Turks & Caicos - Providenciales

Visited the island of Providenciales for one week during first week of February 2021. The island has many beautiful beaches of which we were able to explore several. The water color here is incredibly blue. 

We rented an economy car from Thrifty. The car was very small, and steering wheel is on right side of the car, and driving here is on the left side of the road. There are many roundabouts which can make this even more challenging. 

Alexandra Resort

We traded our timeshare week through Internal International for the Alexandra Resort. It is located on beautiful Grace Bay, next door to Beaches Resort. We were lucky to have an ocean front one bedroom unit with a perfect view of the dazzling turquoise water just outside our balcony.

I would recommend this resort. There are 4 accommodations buildings (two are on the ocean and two are set back and closer to the pool). They have 3 restaurants onsite and when you check-in you will be given a wristband. The color indicates if you have the all-inclusive meal plan or not.  

The beach here is very large with soft white sand. There are kayaks, paddleboards and catamaran sailboats available to take out at no additional charge. However, if it is very windy or wavy the watersports staff won't let people take them out to use.

 

 

Sapodilla Bay Beach

There was a day with strong waves in Grace Bay so we drove over to Sapodilla Bay Beach on the southwest side of the island. The secluded beach was very calm and pretty shallow. There are not bathrooms here, but there are food & beverage vendors at one end of the beach as well as a person renting jet skis. We parked at Las Brisas (sign said $3 parking in the lot across the street, but no one was there to collect) or park along Chalk Sound Drive at the access point if there is space (this is closer to the beach than the parking lot). Just walk down the short sandy path to the beach. This beautiful beach is 900 feet long.

Entrance and Walkway to Beach

Taylor Bay Beach

Just up the road from Sapodilla Bay is this large beach (2000 feet long), which is pretty shallow and calm. Depending on the tide, there are some rocks on one end of the beach (closest to path). We decided to walk to the end where it was all sand and no rocks and very secluded. Parking could be tricky here. We were here during pandemic and there was only 1 other car parked near the public access path which is off of Ocean Point Drive.  The path is not marked, but here are photos to help find it:

Entrance to Walkway

Parking at Taylor Bay

Walkway to Beach

Taylor Bay Beach

Snorkeling in Providenciales

There are options to snorkel off the beach or by paying for a snorkel boat trip. We snorkeled off the beach at The Bight Reef (also known as Coral Gardens) and Smith Reef. There is great information at www.visittci.com HERE. We brought our own gear, but many resorts have masks and fins available.

The Bight Reef is located in the middle of Grace Bay and was a 10-minute walk from the Alexandra Resort. There are orange buoys in the water marking the reef, and you snorkel on the outside of the circle of buoys. We saw a few turtles and many small colorful fish. 

Buoys surrounding Bight Reef

Smith Reef is a series of reefs (separated by areas of sea grass) on the northwestern edge of Grace Bay. It is located near Turtle Cove and we snorkeled at two different access points here on two different days.  The first day, when we went over Bridge Road, we turned right and parked on side of road (East Access). The beach access path was a bit difficult to find. The reef here was also hard to find as there were some waves and thus difficult to differentiate between the sea grass and coral area. 

The better option is to park at the West access point and walk 1000 feet to the east. We found extensive coral here and saw many fish and stingrays. We even saw a large stingray breach out of the water.

More buoys at Smith Reef

Alternate parking area near "ruins"
(halfway between West Access & Bridge Rd)

Hidden private property walkway to beach
(across street from parked car at the "ruins")

 

Snorkeling Boat Excursions

We had limited options due to pandemic. However we considered Caicos Dream Tours (they offer 1/2 day and full day trips starting at $150 per person for 4 hours and they will pick you up on the beach at Alexandra Resort), Island Vibes ($100 for 4 hours), and Chalk Sound pontoon boat tour where you tour Chalk Sound and snorkel at an airplane wreck ($70 for 2 hours).  We ended up choosing the Chalk Sound pontoon boat tour and really enjoyed it.

Chalk Sound

The water on Grace Bay is unbelievably blue, and the water on Chalk Sound is yet a different but unreal color. I highly recommend visiting Chalk Sound. We started out eating at Las Brisas restaurant which is on the water and has great views of the Sound (food was very good as well). Here we learned about the pontoon boat cruise which we took the next day.  

There is a driver and a guide and you get a really nice tour of the sound which is quite large. They take you to a Blue Hole and then to an airplane wreck where you can snorkel.  The water is very shallow here and there were a few fish.  Then they take you to "Iguana Island" which is a fun experience where you can feed the Iguanas. We had lots of laughs and they served us beer and water on the boat. 

Iguana Island inside of Chalk Sound

Restaurants

Providenciales has a lot of excellent restaurant options. 

Coco Bistro - This is a must and it is extremely popular, reservations are definitely needed (I suggest making reservation well before you arrive on the island). Excellent food and atmosphere (located inland, but surrounded by incredible greenery and mature palm trees) however very pricey.

Kitchen 218 at the Beach House - excellent food, not on the water, but still a great ambiance (very pricey).

Bugaloo's - Great location - lots of seafood and conch options. On the water. Reasonable prices for the islands.

Las Brisas - Exquisite views of Chalk sound and its intense blue water. Highly recommended.

Las Brisas Restuarant

Somewhere Cafe - Very casual and directly on the beach. Lots of Mexican food options (reasonably priced)

Fish Deck at Alexandra Resort - food was good and location is overlooking Grace Bay - one of the best restaurant views (pricey).

Tides

If you are interested in high and low tide in Grace Bay, here is an excellent website: Surf-Forecast.com

Bucket List for next time we go to Providenciales

• Half Moon Bay
• Paddle board in Chalk Sound 
• Turks Head Brewery Tour
• Malcolm's Beach (need a better car than our super-economy one as there is a lot of unpaved road).
• Eat at Infinity or Da Conch Shack, Bay Bistro