25 Aug 2024
Very nice trip. We went mid August. Winter is supposed to be the best time to go. But I think the water would be too cool for my liking. Maybe April/May. Our temps were 85 day and 83 at night. Very little change. It was humid, but not nearly as bad as I had expected. Just don't plan to walk too far. Insects were no issue at all. The only time we saw anything at all was out at the hammock at night, with just a few no-see-um's. Although it was rainy season, it rained just once all week. A 15 minute downpour. I took my raincoat, but never needed it.
We stayed at Ocean Club West (OCW). Not fancy, but very nice. Very lush landscaping. Staff were extremely nice and helpful. Very nice pool. Of note, there is no eat in restaurant on site, but the food at the outdoor restaurant is very good. The reef (less than a mile off the beach) is less here, so you do get some small (maybe 1') wave action on the beach. Most of Grace Bay is more protected by the reef. OCW is very nicely located near the major shops. One of the main grocery stores is within walking distance. OCW has collapsible carts you can pull to get your groceries back. Or for just a few smaller items, you can take the free bikes with baskets to the store. The unit we had, Room 412 (second floor), was nicely updated with a nice view of the pool and some view of the ocean. It was a corner unit, and sliding doors on two sides opened up, so the whole room was open to the balcony to get the breezes. Nice. One thing I really didn't like is that you can't book a particular room. You choose between room types, and they assign a room to you when you get there. That's risky. Some rooms are not yet updated (I think they said 60 of 85 are updated, with more to be updated September 2024). We gave them our preferences, and were lucky to get a good one. Buildings A and B are oceanfront. Next best are C and D buildings.
I'll list some of the cons of our trip and the room as well:
*There were not the shops there that I had expected. I thought since it is an expensive place, there would be lots of nice stores. Not the case. There were a few, but not many. Just as example, I had wanted to buy a polo with Turks/Caicos logo. I asked at several different shops. I found exactly one store that had them, but they just didn't fit me well. I found out (at the airport when flying out) that the Royal golf shop had them. Maybe some of the boutique shops inside some of the resorts?
*It isn't easy to find things. We had a tough time finding two or three locations. Hemingway's restaurant was the worst. We used two different apps and neither one could get us there. We probably drove around 15-20 minutes trying.
*Landscaping started at 8am. A string trimmer buzzing on and off that early isn't very good for vacationing. Please wait till 9am!!
*No Kuerig in the room. Rooms are individually owned, so each one is different. The lack of a Keurig felt like a major oversight to me. The room also had no coffee mugs, only small plastic coffee cups. The kitchen overall wasn't stocked very well. Another example, no pizza or baking sheet.
*The bathroom vent fan was crazy loud.
*The washer/dryer combo unit was old and also crazy loud. You'll only want to use it when you leave the room.
*We had a sunset sailing cruise planned with Carribean Cruisin. We walked up the beach to our pick up point. Three other couples were there as well. 15 minutes after our designated pick up time, we received a text that the cruise had been cancelled due to steering issues with the sailboat. No alternative date was offered. They just refunded our money. Very disappointing. If you have an issue with the boat, make a decision to cancel early enough so that your customers aren't dressed up and sitting and waiting for you. Walking up the beach, then sitting out in that heat waiting while dressed for a nice cruise wasn't fun. And of course I wondered if they cancelled on us because they didn't have enough people to make a good profit.
*We had scheduled a sightseeing tour the first day, just to learn the terrain and the beaches. But somehow my booking got cancelled. Still not sure what happened there.
*Hurricane Ernesto... we knew it was hurricane season. And this one came VERY close. We were lucky it didn't get us. All we got was that 15 minute rain shower out of it. It got breezy one day, but that actually felt great. The biggest impact for us was rougher surf when we did our Snuba trip. They took us outside the reef. That obviously is the norm, as they picked up a mooring ball there. But then they decided it was too rough, as the waves may have pushed folks onto the reef ( a good decision). So we had to go back inside the reef and drop anchor (no moorings there). But because they didn't want to damage the coral, they anchored a good distance from the reef. By the time we figured out the snuba thing and got over to the reef, it was time to go. I only saw 4-5 fish. I think we only had 20 minutes of Snuba on a 2+ hour trip. We needed more time in the water. The two guides were great. But I assume they don't decide how much time we got in the water. The tour owner probably decides that based on insurance.
*Note that some of the roads on the maps are VERY bad roads. With no way to tell that by looking at the map. At least not the maps that we had. We had to turn around more than once due to the road, since our rental car wasn't a 4WD. Do NOT take the road on the west side of the peninsula going out to Chalk Sound. The road cutting across is really bad. Take tje road on the east side. BTW, definitely get a rental car. Cabs are readily available, but expensive. We didn't get one the first two days, planning to just relax and unwind at the pool and on the beach. But we definitely needed one after that. It worked out perfectly.
Restaurant wise, we liked Hemingways, once we finally found it. Nice oceanfront dining. We also really liked Infiniti. We went there thinking we'd eat at the grill/bar, but it was closed. A super nice host there got us seated, even though we didn't have reservations. It's darn near impossible to get reservations there, because they usually don't answer the phone when you call. I'm not a foodie, so I didn't appreciate the food there. But it was another nice oceanfront dining experience. The outdoor restaurant at our resort also had very good food and oceanfront dining. Nothing fancy, but we liked it enough to go back again. Omars is a classic T&K location not to be missed. Good food, fun atmosphere and a fantastic view.
A shout out to three businesses... Goldsmiths, Art Provo and Dive Provo were nice shops. Goldsmiths is in Regent Village. The other two are in the Saltmills Plaza (almost across the road from each other). Dive Provo in particular was super helpful and nice.
Overall, it was a nice trip. Turks and Caicos is a very expensive destination. A 12.5% sales tax doesn't help (they have that because they have no property or income tax there, so the sales tax is a major funding for the government). The people are nice there. Everyone we met was helpful. Of course, there is a lot of poverty, and it shows. Even right across the street from some of the beach/resort areas. But it's beaches are beautiful. Grace Bay (location of our OCW room) is consistently rated as one of the most beautiful beaches in the world. And it is well deserved. White sand beaches and turquoise waters. When we looked out the airplane window flying in and saw that view, we both looked at each other with wide eyes. Wow.