Turks and Caicos - July, 2022

Turks and Caicos are an excellent destination for lovers of water activities or someone who wants to sunbathe at the beach by the crystal clear waters of the Caribbean.

Half-day tour from Ritz-Carlton resort onboard The Lady Grace yacht

We decided to take a half day reef tour onboard of Lady Grace luxury catamaran. The yacht is a modern luxury catamaran with a 3-person crew and plenty of room for 20+ passengers.

We boarded from the beach in front of the Ritz-Carlton resort at 10:30am. After a quick engine powered ride the yacht anchored at the reef, and we had about an hour to snorkel. The crew assisted those who needed swim fins, provided buoyancy belts, as well as sprayed snorkel goggles with anti-fogging liquid.

We spotted a large number of fish swimming by beautiful corals. The water around the reef is relatively deep although we were told some places are only 2.5 feet deep. The highlight of the experience was spotting a reef shark swimming slowly at the bottom of the sea.

After snorkeling, the crew invited us to the open bar with refreshing cocktails (rum punch, Moscow mule, and others).

Lunch included a local delicacy conch salsa, as well as burgers and chicken drumsticks. Our next stop was a small island called Iguana Island, which has incredibly clean sand and a few relatively small-size iguanas.

After spending over an hour at the beach of the island and on the sandbar of Half Moon Bay, we headed back on board and sailed back to the Grace Bay.

Mangrove Cay group tour with clear-water kayaks

Our second water tour was a two-hour trip to a small island near the north-eastern end of Providenciales, called Mangrove Cay. This uninhabited island has a protected status and almost entirely consists of red mangroves. It is a part of Princess Alexandra National Park.

After a brief instruction from our guides, with life vests on and paddles in our hands, we began crossing the waters separating the island of Providenciales and the Mangrove cay. The waters were quite choppy, and there was some boat traffic, so it was important to stay focused and reach the island quickly.

Once everyone reached the cay's shallow waters, the tour began, and we followed our guides' kayaks through channels of the mangrove forest.

These crystal clear shallow waters here serve as a shelter for small sharks and are home to turtles, lobsters and conches. Kayaking within the forest was easy, however, occasionally there were some harmless collisions between boats participating in the tour since everyone was attempting to pass narrow channels at the same time.

Snorkeling in these waters is not allowed due to the protected status of this national park and any live animals like conches cannot be removed from the water.

Beaches

• Grace Bay beach - the main beach with resorts, clear waters, restaurants, and plenty of parking. The beach has beautiful waters and clear small grain sand
• Long Beach - has rougher waters than Grace Bay beach. Good for kitesurfing and has a large number of conch shells (mostly colorless and not pretty). Has a seaweed problem.

Food

• Coyaba - a fancy restaurant serving a fusion of the Caribbean and other international food in a nice setting with great service. Reservations are required. Highly recommended.
• Da Conch Shack and Omar’s Beach Hut - waterfront casual restaurants serving seafood and other local food.