Just returned from Provo - trip report - stayed at Ocean Club West
Apr 30th, 2007, 01:25 PM
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Just returned from Provo - trip report - stayed at Ocean Club West
My husband and I just returned from 5 days in Provo. We had an enjoyable time and wanted to share the pluses and minuses of the trip.
We arrived on American Airlines and even though the wait for our bags was long (45 minutes), the airport was nice and they even had a group playing music. It was way too loud but it made the wait thru customs and for the bags much more enjoyable. I recommend picking up a map at the tourist info stand which is located just to the left of the baggage belt. Prior to the trip, I downloaded several maps of the island from various web sites and found each one to be different! The map you can obtain in the airport seems to even have most of the newer roads on it and was supposedly printed in 2007. Why I bring this up is because we had a rental car from Budget and explored every ‘major’ road on the island! First, I highly recommend getting a car. Regardless of the size (we had the smallest) you can almost venture anywhere. We heard several people complaining that during the off-season (we were there April 22nd-27th) that the Gecko didn’t run that often and that taxis were expensive. The car rentals are expensive too compared to most islands however you then have the freedom to see all the sites.
We stayed in a studio unit at the Ocean Club West Resort. Our unit was great. We had a kitchen well stocked with appliances to include a stove, full-size fridge, icemaker, blender (a must for frozen drinks!), toaster, coffee pot (with filters), dish soap & sponge, plenty of pots & pans, 4 sets of dishes and utensils, and a good-size pantry. We were also surprised to have a washer & dryer along with enough laundry soap for 3 loads. It was nice to go home with our bags full of clean clothes and no laundry to do upon arrival! Our bathroom was well stocked with plenty of shampoo, conditioner, lotion, and fresh towels daily. We had a nice king-size bed, sofa, TV, two night stands, and a dresser. The maid was in daily and did a thorough job of cleaning. The best part of our 450 square foot studio was the screened in porch. Even though we faced construction, the constant breeze and peaceful atmosphere of the porch was great. We never had to turn on the A/C all week – we simply kept the two ceiling fans going and opened the sliders all the way. Then the resort was very nice. The pool was great, the beach like walking on baby-powder, they had 4 computers set-up with internet access, tennis courts, restaurant, and two large bar-b-que grills for use by all. We made burgers on the grill one day and enjoyed sitting in the gazebo.
The grocery store, IGA Graceway, was a nice addition to the island. We did notice two other grocery stores while driving but this was definitely the popular place. You can get nearly everything you want there to include hard-alcohol, wine, deli items, and cooked food. We found the prices about double from home (Virginia) but not too bad for some items such as bread.
Even though we are PADI-certified, we stuck to snorkeling this week. We spent most of our time between Coral Gardens and Smith’s Reef. Coral Gardens is easy to locate on Penn’s Road off of Lower Bight Road. Just look for the ‘Coral Garden’s sign which leads you to a small circle in front of the resort where you simply park your rental car and walk down a path about 150 feet. This reef is cordoned off with buoys and is under protection however definitely snorkel all the way around the buoys. We saw a 6’ reef shark (yes, a reef shark and not a nurse shark), plenty of fish to include parrot fish, sergeant majors, groupers, barracudas, etc, but the best was the dozen plus sea turtles! Every day we would venture back just to swim with them. Amazing! Smith’s Reef is a little different. It’s harder to get to in the sense that you have to walk a few blocks along the beach (no direct access) and is deeper than Coral Gardens. Plus you have to be on the lookout for passing boats. The coral there is much more vibrant but we didn’t see any major sea life the 4 times we visited it. To get there, head towards Turtle Cove and turn onto the road that leads to the Yacht Club Resort (not the Marina) and Sharkbite’s restaurant. At the T-intersection you can head either way. We found heading to the left a shorter walk plus there was a nice picnic table on the point for lunch. Simply park your car at the end and start walking away from the marina/in-let area. Travel until you see the rock cairn. Then swim out and there are concrete markers on the bottom in case you want to follow them. Make sure you swim out from the first reef area to the larger reef just 30 feet away. And watch for boats! We also snorkeled at a site labeled on some maps as ‘Tom Foot Rock’. Basically it’s off of Wheeland Road on the way to Northwest Point (northwest corner of the island) When Wheeland Road ends you take the sand road towards the quarry. Park on the side and walk out. You’ll see the reef. This site was much clearer but not much beyond coral. Plus we got our little rental car stuck in the sand but the first dump truck by pulled us out.
