What Our Guests Say....

Just back from a wonderful trip to the Turks and Caicos islands . Well, " Provo " really. We lucked out with the Harbour Club Villas and Barry and Marta's special piece of paradise. We spent our 20th anniversary in what we found to be the perfect setting. Thanks to the suggestions from Marta we booked our diving with Flamingo Divers (Jayne and Mickey). It was just a walk down the hill to the marina. Great diving with small groups. The location on the island proved to be great as well ... short distance to everything (via rental car). It was nice to get their recommendations on places to eat and special spots on the island. Their pool and deck area was a great place to hang out. It was also nice to have a grill available for cooking. We loved having such a well stocked kitchen in addition to everything else you need from a cooler for the car to books, tea lights and beach chairs. We would definately go back and would not hesitate to recommend this place

Very comfortable - amazing attention to detail. Thanks for all the flowers! You spoiled us. We could go on and on about the details - such as the variety of plants and flowers to the interesting birds and beautiful palms. We hope to return and for us you don't have to change a thing.

Mark and Peggy Murray, Colorado

Linda and I escaped our two teenage children for a few brief days..........Harbour Club Villas proved to be every bit as good as we had hoped and more! Barry and Marta have created the ideal escape and could not be praised enough for their excellent hospitality.

We've stayed in many 'self-catering' villas around the World and these have to be the best. Villa owners Barry & Marta are exceptional in their attention to detail (including fresh flowers in the villa, ample supply of good quality towels & linen, a full range of cooking utensils and matching crockery - a first!) and their willingness to help with any needs (such as an umbrella for the beach or an extra cooler) or questions (best restaurants etc). The villas are comfortable, spacious and well laid out.

While I enjoy fishing, my wife looks forward to relaxing with a good book. We managed both easily and then enjoyed relaxing dinners out or used the BBQ to rustle up our own.
Bonefishing in T&C is excellent.

Iain and Linda Sorrell, Avon CT

What a wonderful vacation spot! Having traveled to many different countries and having stayed in many Caribbean spots before, I have never felt as welcomed as here at Harbour Club Villas. After our long journey from Calgary , Alberta , Marta and Barry were fantastic at getting us set up with everything we would need.

Here are some of the comments we have:

Renting a 4x4 vehicle is a must. We explored every road on the island in our two weeks, looking for unexplored areas and local treasures (beaches) to snorkel.

Diving is amazing here! We dove for nine days with Flamingo Divers and Jayne and Mickey are amazing! They took care of everything for us and took us to a variety of different sites. We also tried a night dive with Matthew at Coral Gardens which was well worth it!

Marta and Barry's local expertise is amazing. You are missing some of the hilights of the island if you don't ask Marta for information and directions to beaches for snorkeling or just exploring. Some of our favourite places were Smith's Reef, South Bluff and a little known snorkeling spot Marta told us about.

For eating places , we usually shopped at IGA and ate in but we did eat at some good places for lunches : Tiki Hut, Sharkbite and Jimmy's Dive by Seven Stars.

We found everyone on the island to be very friendly and accommodating in everything that we did. Through snorkeling and diving we saw over 60 varieties of fish and a number of larger sights such as reef sharks, nurse sharks, barracudas, southern stingrays, eagle rays, manta rays and green turtles. The highlight for us was five flying gunnards that we saw with Mickey at a site called Coney Island off West Caicos .

We took a day off diving to tour the Conch Farm (another thing we would recommend) and then took a kayak tour with Big Blue to Iguana Island (Little Water Cay). Another great 4 hour investment!

We loved the villas We never even used the air conditioning (although it is a "must" on my hotel checklist) as the ceiling fans gave us a beautiful cool breeze. The kitchen had everything we wanted and the towels and linens were simply wonderful! The fresh flowers everyday were a treat. We also borrowed the ocean kayaks and beach umbrella which were welcome additions. The location of the villas was perfect as they were so close to Flamingo Divers and a close drive to everything else. Thanks for the wonderful visit Barry and Marta and we'll see you again!

Connie and Karl, Calgary , Alberta , Canada

Check out our dive website at www.diving.tc

We loved staying at the Harbour Club Villas for our honeymoon! If you're the type that is more adventurous and doesn't like the cookie cutter resort type vacation, than this is the place for you. We were able to explore the island (with the help of Barry of course) and see a lot more than the average person staying there would get to see. There really is a lot more to see than just Grace Bay. We were out most of the day enjoying the water, snorkeling, fishing (husband caught a couple of bonefish), exploring, then we'd go to restaurants that were recommended by Barry. At the end of the day we'd just relax back at the villa.

