The first time I went to TCI with my wife, we stayed at and dove with Club Med. Club Med was great, but the diving was cattle car, and they were extremely conservative on bottom time. 45 minutes max. Not what I am used to with 1000’s of dives since I was 13. We dove with Caicos Adventures the next day, and have been with them ever since. We dove October 18th, 19th and 20th, and then dove the 22nd, 23rd, and 24th.
The first three days we dove West Caicos, which is really great diving. The 22nd and 23rd we dove French Cay, which is spectacular diving. Asa, Matthew, Roger and Emma took excellent care of us. The 24th, we went out on Hercules and dove Shark Hole, as well as Pinnacle. Shark Hole is a very interesting dive, with a 130ft bottom that exits the side of the wall with a shark or two hanging out there.
I highly recommend Caicos Adventures. Fifi, his crew and equipment are top notch and first class.
We even hung out with Roger and Emma at Shark Bite, and were invited to Matthews house for dinner with him, his wife Maureen, and Roger and Emma.
What a great trip!
Just finished 2 beautiful days of diving on the “Caicos Cat” with Caicos Adventures. Matt, Roger (divemasters) and Asa (captain) were all excellent in every way. Pickup by bus at hotel was perfectly punctual. The boat is VERY, VERY COMFORTABLE compared to most other dive boats I’ve been on (Tahiti, Palau, Great Barrier Reef, Cozumel, Curacao, St. Lucia, Zanzibar). Each day we were 9 divers on the boat split into two groups. Rental gear was all in great condition.
Safety was clearly paramount in the staff’s mind. Their boat is in a marina on the south side of Provo, so they get to West Caicos quickly. I’ll definitely dive with Caicos Adventures on my next visit to Provo. Different times of year I believe they head to French Cay as well.
I wanted to take a moment and thank you all for the excellent service that we received during out trip last week. I rarely take the time to send a thank you note, but this particular event, I think warrants it. I was one of the members of the private charter last week. We all had a stellar time diving with you all. There was not and has not been one negative comment or moment that we have had as a group that would indicate that anyone had a negative experience. I have never experienced such a laid back, willing to please environment as what you all provided. I have dove all over the world. I would rank your experience as “World Class”. You all are doing it exactly right. Again thank you for a wonderful peaceful week of diving in Turks and Caicos. I will be back, and I will dive with no other organization. I will also be a tireless promoter of your services. I will send everyone I know out with you all. Thank you very much, Fi Fi! Merci beaucoup pour le merveilleux voyage!
This has been the best dive operator I have dove with. They have a large roomy boat (catamaran) with loads of room for all. They supply hotel pick-up and drop off along with lunch (sandwiches). They outfit the boat with all the safety equipment to include oxygen. The boat is spotless and you can tell they take care of all their equipment. Roger and West were my DM’s (guides) during my 2 days of diving and they did their best to allow everyone with a leisurely and enjoyable dive.
They allowed the experienced divers to take their time and never rushed anyone.I also enjoyed their spirited humor. They have a safety stop bar that they place at 15 feet along with a spare reg. for your safety stop. Getting on and off this vessel was so easy as well since they have a comfortable ladder. I did not experience a cattle boat either so you can be assured that they limit their numbers.
Caicos Adventures runs a dive service on TCI. They did a great job for us, we did the resort course. We did a two tank dive where we dove the reef, came up for lunch and and a change of location and then dove at West Caicos and swam out over the deep. It was awesome. The staff was really good and the boat captain was a true professional. They made sure everyone was safe and did a great job on the dives. There are several dive shops on the island, but I only know this one and would feel comfortable recommending it to anyone. Great job Fifi!
Thanks to Fifi and his crew for showing us the beautiful island that is TCI. My dives were wonderful, and my father enjoyed his venture as well. I wish we didn’t have to leave as soon as we did, but I work for US Airways. If you would like to send information, maybe we could spread the word! Thanks for everything.
Just came back a week ago from an awesome trip to Provo, Turks & Caicos. Went diving there with Caicos Adventures, truly a first class outfit as reported numerous times in Undercurrent Chapbook. On our first day of diving, my wife and I drove to the dock (they provide transportation, but we had our own car), walked up to the boat, went aboard and asked how soon we’d head out. We figured we be waiting a bit on the bus with the other guests.