Other must sees if you have a car:
- Sapadillo Bay – beautiful beach off of Chalk Sound Road
- Drive all the way out on Chalk Sound Road – beautiful views and huge houses
- Pelican Point, Osprey Rock, South Bluff, or West Harbor Bluff (all different names on the various maps for the same place) – this is located in the southwest point of the island. This was an incredible and isolated (private) beach area. To get there, head towards Blue Hills but don’t take the split towards ‘Da Conch Shack”. Stay on the main road which was being paved last week. Go past the school on your right and a couple of driveways with big buildings on your left and continue until the next major road to the left. It’s a wide and very white road (due to the stone color). This was one of the smoothest roads we took on the entire island. Stay on this until you come to the dead end (several miles). You’ll see three grass/stone ‘driveways’ to take. Either take the short one in front of you or better yet, if your car can make it take the longer one to the left. This will lead you to a completely private beach. Then you can walk all the way to the ‘floating’ rock in the water covered by pelicans. Plus there’s a cave around the first bend you can venture in to.
Other places we enjoyed:
- The view from the top of Sapadillo Hill Point – at the end of South Dock Road, the main road turns to the right out to Sapodilla Bay and Chalk Sound Road. Instead continue straight (you can only go a short distance before entering the shipyard) and turn right on the dirt road. On the right you’ll see a small path that takes you up to the top of the hill. There you will notice the rocks carved by boaters who had been stranded there throughout the 1800s and 1900s. Pretty cool and the views are amazing!
- The Hole – not much there but a huge limestone hole with freshwater in the bottom of it. The road to it was quite rough but doable. It’s off of Seagate Hill Road in Long Bay Villas.
As for meals, we only ate out three times in our few days and had mixed reactions. We heard so many good things about Sharkbite’s so we ate there for a late lunch. We weren’t very impressed. Then we tried lunch one day at the Tiki Hut and enjoyed both the food and the atmosphere. But the best was definitely dinner at Hemmingway’s. My husband had the second best filet mignon of his life there and we had a beautiful view of Grace Bay at sunset. We highly recommend Hemmingway’s!
Lastly, when I read through the various travel forums I noticed a lot of people comparing Provo to Grand Cayman. Grand Cayman is our favorite destination but Provo is similar in some aspects – you drive on the wrong side of the road, it’s expensive, and the government owns all the shoreline. We still like GC better because it seems to have more to offer and isn’t as developed as Provo. With that said though, we still want to try the other islands that make up the Turks & Caicos!
We arrived on American Airlines and even though the wait for our bags was long (45 minutes), the airport was nice and they even had a group playing music. It was way too loud but it made the wait thru customs and for the bags much more enjoyable. I recommend picking up a map at the tourist info stand which is located just to the left of the baggage belt. Prior to the trip, I downloaded several maps of the island from various web sites and found each one to be different! The map you can obtain in the airport seems to even have most of the newer roads on it and was supposedly printed in 2007. Why I bring this up is because we had a rental car from Budget and explored every ‘major’ road on the island! First, I highly recommend getting a car. Regardless of the size (we had the smallest) you can almost venture anywhere. We heard several people complaining that during the off-season (we were there April 22nd-27th) that the Gecko didn’t run that often and that taxis were expensive. The car rentals are expensive too compared to most islands however you then have the freedom to see all the sites.
