Caribbean in January- Part 3: Turks and Caicos

Oh my…. I don’t even know how to put into words my feelings about Turks and Caicos. No words could ever do it justice.

Our third port-of-call on our Caribbean cruise this past January was Grand Turk Island. All I knew of the area, up until the point of our arrival, was that it was hit hard by Hurricane Irma, and it was pretty far South, in the Caribbean. We hadn’t been this far South since going to Puerto Rico a few years ago.

Having lived on this life for…well, a few years now, neither of us had seen a place so beautiful. We are huge fans of the Florida Keys and all of its’ splendor, but nothing could be near the beauty of the beaches of Turks and Caicos.

Picture, your PC desktop wallpaper options- you know the one with the bright blue water with the peach-colored sand? Yeah, that’s this place. No exaggeration.

Our ship, surprisingly, was able to dock right at the island. We realized after venturing into the water that after approximately 100 feet or so, the depth drops dramatically for the ship to pull in. Once we arrived, we walked ashore to the most delightful steel drums playing in the distance. We also saw a Margaritaville, first thing. I know, a tourist attraction, but when there is a Margaritaville, I instantly feel at home. 🙂

We took the same strategy as Princess Cays, and walked as far as we could, away from the tourist attractions and found a perfect spot on the beach. Our family, who cruised with us, followed suit. My nieces (2 and 6) were able to enjoy the water as there were little to no waves. Again, like most of the Caribbean, the water was crystal clear blue, so you can see straight to the bottom, including sea life.

The waters, somewhere in the temperature of the 60’s, were nice and refreshing in 80 degree weather. Swimming, floating, doing whatever you wanted was welcomed. The bottom of the ocean floor was rocky, but smooth. There were rocks that would wash ashore and have indention on them that looked like shells, some looked like coral. Not wanting tchotchkes or cheesy souvenirs to take home with me, I had no problem grabbing a couple of the rock, hoping they would make it through customs, thinking about how cool they would be on our porch on The Crystal Coast of NC, reflecting of our time in Turks and Caicos.

On the island, we partakes in rum punch and some local beers, served by some random pop-up stands. We felt it was giving back to the local economy. 😉 When the sun set, we decided to do as the tourists do, and have a margarita at Margaritaville, of course. We then took a long walk on the beach to see others packing up their stuff, and we ventured, sadly, back onto the ship, quick to jot down a memo to research a trip to Turks and Caicos on its own, because more time is needed here, indeed.

*For those interested, the ocean rocks did make it through customs and are now resting on our front porch.