Caicos Dream Tour operates from the beach between The Alexandra and The Palms. (now The Regent Palms)

The boats they use have plenty of shade which is really good for pastey white girls like me.

The double hull catamaran type boats go right up to the beach and are very easy to get on and off.

John is the owner and he takes great pride in ensuring that all his customers have a great day out.
He personally brings the coolers full of beer, rum punch, waters, soda and some snacks to every boat before it leaves and he is there when it return's to make sure everyone had a great day.

We really enjoyed both the trips we took with CDT.
And we really enjoyed John's company on our beach days...we watched him greet his guests each day with such a great attitude. He is dedicated to his customers.

Our first trip with them we pulled away from the beach and headed east on Grace Bay.
I'll try and name the resorts from west to east...the way we passed them.
For instance here you see on the far right the big green construction that belongs to Beaches, then the low rise quaintness of The Veranda, The Alexandra, and a sliver of The Palms...

Building 1 at The Alexandra, The Regent Palms and part of The Somerset...

One building at The Palms, The Somerset and The Sibonne nestled in next to it.

Still heading east, after Sibonne there is an empty lot and then The Sands.

The Sands has a great location with nothing on either side of it.

After The Sands is Point Grace.

Rounding the point you can still see one building from Point Grace, then an empty lot, Le Vele and what I think is The Mansions...

There is an empty lot between The Mansions and what I think is Villa Renaissance and then the way too tall Regent Grand.

I really wish they had kept the 3 story height limit on the resorts here...
I do like the trees in front of what I think is Villa Renaissance...

After The Regent Grand is an empty lot followed by the pink condos on the old Allegro property that is slowly becoming Seven Stars.
The monster buildings are Seven Stars. There are 3 now standing and plans for 4 more...so sad...

After Seven Stars is The Pinnacle, then Ocean Club West before The Grace Bay Club...

Grace Bay Club, Villas, and Estates. The construction I think is part of The Estates...I think.
When we first came to this island this resort was so small and hidden behind a row of those beautiful trees like in front of Beaches.

After the construction, heading west to east remember, is The Grandview, then Royal West Indies with their red umbrellas.

Then Club Med.
They have a huge property. It's great that it's not even 3 stories. I wish the island stayed like this...

Club Med ends where the dock is. Then it's Ocean Club.
Off the beach near the dock is a small shopping area that is cool to visit.

The last resort along this strip is The Tuscany. Standing tall like all the other newer resorts.
Heavy Sigh.

Looking back at Grace Bay you can see Regent Grand and Seven Stars and how they tower over everything...

This used to be our favorite walk...pass OC and Tuscany...

Looks like someone is building a pool or something that will make it non-walkable...

The Tuscany is almost out of sight and the sky line looks so different without all the resorts...
We stopped to snorkel out here for a little while...

Then when everyone had enough snorkling we turned into the Leeward Canal, around Mangrove Cay and out the south side of the Turks and Caicos Islands.

Looking back at the canal and mangroves we passed...

We're on the south side, the caicos bank.

Very shallow.
4 feet or less for something like 30 miles south...

It's a beautiful day.
The Caicos Bank is on the Carribean side of Provo...
Grace Bay is technically in the Atlantic Ocean.

Looking at Provo...

The Conch Farm is on this side where the water is always shallow.

Lovely little secluded beaches...

That resort is actually right next to Leeward Marina.
I forget the name of it but it sure has come a long way since we were here in April.

We were told that the ship in the distance is actually stuck in the bank...I guess no one told the captain that the waters are so shallow.

We were having a great day.

Here on the Caicos Bank is where everyone snorkled for conch.

It was pretty clear until you stirred up the bottom and then it got cloudy and took a while for it to settle.

It was this big....

Standing up seems like it would be helpful but it really doesn't make it easier...
plus the Captains recommend not stepping barefoot out here incase of critters...urchins I think they said.
Steve didn't care...and didn't step on anything.

I stayed on board and enjoyed the scenery...

Plenty of conch were "caught" by all.

After we had enough conch for lunch our Captain Shaun took us around the back side of Water Cay.

A short way that way and we're on Half Moon Bay.

Shaun showed everyone about the conch,
how to get the meat out,
why to eat the worm...

He got all the meat out right there on the boat...

And then he threw the unuseable scraps in the water and we had some visitors come hang around...
See the Lemon Shark?

They were very gorgeous to look at, I guess the yellow color has something to do with why they are called Lemon Sharks.
I'd say about 5 or 6 of them came over to the shore in less than 2 feet of water. They swam off if we got too close.

What a perfect spot for our picnic.

While the conch salad was being prepared we took a walk over to Half Moon Bay.