Looking for a new location
 

My husband and I are looking for a new location to a warm, water-focused destination. We love to fish and snorkel and we prefer to rent a cottage or house that has some privacy. We heard about the Turks and Caicos and I am curious to get more feedback.<BR><BR>We are looking for a location that has good snorkeling, the ability to rent a boat or charter a fishing guide, and want some good dinner options and some night life, but prefer to go back to &quot;our place&quot; and relax and read a good book.<BR><BR>Appreciate any of your suggestions, I know very little about the Turks &amp; Caicos<BR><BR>Nlou

There is a thread currently where T&amp;C is being discussed. We were there several years ago stayed in an AI. If you do text search you will find informative inputs on T&amp;C. It is a gorgeous beach. You can walk on it for miles and miles. I am not familiar with nightlife, I thought it was somewhat quiet but if you are at an AI you don't always get out to experience the nightlife. I would consider GC or Barbados, Antigua.

You may have better luck in the Out Islands of the Bahamas (though the T&amp;C are great in their own right, there is less ability to rent a boat and island hop, while in the Abacos hopping from cay to cay by rented motor boat is the preferred mode of transport). The Abacos are less developed than Providenciales (no big hotels, just small inns and rental villas), but more developed than Grand Turk (more in the way of modest nightlife and restaurants). The beaches are excellent ... nothing quite like Provo's Grace Bay, but plenty of them(many totally empty), and enough variety, to choose your favorites -- with the ability to hop from one to another.

I would always recommend the Turks and Caicos for great beaches and restaurants, diving/snorkeling and relaxation. There really isn't alot of night life in the Turks though. However, if you are seriously interested in fishing too, you might want to consider the Out Islands of the Bahamas which are very well known for fishing. The island of Bimini comes to mind; also Abacos, Eleuthera, and the Exumas. There's a trade off here too though because your dining and nightlife options shrink-so it really depends what's most important. Hope this helps!

This last post looks like spam to me - someone trying to sell something. These people were looking for information about T&amp;C not the Abacos.

I would agree with Eva and suggest looking at some of the Out Islands of the Bahamas. We have been to Abaco and Cat Island and our next trip is to Exuma. When we were on Cat Island we saw several lovely cottages for rent. Exuma is renowned for its bone fishing. Anegada, which is completely surrounded by a coral reefa, was the best snorkeling we ever had, and with a population of approximately 150 people on the entire island, you are very hard pressed to find nightlife or crowded beaches. Good luck with your search. We went to Turks and Caicos twice, when the only places to stay on Provo were the Club Med and what was then the Ramada, which is now an all-inclusive resort. We loved T&amp;C, so if you decide to go there, I am sure you will enjoy it as well.

nlou, I just returned from Turks a week ago, if you don't mind not much night life, THIS IS THE PLACE FOR YOU. My husband and I snorkled, and went deep sea fishing, the boat caught 14 fish in 4 hours. I caught a dolphin fish (mahi mahi) and my husband caught three wahoo, and I was sooo excited! We stayed at the Sands resort which was beautiful, but it sounds like you want a house or something different from a resort. We were on a boat with 5 other people, but you can definitely charter one if you want. Go to www.turksandcaicostourism.com for tons of information. Our nightlife consisted of going out to eat, (many really awesome restaurants, a bit pricey but we expected it) and listening to life music. There is also a casino, if you like that sort of thing. Also you can pay to go to the other resorts, like the Allegro, Beaches or Club Med that have some nightly entertainment, we didn't do that because we were so tired from our day of water activities that we went to bed early. If you want more information, just ask, but it is definitely a water-focused destination. I met two people who were big divers and they went diving every day and they said they have been all over the caribbean and T&amp;C by far was the best diving they have ever experienced as well as snorkling. I don't dive but I did snorkle, and it was awesome!! I wish I was back there.

Thanks for the help. I was especially intrigued by Carm's response. Sounds like this may be our type of destination if I can find a non-hotel sort of place to stay. (I travel on business alot and hotels don't bring me to the level of relaxation that a home does.)<BR><BR>Thanks again, appreicate any other input or suggestions.