Turtle Cove Marina, Providenciales, Turks & Caicos

  We are quickly booked in at the diveshop in the morning for our day’s diving and after a short delay for boat refuelling we are heading out to dive number one Pine Cay reef. Dave gives a comprehensive dive brief and we follow Nikki or dive guide in to the water. Pine Cay is located out past the north east of Provo and about a 30 minute boat ride. We have such high expectations of Turks & Caicos diving that we are expecting to be surrounded by large life (sharks etc) on every dive with gin clear waters which unfortunately in not quite the case. It is relatively gently sloping site with fairly abundant fish life and lots of intact large corals though no sharks, turtles or rays, I think perhaps we are getting spoilt to be disappointed!

Dive 1: Pine Cay

 Blue-striped grunt fish

Angelfish (?) over coral

The Indo-Pacific Lionfish intruder Blue-striped grunt fish in front of fan coral

After the first dive, we motor back towards base enjoying delicious snacks provided of fresh local pineapple, celery, carrots, crisps etc. The second dive is back in the large bay outside the entrance to the marina, a site called Grouper Hole. Unfortunately we are in group 2 again and group 1 sees the much awaited turtle and sharks, but we don’t. However, we do see the biggest barracuda I have ever seen within about 10ft right under the boat as soon as we descend, which is frankly as close as you would want to get to something with as big a mouth as that!

Dive 2: Grouper Hole

 

Two Great Barracuda – each 4ft long (honestly!)

Kevin just hanging around

Nassau Grouper

 Black Triggerfish – very prevalent locally

Tiger Grouper 

 

We also find out that the beautiful lionfish pictured above is actually an intruder from Pacific waters believed to have been accidentally released into Caribbean waters through the Florida aquarium trade. The lionfish feed on juvenile and small fish species and are such voracious hunters with no natural predators that they are threatening the the ecosystems in the area. Some areas such as Belize have apparently even put a bounty on them on $50 a fish. Dave is a well informed and conscientious dive guide and has started hunting them on his dives and other local schools have done the same, a shame for him that there is no bounty here. He has apparently killed 162! However, there is still a way to go as we still saw 5 on our dive this afternoon with Nikki.