We stayed in a studio unit at the Ocean Club West Resort. Our unit was great. We had a kitchen well stocked with appliances to include a stove, full-size fridge, icemaker, blender (a must for frozen drinks!), toaster, coffee pot (with filters), dish soap & sponge, plenty of pots & pans, 4 sets of dishes and utensils, and a good-size pantry. We were also surprised to have a washer & dryer along with enough laundry soap for 3 loads. It was nice to go home with our bags full of clean clothes and no laundry to do upon arrival! Our bathroom was well stocked with plenty of shampoo, conditioner, lotion, and fresh towels daily. We had a nice king-size bed, sofa, TV, two night stands, and a dresser. The maid was in daily and did a thorough job of cleaning. The best part of our 450 square foot studio was the screened in porch. Even though we faced construction, the constant breeze and peaceful atmosphere of the porch was great. We never had to turn on the A/C all week – we simply kept the two ceiling fans going and opened the sliders all the way. Then the resort was very nice. The pool was great, the beach like walking on baby-powder, they had 4 computers set-up with internet access, tennis courts, restaurant, and two large bar-b-que grills for use by all. We made burgers on the grill one day and enjoyed sitting in the gazebo.
The grocery store, IGA Graceway, was a nice addition to the island. We did notice two other grocery stores while driving but this was definitely the popular place. You can get nearly everything you want there to include hard-alcohol, wine, deli items, and cooked food. We found the prices about double from home (Virginia) but not too bad for some items such as bread.
Even though we are PADI-certified, we stuck to snorkeling this week. We spent most of our time between Coral Gardens and Smith’s Reef. Coral Gardens is easy to locate on Penn’s Road off of Lower Bight Road. Just look for the ‘Coral Garden’s sign which leads you to a small circle in front of the resort where you simply park your rental car and walk down a path about 150 feet. This reef is cordoned off with buoys and is under protection however definitely snorkel all the way around the buoys. We saw a 6’ reef shark (yes, a reef shark and not a nurse shark), plenty of fish to include parrot fish, sergeant majors, groupers, barracudas, etc, but the best was the dozen plus sea turtles! Every day we would venture back just to swim with them. Amazing! Smith’s Reef is a little different. It’s harder to get to in the sense that you have to walk a few blocks along the beach (no direct access) and is deeper than Coral Gardens. Plus you have to be on the lookout for passing boats. The coral there is much more vibrant but we didn’t see any major sea life the 4 times we visited it. To get there, head towards Turtle Cove and turn onto the road that leads to the Yacht Club Resort (not the Marina) and Sharkbite’s restaurant. At the T-intersection you can head either way. We found heading to the left a shorter walk plus there was a nice picnic table on the point for lunch. Simply park your car at the end and start walking away from the marina/in-let area. Travel until you see the rock cairn. Then swim out and there are concrete markers on the bottom in case you want to follow them. Make sure you swim out from the first reef area to the larger reef just 30 feet away. And watch for boats! We also snorkeled at a site labeled on some maps as ‘Tom Foot Rock’. Basically it’s off of Wheeland Road on the way to Northwest Point (northwest corner of the island) When Wheeland Road ends you take the sand road towards the quarry. Park on the side and walk out. You’ll see the reef. This site was much clearer but not much beyond coral. Plus we got our little rental car stuck in the sand but the first dump truck by pulled us out.
Other must sees if you have a car:
- Sapadillo Bay – beautiful beach off of Chalk Sound Road
- Drive all the way out on Chalk Sound Road – beautiful views and huge houses
- Pelican Point, Osprey Rock, South Bluff, or West Harbor Bluff (all different names on the various maps for the same place) – this is located in the southwest point of the island. This was an incredible and isolated (private) beach area. To get there, head towards Blue Hills but don’t take the split towards ‘Da Conch Shack”. Stay on the main road which was being paved last week. Go past the school on your right and a couple of driveways with big buildings on your left and continue until the next major road to the left. It’s a wide and very white road (due to the stone color). This was one of the smoothest roads we took on the entire island. Stay on this until you come to the dead end (several miles). You’ll see three grass/stone ‘driveways’ to take. Either take the short one in front of you or better yet, if your car can make it take the longer one to the left. This will lead you to a completely private beach. Then you can walk all the way to the ‘floating’ rock in the water covered by pelicans. Plus there’s a cave around the first bend you can venture in to.
