Back to the Islands

News-Press Waves Article - April 2007 - Cherri Wood

Photo by Gary Wood

As our tiny plane made the 6-minute journey over turquoise water and onto the empty runway on Pine Cay, we experienced one of those moments of pure pleasure. It had been over 3 years since we last visited the Turks & Caicos Islands.

Pine Cay is a 2-mile long (about 800 acres), limestone based island that is 1 mile at its widest point. The privately owned island has several personal residences and an exclusive hideaway resort, The Meridian Club (www.meridianclub.com). The mode of transportation is by foot or golf cart and the only paved area on the island is the runway.

We zoomed over sandy roads to Koala Run, our friends’ home, where we immediately dropped our shoes and hastily changed into more suitable island attire – shorts & t-shirts. The only time anyone on island wears shoes is when they are enjoying their early morning walk and even then, some are barefoot. We spent the afternoon trying to figure out what to do first – visit the beach and search for sand dollars, pump some scuba tanks and get our dive gear ready for the next day, head to the club for some ice tea and homemade chocolate chip cookies or grab a beverage of choice and head up to the top level deck of the house to gaze at the clear water and wait for sunset. That is a fine example of the highest level of stress we would experience over the next week.

Koala Run, like all of the other homes on the island, is air conditioned by ceiling fans and the cool night breeze that wafts through the open doors and windows. Nights are quiet and in the absence of city lights, the stars are always visible in the dark sky. In the very early morning hours, the air is humid and you can lie in bed and watch the sunrise through a hazy mist that has settled over the water. Most mornings, before it got too hot, we put on our walking shoes and wandered out on some of the sandy roads for a brisk walk. Many times, we ended up at the runway, taking advantage of the paved surface to work up a little speed and then heading back toward the water for the cooler breeze.

Eventually, we found some time in our hectic days to throw the scuba tanks into the boat and make the short trip out to some of the favorite local dive sites. The wind blows constantly at this time of year and on some occasions, we found the diving a little challenging due to waves. Fortunately, for us, the first day of diving was the only day when the seas were heavy. Trying to stay still enough to get a photograph was definitely the hardest part of the dive and even at 60 feet, the sand twirled up from the bottom like little tornadoes.

A favorite dive site is an area called Eagle Ray that begins in relatively shallow water and slopes dramatically down to around 105 feet. Generally, there is enough to see in the shallow and middle depths that it is not important to go deeper but there is an unusual attraction at Eagle Ray worth a quick visit to the bottom. In previous years, we made the journey down to see the mysterious Garden Eels that pop in and out of small holes in the ocean floor. These creatures are hard to capture in photographs since on approach they disappear from sight. Again, we decided to drop down for a short look and then work our way back up the reef to leisurely inspect the many sea fans, coral gardens and tropical fish that inhabit the upper levels of the dive site. I would like to say that we got the award-winning photo of the Garden Eels but I guess we will have to wait until the next trip.

While the Turks & Caicos sea life is very similar to what we typically see in the Florida Keys, the distribution is markedly different in this area of the Caribbean. We have spent hours searching for Flamingo Tongue shells in the Keys. The shells are not remarkable in general, but when the live animal extends its mantle outside the shell covering it in a polka dot type pattern it is very colorful. Last year in over 40 Keys dives, we found Flamingo Tongues about 5 times. In the Turks & Caicos, we saw several on every dive.

Another area close to Koala Run is the Football Field. We wondered about the name until we hovered over the reef and discovered what looks like a huge underwater football field bordered by high ridges of coral reef on both sides. Traveling from one area of the reef to the next is like leaving one country and heading to another. One clump of coral may be host to a mix of every type of Parrot Fish you can imagine and a few short feet away, a huge sea fan hosts a colony of tiny yellow and blue fish swimming in frenzied patterns around purple lace.

Just off the Northwest point of Provo is an area aptly named “Northwest Point”. On a previous trip, we made the hour-long trip from Pine Cay to Provo to visit a dome that was constructed by a French film company several years before. Although we never found the dome on that trip, it was still a worthwhile visit. The sandy bottom is fairly level at around 25 or 30 feet and is dotted with coral “villages”. Each coral clump has a colony of different sea life and you could easily spend an entire dive just exploring one little piece of this underwater world. If you keep swimming, you eventually come to a drop-off where the water is deeper and bluer and you have a chance of spotting some larger fish. Some big Nassau Grouper cruise the wall and hide in the recesses beneath the overhang. On this dive, we managed to locate the dome that had collapsed into a huge pile of metal. It is now a perfect artificial reef with lots of hiding places for smaller creatures and an eerie backdrop for photographers. The surface of the dome is encrusted with growth and the camera strobe light exposed huge patches of red among fields of yellow and purple tube sponges.

The time passed quickly and, too soon, we found ourselves dumped in the humanity (or is that inhumanity) of Miami Airport and then back home in Cape Coral. The break from our normal routine was rejuvenating and the time spent with our friends was treasured.

This was my first dive after back surgery in November and I am happy to report that my fears of reduced diving ability have been tossed overboard. It is true that my dive buddy and best friend, Gary, has taken on the extra burden of hauling my dive & camera gear on and off the boat, in and out of the car, and through the airport, while I carry the lighter pieces like hats & towels. Without his help, I’m not sure I would be as ready for our dive season as I am but spring is here and the calendar is beginning to fill up with our next few dive adventures so I’m really grateful for the support.

April is the “official” dive season opening for the Caloosa Dive Club although many of the members have been actively diving over the winter months. It is time to dust off the dive gear, squeeze into those wetsuits that managed to shrink over the winter, get regulators tuned up and hit the water! Dive, Dive, Dive!!!