TURKS & CAICOS
I first heard of Turks and Caicos when I was in college (Cegep for those in Quebec) because a friend of mine had gone and I was checking Facebook to see all of her photos. It was the first time I'd seen that clear turquoise type of water. I knew one day I'd have to go see it for myself.
A couple of weeks ago, Mike and I were invited to join Amy Seder (@AmySeder) and Brandon Burkley (@bburkley) with the Turks & Caicos Tourism bureau (@TCItourism) and Bianca Sands Resort (@biancasandsresort). When we got to the resort we were escorted to our room and F-R-E-A-K-E-D O-U-T! The room was huge, 2 bed bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, full kitchen, living room and balcony. The view looked out onto the beach and you could hear the waves crashing. It was a dream. This room was perfect for a family vacation.
A bit about where we were:
We stayed on the island of Provo or Providenciales which is the island that has the most going on tourist wise of all the Turks and Caicos islands. T&CI's are located north of the Dominican Republic and east of Cuba. We stayed at the Bianca Sands Resort which is located on Grace Bay beach.
Here are a few things we did while we were there:
One of the first things we did was head down to the beach at the resort. The sand was white, the water was clear enough to see your toes and the weather was perfect. It really reminded me of the Maldives except instead of 32 hours of travel time it was 4 hours, BONUS!
Private boat tour: Gordon was our captain and he took us around to North Caicos first to visit the caves and then on our way back we stopped at a private beach to snap some pictures. We were caught in a crazy rain storm which we all laughed through.
Kite Surfing with @kiteprovo: What Turks and Caicos is well known for is kite surfing. If you have no idea what that is it’s basically a sail that’s attached to you by a harness and then you end up standing on a board to move you through the water. We watched people who were out there for hours just cruising up and down the beach!
Mike and I were asked if we wanted to do the "photography" version or the "experience" version. We wanted the full experience of kite surfing so there's no photographic evidence of this one. Thank goodness (especially for me) because I totally ate it! lol. This powerful sail can be controlled with only 2 fingers on either side of the handle bar and it took me up a few times 5-10 feet in the air and dropped me, dragged me and cleared out my sinuses with salt water. Not gonna lie I was a little freaked out afterwards but looking back I'm happy I tried it. Mike got up on the board a few times which is apparently really rare. Usually it takes a few lessons to get up. Will I ever try it again? I think so but it might be a while lol.
Dinner by Chef Lorraine: We had a romantic dinner made by Chef Lorraine herself. She is famous for her farm to table restaurant conveniently located in her backyard. She is so talented and made us a really delicious meal in one of the hotel suites. If you’re planning to go to Turks and Caicos you should check out The Frenz Deck.
Sapodilla Bay: Probably the most BEAUTIFUL beach we visited. Shallow, clear, knee-deep water for as far as we could see. It was nothing like i'd ever seen before.
Volunteered at Potcakes Place: Mike and I took a morning to volunteer at Potcakes Place which is a volunteer organization that is providing shelter, fostering and the adoption of dogs in Turks and Caicos. Their organization is privately funded and they currently have about 40 dogs at their space. We were asked for give about 10-15 dogs a bath and then we took Amy on her first walk ever. Mike really wanted to take her home, we didn't but it is doable, it's about $100 to transport them via air. You'll often see a lot of their dogs getting walked by tourists as they make it possible for you to sign up and walk a dog any day on the beach :) I would highly recommend it they're so cute and so well behaved!
Walk the beach at sunset: This might seem too low-key for some but T&C has beautiful sunsets and it's a short and romantic activity for couples to just walk up and down the beach watching the colours in the sky change. We had some beautiful sunsets on Grace Bay at our hotel (Bianca Sands Resort)
Parasailing: We parasailed on Grace Bay and OMG it was so cool to see all the little reefs from above. Highly recommend it and it's so much fun to do with a friend or partner.
I’d highly recommend visiting Turks and Caicos if you’re a couple, family or even for a bestie trip. It can be as relaxing or as adventurous as you want it to be.
If you have anymore questions leave me a comment below and I'll answer them the best I can!
Thanks for reading xx
