I spent a wonderful week staying at a TC Villa in October, 2019. My first visit to Turks and Caicos and it was love at first sight!
This Caribbean island is so lush and beautiful. The people are friendly and welcoming. And there’s all the comforts of home so I didn’t feel like I lacked for anything. I’ve spent a fair bit of time in the Caribbean and many of the other vacation hotspots like Cuba and Jamaica don’t have the same amenities Turks and Caicos has.
The island (Provo) is small and easy to navigate around by rental car.
It took me a few minutes to learn to drive “on the wrong side of the road” however it seems the locals are patient with tourists and also give you a wide berth when it’s obvious you might not know what you’re doing.
Click here to read all about TCI’s National Parks!
Wow! What a wonderful trip to the Turks and Caicos! From the get-go, TC Villas was wonderful to work with. They maintained fantastic communication throughout the process, responding to questions in a very timely matter. As far as the house is concerned, it was every bit as nice as what we expected.
We picked up our rental car from the airport and kept it for the week. The rental process was as easy as renting at home and the car was very affordable for a one week rental. We used Grace Bay Car Rentals and the customer service people were really lovely and helpful.
Check in at our Villa went smoothly and we found it to be clean, beautifully appointed and even more than we could hope for in terms of the amazing location in the Turtle Cove area of Grace Bay.
Planning a trip to Turks & Caicos? Make sure to read this first!
My first dip in the ocean, which was just steps away from our Villa, was heavenly! This was the warmest ocean water I have ever swum in. Like taking a bath! And just ten feet into the ocean there is a reef where I snorkeled several times during our stay. From the ocean, I went straight into our beautiful private pool where I lazily floated many times a day.
The beach in front of the villas in Turtle Cove (Grace Bay Beach) is quiet. I usually saw only one or two other people while I was on the beach or swimming in the ocean. I felt so lucky to being able to enjoy this amazing solitude and get away from the busyness of work and home.
I visited Provo with one of my best friends and we had lots of time to catch up, read books and just relax.
Top Things To Do in Turks & Caicos. Click here to read the article!
That said, the Villa would have also been perfect for a family or group of friends traveling together. Each bedroom provided lots of privacy and the kitchen and living areas would be great for dinners with bigger groups.
One of my favourite little spots in Turtle Cove was Shark Bite. A cute little pub right in the Cove where you can see sharks swimming around the deck! Shark Bite definitely has a local feel and the staff were very friendly and welcoming. A great place to sit and have an ice cold beer!
Two excellent spots were Mr. Grouper and Da Conch Shack.
We also ventured out for some great meals. I had never eaten Conch before! It was delicious and the chilled out vibe and beachfront view at The Conch Shack were amazing.
Beach Spotlight: Long Bay Beach. Read our blog post about it!
We stocked up on groceries at the local IGA. There’s two on the island and both have pretty much all the groceries I can get at home, as well as a great selection of wine, beer and spirits.
We also went to a great little coffee shop called Lemon2Go where they make excellent smoothies and delicious lattes. You can also buy the best natural insect repellent there and I would recommend it if you find there are mosquitos out at night. I wish I had stocked up on it!
One of my favourite days while visiting Provo was the day we took an excursion with Big Blue Collective.
What are the 6 reasons to choose a villa over a hotel? Click to find out!
We went out on one of their power boats to snorkel in a couple of different locations. The reefs were teaming with life and, in addition to all the beautiful fish and coral, we saw barracudas and sharks. I’ve done a fair bit of snorkeling in the Caribbean and this was a first for me. While on our way back to the dock, the crew spotted dolphins and gave us the opportunity to jump in the water with them. What an experience to swim in the wild with these curious, friendly beauties! Hats off to our crew who were excellent guides and ensured we had a fantastic time snorkeling and learning about area.
I realize I’ve used many adjectives over and over again to describe our visit to Provo. Beautiful, amazing, excellent, fantastic, relaxing. These sum up how I feel about Provo and I would definitely go back and would hope to stay at another TC Villa in the future.
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