Dining Out Grand Turk Style

Dining on Grand Turk may not be an epicurean delight, but if you are looking for quaint Caribbean rustic atmosphere you will certainly find that here on Grand Turk, as well as some good locally caught fresh fish dishes.

First let me explain the difference between Providenciales (the most popular island in the Turks and Caicos Islands) and Grand Turk.  Providenciales has been recently developed witn in the last 15-20 years as a affluent playground.   5 star hotels line the famous Grace Bay beach and with each hotel comes an upscale restaurant.  The island is about 20 miles long and development has spread out across the island on it's pristine beaches with gorgeous hotels with spas and lovely villas with pools.  So if you are looking for a totally pampered vacation spot this is the place for you.

Grand Turk on the other hand couldn't be any further from that picture.   Grand Turk is the capital of the Turks and Caicos Islands, it still has several antique buildings that line the main street with charming lime washed walls that run along each side of the narrow historical street, Duke Street.  The island is small, only about 7 miles long and 2 miles wide, views of the sea can be seen from almost anywhere.  There are no hotel chains or 5 star hotels, in fact there are only a handful of 2 story hotels,  a few Bed and Breakfasts and a handful of self-catering vacation rentals.    Scuba diving is what Grand Turk is most noted for, however the beauty under the sea is not the only beauty Grand Turk has in store for it's visitors, the beaches are quite beautiful as well.  The restaurants here are mainly out of doors with several of them being decks on the beach or in a outdoor garden, simple, rustic but charming and the menu consists mainly of simple cuts of beef or chicken and freshly caught fish, but a fried grouper sandwich and a rum punch offered under a blanket of stars, in my book, can't be beat.

I will probably miss a dozen local restaurants in this listing but I'm hoping this gives you, the reader, an idea of what we have to offer here on Grand Turk.

On Duke Street, the main historial street in town you will find the following restaurants:

The Bird Cage - Restaurant and Bar - Located with-in the Osprey Beach Hotel compound with wrought iron tables nestled between a tranquil pool and the turquoise sea.  They have a bar situated within a wrought iron cage and so the name.    Their menu usually consists of some kind of steak, chicken dish, sometimes pork and fresh fish, all usually accompanied with a simple salad, rice and peas or potato.    Once a week they offer a cookout with entertainment.  Mitch Rollings and friend musicians play into the evening while guests dine and dance.  Last March my girlfriends and I  enjoyed the cookout while Mitch played guitar and sang while  his two friends accompanied him on a saw (cut the log type) and a white paint bucket with a broom handle and string - as a base.  Great music and a lot of fun.  Serves breakfast, lunch and dinner.  They are one of the few restaurants that actually take credit cards which is always a plus for any traveler.

The Sand Bar - Bar with light menu - A tiny building with a large deck on the edge of the beach.  The bar is decorated with beach glass, tile and wood.  Their menu is more of a bar menu with grouper sandwiches, shrimp salad, quesadillas, hamburgers etc.  Their music is loud, playing often the likes of Jack Johnson.  Many of the transplanted locals gather here for drinks.

The Secret Garden - Restaurant and Bar - Located inside the gardened courtyard of the Salt Raker Inn, a delightful historical inn.  Tables with white cloths are situated under a pergola in the shade of the trees.  Serves breakfast, Lunch and dinner.

Further from Town you will find the following restaurants:

Bohio - Restaurant and Bar - Located within the Bohio Resort compound north of town on the other side of the salina.  The restaurant has seating both inside and outside with views of the sea.  It is probably the most upscale of the restaurants on the island.  They have an extensive menu and probably one of the few places that can serve you specialty drinks like cosmos or pina coladas.  They also have a cookout one night each week with a local band to entertain you.

Doo Doo's Ribs  - Barbecued Ribs -  Located on the corner of Osborne Road and a side street opposite the old burial grounds.  They serve barbecued ribs on Friday and Saturdays only from about 11:00am to about 9:00pm.

Barbies - Located on Front Street across from the brightly painted gift shops.  She serves a variety of conch, conch fritters, chicken fingers, sandwiches etc.

Island Times - Located north of town in a green building by the water.  Serves Dinner. (I have not tried it yet)

Cool Beans - Located on Light House Road on the right hand side heading toward the lighthouse.  Serving homemade ice cream with sugar cones and sandwiches.

Mookies Pizza - Located on Hospital Road on the right hand side heading north.  Serving pizza as well as sandwiches and sometimes breakfast.

