Our favorite place – Turks and Caicos!

Why go there?

If we must be tied to land, we’re going to get an escape to the ocean as often as we can! For the past few years, we’ve made a pilgrimage of sorts to Providenciales in the Turks and Caicos Islands.

We first visited this small island nation on our 10 year anniversary via a Carnival cruise. We loved the destinations along the cruise route but didn’t particularly care for being on a cruise ship all that much. The chill vibe and relaxed atmosphere of Turks and Caicos greatly appealed to us and we wanted to learn more.

When arriving by cruise ship to Turks and Caicos, all ships stop at the cruise center on Grand Turk. While it is a lovely facility, it is VERY “touristy”. Like everything else on a cruise, it seems designed to get you to spend your money in a manner that maximizes profits for the cruise line. Our preferred method of travel is to get out and meet the people of the countries we visit. It felt really artificial to be confined like that. At first, we were afraid to venture outside the cruise center area because the cruise line made it feel like that was the only “safe” area to be in. Once outside though, we found exactly what we expected to find: normal people going about their everyday lives, trying to put food on their tables and working really hard to do so.

We decided, while on that ship, that we really wanted to visit this country again. It just took us a while to figure out how to get there and where to stay. Now that we’ve figured it out, we return to Providenciales as frequently as possible!

Our trip

Since Grand Turk, our original arrival point in Turks and Caicos, is so far away from the international airport, we typically stay on Providenciales (aka Provo). This sparsely populated island, of only about 23,000 people is home to the majority of resorts in the country.  The international airport on Providenciales is serviced by many of the major US and international carriers. You will need a boat or a flight on a small island-hopper to get to any of the outlying islands.

We always stay at smaller out of the way places, but many people prefer the all-inclusive resorts. We always rent a car to get around but bicycles and scooters are available in many locations. We’ve run the numbers and found that we save a lot of money doing it this way. Since all beaches in the country are public, we get to enjoy the same views and waters as those paying thousands more than we could ever afford.

During our trip in 2017, we shot some video to show just how insanely beautiful the beaches and island were. This was my first attempt at editing any video so it’s a little rough around the edges. Please bear with us, while we hone our craft.

The majority of the video below was compiled before Hurricane Irma struck Turks and Caicos in September 2017. Due to extensive building codes and regulated construction, no loss of life occurred throughout the entire island chain when either Hurricane Irma or Hurricane Maria struck. Tourists and residents alike pitched in to help the country rebuild. The island tourist bureau has announced they are officially “open for business”.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nzsKyoTjUI4

We’ve already booked ourselves another visit to Turks and Caicos in 2018. Hopefully soon, we’ll able to avoid the airlines and get there under our own sails!

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