Which Island Grand Turk or other for diving
 

We're off to Disney next year and El Conquistador, PR the year after. Want to do a side trip before each for diving and snorkeling. Have it narrowed down to Turks & Caicos for one year and Cozumel for the other (both recommended by dive enthusiasts).

Just beginning my research and T&C has me confused. Which island and where to stay at T&C?

My wish list:
1. Diving is the top consideration.
2. Snorkeling from the beach is the other top consideration.
3. Will be going in late Jan or early Feb -- want to avoid the rough side of an island. Do not want to fight big waves and currents to snorkel from the beach.
4. Would like a dive operation at the resort or affiliated with it (at least a relationship between the two).
5. Would really like to NOT have a zillion people on the dive boat.
6. Taking 22 yr old son so would prefer a 2 bedroom suite with common living area (that may be asking too much).
7. Torture for us would be staying in a highly developed area (at conventions we stay at places like 7 mile beach on Grand Cayman or the Hyatt at Aruba -- do NOT want that for our side trip). Get us away from the big tourist areas.

Someone recommended the Osprey Beach Hotel on Grand Turk. Any thoughts?

Have been to Roatan, Belize, Bonaire, USVI, BVI, Grand Cayman, and other islands. For these 2 trips, we are almost 100% set on T&C and Cozumel.

i'd like to recommend isla mujeres instead of cozumel as cozumel is very very busy.
on isla there are 6 dive companies but i don't know that any are connected to resorts. you could look at the avalon reef club and there are numerous small condo type places. isla is a very small, quiet island. all about the diving and snorkeling. you rent golf carts to get around instead of cars.

i have only been on provo in t&c. most of the resorts offer condo style accomodations and many offer dive packages. i can recommend provo turtle dives out of turtle cove marina, but others on this board have had good experiences with dive provo and silver deep.
coral gardens resort is directly in front of a good beach snorkel spot but a lot of people come to this part of the beach daily.
turks & caicos club has a small reef in front and is more set apart from things than most other resorts. parrot cay resort is an expensive option (small island just off provo) but very private and laid back. they use provo dive companies.
the best imo provo beach snorkel is at smith's reef. if you decide on provo over grand turk i'll tell you how to find it - not hard. also snorkeling off malcolm road beach is very good.
i believe to get to grand turk you must first fly to provo. if you have 2 weeks perhaps you could divide your time.
happy planning.

Thanks for all the helpful info - will follow up with it.

My husband has dived at T&C and said it was great. He also dived in Cozumel and at that time it is good, but since hurricanes have been happening that may have changed. Something to think about. We also snorkeled on Grace Bay right off the beach as virginia has stated. He also dived in Grand Cayman but I believe he liked T&C the best. We also snorkeled in Belize. I thought that was great!

Thank you.

Anyone else any thoughts?

I've been to both-Cozumel twice, and T&C many times.

1.great diving, day trips from Provo (where most people stay) usually take you towards West Caicos and French Cay. Grand turk has excellent wall diving-GT probably has better diving, but Provo is a more comfortable destination.

2. From the beach-Grand Turk has Bohio Resort (Pillory Beach) you can snorkel from, Provo has Coral Gardens and Smith's Reef.

3. This is in general, and I can't predict the weather, but most Januarys have waves all over the Caribbean, they call them "Christmas Winds." If there are storms in the States, blizzards, etc, then you can expect Bahamas, Virgin Islands, Anguilla, St. Martin, even Mexican coast to be wavy and choppy. I have super calm like glass water in Jan, but more times than not, have seen crazy waves. (This is for both of your picks-Cozumel and T&C.)
It doesn't stop me from going at that time, temps are great, always sunny-just may affect the viz and snorkeling. Most of the time, T&C is calm, but Jan-Feb can have a week of choppy waves-as States can get blizzards and snowstorms.

4. There is a small dive shop at Coral Gardens, but Provo is small, so no problems using other dive shops. Grand Turk, has one at Bohio Resort, but I also recommend the excellent Oasis Divers-at GT, they can take you to Salt Cay whale watching-you can even snorkel with them!!! (if lucky) plus they can take you to Gibbs Cay-snorkel with stingrays (better than Cayman's stingray city-and all to yourself)

5. Other than Club Med and Beaches, all the dives from Provo usually have about 10-15 people. GT usually has less. GT is known for diving-and in a sense, is a diving destination.

6. Most places in Provo are condos, 2 bedrooms with full kitchen, living areas are common. Same with Bohio Resort. (Although I prefer Osprey, but they don't have diving shop on premises-one of your criteria)

7.Provo is more developed than GT-not quite what Caymans or Aruba is, but looks like it's trying. No major convention places such as Hyatt, but when compared to GT-Grand Turk is sleepy, quiet, old Caribbean charm destination.

I would stay at Osprey if on GT-nothing wrong with Bohio, just Opsrey is nicer. It's a 5 minute walk to Oasis Divers, on a gorgeous walled street with trees drapped over, and a couple of beach bars on decks ON the beach.

I have also been to Belize, thought snorkeling was excellent-beaches there just okay-they are far superior in T&C. Been to USVI, BVI, Grand Cayman. Loved them all, but especially Virgin Islands. I talked to someone whole said Bonaire was the most awesome snorkeling place, but he was pleasantly suprised by Provo-and thought the beaches were stunning.

Thanks blamona