Turks and Caicos did not disappoint. We spent a few days on Providenciales, the main island that is mostly catered to tourism, and then a few on Grand Turk, a much smaller and quieter island that has great snorkeling and diving sites. On both islands the beaches were beautiful. In Provo we stayed at a hotel on Grace Bay, a very large white sand beach with turquoise waters. We did a bunch of swimming and snorkeling, but in addition to that there was a lot to explore. There are a few abandoned shipwrecks around the islands, some even on the beach. And in Middle Caicos there are a few caves that the pirates used to use as hideouts.
These are some shots of a place called Chalk Sound inside of Provo. The blue of the water was so bright, it was almost luminescent.
While on Provo we did an excursion to see Iguana Island and go Conch diving. Iguana island is a small, uninhabited island that has mostly iguanas living on it. It reminded me a bit of the Galapagos.
Conch (pronounced conk) is a big part of the diet on Turks and Caicos, as it is plentiful. We went with a group diving for them, and later the people leading the excursion cut them up and prepared them for us to eat in a ceviche. The meat doesn't have to be cooked on a stove, simply putting it in lime juice cooks it. They were hard to spot on the ocean floor, as the back of their shells blend in well with the sand. We didn't find any live ones (Greg found a dead one), but the guides found plenty. The captain of the ship found about 5 in one go. I don't have any pictures of us diving for them, but I got some of them being prepared on the beach.
Here the guide is cutting the back of the shells so the conch meat could be removed. They were still alive at this point.
Greg was one of the brave volunteers to take the meat out.
Here the guide was cutting up the meat to get the good stuff. The leftovers fell to the sand in a pile, which we later fed to the birds.
They let us each pick a conch shell to take back home with us. Ours is now sitting in the living room. It was originally in a plastic bag, but that didn't last long - the kitties smelt the sea water through the plastic and ripped the bag off.
Here we are feeding the extra meat to the birds. The birds started gathering as soon as we started cutting up the meat, this must be a regular thing for them.
And this was the ceviche. We had it on the boat ride back to the hotel.
We took a day trip to see North and Middle Caicos, where most of the caves were. These islands weren't as populated as Provo and were much less developed, giving them more of an authentic Caribbean feel. This was one of the shipwrecks we passed while driving between the 2 islands.
There was one cave we saw that I don't have any pictures of, but it was about 3 miles long. We had a guide take us through part of it, and there was writing on the walls of it dating back to the early 1900s, when it used to be a pirate hideout. It had plenty of bats and such, and it used to be a nesting site to some of the larger birds before the tours started going through. The guide was telling us that it was a good source of fresh water, and that during violent storms some people would seek shelter in it.
This was one of the caves right by a beach on Middle Caicos. It was by a small resort that put the benches in it.
This small island at the tip of that point you could easily get to - you only have to wade in about 3 feet of water to get there. It reminded me of a similar beach we saw in Greece called Elafonisi, in Crete.
We spoke with the person who ran the resort and he told us about a "secret beach" on the premises.
They carved a stairway through one of the caves to get to it.
This was a view of it from up top.
While we were driving back we came across a very small beach with an abandoned shipwreck on it. Greg said he thinks it may be from the 50's or 60's, as it had some Caterpillar machinery on it that was completely rusted over.
After Provo we took a tiny airplane over to Grand Turk for the rest of our trip. The airplane was so small it only fit 7 passengers.
The flight was actually quite pleasant. It only lasted 30 minutes, and since we didn't go very high we had some nice aerial views of the islands and water during the trip.
That dark spot in the ocean you see is something they call "the hole." It's a drop off in the ocean.
I didn't get too many pictures of Grand Turk, but it is a very peaceful and pretty place. The whole island is about 7 miles long, and has a population of 3700 people. It used to be a salt mining town, and back in those days people used horses and donkeys to pull around the equipment. Once they decided to leave that industry, many people set their animals free and today there are a lot of wild donkeys and horses you'll see on the sides of the streets. The locals will ride these wild horses bareback for fun.
This was a cute baby donkey we saw.
Grand Turk didn't have the same tourism vibe that Provo had (with one exception that I won't go into). It is a huge diving and snorkeling destination so many people go there just for that. Greg and I don't dive but we did do a bunch of snorkeling. There was beautiful reef and lots of fish all around the island. At the end of the trip we took a diving lesson. The instructor went over some of the basic skills, like how to clear your mask under water, and what to do if you lose the mouthpiece, and then we went on a real dive! It was about 30 feet, and we saw a sting ray, sea cucumber, and a few other fish. Unfortunately I had to cut it short because I was freezing in the wetsuit I chose - I opted for the one that didn't cover your legs and arms all the way - but other than that it was a totally fun and different experience. You see a completely different side of the ocean when you're all the way down there.
