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 

Grand Teton National Park

 

Grand Teton is located just minutes from Jackson, Wyoming (12 miles). We visited Grand Teton National Park September 17th and 18th, 2020. We stayed in Jackson, at the Spring Hill Suites, which was very nice. We strongly considered alternative hotels, but ended up choosing Spring Hill Suites because of generous cancellation policy (due to pandemic uncertainty). The other places we would have liked to try were: Huff House Inn and Wyoming Inn.

We entered the park from the north, driving from Yellowstone (about 2.5 hour drive). When entering from the north, there isn't a formal entrance with a pay station. We drove to Jenny Lake trail head and boat access area. There is really nice shuttle (10 minutes and $10 one way) that will take you to the Hidden Falls and Inspiration Point trails. 

Jenny Lake & Cascade Canyon Trail

We knew that we wanted to hike to Hidden Falls and Inspiration point, and then continue on to the Cascade Canyon Trail. Since this would be a very long hike, we decided to take the boat shuttle to shorten the hike. There was a line, but it was moving pretty fast, as they have several boats.  The boats do stop running on September 30th.

 

Once the boat arrives and you start your hike, the trail slopes gently upward to Hidden Falls, then climbs more steeply to Inspiration Point. The hike to Hidden Falls is 1/2 mile, and another 1/2 mile to Inspiration Point. Here is the view from Inspiration Point:

We continued on to Cascade Canyon, however did not go all the way to the fork/end. Cascade Canyon lies between the Cathedral Group (Teewinot Mountain, Mount Owen, and the Grand Teton) to the south and the St. John group (Symmetry Spire, Rock of Ages, etc.) to the north. It is a beautiful canyon in the Teton Range.

When we returned, we hiked around Jenny Lake instead of taking shuttle, which was a 2.4 mile hike (counter clockwise from the West Boat Dock back to the Visitor Center at Jenny Lake). The total hike for us was about 8 miles, and an elevation gain of 1039 feet.

Sunset at the Tetons

Taggart & Bradley Lakes Trails

The next day we parked at the Taggart Creek parking lot. Taggart and Bradley Lake are 2 glacially formed lakes. This is a 5.5 mile trail with 585 feet elevation gain. Beautiful views of Nez Perce Peak, the Middle and Grand Tetons and Teewinot Moutain.  This hike took us 3 hours. We hiked counter clockwise, which I would recommend. Towards end of hike, the Beaver Creek section of the trail was very unpopulated. We did not see many people and concerned about seeing bears (we did not). We did see a lot of coyote skat.

When you take the counterclockwise route, you can extend the hike at Bradley Lake, if you want to see more of the lake.  We saw moose along the shore of Taggart Lake (across the lake). You can see the very low trafficked Beaver Creek Trail portion on the lower part of this trail map:

Driving Tour

There is a driving tour with multiple stops and views. Here is a scenic drive brochure with different stops: 

Recommendations in Jackson, Wyoming

Highly recommend eating dinner at Snake River Brewing. The food was excellent. We were here during pandemic and they were very accommodating and fast with our take out order. Also recommend visiting Jackson Square, there are cool arches made from elk antlers. The Albertson's grocery store is great for lunch food.

Next Time We Visit...

• Amphitheater Lake Trail - 10 mile round-trip, 3000' elevation change
• Paint Brush Canyon
• Hike the entire Forks of Cascade Canyon Trail
• Signal Mountain Trail

Yellowstone National Park

Visited Yellowstone National Park September 14-17 (Monday-Thursday), 2020. September is a great time of year to visit, and temperatures were comfortable during day in 70s and lows at night in 50s. There was some haze from the wildfires west of Yellowstone, and even though we visited during what should have been a low season, there were more people than we expected.

This post includes: Hikes, Places to Stay, Restaurants in West Yellowstone and General Tips.

Day Hiking in Yellowstone:

Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone

You can hike either the North Rim or South Rim (both offering multiple overlooks and stunning vistas). We hiked the South Rim, parking off of South Rim Drive. Hike was 6 miles and took us 3.5 hours (541 feet elevation change) We ate lunch at end of trail at Sublime Point and made our way back to the trailhead. Alternately, you can drive most of the North and South Rims and park and walk to viewpoints. We did this for the North Rim and saw Upper Falls View and Brink of Lower Falls. 

An excellent option is to hike to Uncle Tom's Point, however this is closed for a few years, and it is recommended to ask the park rangers when planning this hike. Uncle Tom's Point is a steel staircase to the base of the lower falls.

Just south of Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone, you can drive and visit Mud Volcano and Dragon Cauldron, and Sulfur Cauldron. We drove even further south to see Yellowstone Lake, and as a result saw more wildlife.  As you drive, watch the river, as we saw a coyote drinking from the river. We also saw bison up close at Lake Yellowstone, and lots of elk on this drive as well.

Old Faithful & Upper Geyser Basin Boardwalks

We spent about 3.5 hours at the Old Faithful area, hiking the boardwalks which take you to more geysers. Also hiked to Observation Point (rise of 160 feet).  This is the Upper Geyser Basin, and you can walk to see Grand Geyser, Castle Geyser, Daisy Geyser and Riverside Geyser and information at the Old Faithful visitor center will give you estimates of their eruption times. Highly recommend seeing the Grand Geyser. The predicted time was a wide range, and I recommend you get there early, as it hard to predict (unlike Old Faithful).

Old Faithful has a lot of steam or mist which can obscure the view of the water. We hiked to Observation Point, which was about 2 miles round trip and has a great view looking down on Old Faithful. 

Highly recommend walking the boardwalks to see Morning Glory Pool:

Grand Prismatic Spring and Midway Geyser Basin Boardwalks

These are hot springs, and when we first visited it was early in the morning, and the air was much cooler, and as a result there is a lot of steam coming off of the springs.  We returned later in the day and the view was much better.  Grand Prismatic is not to be missed, and I recommend hiking to the overlook (you need to park at Fairy Falls trail parking lot).  We were tempted to hike to Fairy Falls, but did not have time. 

Here is the view from the Grand Prismatic overlook:

Before sunset, we drove the 2 Firehole one way drives - Firehole Lake drive and Firehole Canyon drive. There are more boardwalks and pools and geysers to see from these drives.

Places to Stay in West Yellowstone

Due to Covid-19, almost all of the lodging inside the park was closed. We would have preferred to stay at Old Faithful Inn but it was closed. We decided to stay at Kelly Inn, but Explorer Cabins and Golden Stone Inn were close behind.  We really liked Kelly Inn and would definitely stay there again.  West Yellowstone is a short drive away from the park, however I recommend you get up early and enter the park as early as possible, because traffic starts to back up from cars stopping for wildlife viewing (shortly after the entrance).   

Restaurants in West Yellowstone

For casual and fast, we highly recommend this food "bus": Las Palmitas.  For excellent food (we were able to get takeout due to Covid-19), highly recommend Madison Crossing.

General Tips

Cell Phone Service in Yellowstone

We were surprised to find that we did sometimes have cell phone service inside Yellowstone. Here is a map of coverage areas. Please note, even though there is coverage, it is very weak and slow, but good enough for texting, directions (google maps), and email.

Bucket List / Next Time We Visit

• Fairy Falls Trail
• Uncle Tom's Trail
• Mount Washburn
• Specimen Ridge