Dive Review of Blue Water Divers/Osprey Beach Hotel in
Turks and Caicos/Grand Turk Island

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Blue Water Divers/Osprey Beach Hotel: "Cannot recommend Blue Water Divers, Osprey Beach Hotel, Grand Turk", Jan, 2024, by NEAL LANGERMAN, CA, US ( Contributor 19 reports with 21 Helpful votes). Report 12885 has 2 Helpful votes.
Photos Submitted with this Report Click on an image to see an enlarged version and captions
Ratings and Overall Comments 1 (worst) - 5 (best):
Accommodations		Food
Service and Attitude		Environmental Sensitivity
Dive Operation		Shore Diving	N/A
Snorkeling	N/A
Overall Rating
Value for $$
Beginners
Advanced
Comments	The British West Indies are part of the island chain separating the Caribbean Sea from the Atlantic Ocean. As such, the islands tend to have interesting diversity of marine life and topography. Grand Turk Island, in the archipelago of Turks & Caicos certainly has dramatic walls and the potential for pelagic life because of the 7000’ (2134 m) depths. Sadly, over 14 dives only a few reef sharks cruised by. On the very first dive, we saw – briefly – the fluke of a humpback, and very, very occasionally heard their songs. The reefs were badly covered with sand and the corals looked unhealthy, with significant bleaching. Even the small fish and common reef critters were not abundant. Overall, the marine life and seascape views were disappointing. This by itself is not enough to justify the title to this review. Blue Water Divers bills its responsibilities as (1) diver safety and (2) reef stewardship. On the second item, they did pay some attention to diver’s (including me) contact with the reef. However, on six of the 14 dives we did, they used an anchor, rather than a mooring, and on each of those instances, I noted the anchor dragging across coral as it bit into the sand. As to safety, the shop operated two small pangas, set up for eight (8) divers each. The one (1) shop staff member on the panga was the panga operator, gear handler, and guide. NO ONE WAS ON THE PANGA WHEN DIVERS WERE IN THE WATER. This is an egregious violation of industry norms and a clear threat to the safety and well-being of the shop’s customers. I would have left this operation, except I determined that this is the normal mode of operation of the other main dive operator, Grand Turk Divers. My wife and I discussed it and decided that we would accept the risk and dive. I also chose not to discuss this with the shop operator as I expected strong defensive pushback and being told to go elsewhere. Note, Blue Water Divers is a PADI affiliated facility. On a positive note, they efficiently handled our BC’s and regulators. They were on the panga, set up every day and rinsed, stored, and dried every night. Boarding the pangas was an exercise in wave timing and balance. The pangas were beached stern first in the wave break zone. A small (about 1 square foot – less than 1/3rd square meter) platform was attached to the stern plate next to the port outboard. This platform was actually the top step of the tiny re-entry folding ladder mentioned below and had a distinct backward down slant of 5-7 degrees, though it wasn’t slippery. With the assistance of the jack-of-all-trades guide, you had to step on the moving platform, over the gunnel, and grab hold of something to prevent falling. Hard for us 80-year-olds, but even the young folks had problems. And your gear got sandy. I really dislike sand in my booties, as it rubs blisters. I really dislike sand in my gear as it causes maintenance problems and tracks into our hotel room. It appears that Grand Turk Island, which bills itself as a diving mecca, does not allow piers along its beaches. The guides allowed divers to do their own dives, with little supervision. They suggested an 80’ (25 meter) maximum depth but allowed divers to dive within their own comfort zone. The guide led the dive on an out and back pattern. The guide returned to the area of the panga after about 45 minutes and immediately left the water so he could assist divers when they returned to the boat. A 60-minute maximum dive time including a 3-minute safety stop was recommended and divers