Other places we enjoyed:
- The view from the top of Sapadillo Hill Point – at the end of South Dock Road, the main road turns to the right out to Sapodilla Bay and Chalk Sound Road. Instead continue straight (you can only go a short distance before entering the shipyard) and turn right on the dirt road. On the right you’ll see a small path that takes you up to the top of the hill. There you will notice the rocks carved by boaters who had been stranded there throughout the 1800s and 1900s. Pretty cool and the views are amazing!
- The Hole – not much there but a huge limestone hole with freshwater in the bottom of it. The road to it was quite rough but doable. It’s off of Seagate Hill Road in Long Bay Villas.
As for meals, we only ate out three times in our few days and had mixed reactions. We heard so many good things about Sharkbite’s so we ate there for a late lunch. We weren’t very impressed. Then we tried lunch one day at the Tiki Hut and enjoyed both the food and the atmosphere. But the best was definitely dinner at Hemmingway’s. My husband had the second best filet mignon of his life there and we had a beautiful view of Grace Bay at sunset. We highly recommend Hemmingway’s!
Lastly, when I read through the various travel forums I noticed a lot of people comparing Provo to Grand Cayman. Grand Cayman is our favorite destination but Provo is similar in some aspects – you drive on the wrong side of the road, it’s expensive, and the government owns all the shoreline. We still like GC better because it seems to have more to offer and isn’t as developed as Provo. With that said though, we still want to try the other islands that make up the Turks & Caicos!
Apr 30th, 2007, 01:33 PM
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I loved reading your report as we just returned from there, too! We were at Ocean Club West from April 14-21.
We are looking into Grand Cayman for one of our next trips. How does the beach at 7 mile compare to Grace Bay? What about the restaurants? Thanks!
We are looking into Grand Cayman for one of our next trips. How does the beach at 7 mile compare to Grace Bay? What about the restaurants? Thanks!
May 3rd, 2007, 05:42 AM
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On Grand Cayman, we stayed in East End far away from Seven Mile Beach however we did swim and snorkel there and it was really nice. The sand wasn't as soft as the 'baby powder' sand in Provo but it's definately a great beach. Plus it's very clean. The resorts sweep up each morning leaving it pristine for your footprints.
And the restaurants on GC are excellent! They are priced about the same as Provo ($20-$35 for dinner) but you feel like you get your money's worth and it's delicious! Our favorites were Pappagallo's Ristorante (for the ambience, food, and view) and the Treehouse for their Banana Tree Banshee drinks. Oh, and GC has almost all the fast food restuarants as home.
Grand Cayman has a lot to offer. Definately get a car if you like to adventure and/or snorkel anywhere. You must swim with the sting rays at Sting Ray City. We also enjoyed Smith's Cove, Rum Point, Starfish Bay (hundreds of starfish), North Point, etc.
It's still our favorite! Enjoy!
And the restaurants on GC are excellent! They are priced about the same as Provo ($20-$35 for dinner) but you feel like you get your money's worth and it's delicious! Our favorites were Pappagallo's Ristorante (for the ambience, food, and view) and the Treehouse for their Banana Tree Banshee drinks. Oh, and GC has almost all the fast food restuarants as home.
Grand Cayman has a lot to offer. Definately get a car if you like to adventure and/or snorkel anywhere. You must swim with the sting rays at Sting Ray City. We also enjoyed Smith's Cove, Rum Point, Starfish Bay (hundreds of starfish), North Point, etc.
It's still our favorite! Enjoy!
May 3rd, 2007, 06:02 AM
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Thanks for posting your trip report. I've never been to Provo but with its rising popularity on this board and surge in trip reports, I almost feel that I have! I especially enjoyed reading your report with its emphasis away from Grace Bay and into some of the less-beaten paths of the island.
May 3rd, 2007, 06:01 PM
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what a great report stacey. it sounds like you had a good time and packed a lot into your short stay. like shariej i want to pack now, especially as i have never been clear on where to find pelican rock. now feel i must return! i have copied your directions.
May 7th, 2007, 12:17 PM
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I've posted pictures from our trip on our on-line photo album at http://picasaweb.google.com/theguthiels
Enjoy!
Enjoy!
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