Ten Best Things About Grand Turk, Turks and Caicos

This is my own list of the 10 best things about Grand Turk.  I invite others to add their top 10 to the comments.

1.  Totally Relaxing - (If you aren't relaxed by the end of day 1 by day 2 you will be for sure!)

2.  Laid Back - (No Hurries, No Worries)

3.  Gorgeous Sea - (For swimming, snorkeling and diving or just admiring.)

4.  Walk along the beach in the moon light - (Though walking along the beach just about anytime is a treat.)

5.  Clear Starry Nights - (The black velvet sky is awash with a dazzling array of sparkling stars every night.)

6.  Walk down historic Duke St. - (The historical street lined with white washed walls and colonial buildings)

7.  Wonderful Weather - (It is really pretty nice year round with the lovely tropical breeze, though July through October can be a bit warm but still enjoyable)

8.  Dining in the open air beside the sea - (The restaurants are all out in the open and many are beside the sea.  I love to hear the lapping of the waves, it's very romantic)

9.  Casual Dress - (Flip-flops and shorts anywhere, anytime, this make packing easy)

10. The Potcakes- (The local dogs are called "Potcakes" they love to follow along as you walk down the street or the beach.  They are nice companions)

Getting To Know You

Running a vacation rental can be crazy but it is fun too. I have met so many people from all over. We have had guests from Italy, England, Germany, Canada and the US. Some people try to find every scrap of information they can on the internet about us or have a zillion questions while others just see the pictures and information they have seen on our website and are ready to book.  I'm always nervous that the person with the zillion questions won't be happy, and that I didn't tell them something they needed to know about Grand Turk or our place or that the person who didn't ask anything but just booked, didn't expect the kind of island they landed on or thought Crabtree Apartments was something different than it actually was.

I don't know why I worry because time and time again my guests write back saying they loved Grand Turk and they loved our place.  To me it feels so good to know, I, in my little way, am making people happy.  I have enjoyed the telephone conversation I have had with my guest too, being invited to visit when I am in England and come to an Italian dinner if I ever find myself in Italy.  People can be so friendly.

We have had one of every kind, Fudge Makers, Ministers, Authors, Florists, Doctors, Heritage seekers, Honeymooner, Anniversary Celebrators, Engineers, Professors, Families with Toddlers, Families with Teens, Retirees, Ladies Groups, Divers, Father's and Sons and the list goes on.  Some guest come with laptops and have a working vacation and others don't even want to see a bit of communication equipment, not even TVs.

One thing they all have in common; When they return home they are all rested, relaxed, only in a way Grand Turk can make you relaxed, and rejuvenated. In the words of Xavier Tonneau, a colorful resident of Grand Turk and previous manager of Crabtree Apartments, an artist, musician and wonderful chef, whom sadly passed away a few years ago; "Grand Turk soothes your sole." I have to admit that somehow it does.

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.