complied. Water visibility on the leeward side of the island (west side) was very good. But on three of our seven dive days, the wind conditions forced us to dive on the south side of the island. Visibility was poor and the additional travel time as we were bussed to the south beach area added about 90 minutes to the overall dive experience. Getting out of the water involved doffing your BC/tank and handing it to the guide on the panga, removing your fins, and then climbing a tiny 3-step ladder onto the tiny platform to get out of the water. Doable, but not comfortable. The panga had no way to handle cameras. I am glad I only brought my small kit, as my big kit would have overwhelmed the operation. Surface intervals were on a nearby beach. Drinking water was on the panga but no snacks were available. As the island water was not recommended for drinking, the assumption was that filtered water was in the 1-gallon (4-liter) bottle. Blue Water Divers is located directly across the street from the Osprey Beach Hotel. While the two businesses are not related, the proximity provides for a potentially great cooperative relationship. This was not the case. The hotel was nice, with large, comfortable beach-front rooms. The hotel offered no accommodation for divers. Nowhere to dry or rinse gear. Limited outlets for charging batteries. The restaurant was nice, with a limited and EXPENSIVE menu. Service was so slow that even with a 0700 opening time and an 0830 dive-call, you were time-pressed to eat breakfast and make the morning dives. After the first day, we stopped going for breakfast. We walked to a nearby market and got some provisions to consume in our room, which had a refrigerator and microwave. All the restaurants we visited served basically the same – boring – menu. Fried foods were the main offering. The exception to this was Turks Head Inne. We could find no restaurant that offered anything like a plant-based meal. The meals were very expensive. A 12% government tourism tax and a 10% service fee were imposed on all meals. Lunch for two with a couple of local beers ($5.50 USD each) came to $60 - $70 USD. Finally, our return flight from Grand Turk Island to Providenciales on Caicos Express got messed up with an error in the date of our reservation. This forced us to miss our return to the USA on American, spend a night in a terrible Best Western on Providenciales and arrive home a day late, definitely never to return.
Websites	Blue Water Divers Osprey Beach Hotel
Reporter and Travel
Dive Experience	Over 1000 dives
Where else diving	All of continental USA; Caribbean, Gulf, Sea of Cortez, Eastern & Western Pacific & more
Closest Airport	Grand Turk Island Airport	Getting There	Fly to Providenciales and take local flight to Island (DO NOT FLY CAICOS EXPRESS)
Dive Conditions
Weather	windy, dry	Seas	choppy, no currents
Water Temp	26-27°C / 79-81°F	Wetsuit Thickness	3
Water Visibility	30-90 Ft/ 9-27 M
Dive Policy
Dive own profile	yes
Enforced diving restrictions	80' suggested; not enforced
Liveaboard?	no	Nitrox Available?	no
What I Saw
Sharks	1 or 2	Mantas	None
Dolphins	None	Whale Sharks	None
Turtles	1 or 2	Whales	1 or 2
Ratings 1(worst) - 5 (best):
Corals		Tropical Fish
Small Critters		Large Fish
Large Pelagics
Underwater Photography 1 (worst) - 5 (best):
Subject Matter		Boat Facilities
Overall rating for UWP's		Shore Facilities
UW Photo Comments	DO NOT BRING A LARGE CAMERA KIT. A small Sea&Sea or GoPro OK. My Hero 12 with two professional grade video lights pushed the capability of the panga. And the subject matter sucked.

Report currently has 2 Helpful votes

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Dive Review of Blue Water Divers/Osprey Beach Hotel in Turks and Caicos/Grand Turk Island

Blue Water Divers/Osprey Beach Hotel: "Cannot recommend Blue Water Divers, Osprey Beach Hotel, Grand Turk", Jan, 2024,

Photos Submitted with this Report

Ratings and Overall Comments 1 (worst) - 5 (best):

Overall Rating

Reporter and Travel

Dive Conditions

Dive Policy

What I Saw

Ratings 1(worst) - 5 (best):

Underwater Photography 1 (worst) - 5 (best):

Dive Review of Blue Water Divers/Osprey Beach Hotel in
Turks and Caicos/Grand Turk Island