Liveaboard Diving in West Caicos

WHAT TO EXPECT ON A WEST CAICOS LIVEABOARD

Liveaboards to West Caicos visit this uninhabited island, approximately 16km southwest of Provo, usually as part of a Turks & Caicos dive itinerary. With 25+ unsoiled dive sites, this area is not to be missed! With so many unparalleled dive sites to choose from, opting for a liveaboard dive trip is the only way to make the best of your time.

Extraordinary walls span nearly 9km of the west side of the island and to the east of the island, the Southwest Reef stretches for 2.5km. For those who are interested in observing more than just the magnificent marine life whilst on their liveaboard trip, this area is also a common ground for wild flamingos, pelicans, and osprey.

WEST CAICOS UNDERWATER

The diversity of West Caicos underwater allows for an excellent opportunity to witness large pelagic species passing through. Among such species are blacktip reef sharks, spotted eagle rays, barracuda, turtles, and even manta rays and hammerheads on occasion. Brightly colored coral and sponge species are prevalent here as well. Visibility is usually no less than 30m in this area. With astounding visibility and no shortage of sights to be seen, diving from a liveaboard dive trip is truly something to write home about!

DIVE SITES OF WEST CAICOS

Liveaboards dive itineraries that visit West Caicos will dive on numerous sites in the area, an overview on just a few of them are outlined below;

DRIVEWAY
-This dive site gets its name from the sand chute that stretches down through the reef from 15m all the way to 30m. For a deeper dive, descend down the driveway through a ripe reef brimming with breathtaking species of coral, sponges, eels, rays, black durgons, and groupers. If a calm shallow dive is more your speed, float above the top of the wall among sporadic sprouts of a coral head.

GULLIES - A sensational wall dive that gets its name from the large split in the reef separating it into two definite sections. Beyond the split, the wall descends vertically. Rife with sponge, anemone, and coral covered undercuts, the wall is a popular spot for stingrays, barracuda, and reef sharks.

ROCK GARDEN INTERLUDE - A sand flat approximately 12m in depth that leads to a steep wall drop off. Garden eels, yellow-headed jawfish, rays, flounder, grunts, snapper, grouper, conch, and yellow coral shrimp are among the marine life frequently found in the sand flat.

THE ANCHOR/WHITEFACE - The name Whiteface comes from the expansion of dramatic white cliffs stretching along the shoreline. Whiteface is a wall dive with profoundly unique and remarkable columns of pillar coral. Angelfish, butterflyfish, grouper, barracuda, and parrotfish are several common species of this interesting dive site. Another notable feature is the anchor embedded in a crevice in the wall approximately 23m deep.

ELEPHANT EAR CANYON - A reef replete with immense orange Elephant Ear Sponge formations over 3m in diameter. Cruising among these glorious giants has an incomparable calming effect; what a great way to spend an hour! The reef is scattered with sand chutes that are home to garden eels, stingrays, and tilefish.

TOP TIPS FOR DIVERS

Packing light is highly recommended on liveaboard trips. While accommodations are quite comfortable, storage can be limited. Casual and lightweight clothing is acceptable to wear. A lightweight jacket or sweater may come in handy for evenings, as temperatures on the water are usually cooler than on land. High quality, biodegradable sunscreen is a necessity in the strong tropical sun.

The weather and water temperature around West Caicos are ideal. Warm and tranquil waters make diving a dream. A rash guard or a 3mm shorty wetsuit is typically all that is necessary for the near-perfect conditions of Turks and Caicos.

Be sure to pay close attention to the dive brief and leads, as well as your depth gauge while diving. Maximum depths are carefully considered to ensure diver safety. It can be easy to exceed the depth limits on a wall dive if distracted. Never exceed the depths of the dive lead in accordance with the RDP.

West Caicos is a largely protected marine park. Therefore, it is imperative that divers take only pictures and memories, and leave only bubbles. Disturbing marine life in protected areas is not only frowned upon, but it is also illegal.

GETTING THERE

Because West Caicos is an uninhabited island, the best way to visit the plentiful dive sites this area has to offer is with a Turks and Caicos liveaboard dive tour. Arrive on an international flight to Provo island, where your luxury liveaboard yacht awaits embarkation.


West Caicos Diving Reviews

  • 9.1 Superb
  • 25 Verified Reviews
  • 10.0 Exceptional
  • Kyle S
  • United States United States

Awesome! Saw tons of neat, different fish.

