I first came to Turks and Caicos in December 2004 and fell in love with the Grace Bay area. Provo was not well known and it seemed that it was mostly divers and British people who visited. My son got his diving license just before the trip so he could take advantage of the clear water sea life views. There were very few flights and they cost much more than they do now. We stayed just past the island’s first resort Club Med, at Ocean Club East which was then the end of the developed beach. I returned in April 2005 and regularly after that. We switched from Ocean Club East to Royal West Indies on the other side of Club Med where we wanted to buy a beachfront unit for our own use and to rent to guests. We started looking in January 2008. We were getting close to buying when my wife had a serious disabling stroke in late 2008 and we did not go back for over two years. By that time we could see how much busier Provo had become with more restaurants, hotels and flights to PLS. The Beaches Resort made a huge impact by bringing daily flights to Provo from all over the US daily. Canadians noticed that airfare went way down when Westjet joined Air Canada in providing regular direct flights from Toronto.
We finally bought our own place closing in April 2017. In September 2017 Provo was hit by two major hurricanes Irma as Category 5, then Maria, with much renovation after that, and the growth since then has been exponential.
When we first came to Provo there were three popular great restaurants Coco Bistro, Coyaba and Anacaona, which became Infiniti at the Grace Bay Club. Coco Bistro has been joined on the beautiful property by its lower priced less formal sister restaurant Coco Van, and Coyaba moved from Coral Gardens Resort to a location near Coco Bistro but is now closed and gone. Now there are so many great restaurants across Grace Bay. with the Marine Room at the Bight, being one of the newest and best of them. Beyond Turtle Cove where Grace Bay ends and reasonably reasonable priced restaurants are located there is Land + Sea which has impressed a lot of people. Land + Sea is part of an extension of Wymara resort operated by Andrew the Chef at Indigo.
When we were first in Provo they were building some big hotel towers for the Somerset and Seven Stars that was to have seven towers with each being seven stories tall, but stopped at three, with the surplus land sold for a Marriott resort originally, and it became the Ritz Carlton location. With the Ritz Carlton came a new casino which doubled the casino population on the island.
Provo is still not known for nightlife, with most visitors going from restaurant dinners to bed and getting up early to go to the beach. Luckily, the beach has not changed and is still uncrowded; but it certainly is busier than it used to be. There are more shops around Grace Bay, which is great for visitors. The excellent coffee shops are very welcome on an island previously known for bad coffee.
New development in Provo is moving out from central Grace Bay as the last bit of beachfront is now being developed. One new place that should be great is the St. Regis just past the Sands and before Sibonne. A new trendy area is thriving at the Bight near the coral reef, with the huge Hyatt Andaz joining Windsong, Wymara and West Bay Club near the original lone reef resort of Coral Gardens which is constantly being renovated. Between Windsong and Beaches IHG hotels has built new hotels including an Intercontinental to open soon. It is good that Grace Bay spans a large area and it is not too centralized and thus not a place with crowded beaches. New developments not on Grace Bay, like the Strand and major growth at Long Bay Beach beyond the Shore Club is helping Provo thrive as a tourist destination. Plans were in the works for a much needed bigger airport but for now the focus has been airport improvements.
