Great Escapes: The Easy Life in Providenciales, Turks and Caicos – Barron’s

The beaches in Providenciales are some of the best in the world. Turks and Caicos tourism board

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Ask any artist to paint the perfect beach scene, and most would lay bands of white and gold, alongside bright turquoise and deep blues This is also the image of Grace Bay Beachvoted the worlds best beach in 2021 on Trip Advisor.

Grace Bay is clearly one of the greatest draws of ProvidencialesProvo, as its known locallythe most populous island in the Turks and Caicos island chain. Though thats not saying much: the British territorys 50,000-person population is spread out across nine inhabited islands and cays.

Some never leave the picturesque shoreline, rotating between a lounge chair on the fine sand to a distant seat at the pools swim-up bar. But if sitting beside a quiet body of water for more than 15 minutes leaves a person antsy, adventurers can experience the thrills of Provo, too.

STAY

The Grace Bay Clubs three pools, its abundance of beach and pool lounge chairs, and its large selection of complimentary Hobie catamarans, stand-up paddleboards, and kayaks are just a few ways to spend the day. Some of the best places to break from the sun are on the expansive terraces attached to each gorgeous room, or at Just Tacos, the resorts on-the-beach taco shack, where a gregarious local named Garth plays country music and makes strong cocktails with recipes that he claims are secret.

Point Grace, with only 35 cottages and seaside suites, is much quieter. Its location on the point removes from view many resorts along Grace Bay Beach, creating a deep illusion of isolation on the island. The stand-alone treatment huts at the spa allow guests to experience massages with that added stroke from the island breeze.

If removing oneself from the already quiet collection of resorts is the goal, try the lovely Wymara, a boutique hotel at the far end of Grace Bay Beach. For even more isolation, the leeward side of the island is home to the Shore Club. Their property features beautiful rooms, Sui-Rena sushi grill that pairs Asian and Peruvian cuisineand more endless stretches of turquoise and blue.

FOOD & DRINK

After a day of adventure, or just extreme sun-tanning, sample the cuisine of the islands. Two top restaurants are around the corner from one another. Coyabas seafood is spectacular, and its pork bellycomplemented by cubes of watermelon and a mild fetais one of the tastiest bites on the island. Round out dinner with apple pie for two. Its baked right in the bowl and the top crust is so subtle and sweet that it mimics the caramelized sugar atop crme brulee. Coco Bistro sets its white tablecloth service in a gorgeous palm grove. From conch to tuna, the restaurant does everything with grace.

For breakfast or a midday snack, enjoy Lemon 2 Go, a lovely caf and flower shop on Grace Bays quiet, main thoroughfare. Besides fresh juices and good coffee, they serve spicy Trinidadian samosas and tasty Jamaican beef patties.

On the southside of the island sits Omars Beach Hut, where turquoise picnic tables meet the turquoise sea. Add to that an order of whole snapper and a Down Da RoadTurks Head Brewerys light-drinking IPAand life is sweet. Nearer to the airport is a local favorite: Sweet Ts, a pink-tiled, octagonal hut in a parking lot. The only thing on their menu is fried chicken and French fries. A bucket of that on the beach is a wonderful contrast to a week of resort dining.

Head to Graces Cottage for after-dinner drinks. The dark courtyard sits in wonderful juxtaposition to the well-lit bar where a floral mosaic behind the well-dressed Whiskeythe bartendermakes the room feel like an art gallery that pays tribute to a single work. But here, the true encomium is to Caribbean rum. Graces Cottages extensive Caribbean and Latin American rum menu features spirits from Appleton to Zacapa. On Tuesdays and Saturdays, a musician brings even more intimacy to the courtyard.

For a livelier scene, head to Infiniti, home of the longest bar in the entire Caribbean. The 2-sided black bar stretches 90 feet from a thatched-roof serving area and out toward the sand. Daily entertainment invites a sophisticated crowd and on weekends, hundreds of revelers.

EXPERIENCE

Providenciales is a difficult island to travel without a rental car. And taxis get pricey. But since the island can be driven around in a couple hours, one of the best ways to journey is with Marvelous Marvin and his sidekick, Niko Paliko. The pair runs Island Style Tours TCIs buggy adventures. Part comedy show and part driving tour, Marvelous Marvin narrates as guests, who possess moxie and a healthy dose of trust in the process, speed across the island in single file. It stops at Thomas Stubbs Cheshire Plantation, where cotton plants, ruins of the main house, former slave quarters and two-century-old artifacts tell a story of colonial rule, and then over to Da Conch Shack for delicious conch and fish served in a variety of fried forms.

One of the best ways to experience the waters around the Turks and Caicos is by boat. Voyages whisk visitors over to private islands. Other boats visit the second largest barrier reef in the Western Hemisphere for snorkeling expeditions. Then there are those party boat tours. For a combination of all three, Island Vibes Tours runs half-day boat rides that comprise an hour at a reef teeming with fish and coral; an hour on the remote Half Moon Bay, empty, but for the myriad rock iguanas scampering between beaches; and an hour of strong rum punch and high diving from the roof of the boat.

For something stronger, swim over to the Tiki Bar, a no frills establishment built on the water and owned by a former Turks and Caicos prime minister.

To snorkel from the shores of Providenciales, walk to the Bight Reef, also known as the Coral Gardens, and swim with reef fish and turtles. The reef is one part of the greater Princess Alexandra National Park.

The writer was a guest of Grace Bay Resorts.

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Great Escapes: The Easy Life in Providenciales, Turks and Caicos - Barron's