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Dive Review of Oasis Divers/Osprey Inn. in
Turks and Caicos/Grand Turk

Oasis Divers/Osprey Inn.: "Grand Turk reopened. Osprey Inn is timeless.", Mar, 2022,

by Bill Schlegel, MO, US (Contributor Contributor 19 reports with 17 Helpful votes). Report 11870.

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 4 stars Food 4 stars
Service and Attitude 4 stars Environmental Sensitivity 2 stars
Dive Operation 3 stars Shore Diving N/A
Snorkeling N/A
Value for $$ 3 stars
Beginners 2 stars
Advanced 3 stars
Comments This was the 4th trip I can remember to Grand Turk over the last 25 years. Went because a large group of friends had the week booked.
Will divide report into two main sections. First is travel issues and the Osprey Inn. The second part in next paragraphs pertains to Oasis Divers.
Like the rest of the world, T&C islands is on the tail end of the latest COVID surge and I have to admit that their COVID related travel clearance protocols work smoothly. 31 travelers were in our group and none had any travel and immigration problems. If you go, just carefully study the TCI website. Provide what they want. No problem.
The connections through Delta and the local island hopper were smooth. The Osprey Inn was a quaint and wonderful trip into the past. Deja Vu for me. Clean. Great service. Unlimited hot water. Nice pool and patio area. Food was very good. We and a package with breakfast included and other meals extra. The room service was excellent. Management was attentive to the usual questions. The beach in front is one of the most beautiful in the world; no kidding. There are gates around the poolside patio to keep the friendly island dogs and donkeys out of the poolside area. Bar and table service are very good. Overall cost was reasonable.
There are several other excellent restaurants within walking distance of the Osprey and we enjoyed them for lunch and dinner. The Sandbar bar, next to the dive shop. This is about 200 year stroll down the picturesque street and next to Oasis Divers. The Secret Garden restaurant and the Grand Turk Inn provided high end meals. Recommended.
The diving was excellent. The divemasters let your five your own profile although divers were encouraged to follow close enough to surface at the end of the dive more or less as a group. Divemasters were attentive, not overbearing and pointed outlets of critters. Fish and marine live were notable for a lower general reef critter concentration than desired but octopus, rays, sharks, turtles and cool macro critters were common. Coral was less than health but more or less similar to most of the Caribbean. Just not a lot of reef fish. We did a fair amount of Lionfish hunting with Hawaiian slings. I cannot criticize the wildlife encounters with reef critters when there were occasional dolphin fly-bys and frequent reef shark encounters. The whale watch snorkel encounter will let you get in the water and snorkel with whales if you book during the winter months.
The dive equipment was a different story. On the first day, several of us noted a strange taste to the air we were breathing. This was the first day only. We felt it was an oil taste. This was in association with overfilled cylinders. The Aluminum 80's we were using the first day were filled 3900 to 4000 psi. This was was mentioned to the operator and corrected the next day. Several of the boats had engine trouble. Two that I was on became disabled at sea and had to be towed back, sometime to other parts of the island with divers being bussed back to the Oasis Divers shop.. The dive boats were large pontoon boats and provided lots of room. Some sun shade. Bottled water available. Oxygen and cell phone communication (luckily) available on board.
I like to think that much of these equipment problems were related to a dive operation that had been essentially shut down for a year or two. We were the first large group to show up in 2 years, as I understand it.
Websites Oasis Divers   

Reporter and Travel

Dive Experience Over 1000 dives
Where else diving About everywhere. This trip to Grand Turk left me just short of 1700 dives. Been contributing to Undercurrent for over 25 years.
Closest Airport Grand Turk Getting There Fly to Provodenciales (PLS) from several North American air hubs. Island hopper to Grand Turk.

Dive Conditions

Weather sunny, dry Seas calm, surge
Water Temp 77-80°F / 25-27°C Wetsuit Thickness 2
Water Visibility 50-100 Ft/ 15-30 M

Dive Policy

Dive own profile no
Enforced diving restrictions As I remember initial briefing: "Try to stay above 100 feet. No planned decompression diving. Back on boat at about a hour out of courtesy to others. Stay with buddy.
Liveaboard? no Nitrox Available? no

What I Saw

Sharks Lots Mantas None
Dolphins 1 or 2 Whale Sharks None
Turtles > 2 Whales > 2
Corals 3 stars Tropical Fish 2 stars
Small Critters 3 stars Large Fish 2 stars
Large Pelagics 1 stars

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

Subject Matter 3 stars Boat Facilities N/A
Overall rating for UWP's 3 stars Shore Facilities N/A
UW Photo Comments No boat facilities other than a clean camera bucket. There is adequate WiFi at the Osprey Hotel. I would advise photographers to keep their systems on at all times, especially along the excellent walls where shark and dolphin fly by's can occur very quickly. Camera "boot up time" can be a killer. There are even occasional whale fly by's but our group missed that.
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Note: The information here was reported by the author above, but has NOT been reviewed nor edited by Undercurrent prior to posting on our website. Please report any major problems by writing to us and referencing the report number above.

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