The owner of Caicos Adventures, Fifi, was captain that day and informed us we’d head out right away as we were the only people on a 54 foot cat besides him and the dive instructor, Paul. Fifi laughed and said it would be the cheapest private charter of our lives! I asked him about their policy when so few divers signed up and he said it was really simple. “It’s not where you are at the end of the day that matters. It’s where you are at the end of the year. Repeat customers are crucial for our business, so we take care of the customers first. If people want to dive with us, we go.” The rest of the week we had between 12 and 21 divers on the boat (boat can handle up to 24 divers) and on 2 days, he had multiple boats going out. Certainly a good week for Fifi, and an especially great day for us that first day as his only guests. He said he knows other boats that develop “mechanical” problems when there are very few customers, but it’s just not the way he’s built his business.
Caicos Adventures continues to be the premier dive operation on Providenciales. The two catamarans are the most spacious and stable that I have been on during my 600+ dives. The areas visited are exclusive and, although the time to get there is more than normal, the boats are so comfortable that time flys. The West Caicos dives are spectacular and the service on board is second to none. I have been there several times and will return without hesitation.
Experience: 100 dives. Vis 60 to 150 feet. Water 82-84F with very little currents. This was our third trip to Providenciales in three years. Dove over 10 other islands in the Caribbean with many operators – Fifi and his crews are the absolute best! Best boat in the Caribbean! Even on the occasional day with 18 divers there is plenty of space on the big cat. Drop your gear with them on day one and don’t touch it again until you pack up to leave. Gear is rinsed and set up for you each day.
Dive masters are in the water on each dive for a guided tour, but if you have a computer and Fifi sees you are competent, you are allowed to buddy dive on your own. Be back on the boat with 500psi. Dive sites are pristine. Many days you don’t see any other boats. Very healthy reef, lots of the typical fish, but you always see something big on every dive. The sharks, turtles, jew fish, groupers, stingrays and eagle rays are still around these sites. We were there the day Tom jumped on a shark. I think we made the tank last almost an hour on that dive! Boat rides are about 45 minutes to the sites and you never know what you might see. On the last trip we ended up in the middle of a pod of about 40 dolphins! Fifi convinced us to try night diving again. We had two bad experiences in other locations (Colorado and Cozumel) with night dives, but Fifi wouldn’t give up on us. After hours of saying how great it was, he talked us into it. He picked us up on the beach and five minutes later we are at the dive site in Grace Bay. We dove on a full moon and it was spectacular! Saw a small octopus, spiny starfish, and a huge turtle scratching his shell on the reef and didn’t seem to mind our lights or the fact that we were about five feet from him. Hotels are clean, water safe to drink, the food is no more expensive than home (Washington DC), and the beach is the most beautiful we have seen in the Caribbean. Nightlife is quiet and the beaches are not crowded. We’ll be going back to see Fifi every chance we get!
Experience: 26-50 dives. Vis: 60 to 80 Feet. Water: 84 F, choppy, no currents. Dive your own profile: yes. Dive restrictions enforced: stay with DM if you take the guided dive, or dive your own profile with your buddy. Safety stop recommended. Fifi’s new power cat makes an excellent dive boat and he runs a good operation. Boat was equipped with oxygen, first aid, safety stop hang bar and spare air reg. The head on our trip became temperamental early on and became useless.
Fifi gave a 1 hour 40 minute surface interval with pretty good sandwiches offered. We dove G Spot and Double D. Both were awesome dives! Very dense coral in great shape, lots and lots of the usual reef fish, plus barracuda, eagle rays, and sharks. The sharks at G Spot seem to wait for divers to play a game of chicken — coming straight at you and then veering off when maybe 15 feet away. One playful shark liked to do this under the boat at 15′– making the safety stop a real thrill. If sharks are not your thing, maybe this isn’t the place for you, but the diving is superb, so maybe you could stay in the middle of a pack of divers when surfacing. The drop off at G Spot is straight down to the abyss, and just took my breath away when I first peered over the edge.
Just wanted to say thanks again for some of the best Caribbean diving we’ve ever experienced. Being photographers, we certainly appreciated the excellent service we received from the entire staff while they allowed us the freedom to do our own thing. We’ll certainly be back again and wouldn’t recommend any operator other than Caicos Adventures. I’ve included a couple photos, one for Emma which I’ve called Beauty and the Beast. Enjoy!
