The Turks and Caicos Islands sit between the southern Bahamas and the island of Hispaniola. These low and scrubby islands are ringed by coral reefs and some of the most beautiful azure blue waters in the region. These islands were undiscovered until the mid-1980’s but have since become popular tourist destinations and are only an hour and a half flight from Miami.
The Turks Islands, Grand Turk and Salt Cay, had economies based on the salt industry until just recently when it was overshadowed by the tourism industry. These islands relied on small-scale tourism who came mainly to fish, dive, and snorkel, but that all changed in 2006. Carnival Cruise Lines built a large cruise ship dock and terminal facility on Grand Turk which now brings more than 400,000 tourists to the island yearly. Cockburn Town, the capital of the Turks and Caicos Islands, is located on Grand Turk. The islands are English-speaking, are members of the British Commonwealth and use the U.S. dollar as their official currency.
Providenciales, Provo for short, is the most developed of the Caicos Islands and the hub for most tourism. Grace Bay is a 12 mile crescent of silky white sand on the northern coast lined with luxury hotels, all-inclusive resorts, condos, and villas. The island is blessed with an abundance of fine restaurants, pubs, and bars. Activities include golf, snorkeling, diving, parasailing, horseback riding, whale watching, boating, sailing, and fishing. Excursion companies offer island-hopping trips with some offering day trips to deserted islands where you have an entire island all to yourself.
The Turks and Caicos Islands offer vacationers a paradise of white sand beaches and iridescent blue waters where you can fish, dive, snorkel, or just relax. These islands are close to the U.S. mainland but a world away in their tropical ambience. A vacation to this tropical island paradise will probably not be your last.
