Page 338 - The British Big Four
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Grand Turk Island is located in the beautiful Caribbean paradise of the and great diving. The residents of Grand Turk like to keep their island
Turks and Caicos Islands, a British Overseas Territory. Turks and Cai- colorful and fairly clean, they decorate their homes in festive colors
cos are composed of 41 islands and cays, of which eight are inhabited. and try to stick to their heritage, both Caribbean and English.
Located just 575 miles off Miami, Grand Turk Island is home to Cock- GRAND TURK DIVE SITES
burn Town, the historical and cultural center point of this Caribbean AQUARIUM - The furthermost northern dive site off just off Grand
island. Originally inhabited by Taino and Lucayan natives, it is here Turk, located within the Columbus National Marine Park, The Aquar-
that Christopher Columbus discovered the New World when he land- ium takes its name from the huge array of wildlife that regularly gath-
ed on Grand Turk in 1492 during his initial voyage. Nearly 500 years ers at the spot. The soft corals here are incredibly lush, and the site is
later astronaut John Glenn landed just off the coast of Grand Turk in unique in that it boasts an alternative reef of spur and groove coral
his voyage to become the first American to orbit the Earth. Starting formations. The reef ridges rise and fall sharply, creating several sand
with Bermudian salt-rakers in the 1700s and then English settlers, the canyons below. Boulder star coral, sea rods, brain coral, and sponges
island has a wonderful mixture of Bermudian-British architecture and are abundant here and in particularly good health.
turn-of-the-century Caribbean charm. The quiet streets are lined with AMPHITHEATER - is a huge sand chute that takes the diver from
buildings from the past and as the ocean breaks along the shoreline, around 60 feet down to an opening in the wall at 90 feet where you
visitors often feel transported to a time long ago. sail out over a 3000 foot drop into the abyss. Carpeting the floor of the
To reach Grand Turk, you need to first fly to the island of Providen- Amphitheater are thousands of garden eels that slither rapidly back-
ciales in the Turks and Caicos Islands and then take a connecting flight wards into their holes when you approach. An easy 100’ swim to the
from Providenciales to Grand Turk. Grand Turk is serviced from Prov- wall and a slight turn west leads divers to a huge bowl with three slop-
idenciales by InterCaribbean Airways (formerly Air Turks and Caicos) ing sides – the Amphitheater. Blue parrotfish are abundant in this area
as well as Caicos Express Airways. You can check availability, obtain and the queen triggerfish is often seen munching on sea urchins or
pricing and book flights on their websites. Due to seasonal service, the warding off wrasses and snappers.
number of flights per day and the days of the week when these flights BLACK FOREST - Commencing at 35 feet (11 meters) divers are only
are available can vary. Please check the airline’s website for current in- moments away from dropping off Grand Turk’s world famous wall af-
formation and flight details. ter jumping in the water at the Black Forest. The site is completely
All of the dive sites at Grand Turk are located on the west coast of the unique, because there is an undercut in the wall here, which produces
island due to the heavy current, surge and, according to the locals, a great shadow along its face. The black coral are therefore duped into
sharks on the east coast. The island itself, while being the seat of the thinking the area is deeper — this is interesting because black coral is
Turks and Caicos government, is actually one of the smaller islands usually found at depths of around 150-200 feet (60 meters). There are
in the group being only a mile wide and a little over six miles long.
However, what the island lacks in size it makes up for in hospitality
