This was our second trip to TCI. We spent most of our time on two new islands, North and Middle Caicos, then came back to Providenciales (Provo), the main tourist island, for a few days, staying at the same Coral Gardens condos where we stayed the first time. North and Middle Caicos are the least developed of any of the Caribbean Islands we have visited. The few hotels are basic but clean and adequate. The few restaurants on the islands request dinner reservations, not because they are crowded, but for them to have a reason to stay open for dinner. We ordered from the verbal menu over the phone since only a few items were available on any given day.

The beaches on both islands are mostly powder-fine white sand, miles long, and empty. We toured Wade's Green, the Stubbs plantation on North Caicos; toured nearly all the road-accessible beaches and harbors on the both islands. The trade winds were blowing hard most of the time, churning up the sand, and making snorkeling uninteresting. Back on Provo the winds had calmed down and we were able to snorkel off the beach at Coral Gardens and during a snorkel cruise to West Caicos. Also notable were the large numbers of defunct condo and hotel developments standing like concrete skeletons on all the islands. They are not a pretty sight.

The mix of laid back, relatively undeveloped islands like North and Middle Caicos, and the more touristy Provo, and good snorkeling when the water is calm makes TCI a very interesting place to visit. Some vacationers we met on North Caicos would have no part of Provo, but we liked both areas. Compared to some Caribbean destinations (like Aruba) Provo is still only moderately developed. There are still more islands in the TCI group to explore and we expect to do just that in the future.