Turks & Caicos · Turks & Caicos Islands · Wall
West Caicos Wall
A six-mile wall lying 100 metres off the beach
Area photo: SNORKELINGDIVES.COM · CC BY 2.0
Six miles of drop-off along the leeward side of West Caicos, with about 25 moorings strung out over it. The reef top sits at 35 to 45 feet (up to 14 m) and the lip is only 100 to 150 metres off the shoreline, which makes this an unusually forgiving introduction to wall diving. Sharks, rays and sea turtles are common along the face.
Where it is and how deep
21.6664° N, 72.4497° WApproximate position — the dashed circle shows where the site lies; your operator's briefing has the mooring.
The dive
The mooring puts you almost on top of the site: the wall runs only 100 to 150 metres off the shoreline and the reef top waiting under the boat is at 35 to 45 feet (up to 14 m). This is the leeward side of the island, so the water is more protected than an open-ocean drop-off would be, and the descent is usually a matter of dropping straight down the line onto coral.
Turn along the wall and follow it. The face is covered in sponges, antler and rope forms standing well off the rock, and beside you the coral and sand of the reef top run seaward to the lip. Barracuda and jacks hang over the edge, stingrays and queen conch sit on the bottom between the coral heads, and sharks, rays and turtles are all common along this stretch of wall.
Operators work about 25 moorings along roughly six miles of this wall, so which section you dive depends on the mooring the boat takes and on the day's conditions. Finish shallow on the reef top: at 35 to 45 feet (up to 14 m) it holds a long safety stop comfortably, and the coral and sand up there are worth spending the time on rather than hovering above them.
Marine life and season
- Sea turtles
- Stingrays
- Barracuda
- Trevally & jacks
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Prime | Prime | Prime | Prime | Good | Good | Good | Good | Fair | Fair | Good | Good |
Season follows Turks & Caicos: January–April brings calm seas and the humpback whale migration through the Turks Island Passage; September–October is peak hurricane season.
Know before you go
- The reef top at 35 to 45 feet (up to 14 m) is the only bottom reference on the site; below it the face simply falls away, so agree a maximum depth before you drop rather than deciding it on the wall.
Dive videos
Diving The Wall in West Caicos · Toscano on YouTube
Diving West Caicos HD · Jeffrey Leong on YouTube
Questions divers ask
Can beginners dive West Caicos Wall?+
Yes. The reef top sits at 35 to 45 feet (up to 14 m) and operators run it as a wall dive for Open Water divers, on the sheltered leeward side of the island. Going deeper down the face is a choice, not part of the dive.
What will I see at West Caicos Wall?+
Sharks, rays and sea turtles are common along the face. The operators' species list for the wall also runs to barracuda, jacks, filefish, turtles, stingrays and queen conch.
Sources
- Turks and Caicos Islands Dive Sites — Dive The World
- Diving Turks & Caicos — Divezone
- West Caicos, Yankee Town, Providenciales, Turks and Caicos Islands — OpenStreetMap
In The Logbook
- The best wall dives in the worldWalls & drop-offs · 11 min read
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