Its 9am, and even before the arrival of our breakfast burritos, we have had 4 different whales sightings.
Welcome to Salt Cay !
Salt Cay, is a mere speck of land, however the modern history of the Turks and Caicos Islands begins in Salt Cay in the mid-1600s, when Bermudian salt traders settled. They created ponds linked to the sea by canals and sluice gates, with windmills controlling water flow. At one time, Salt Cay was the world's largest producer of salt: in its heyday, over 100 vessels a year left the island for the US with their cargo of `white gold'. Today donkeys, wild cattle and iguanas far outnumber the 125 human inhabitants.
We had chosen to visit at the end of February in the hope of seeing humpback whales during their annual migration through the Columbus Passage (runs between Grant Turk and Salt Cay) and had booked our mini break through Debbie of Salt Cay divers (www.saltcaydivers.tc), she offers a complete service offering their own accommodation and operating the ‘Coral reef Bar & Grill’, 1 of only 3 eateries on the island.
Our flight was in a 9 seater Cessna 402 aircraft (www.caicosexpressairways.com), flying low over the other Turks & Caicos islands we landed a mere 25 minutes after leaving Provo.
Debbie picked us up in one of the few cars on the island (main transport is golf carts, push bikes & leg power) and dropped us off at our accommodation which is just off the beach and just a couple of minutes walk from Salt Cay divers. After a lazy breakfast (complete with the aforementioned whale watching) and having ordered our evening meal (all evening meals have to be booked by 3PM as everything is cooked to order so there’s no waste) we chilled in hammocks to unwind from the stress of island life !
Early afternoon resulted in a short walk, taking in the sights of the now disused Salinas and old buildings left over from the salt industry. There is an intimate feeling about the island, as you walk down the unpaved roads, you pass picture postcard churches and conch shell lined walls, whilst the few people you meet all stop and warmly greet you. I have to say though it all felt a bit like something from ‘The Prisoner’ (1960’s TV series ), when the people on golf carts waved at you, I kept expecting them to say ‘be seeing you’ as they passed by ! Aside from the occasional person we encountered several donkeys wandering the roads (descendants from the salt industry) as well as the odd cow. By comparison, this place was starting to make Providenciales feel like New York. We ended up on a hill complete with an old British Cannon, overlooking the spectacular (and deserted north beach). Wandering back to the Coral reef bar we indulged in a few drinks before enjoying an evening meal of a Dominican creamy conch dish served with rice. Afterwards we had (and cannot recommend enough) Debbie’s homemade key lime pie. A few more coronas and it was time to retire for the night.
The next day we were planning on going diving, there were just 4 divers (including us) and a short 5 minute boat journey (all dive sites are on the West side of the island) we arrived at ‘Kelly’s Folly’. The marine life is on par with what Provo offers and the walls are just as impressive, however, the amount of soft and hard corals, and the overall health of the reef was stunning. Throughout the whole dive we caught hear the haunting sounds of whale song. Once back on dry land, Jo chose to sit out the next dive as she had a headache. This time there were just two of us and we headed out to ‘North West Drop Off’ where we enjoyed a leisurely dive. Back on the boat we saw 3 whales breaching in the distance, giving chase we got to see their playful antics for about 15 minutes before heading back to the dive centre. Lunch was corona and very tasty conch fritters (pre ordered with breakfast of course). In the afternoon we went whale watching, conditions were very rough, however we were treated to close encounters with a couple of mothers and calves, sadly it was too rough to even consider getting in the water with them. In the evening we ate at ‘Porters Island Thyme’, where I indulged in the Caicos lobster which is one of my island favourites. Lobster bisque was followed by grilled lobster and mashed potatoes, with a sumptuous rum cake to conclude. Sleep was not difficult to come by that night.
It was our final day on the island and we were heading out to an un-salvaged 18th century British 44 gun warship which lies in between 10’ and 40’ of water. On the outbound journey we saw a lot of humpback whales in the shallows over which we passed, one even passed directly under our boat in only 30ft of water. After a number of diversions to watch these magical creatures we finally arrived at Endymion reef. Although we couldn’t dive (as we were flying later that day), we got to snorkel over and free dive down to the wreck. I must have counted at least 30 cannons lying in the shallows as well and as number of huge anchors. On the way back we stopped off on the uninhabited ‘Big Sand Cay’ which has one of the most spectacular beaches I have ever set foot on. There were more humpback sightings on our return journey, all in all it was a truly memorable day out. With only a couple of hours before we were to depart we enjoyed our remaining time relaxing in the bar and a final tasty conch dish – conch chowder.
We were the only two on the return flight to Provo, so Josie got to ride shotgun much to her delight. Leaving Salt Cay behind, we enjoyed breathtaking aerial views of Grand Turk, Ambergris Cay and South Caicos . Approaching Provo we flew low over Chalk Sound before arriving home.
We had an amazing experience at Salt Cay, scolded ourselves for not going sooner and vowed to return before the end of the year as we have yet to really explore the island.
