Yes the drive to me would be a pain to go to Grace Bay from Sapodilla Bay. Yes, more than double the time to dine out and the drive home at night after dinner is a dark one in many areas to Sapodilla area. ( Industrial Park area)

the drive from sopadilla will add about 15-20 mins each way. it's really not a bad drive - good roads. however, as your group is all adults & sopadilla is so shallow for swimming, i think you'd prefer the tcivilla houses - assuming you're choosing one of the turtle cove area villas. there is outstanding off beach snorkeling (with entry almost directly in front of sandstone), you're near 6 restaurants and 10-15 mins to everything else on grace bay.
i have stayed in one of tcivillas on ocean point and will say that the management was excellent. which of the villas are you considering?

Thanks to both of you for your feedback. The TC Villa options seem to be Villa Avalon, Oceanus, Casa Grande or Tamarind (Coral House is outside the budget). Any ideaa of which might provide the open concept/ outdoor connection better than the others? If our party size reduces maybe Pelican House or Villa del Sol (vrbo i think).

I have seen all of your choices, mostly from the outside. I have seen Avalon and Tamarind from the inside.

All are gorgeous.

Most of the ones you're interested in on Grace Bay are really Turtle Cove area, and although the snorkeling is excellent, the beachfront is rocky.

Villa Del Sol might be what you're looking for. The living room does open up on both sides, really gorgeous, especially at night. It's on Leeward, which blends into Grace Bay. Gorgeous section of beach. Only 5 minutes to everything, restaurants, shops, golf, supermarket.

It used to be owned by Donna Karen, whochas since moved on to Parrot Cay.

We loved Sapodilla Bay, and Villa Mirabelle is gorgeous. There is a nice restaurant in walking distance from Sapodilla. Grace bay is about 15-20 minutes away so if you're planning on eating there a lot you may want to stay closer. Here's a link to my TR if you want more info. enjoy!

http://www.fodors.com/community/caribbean-islands/provo-trip-report-august-13-21.cfm

Blamona, the beach in front of Villa del Sol looks amazing and 5 minutes to everything REALLY appeals to me as a 2 hour a day commuter. I also like Donna Karen's designs so i'm sure i will appreciate the decor. We dont have all family members confirmed yet and the 3 bedrooms may work if we have some no shows. Any recommendations in the area for a 5 bedroom villa? By the way, having seen your Potcake photos, atleast two of us will be volunteering to transport a puppy back to the states. If all goes well, my brother and Mom in law will be taking one back for themselves. Cross fingers.

Kelly, good to hear Villa Mirabelle is as beautiful as it looks in the photos. I enjoyed your TR. Did you drive at night to/from Grace Bay? Caribzack's comments on the drive in the dark concerned me a little. And the shallow water Virginia mentioned might be an issue for the swimmers in the family but nice for my sis in law who is not. But boy the photos of Villa Mirabelle and the beach look lovely. Such the dilemma.

You might want to check out Frootprints in the Sand, which is right next to Villa Del Sol. Vds, don't know if the new owners changed the furnishings or not, but s still gorgeous. FITS, don't know if they have to open concept living area, but it looks gorgeous from the beach and from the street.

I was there in August, some pictures of the different beaches, the stripped umbrella is Taylor Bay, the pink umbrella is Sapadilla Bay (both are similar beaches and next to each other) you can see how shallow the water is. The yellow umbrella and pictures with 2 umbrellas is Leeward Beach, which blends into Grace Bay. Both villas here are 3 minutes to everything, supermarket, golf, shops, restaurants, and many more accesses to Grace Bay.

http://s49.photobucket.com/albums/f254/blamona/Airplanes%20Tropical%20Storms%20and%20a%20celebrity/?albumview=slideshow

We are also looking to spend some time (17 days or so) in a Turks & Caicos villa with extended family (4 or 5 bedrooms), but we will all be diving (except for 3 very young children), so we need easy access to dive shops, but also must have a nice beach directly in front of the villa. Not much else matters to us, as we usually do our own cooking. Best suggestions for us?

kent, the tcivillas.com that are in turtle cove will work for you. 10+ min walk or 2 min drive to http://www.provoturtledivers.com/divesites.htm

the beach in this area has some rocky entrance - but sandy to hang out on & you can take a short walk to sandy entrance.

diveprovo has boats lving from turtle cove & a site on the south side & resort pick ups.
tcidiving/caicos adventures picks up at resorts.
we stayed once in the ocean point villas. most of the houses have private docks & boats came to pick ppl up at their villas for south side dives. those houses have no beach but you can walk onto taylor bay beach which is extremely shallow so good for small kids.

There's a new villa on the market, at Thompson Cove (a little farther down Grace Bay, kinda in the middle) called Castaway. 5 bedroom, around 12k in low season. Huge open living room concept (open to the gorgeous back yard). The property manager is my manager, so I know it's nice. He can send you pictures if you email Ian@trail.tc.

New villa, so maybe ask if they are having a grand opening special? Tell him Blamona at Fodors sent you.

Tell me what you think

Got the photos of Castaway Villa from Ian. BEAUTIFUL villa and right price. Thanks for the suggestion!

Would you consider posting pictures when you return? So jealous!

PS I write the guidebooks on TCI for Fodors, let me know if you want ideas or recommendations for your vacation.

Have a great vacation!

blamona----fantastic photos. I want to be there NOW!

I will definitely post photos when we return. We arent going until the first 2 weeks of June 2013 though (seems so far away) Meanwhile I will take you up on your kind offer for more vacation advice as I get further along in planning the details of our trip.

We will be at Castaway for two weeks in July next year, so hopefully I remember to post about our experiences after that. Thanks, Blamona!