We were there in early May, and never even needed the AC. We just left the windows open and it was nice and breezy. I should note that we are also from Florida, so we're use to the tropical climate. We found the locals to be nice, and not one of them tried to braid my hair, which I was surprised about after going to the Bahamas so often.

Overall Harbour Club was just a great place to relax

on our honeymoon. Chrissie and Thane, Florida

                      www.bringthebling.com

                         

Thank you so very much for the wonderful hospitality.

We enjoyed all of your local getaways and extras.

Just as we settled in, it's time to leave.

But not with-out taking a part of the island with us.

Our puppy potcake, we named CAICOS!

She will surely be our little island treasure.

We will keep you posted on her and hope folks will donate to this great little cause.

Michelle and Tim Currier, Portland, Oregon.

                         Can you help?

If you can be a courier, adopt or make a donation

please contact the Potcake Foundation

                        Potcake Place

                  Spread the word please!

Diving with Flamingo Divers

We enjoyed our seven nights here tremendously! The villas were wonderful. We felt very comfortable here and loved the accommodations. We are already talking about coming back again soon! We pretty much did scuba diving this whole trip. Marta was such a gem.she helped set up the dives and got us hooked up. We dove with Flamingo Divers. They were very professional and very personable and nice. We found them to be very helpful and informative. We dove with Mickey and Jayne all week, fabulous people! They made sure we had good dives. We saw turtles, sting rays, eagle rays, flying gurnards, spotted moray, spotted drums, basket starfish, trunkfish, balloon fish, spiney lobster, tons and tons more fish and corals and sponges! The walls are spectacular. We drove around the island and mostly ate at the villas but tried Tiki Hut, Hemmingways and Magnolia's. All had great food and atmosphere. Marta and Barry made us feel at home the minute we got here. They were excellent hosts. They had nice ideas and were very informative. Marta had all the special touches. Everyday we came back, we had subtle, beautiful touches like fresh new flowers in the conch shell and in the martini glass! Anyone who asks about "TCI" will be sent to Harbour Club from us! One of our most enjoyable dive trips. PS. Marta has some excellent fish and coral books to borrow. We had dolphins follow the boat one day and we saw whales!

Brian and Michele Pabich,

Okay, I've been fishing and diving all over, from my home in Florida to
Baja California (Mexico), Andros, and Long Island, but it's hard to beat
Providenciales! The snorkling there is unbelievable! We snorkled two places in particular that were just amazing. The water is crystal clear, of course, there we saw numerous species of corals, triton, conchs and other snails, lobsters, and many beautiful reef fishes.
We walked along the NW beach and we found thousands of shells and pieces of coral. Place your belongings on the beach, put on your mask and fins, and don't forget your camera! The reef starts only about 10 m from shore. This is the most amazing place I have ever snorkled, and because it's so shallow anyone can do it. We saw the most amazing corals, hundreds of aquatic conchs and other snails, > 10 lb giant lobsters, and so many colorful reef fishes. I cannot stress this-don't forget your camera!
Fishing: Okay, not the large schools of Albula I was hoping for, but we still did
pretty well with the fly rod. From Harbour Club you can walk 3 minutes to Turtle Lake. For three straight mornings, we cast to singles and small schools of bonefish, landing one as large as 4 lbs. We also caught a few baracuda and sand perch there as well. Yes, I said sand perch on a fly! Another nice place to fish, though much more difficult to get to, is
Discovery Bay. We took the Villa's complimentary kayaks over there and fished the outgoing tide. We caught numerous bones (up to 5 lbs) two days in a row
On the last morning we fished dock at the Villas and caught a bunch of small yellowtail snapper, two cudas, and a small grouper! We have photos to prove it! What really stood out is that we never saw a single shark in Provo. I've fished all over the Bahamas and Keys, and one thing for sure is the abundance of sharks there. There is no better place to eat than The Conch Shack in the Blue Hills: fresh food, clean, and extremely inexpensive! We would eat there three times a day, too bad we didn't find it until two days before we left. Have a great time at Habour Club and Villas, we're going back soon!
Kenney & Kelly

As important was the warm, friendly hosts. Barry and Marta made 15 year old Zac comfortable and at ease. Dad felt like we were old friends from the start whether telling stories, asking advice or "borrowing" your internet, we felt right at home.

