Dive Review of Sea Eye Diving/Osprey Beach Hotel in
Turks and Caicos/Grand Turk

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Sea Eye Diving/Osprey Beach Hotel, Aug, 2006, by Amy & David Seibert, MN, USA . Report 2930.
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	My husband and I purchased a dive package at Osprey for a week starting August 26, 2006, and we can’t wait to go back. We had an amazing and relaxing dive vacation. I can point to several things that made the vacation great. First, the time of year was perfect for us. The island was almost devoid of vacationers. This led to a few restaurants and bars being closed, but it made our time there very private and relaxing. This also meant we spent half of our dives alone with the dive master or having one other couple along. We were able to dive at a leisurely pace, allowing for time to observe interesting critters, turtles, or fish. Bottom time was usually an hour, or more. Second, the diving location was great. We saw some less common fish like two bat fish, frog fish, quillfin blenny, pipehorse, jackknife, spotted drum, eagle ray, huge friendly grouper (Alexander) that loved to be pet, and a black tipped reef shark. In addition the soft coral was plentiful and colorful, a dramatic difference compared to Cozumel in June 2006. We saw a very alive reef with large schools of fish, several nurse sharks, snapper, various sea slugs, flounder, conch, flamingo tongues, fields of garden eels, turtles, anemone’s, moray and spotted eels, shrimp holding cleaning sessions, barracuda, butterfly, jawfish, parrotfish, sting rays, trigger, angel, puffer, trumpet, juvenile & adult trunk fish, squid, jacks, etc. Third, Smitty, the dive master from Sea Eye Diving was a great dive master. He was relaxed, fairly laid back, and spent just the right amount of time pointing out all the unique critters. The best dive spots were Tunnels, English Point, McDonalds, and Coral Gardens. Although the boat wasn’t in good condition, it served its purpose. Since we spent surface intervals back in our room or on the beach at Osprey the boat only had to transport us to our dive spot 5-15 minutes out. We did have to tote our gear back to our room everyday, but we enjoyed the diving so much that it didn’t really bother us. Also, unlike other locations we have visited, diving didn’t start until 9:30am so you can sleep in if you like. Fourth, we loved the beach. The one thing we knew to expect from a trip to the Turks & Caicos Islands was the outstanding water and beaches, and Grand Turk fulfilled that promise. The T&C islands have some of the most beautiful sandy beaches in the Caribbean. The water is so inviting, we found ourselves in the water frequently even when we were not diving. Several afternoons we snorkeled in front of the hotel. There is a small reef about a 15 minute leisurely kick out, in addition to an old salt boat wreck. We saw a few small nurse sharks, 5 ft long barracuda, and a unique sharptail eel, along with the usual reef fish. When not snorkeling, we passed the time with the addictive fun found in searching for sea glass. There is an abundance of well turned glass to keep you busy all week. We also spent an afternoon at Gibbs Cay which was nice. Smitty cooked up ribs and chicken, which we washed down with rum punch. We swam around with the rays that some of the cruise ship passengers came over to feed. I would recommend going to Gibbs Cay on a day no cruise ships are docked. Of course there were a few things we wish we would have known before leaving home. Although we purchased a dive package with Osprey they failed to set up our dives with Blue Water, who we originally intended to dive with. It is standard that they do this for you, but we seemed to have been overlooked. They told us upon arrival we would need to set the diving up ourselves. We attempted contacting the three dive shops on Saturday evening without luck, so we woke up Sunday feeling a little disappointed in the prospects of diving that day. Luckily we ran into a dive master in training, Isabelle, walking on the street with a wetsuit on. She introduced us to Smitty, from Sea Eye diving, and 20 minutes later we meet them on the beach to start off diving. Running into them was a real trip saver! We found we needed to watch the tanks PSI’s , since the tank fillers tend to go pretty light. Smitty always was helpful in making sure we had a close to full pressure to ensure a long bottom time. Food is expensive on the Island so plan on spending a lot of money dining out. Our room had a refrigerator, microwave, toaster, and coffee pot, so we went to Cee’s grocery and the liquor store, and ended up eating breakfast and lunch in our room most days. In addition we enjoyed sunsets on our balcony (room 44) with a few drinks and some microwave popcorn. I would recommend packing a few staples in your luggage like coffee, microwave popcorn, peanut butter, etc – that is as long as you aren’t close to your luggage weight limits. The Osprey had good food ($17-$27/meal), but we found that Michael’s Atrium across the road was just as good or better and the prices were more reasonable. One night at Michael we had a huge plate of chicken pasta and ribs for $10 each. This is also where you will find a steady stream of “belongers” stopping in to pick up their carry-out orders, which is always a good sign. Our room at the Osprey had a great view of the ocean and sunsets. There was a large four poster bed and vaulted ceilings. One downfall was the tiny ants in the bathroom that were with us the entire trip. This was one of our best dive trips, comparable to Grand Cayman’s East End, and better than Cozumel, Turneffe Atol (Belize), and Roatan.
Reporter and Travel
Dive Experience	51-100 dives
Where else diving	Turneffe Atoll, Belize; Cozumel; Roatan, Honduras; East End, Grand Cayman
Closest Airport		Getting There
Dive Conditions
Weather	sunny, dry	Seas	calm, noCurrents
Water Temp	82-84°F / 28-29°C	Wetsuit Thickness	3
Water Visibility	75-100 Ft/ 23-30 M
Dive Policy
Dive own profile	yes
Enforced diving restrictions	No explicit restrictions set- All experienced divers; everyone dove within safe limits
Liveaboard?	no	Nitrox Available?	N/A
What I Saw
Sharks	1 or 2	Mantas	None
Dolphins	None	Whale Sharks	None
Turtles	> 2	Whales	None
Ratings 1(worst) - 5 (best):
Corals		Tropical Fish
Small Critters		Large Fish
Large Pelagics
Underwater Photography 1 (worst) - 5 (best):
Subject Matter	N/A	Boat Facilities	N/A
Overall rating for UWP's	N/A	Shore Facilities	N/A
UW Photo Comments	[None]

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Dive Review of Sea Eye Diving/Osprey Beach Hotel in Turks and Caicos/Grand Turk

Sea Eye Diving/Osprey Beach Hotel, Aug, 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 Sea Eye Diving/Osprey Beach Hotel in
Turks and Caicos/Grand Turk