Diving West Caicos in July on the Turks and Caicos Explorer

  • 9.6 Exceptional
  • Paul A
  • United States United States

Vary good dive sites with lots to see some fun shoots to dive thru and wall to look over.

Diving West Caicos in August on the Turks and Caicos Explorer

  • 9.6 Exceptional
  • Timothy S
  • United States United States

slight current and good vis made for nice diving

Diving West Caicos in August on the Turks and Caicos Explorer

  • 8.4 Very good
  • DAVID F
  • United States United States

Fantastic, scuba with dolphins was an amazing experience.

Diving West Caicos in December on the Turks and Caicos Explorer

  • 6.4 Review score
  • jurek H
  • United States United States

Very nice, lots of soft corals, black corals. Night dive boring.

Diving West Caicos in May on the Turks and Caicos Explorer

  • 8.4 Very good
  • Giancarlo D
  • United States United States

Saw first turtle and he wanted to stay and show off s little

Diving West Caicos in May on the Turks and Caicos Explorer

  • 10.0 Exceptional
  • Charles C
  • United States United States

The diving in West Caicos varies from outstanding to average. Due to weather, we probably visited every possible site, including multiple visits to several sites. Of the sites visited, the Dome, the Spanish Anchor and the Gullies were the best. All of the sites offer wall diving. Some of the other reefs bore scars from prior storms -- lots of sand on the coral -- which resulted in less aquatic life than in other places I have visited. That being said, there is still a lot of beautiful things to see there and the staff, particularly Rachel and Cyrill, were very good at finding plenty of great things to see. If you like sharks, turtles and rays, you will be happy here, We also saw a humpback whale from a distance.

Diving West Caicos in March on the Turks and Caicos Aggressor II

  • 10.0 Exceptional
  • Robert N
  • United States United States

Excellent, lots of sealife.

Diving West Caicos in March on the Turks and Caicos Aggressor II

  • 10.0 Exceptional
  • ROBERT W
  • United States United States

Great sites, good visibility, diverse marine life

Diving West Caicos in September on the Turks and Caicos Aggressor II

  • 7.6 Good
  • Sandra S
  • United States United States

Nice walls. Rays in sand. Amphitheater, Spanish Anchor and Thunder Dome were nice sites.

Diving West Caicos in December on the Turks and Caicos Explorer

  • 9.6 Exceptional
  • katrina P
  • United States United States

Wall dives, easy access from the boat

Diving West Caicos in January on the Turks and Caicos Aggressor II

  • 8.4 Very good
  • jurek H
  • United States United States

Good. Unfortunately it was windy so many dive site were off limit

Diving West Caicos in March on the Turks and Caicos Aggressor II

  • 10.0 Exceptional
  • Larry B
  • United States United States

Challenging and very different

Diving West Caicos in March on the Turks and Caicos Aggressor II

  • 9.6 Exceptional
  • Miyuki I
  • Japan Japan

We dived a lot in the West Caicos & always sharks were there.

Diving West Caicos in December on the Turks and Caicos Explorer

  • 8.8 Fabulous
  • Lee A
  • United Kingdom United Kingdom

Good visibility, lots of corals and reef fish, regular sightings of Caribbean Reef Sharks and Jacks.

Diving West Caicos in July on the Turks and Caicos Explorer

  • 8.4 Very good
  • FABRICE N
  • France France

clear water and beautiful cliff

Diving West Caicos in December on the Turks and Caicos Explorer

  • 8.8 Fabulous
  • Sarah B
  • Bermuda Bermuda

The best. Lots of sharks, great visibility, impressive walls.

Diving West Caicos in December on the Turks and Caicos Explorer

  • 9.2 Superb
  • Stella Y
  • China China

Amazing island for wall diving

Diving West Caicos in October on the Turks and Caicos Explorer

  • 9.2 Superb
  • Gijs D
  • Netherlands Netherlands

Great dive sites and a wide variety of underwater marine life

Diving West Caicos in March on the Turks and Caicos Aggressor II

  • 9.6 Exceptional
  • Quentin N
  • France France

Great! Turtles and sharks.

Diving West Caicos in April on the Turks and Caicos Aggressor II

  • 9.6 Exceptional
  • SZE YIN T
  • Australia Australia

Beautiful, reefs were very pristine with alot of healthy fish life

Diving West Caicos in August on the Turks and Caicos Aggressor II