The Turks and Caicos Islands are a British territory in the Caribbean, located a few hundred miles east of Cuba. Known for their white sandy beaches and turquoise waters they are an ideal location for a vacation. The ideal way to experience them is by renting one of the many holiday villas on the island. This way you and your family or friends can enjoy the privacy and tranquillity of your own villa and pool.
The main island is Providenciales, known locally as Provo, where the airport is located. There are direct flights from Heathrow, with an hours stopover in Nassau.
Arrival
On arrival you’ll normally speed through the small airport and then pickup a pre-booked hire car directly at the airport. There are a number of different hire companies located conveniently at the entrance to the airport, I’ve used Avis before without problems.
Cars
A car is recommended unless you are staying at a hotel, which all provide mini-buses, or don’t plan on moving to much from your villa. In which case you could just rely on taxis. All locations are within easy drive as the island is only around 15 miles wide. You drive on the left as in the UK. However since cars like everything else on this small island are imported from the States they are left-hand drive models.
Holiday
The main reason to go to these islands is to enjoy the beautiful beaches. All beaches are public and many have well maintained pathways to access them. Most hotels are based around Grace Bay which is a fantastic beach but if you want a bit more sand and sea to yourself then pick one of the many other quieter beaches. Long Bay beach on the opposite shore to Grace Bay is where Villa Keppel is nearest to. It’s just a short walk from the villa down the road to where there are a multiple well marked access paths to the beach. Long Bay is well known to the kitesurfing fraternity who appreciate the trade winds.
Another popular activity is snorkelling in the beautifully clear waters around the island. For a special treat you can hire a boat for an afternoon which will take you further out to the reef. We hired a boat for the afternoon for $500 at the Blue Haven Marina on the east end of Provo.
The owner of the craft and his son took us out to the reef where the son accompanied us into the water. They provided all the gear if needed but we had brought most ourselves. Once back onboard the engines were fired up and we travelled on a short distance to the next island, the almost deserted Pine Cay.
There the small boat dropped anchor at the beach and we jumped off, walked up the beach and enjoyed laying there on the deserted sands.
Villas
Aside from the luxury of a private pool and the seclusion of villa living, having your own kitchen allows you to experiment with the local produce. We spotted lobster tails in the supermarket that were six times the size of anything back home and had a great time figuring out how to cook one on the large American stove. We were eventually successful and enjoyed it with a fresh salad and some chilled white wine.
Whatever you do during your stay I am certain you will thoroughly enjoy this lesser-known Caribbean gem.