour of chasing down a picture of a sorrowful-looking butterflyfish with two parasitic isopods clinging to its gills.
The wildest dive site was the visually stunning, two mile strip of steep walls and coral buttresses found off uninhabited West Caicos island. Exceptionally beautiful, and world-class by any standard, these pristine sites presented barracuda on every dive, sea turtles, lobsters, green moray eels, giant sponges and visibility of 100 feet or more.
The spur and groove coral formations, mini walls and fascinating fish life of Grace Bay has much to offer. An area that is good for either macro or wide angle photography is Pine Cay. It was here that I met with a large nurse shark resting on the bottom. For fifteen minutes I was able to swim over the reef alongside this shark.
Tropical vacations are never long enough. But if one ever needed a prescription to beat North America's winter blues, then a quick escape to dive the turquoise waters surrounding the Turks and Caicos Islands could be just what the doctor ordered. Just don't be surprised if you happen to find a Canadian diving photojournalist down there...somewhere...romancing the Providenciales.
TURQUOISE REEF RESORT & CASINO
Situated on the north coast of Provo, and overlooking the spectacular crystal
clear, cerulean waters of Grace Bay, the tropical Turquoise Reef Resort
and Casino offers 250 spacious and comfortable air-conditioned rooms. Skirting
the resort's waterfront doorstep are twelve miles of powdery, white-sand
beaches to stroll upon.
The Turquoise Reef Resort offers many dining options from elegant gourmet cuisine to open-air tropical casual, as well as, a full range of services and amenities including the only casino on Provo. Meeting facilities can accommodate up to 380 persons.
Along with Dive Provo, a PADI 5-Star dive facility, full watersports activities are featured including windsurfing, waterskiing, parasailing, deep sea fishing, kayaking and sailing. Other recreational facilities include tennis courts, exercise room and a fresh water swimming pool.
Turks and Caicos Facts