Vis: 60-80 ft. Water: 84-85 F. Dives logged: 700+. Dive restrictions enforced: 500 psi on boat. Comfort Suites has pool, continental breakfast, nice room and is quite adequate for the money. Caicos Adventures is a good dive operator. Excellent dive boat. Fresh sub sandwiches after first dive. Depths and times of dives are limited accordingly. We saw 5 dolphins, spotted eagle rays, many reef sharks, nurse sharks, turtles, stingrays, schools of jacks, etc.
Experience: 51-100 dives. Vis: 80 to 130 Feet. Water: 83 to 85 F, choppy. “Fifi” runs an excellent operation and the catamaran he uses to get you to the great dive sites at West Cacios and French Cay cuts travel time down and is comfortable. The crew, Asa and Kenard, do all the work. Never touched my gear for five days. All 3 guys made this a great trip. Boat will carry 25 divers and the max we had was 7. All the sites were good and no other boats around. One wish is that the sandwiches he provided would change each day. But they were big. Bring your own fresh fruit.
Experience: 51-100 dives. Vis: 50 to 75 Feet. Water: 65 to 70 F, calm, choppy. Well-run dive operation, with spirited crew that is knowledgeable, professional and courteous. Captain “Fifi” Kuntz ran a tight ship but made it easy. Divemasters like K. Cruikshank also qualified and friendly. Went on successive days, first to French Key and second day to West Caicos. Very calm for the crossing to French Key. The large twin-hulled boat made it quickly and comfortably.
Fresh water, O2, marine head. Divers set up gear for first dive, second by divemasters. Divers for multiple days leave gear on board and crew rinses and puts out for second and subsequent days. First day had about 12 divers, in three groups. Wide mix of experience and training. Second day more cozy and relaxed with only 6 of us. Generally dives to sandy bottoms then over the wall to 60-85 feet. No dive under 45 minutes, with ample shallow degassing time and mandatory 3 minute safety stops on bar with hanging regulator. Lunch of grocery store sandwiches (ask for tuna in advance if ham and cheese ain’t your thing!) served between dives during long surface interval of at least an hour. Second day more choppy but quick trip to West Caicos. Both days great dives with lots of sharks and eagle rays, black grouper, tons of tropicals, lobsters, etc. Hard coral, gorgonians and sponges galore.
Experience: 251-500 dives. Vis: 70 to 100 Feet. Water: 81 to 82 F, choppy. Great dive operation though boat rides to West Caicos and French Cay are 30 to 45 minutes. Large dive boat makes the ride comfortable -marine head, rinse showers, fresh water and lemonade, oxygen. Sometimes more divers than we prefer (15+) but Caicos Adventures handled them well; we did not notice the crowd once we were in the water. Great corals and some walls rival Little Cayman. Sharks and eagle rays on most dives. Lots of fish life, large and small. Good vis although reduced from by winds some days. Only two dives a day except one day each week when Caicos Adventures dives three dives. Lunches served on board were adequate. We rented a house on Provo’s beautiful beach. Good restaurants – casual Shark Bite and BBQ night at the Tiki Hut. Fancy French/Caribbean cuisine at other restaurants. Everything’s expensive.
Experience: 26-50 dives. Vis: 50 to 80 Feet. Water: 80 to 82 F, calm.Caicos Adventures was top notch.Only restriction was be back on the boat with 500 psi. New dive boat was fantastic. Trips to West Caicos 30 minutes, French Cay 45 minutes. Healthy reefs, but less fish life than expected. Nice wall dives start around 60 feet.
Experience: 101-250 dives. Vis: 70 to 90 Feet. Water: 75 to 77 F, calm. “Fifi” is a hands-on, meticulous perfectionist that makes sure the dive operations runs well. The boat is new and the most comfortable and beautiful of any dive boat we have been on. Submarine sandwiches for lunch are great. Dive staff is caring and knowledgeable.Beautiful Caribbean diving with lush coral reefs and marine life.Comfort Suites: (barely) adequate low budget accommodations. Pitiful continental breakfast, marginal A/C, poor plumbing had to have toilet plunged, yellow water coming from shower head! Local taxi drivers hang out at the bar between their fares.
Vis: 75-100 ft. Water: 80-82 F. Dive restrictions enforced: computer profile. Third trip with Caicos Adventures. Fifi and Caicos Adventures are “tops.” Serious, but fun and customer oriented. Reef sharks, hammerheads, eagle rays are legitimately expected at West Caicos. Sands at Grace Bay is a lovely, well managed property. Nice IGA.