The following restaurants are open only when the ships are in:

Salt House -  Breakfast and Lunch - Located on Osborne Road on the left just past the Windmill Plaza.  They serve breakfast and lunch when the ships are in.  They do accept credit cards.

Local Village - Bar and light menu - Located on Airport Road on the right just before the cruise ship terminal.  The serve local foods and have a juice bar where they serve freshly squeezed juices, from fresh fruit delivered from the Dominican Republic, a nearby island.  They only serve lunch and dinner and only when the ships are in.

Jacks Shack - Bar with light menu - Located on Airport Road on the right just before the cruise ship terminal.  Watch for a small sign that directs you to Jacks.  They are located on the beach side of Oasis Diving.  It's a bit hard to find.  Jacks is a bar that serves, jerk chicken, burgers and hot dogs only when the ships are in.

Margaritaville - Restaurant and Bar - Located within the cruise ship terminal.  They offer a menu of burgers with fries, nachos, quesadillas etc.

There are many local restaurants I have not listed and do not know off but I am sure if you look around and are adventurous you can find a few "off the beaten path" bars and restaurants.

I hope this has been helpful.  There is more information about the island of Grand Turk on our website as well http://www.grandturkvacationrental.com

Crabtree Apartments, Grand Turk, Turks and Caicos Islands  "A better way to stay."

April in Grand Turk, Turks and Caicos

My family and I have been traveling to Grand Turk, Turks and Caicos Islands for 24 years.  This year was the first time I have been to the Turks and Caicos in April.  I think it may now be one of my favorite months there.  I am so happy to depart the New England weather in the winter months and truly enjoy the lovely tropical temperatures in February but I have to say I think the air and water temps in April are pretty much perfect.

This April, 14 of us traveled down to the Turks and Caicos from the Boston area, leaving behind 40º temperatures.  We arrived in Providenciales mid-afternoon to temperatures in the mid 80's, ready to peal off the layers of clothing and thankful for the ever present tropical breeze.  We herded our pack of travelers through the customs area,  and collected our bags.  A few of us changed into more weather appropriate attire.  Once we had checked in with Air Turks and Caicos for our flight to Grand Turk and deposited our bags we headed in to Guilly's Restaurant at the airport for a Rum Punch and a Grouper sandwich.  This is how we usually spend the layover between Provo and Grand Turk.  Soon we were in the air again on our way to Grand Turk, a short 25 minute flight.  The plane flew low enough to see the sister islands and water below - no clouds.  I am always amazed at the turquoise color.  Some of the water below looked so shallow that you could wade through.  I'm not sure if it really was as shallow as it looked but I'm sure the water is relatively shallow to account for the turquoise color of the water, the deeper water is more of a royal blue.  Finally with a perfect landing we disembarked and collected our bags.

Dennis of Grace Bay Car Rentals met us at the airport with our 2 cars.  With the crew we had, and all the bags, including the numerous baby items, it took us 2 trips to get us with all of our paraphernalia to Crabtree Apartments.  This was no big deal since the apartments are probably only a 5 minute drive at most.

Everyone shed their cool weather clothes, dawned their bathing suits and headed to the water for a swim. The water was delicious, warm and calm, once in, it was hard to get out even as the sun was going down.  We watched the horizon for the "Green Flash"  a cloud free horizon being the perfect conditions for spying it.  Some of us caught a glimpse, but not all, you have to pay close attention.

We all dried and changed for dinner, once again in a big herd we headed for the Sand Bar, about a 10 minute walk down Close Haul Road.  It was a lovely evening with a cloudless sky, you could see a blanket of stars above.  The warm breeze wrapped around us and the 3 friendly dogs tagged along by our sides.  I love the walk to the restaurants in the evening;  it's a charming stroll down Duke St. with the stone and white washed walls that run along the narrow street which is lined with antique buildings and quaint gateways.  It feels to me a bit like I have stepped into the past.  The music from the Sand Bar drawing us in, we stepped in from the street.  We were lucky enough to find a table by the sea that could accommodate us all.  One reason I love the Sand Bar is because you sit on an outside deck literally on the edge of the water, with the sounds of the sea and the brilliant views just a few feet away.

By the time we had finished our meal we were all pretty tuckered out and wearily headed back to our apartment.  We each entered our humble abode and climbed in to our comfortable beds.  We shut the light and let the gentle lapping of the waves outside our windows lull us to sleep.  This was the end to the first day of a perfect family vacation.  I think there may be many more Grand Turk April vacations in store for us.

