Trip to Providenciales in the Turks and Caicos Islands
Posted by Peter Owen | Filed under travel
Doug and I came with some meals ready to eat, snacks, and a fifth of rum I bought in Charlotte, NC at the duty free shop in the airport.
Here are some of the many pictures we took: https://photos.app.goo.gl/cKwVYyH1fs5KhafN2
Tuesday Feb 13th we walked around Turtle Cove to get more familiar with the area.
Interestingly this is supposedly their peak time and there aren’t very many people here. The most recent hurricane scared some people off, but in general this area isn’t very populated even during peak. Their resorts are much smaller than other more popular areas.
Feb. 15th we went to find the plantation (but didn’t because Google maps was wrong and people kept pointing us all over the place) but we happened across the only brewery in the country (Turk’s Head Brewery) so we took a tour and sampled the beer. That’s pretty funny since I found this video by Caicos Girl prior to traveling to Provo! It was pretty good and my favorites were the “London Fog” porter and the “Gon-Ta-Nort” amber ale. I also bought some of their white rum for $16. In the grocery a fifth of rum is about $40 which is 4 times as much as in the U.S. typically.
That night we went to the local fish fry which is every Thurs night. It was a lot of fun with live music and tons of booths set up with food, drinks, and trinkets. It rained on us a little bit. I got red snapper tacos which were really good. Later we got in the hot tub which is always fun. 😀
Friday we walked about 7 miles going to the Cheshire Plantation and back which is about the only historical thing to do on this island. It was underwhelming. We ate lunch again at Shark Bites and I got the blackened red snapper sandwich which was really good. I believe I’ve taken a nap every day. Friday evening we took a “jitney” from our place to the Saltmills Plaza, which had all kinds of expensive shops that we’re not really interested in. It turns out as you move from west to east on the north side of the island everything becomes more expensive and there are more all inclusive resorts.
Sat. we booked a half day snorkeling adventure for Sun. morning. We went to the beach a couple times and swam. We ate lunch at the Naughty Gull which was pretty good but smaller than I hoped. It’s just a coffee shop with breakfast and sandwiches for lunch.
Things we learned about the islands:
It’s very safe, though not very pedestrian friendly (for walking long distances).
People are nice, say hi and ask questions!
While the primary language is English, people also speak creole and some have Haitian or Jamaican accents.
The money here is the USD $ and most places take major credit cards.
Jitneys are the way to travel.
From west to east gets more expensive.
Everything is really expensive here due to the large import tax of between 25 and 45%!
Bring your own alcohol (limit 1 litre per person in customs)!
Bring your own non perishable food as you can.
Pack your own sunscreen and a collapsible cooler!
Bugs aren’t too bad because it’s usually so windy on the beach, however, you may want to bring a bottle of bug spray.
Definitely check out the fish fry!
