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TCI Trip Report"Going Home"From the moment we stepped off the plane in Providenciales (Provo), to the last run-in with an old friend on our way out, it always feels like we are going home when we head back to the Turks and Caicos Islands (TCI). This year, a great, rowdy group of 16 joined us as we showed off the best that TCI has to offer. And boy, did it shine this year!We were welcomed to TCI with sunny skies and a light breeze, with reports that you shouldn't have been here last week, the weather was the pits. That seemed like such a reversal from the norm, since we usually hear that you should have been here last week to see the whaleshark/hammerhead/calm seas/etc. |
YouTube video courtesy of |
| Little did we know we would be the ones saying you should have been here last week as we were blessed with sunny skies, little wind and flat calm seas. Each morning we joked that we must be diving in a lake with how calm it was, or that Chatfield Reservoir is rougher than the seas we were on. Six straight days of diving were welcomed with six absolutely flat calm days at sea. |  |
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Happy faces were abundant as we made way to our first dive site at French Cay, but those paled in comparison to the smiles that boarded some 45 minutes later! Trunkfish, schools of Horse-Eye Jacks, grouper and a glimpse of a shark started off our week of diving, with the highlight of the dive being a friendly Hawksbill Turtle that actually swam with our group for close to 15 minutes. |
| Our group of dedicated divers was never disappointed this week, with great encounters with Caribbean Reef and Nurse sharks, barracuda, Grayson the Nassau Grouper, who actually searches out divers to pet him, eagle rays, stingrays, green and whitespotted moray eels, spotted drum (both adult and juvenile), octopus and lionfish (yes, those lionfish, the ones that aren't supposed to be in the Caribbean). | |
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We had a couple of people start the week anticipating taking a day or two off to enjoy the sights, and each morning they'd be up for the boat, not wanting to miss another incredible day of diving! |  |
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As if our week wasn't perfect enough, we timed our trip to align with the full moon to experience a phenomenon unique to TCI. Each month after a full moon, the Glow Worms perform their mating ritual, culminating in a florescent green glow that is amazing to witness. 
With this goal in mind, we started with a private charter of the sailboat Ataberya, enjoying a sunset cruise with reggae in the background and the rum punch flowing.
Shortly after a glorious sunset, we headed into the shallows to witness this monthly event. And none were let down (especially the glow worms from the look of it!). The only one's worse for wear at the end of our trip were all the poor conchs that found their way into our bellies!We have had the opportunity to take numerous groups back to TCI to visit this special place we called home, and each year I get a bit of trepidation worrying our friends won't love it as much as we do. In the past six years, TCI has yet to disappoint! |
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Photos courtesy and copyright of Steve Pamp. Check here for more of his images. |
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A quick poll of our group after the trip came up with these responses: "It was spectacular. It was probably the best diving of any trip I've been on with UWP. The group was great, like I've known everyone for years." "It was a 10, and I'm not an easy grader. Saw great things on every dive and first class service. "It was fantastic. For us, it was the best diving I've ever had as far as the stuff we saw, how we were taken care of on the boats, just the sites were incredible, the walls and animals were abundant." |
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