Just as we loved Caicos Adventures, particularly the people. We thanked FiFi for recommending Harbour Club Villas. During our dives, we saw sea turtles, various sharks, barracudas, eagle rays, sting rays, lobsters and more brightly coloured fish of blue, yellow, red etc.

We also met many friendly divers on the boat trips. It seemed as though most were Canadian.

We will remember our experiences here for our lifetimes.

Thanks to Barry and Marta for making it just so!

Scott and Zac Belair,

Wedding vows on Grace Bay beach

Tina and Sheldon

Running in the water with the flower girls

Champagne on the beach at sunset

What a wonderful place. Although the winds and cold front made for less than ideal bonefishing, we had a superb vacation. Excursions to Bonefish Point, NW Point and Blue Hills were great adventures. My snuba experience with Jodie at Windsong was one I will never forget.

Little outings to all of Marta's special secret spots and coves made the island feel like our own. Strong winds from the north made fishing lonely. Saw only 3 fish caught on the island. Those that hired guides did much better, to top it off, my rod shattered. Still, had a wonderful time thanks to Marta and Barry. Barry lent me a serviceable rod to carry on. I did catch a bone off NWPoint…..unusual????

Tip:  Guiness is 7.5% alcohol compared to the 5% you are used to!!

Billy and Barbara, Downingtown, PA

www.bonefishing.tc

Janet writes: This is our first trip to the Turks and Caicos. We have enjoyed it very much. Paul and I did three days of diving with Flamingo..what a great staff. We definitely appreciated the small group atmosphere and experience offered by Flamingo plus a willingness to show us some of the best diving in the area. A special thanks to Marta for arranging the babysitting and to Victoria who helped with the kids. A highlight was Taylor Bay beach. The shallow water, lack of crowds and beautiful sunset were wonderful. We very much enjoyed Harbour Club Villas.the villa has been great, we enjoyed the pool, BBQ grill, birds and Marina.

Paul writes: Just another quick note from the Kieler clan. Thanks for having my family here. After a long research showing us limited family accommodations here on Provo (except all-inclusive-eat-our-food-onlys)we were thrilled to find such a nice villa for us to stay at. Once we were here, it has only gotten better. Our children, Anika 2 ½ and Solomon 9 months, have had a blast and the not-so-young kids (us).have enjoyed all of it. Thanks to Barry and Marta at Harbour Club and Flamingo Divers. Our rental car has taken us from shore to shore, beach to beach and bumpy road to bumpy road. We loved our stay and even the rains! Thanks for sharing your Provo island and reefs with us. We would love to come and visit again. The grounds and villas are lovely.you've done great work here. We really put some mileage on your barbecue..snapper/ribs/chicken/veggies..what a plus for the Rocky Mountain folks.next time grouper/sea bass etc.

Paul, Janet, Anika and Sol. Denver , Colorado

Larry's first bonefish!

As for my picture shown above. It seems I am a better photographer than Brad

We stayed at Barry and Marta's Harbour Club Villas for ten nights this February. We can honestly say that this was a perfect vacation for the two of us. Our 16 year old son stayed home, so it was like a second honeymoon for us (we've been married 18 years.) We chose Turks and Caicos because of the photos of the beaches, and specifically chose Harbour Club Villas because of the privacy of the location and the fact that we could cook our own meals. As far as the villas, they are the most spacious one bedroom we have ever seen. The cleanliness factor is a ten and Marta kept fresh towels stocked and the bed made every day.
This is exactly the type of place we love--quiet, yet not too far from services, separate villas with helpful, family-type hosts. Barry and Marta are the perfect hosts for this type of resort--they like to visit and are very personable and helpful, so each guest gets very personal service. . Now the beaches-----pure heaven. Our absolute favorite was out at the Southwest point, near Bonefish Point. We just carried backpacks full of food, drinks, ice, and walked out to the very point where the sand is bright white and the water many shades of blue and very shallow. There are dozens of starfish in the shallow waters and no one else there most of the time. There were a couple of times when people who were fishing would walk by, but no one else was really nearby. We loved it--my husband could walk around to the bay and fish and I layed on the beach and read my book or played in the water. This beach was my idea of perfection.

Dave and Teresa Reynolds, Seattle

4U2-Rent.co.uk