Bird Watching - Grand Turk

One of my favorite pastimes when I am visiting Grand Turk is to bird watch. I love to sit on the front step of our vacation rental, Crabtree Apartments, early morning as the sun is rising and watch the birds that are feeding in the Salinas. The Salinas across the street are filled with Pipers, Egrets and Heron. The crazy Tricolored Heron is a comical sight as it zig-zags through the water and then abruptly turns, he sometimes will spread his wings and clumsily flop through the water to chase away other birds. There is nothing like seeing the graceful Great Blue Heron take off or land by the waters edge with barely a sound. In the evenings as we walk to or from diner, I sometimes hear a rustling in the grass of the Salinas and with closer examination I usually find a Little Blue Heron hunched in the grassy edge. The noble Brown Pelican can sometimes be seen floating in the Salinas by the Courthouse. But of all the water birds that visit the Grand Turk Salinas I would have to say the Flamingo is my all time favorite, with it's plump body that mimics the pink of a conch shell, reflecting in the water below.

The bird watching on the sea shore is amazing too. I have often heard the piercing cry of the Osprey outside on the beach, to discover it roosting in the tree outside our apartment and then see it suddenly take flight and moments later plunge into the sea for it's dinner. Sometimes the Oyster Catchers will congregate in a pod of 2 or 3 on the cement pier that juts out into the sea. Pipers and Plovers scurry down the beach picking away as they go.

From time to time I catch a brief glimpse of a Hummingbird as it zooms by or hovering in the tubular flowers of a nearby tree. I love to watch these as well as the many other birds I have yet to discover the name of.

Many people may think of Grand Turk for the spectacular under sea world that is along it's shores but for me, a non-diver, I truly enjoy what I find above the sea.

Leslie Janes 

Grand Turk Then And Now

Twenty years ago my husband and I discovered this little bit of paradise - Grand Turk. Then Grand Turk, being the capital, was the most known island of the Turks and Caicos Island chain. Relished for it's superb diving and known for it's off shore banking. There were only a handful of restaurants and small hotels or inns, the streets were unpaved and the only street lights where the antique replica's of gas lamps you found on Duke St., the historic district of Grand Turk, per say.

When you arrived on Grand Turk your plane would screech to a halt on the tiny runway and you almost felt like you were going to spill over into the sea. The airport was made up of a stone single room open air building with ceiling fans whirring overhead. Bags were unloaded onto a plywood platform and shuffled down by hand to make room. The taxi that brought you to your hotel was likely to be a rusted out chevy impala with no floorboards. Donkey's, horses and chickens roamed the narrow dirt roads freely.

When you strolled the streets it wasn't unusual to have one of the local people say "Hello, how do you like Grand Turk?" They were proud of their island. You would wake in the morning to the cock crow and the beautiful blue sea and dine in the evening under a veil of stars.

Today, things have changed a bit but not as much as you would think. When your airplane lands on the larger and improved runway you may feel the force of the stop and hear the chirp of the wheels but there is now plenty of room for the large bird to have a graceful landing. There is a modern air-conditioned building where the old stone one once stood, though the bags are still loaded onto a plywood platform.

The taxi's no longer have rusted floor boards though the do show their age and to see a donkey roam the streets is probably a thing of the past, since they have been shipped off to other Caribbean islands to work, but in their place you will probably see a big bull amble down the road and scratch it's horns on a nearby car causing the car to bobble and then stroll away. There are still only a handful of restaurants, maybe a few more, there are more street lights though and many of the roads are paved yet potholed.

It's much easier to find necessities on the island now that the shopping center at the cruise pier has been built. But even the addition of cruise ships hasn't changed the island and hasn't overloaded it with tourist either and that to me is amazing. It has actually been an asset to the island.

The restaurants are still the same restaurants perched on the edge of the sea, you still dine there under a veil of stars and still wake to a gorgeous blue sea, with a few less cocks a crowing. Grocery shopping isn't the task it used to be with a few more grocery shops to make your purchases in. These are far from the Grocery stores in the states but have come a long way from the tiny shops of Grand Turks past.

If you were to ask me how has Grand Turk changed in the 20 years I have been fleeing the snow and winters, to bask in the tropical sun, I would have to say, it hasn't really, with the exception of the names of the hotels and restaurants, it has somehow managed to pretty much stay the same. There have been a few improvements to make life more comfortable but basically the island has remained the same.

There is just something about this tiny island that calls me back again and again. It could be the gorgeous seas, it could be the friendly people, it could be the fact that it has somehow kept the commercialism at bay but I think for me it's what happens when I get here. Time seems to stand still, I can almost feel my blood slow down it's flow, my worries just wash away with the gentle waves and I find that I am totally relaxed.