Providenciales, Turks & Caicos

Turks & Caicos is known for having some of the most beautiful beaches in the world, particularly Grace Bay. Often times, people come to the islands just to relax on the beach all day and soak up the sun. But we came for another reason: to snorkel! During our week on the very arid island of Providenciales, we made an effort to get out in (and under) the water and see the beautiful reefs that the area has to offer.

While plenty of people prefer scuba diving to snorkeling, I have to say that I find snorkeling to be a better way to experience the vibrant colors and vivacious life of coral reefs. The sunlight is able to easily get through just a few feet of water and the water isn’t all murky and dark like it is with diving. You can move your body around and maneuver to different parts of the reef with ease. You don’t have to wear fins if you don’t want to (I prefer them; my mom does not). Plus, you can always free dive off the edge of the reef if you’re into going far under below the surface. That being said, I have never gone scuba diving and really hope to at some point! Diving with whale sharks in Utila, Honduras, perhaps?

I’ll just let the photographs do the talking:

At Smith’s Reef in Princess Alexandra National Park, we saw a cute little sea turtle that lived on the reef and swam circles around us, he was so fast.

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Also in Princess Alexandra National Park is Bight Reef. There’s a snorkel trail right at the resort Coral Gardens and you could definitely tell that the reef got heavy traffic because of its location. It was still nice, though.

Halfway through the week, we took the South Side Snorkel Trip with Dive Provo. Depending on the wind direction, they take you out on a boat to West Caicos, Southwest Reef, French Cay or Molasses Reef. We ended up going to Delvin’s Cove at West Caicos, where we jumped from cliffs and dove deep into the water. I’m pretty sure that was the first time I ever saw a lion fish. We ate fresh fruit for lunch. We also passed by Prince’s house on the way out from Provo (pictured below).

In addition to lying on the beach and snorkeling, we also managed to eat some food in Turks & Caicos.

My favorite restaurant of the trip was an Italian restaurant called Bella Luna. The outdoor garden was beautiful. At night time, it was candle-lit and romantic. The food might have been pizza and pasta, but the palm trees and tropical flowers were reminders that this was still an island paradise. I ordered some kind of pizza that had an excessive amount of olive oil and tasty pine nuts. It was incredible — one of my favorite pizzas I’ve ever eaten! I made us go back a second time because I thought it was so good.

Ian and I ate at our condo’s resort restaurant, Seaside Cafe, which was pretty average. But the sunset was incredible!

Most of the other nights we were able to cook our own meals in our condo which was cheaper and convenient.

Turks & Caicos is absolutely beautiful. I feel so fortunate that I got the chance to go and I would definitely love to go back one day. The beaches are definitely the most beautiful I personally have ever seen in the world.

Read more about the island in my other post.

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