The Hole

The Hole is a limestone sinkhole in the interior of Providenciales where the roof of a cave collapsed, leaving a roughly circular shaft about twelve metres deep with tidal water at the bottom that rises and falls with the sea through underground channels. It sits in scrub off a residential road with no signage, no barrier and no facilities: you park on the verge, walk across the rock and look down. Ferns and vegetation hang from the sides and the water is a deep blue-green. It is a five-minute stop, and it is on the way between Grace Bay and Long Bay.

What you actually see

• The shaft - about twelve metres down to tidal water.
• The tidal connection - the water rising and falling with the sea.
• The hanging vegetation - ferns and roots down the sides.
• The setting - scrub and rock in the middle of the island.

When to go

Year-round; it takes ten minutes. Midday light reaches the bottom and shows the water colour best. It is on the road between Grace Bay and Long Bay, so it fits into a drive.

Honest expectations

There is no fence, no railing and no warning: the edge is undercut limestone and the drop is twelve metres onto rock and water. People have fallen in and had to be rescued. Do not climb down. There are no facilities and the access is an unmarked verge. It takes ten minutes.

Nearby

Long Bay Beach is ten minutes east; Grace Bay is fifteen minutes north.