Dive Review of Oasis Divers/Island House in
Turks and Caicos

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Oasis Divers/Island House, Mar, 2006, by Richard Saunders, In, USA . Report 2352.
No photos available at this time
Ratings and Overall Comments 1 (worst) - 5 (best):
Accommodations		Food
Service and Attitude		Environmental Sensitivity	N/A
Dive Operation		Shore Diving
Snorkeling	N/A
Overall Rating
Value for $$	N/A
Beginners
Advanced
Comments	We just got back from Grand Turk(3-10 through 3-17). Oasis Divers is a very good dive shop and our Dive Master (Macky)was terrific. Dale(owner) seemed stressed most of the time and we never saw Everett who we had heard about from your writeups. If you let Oasis make interisland air arrangements make sure they give you plenty of time between connections. We missed ours. Customs is very slow. Grand turk is quirky but ok, we enjoyed most of it and felt safe wherever we went. Some islanders seemed resentful(ie. grocery, bakery, airports etc.) but in tourist areas they were great generally. Everyone at the dive shop was very friendly. Boats usally held 6 comfortably with sevice intervals back on beach at dive shop. The diving was relaxing, coral was bleached and we were disappointed in the fish life. (Personnaly feel the Florida Keys are every bit as good or better, cheaper and closer but when it's winter you want to go somewhere warm) 3 mil suits were a must. We heard the water temp has been cooler in winter and warmer in summer obviously stressing the reefs. Heard some returning divers discussing diminished sea life. It's awesome diving while hearing whales sing. Wouldn't want to dive here during cruise ship days as Oasis has gone all out to accomadate the masses. Might take the day off or go with other dive shop those days. Looked as if it could get crazy around Oasis when the ships are in. Island House is great place to stay and Colin a wonderful host. We enjoyed our leisurely breakfasts and coffee on the deck since we didn't have to be at dive shop till 8:45 or so. Having a vehicle was a great perk from Island House. The Light House was a nice place to wander and good area for pictures. Hope the cruise ships don't have a negative effect on it all. A great place to relax. Colin gave us a personal tour of town upon arrival, pointing out spots of interest and was always available for any questions or info. There aren't many places to eat and the food is pricey everywhere. Service is on island time. Water's Edge had great food but very slow. SandBar service better. Mooky Pooky's Pizza was great and Poop Deck chicken very good if you feel like waiting around for it. Grocery at Cee's building seemed pretty good. Our problems were with airlines and we feel compelled to warn other's of our travel problems immediately. We found both US Air and Air Turks and Caicos to be totally inadequate in their ability to transport us where we paid to go, on time, or to make it right when they didn't. We ended up buying additional round trip tickets to/from Grand Turk due to US Air not getting us to our connection in Provo. Sky King did not let us on our flight even though 2 people(immed. in front of us) who arrived with us were allowed to board. We were 2-3 minutes late (due to 1 hr. late arrival and slow customs) the plane was sitting right outside the door and the manifest was still in the building when we presented our tickets. But we were too late according to ticket agent. Departing we were forced to purchase additional oneway tickets home costing $1400.00 on US Air due to Air Turks and Caicos running a training flight and then putting the plane into routine maintainance following that, cancelling flights without any notification. US Air refused to transfer our original tickets although on two occaisions they said we could do that. Upon arrival in Provo, ATC denied responsibility for our missed flight, additional air fare or accomadations. A customer sevice person for ATC, ourselves and our daughter in US all tried for 2 days to get help from US Air and found conflicting info regarding available seats, transfer of tickets and protocol in such situations. There was no help at all from US AIR in Provo and expecting help from TCI Tourist Board is a joke. I will not fly Us Air or Air Turks and Caicos and urge fellow divers to do the same. Although our trip to and from Grand Turk was frustrating the vacation was one of the more relaxing dive trips we've had. The water was beautiful and the weather delightful.
Reporter and Travel
Dive Experience	251-500 dives
Where else diving	Fl.Keys, Cozumel, Saint Croix USVI, Grand Cayman
Closest Airport		Getting There
Dive Conditions
Weather	sunny, windy, cloudy, dry	Seas	calm, noCurrents
Water Temp	75-76°F / 24-24°C	Wetsuit Thickness	3
Water Visibility	80-100 Ft/ 24-30 M
Dive Policy
Dive own profile	no
Enforced diving restrictions	Dove with a dive master who was easygoing regarding individual preferences within safety limits. If it was safe we could do our own thing.
Liveaboard?	no	Nitrox Available?	N/A
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	Underwater photographers were Pretty much on there own. Top side picture opportunities were good. Pretty town and the water is beautiful

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Dive Review of Oasis Divers/Island House in Turks and Caicos

Oasis Divers/Island House, Mar, 2006,

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 Oasis Divers/Island House in
Turks and Caicos