ConchyJoe

[ConchyJoe]

Laurie and I have talked about taking SCUBA lessons together since we got married. I have been NAUI certified since 1975, and have thousands of open water hours, but Laurie has only taken a resort course. We decided to learn how to dive, and go diving instead of sailing. Our search for a destination took me back to my childhood, and traveling around the Bahamas. Turks & Caicos, and French Cay kept popping back into my mind. As I started looking closer at Turks & Caicos, I found out that Delta flys non-stop to Providenciales. I also found out that Club Med had a nice all inclusive resort on Grace Bay, and a fairly new 50 ft power cat for diving. And when booking the trip, I discovered that the week we wanted to go was about as low as the season gets, and they had a special that got us 8 nights for right at $200 a night. Club Med ended up being a great place to stay, and was less than half full, so we had the run of the place.

And we are off!

After getting settled in, and attending the evening dive gathering, we set off the next day to get Laurie PADI certified. I was the good husband and got PADI certified as well.

Our Dive Instructor

Rick was our dive instructor. Rick is French Canadian, as most employees and guests at Club Med were. Rick took great care of us, and made the dives fun as well.

Time to pivot!

Laurie had to demonstrate what she had learned in class. I had to as well but was allowed to take pictures. We went through the routines, and then went for a swim.

What was that!

I was happy to discover that my keen underwater eye was still working properly after all these years. I spotted something out of the corner of my eye, and when I got the group to swim over to that area, I found the Octopus I was looking for. It is uncommon to see an octopus during the day, so everyone was excited at my find. When we talked about it topsides, the divemaster commented that she had not seen an octopus in 5-6 months.

Lots of Nassau Grouper.

Grouper are interesting in that they will sit there and look at you, which made them tasty fish to spearfish when I was young. Most of the reefs that we dove are protected, and the grouper knew that, so they just hung around and looked at you.

Trying to get the camera to work right



I bought a camera and case specificially for this trip. I bought the camera, an Olympus C-5000 Zoom, on ebay used for $50. I also bought an Olympus PT-19 case on ebay as well, from the Olympus closeout store on ebay for $70. I found out later that this was a potent combination. It seems the C-5000 Zoom has great macro modes that work very well underwater. Also the camera has a white balance mode that is a key feature for underwater photography. The next item is a Sealife strobe. I think this will complete the ensemble.

Rick goofing off

While we were at our 15 ft stop, Rick decided to put his mask on backwards. In return I showed him my famous air rings. I only got one right, and didn't get a picture of it.

Dolphins!

I know it is hard to see, but on the way back from our second set of dives, we came across about 100 atlantic spotted dolphins. We slowed down to watch them, and it turned out that they had quite a few babies that they kept corraled.

Our first two days diving ended with Laurie passing her open water exam and becoming an official PADI open Water Certified Diver!

Wednesday we decided to take a day off and rent a vehicle from Scooter Bob's and explore the island a little.

Beautiful sunrise

When we flew in, we wondered what the weather would be like. Although there were thunderstorms all along the horizon, it only rained on Provo once the whole time we were there.

What the locals race

There were lots of local racing sailboats moored at Grace Bay. There is even a movement to teach the kids to build these boats.

Pirate Ship!

I wished we could have been around to see these boats race, they looked like they would fly. And there was always a 5-10kt breeze, and stronger in the afternoon.

Lunch at the Tiki Hut



We had lunch at the Tiki Hut at Turtle Cove. When I came to Turks & Caicos as a kid, about the only place to stay was the Turtle Inn at Turtle Cove.

Look at the bottom of the clouds closely.

Laurie was amazed that the undersides of the clouds were the same color as the water.

Happy Anniversary Honey!


Wednesday was our Anniversary. I am the luckiest guy in the world to have such a wonderful best friend for my wife. She loves to do 99% of what I do, and let's me do the other 1% without complaint.

Thursday starts another chapter of our trip, and I will get it up sometime real soon!
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ConchyJoe Administrator

[Brian]

Bravo!!!

Great shots of the island... looking forward to part 2!

[yachts66]

Nice pics. Wish I was there, 'cause it's starting to get COLD here.

Regards,

TJ