Travel: My Turks & Caicos Experience!

                                               (the beautiful turquoise ocean in the turks and caicos)

Hello! So I have been wanting to write a brief recap of my recent vacation trip to the Turks & Caicos weeks ago and here it goes.  To get there, we flew from home to Dallas where there was a 3.5 hr direct flight to the island.  I’m aware that you can get there via other routes like through Miami but if looking for the direct flight through Dallas, then that’s only available with American Airlines on saturdays.  We arrived in the island, and you had to do the whole step down thing off the plane and go through international customs/security of course.

                                                            (getting off the plane at the airport)

Remember to know where you will be staying because you will be asked this.  Going through customs and security is fairly fast and once out, most people take a taxi which looks like a bus and there are several out front willing to help.  The average pay per couple is approximately $30.

 You have to remember it’s an island and an island where you’ll drive through some parts and it’ll look like a typical third world country until you get to your resort.  The island was affected by hurricane months ago and although the damage is still visible in some parts, in the touristy areas and resorts, it’s not noted.  We stayed at the BIANCA SANDS resort, at the Regent Grand.

                                                                       (the pool)

                                                 (the view from the bianca sands at night time)

                                    (Dress- Forever 21, Bag- Amazon, Flats- Aminah Jillil)

                                          (walk path towards the ocean at bianca sands resort)

                                          (2 piece set- forever 21, bag- Amazon, Sandals- Gap)

If looking for a place, I highly recommend it.  We stayed in a 2 bedroom, 1 bath with a kitchen, living room space, dining table and a balcony overlooking the pool. The kitchen had a large fridge which is great because the island’s currency is in dollars and not very cheap.  A standard plate is between 18-30 dollars and a drink can be 8-12 dollars. What we did was, we went and got some basic groceries like sandwich stuff, chips, breakfast items, etc.  We did this as a means to cut cost but truly it worked out because we’d sleep in and wake up at almost lunch time and we might just have coffee and toast or eggs with juice r make our own mixed drinks.  The island rum punch and this beer were favorites.

                                       (some island favorites, local beer and island rum punch)

 We happened to be vacationing there when our aunt was there too and she makes the best drinks so let’s just say we had a nice time. In terms of groceries, being that it’s an island and everything is imported, groceries are very expensive. A loaf of bread was almost $10 as well as a box of cereal but it’s a good idea to do this if vacationing with a group to get groceries and save on some meals but go out for some.

                                           

                             (the breakfast we made ourselves at our condo,view from our condo)

The resort overall was a beautiful quieter resort with a beautiful ocean in the back, pools in the front, lovely staff and walking distance to everything you might want.  It’s walking distance to several restaurants, shops, bars, ice cream shops and all.  Some of the restaurants we went to were garam masala (indian), Yoshi (sushi), Le Buchon (french), Lupo (Italian), Fresh catch, big Al’s and others.  I had the opportunity to go to lunch at one of the other resorts called the gansvort (drove there) and it was also beautiful.

                                       (Dress- old/dillards, Bag-Amazon, Sandals- Marc Fisher)

The pool here was more crowded and seemed to have a younger population.  The scenery and ocean view also gorgeous.  Turks and Caicos was about 80-90 degrees, warm but so humid.  I guess this is expected wherever there is water and it’s an island so yes there was humidity.  The dress code there i’d say comfort, light airy pieces, casual and of course cute.  With shopping, there are no designer bags or shoe shops, but you can purchase beautiful jewelry and perfume for a bit of a lower price. The food was very good overall and don’t forget to try some fresh conch while there and ask for the shell (might have to buy) for decoration.

(fresh conch)

Besides the food, while there  you can go horse back riding which I’d planned on but didn’t make it this time, you can get on a boat chattered privately or with others for cheaper.  The boat ride shows you the beautiful ocean, you can see other resorts, snorkel, go to iguana island where I was chased by an iguana haha and even see some dolphins both of which I have shared on my instagram stories if you’d like to see. I advise you to carry bug spray as there can be mosquito-type bugs at times. I learned from the boat tour that there are some all inclusive resorts in the island like beeches but ours wasn’t.  The boat tour service we used was the island vibes tours and I’d recommend them.

(iguana island)

Besides snorkeling and other adventures like such, there are local bars some which are walking distance from the Bianca sands resort where we stayed like danny boys.  Like I’d mentioned, the trips in my opinion are a bit pricey about an average of $10 but the people are great and you’ll have a great time kareoking and all.  Remember to tip there just like you would in the United States.  We also considered going to what they called a “fish fry” but could’t make it but I’d suggest it as it was thought to be a good time eating different types of seafood. We also went to another part of town where they had this amazing restaurant by the ocean, I think it was called budrows with live music, fresh conch, ocean breeze and it was just perfect.  Driving to the restaurant, I was told that although Turks and Caicos is great, you should still be careful in some parts and travel in groups if possible and avoid some parts if possible especially at nights as there has been some reported robberies.  We didn’t experience this but just so you know.  And as far as driving, they drive on the opposite side of the road than we do in the U.S so if not familiar with this style, I suggest you avoid driving there ha.

         (ocean side restaurant with some family and friends and I was feeling something haha:)

                                                                                  (at a local bar)

Please excuse the poor quality pictures but my phone was acting up and I’d left my camera at home.  If you have any specific questions on the trip or considering a trip there, leave a comment or email me.  It was my first time there, we loved it and will go back.  Thanks for reading!