• AZNomad
  • AZNomad

Grace Bay, Turks and Caicos

Sabbatical #2, dream spot. My first international trip since the pandemic began. It felt like an oasis in a sea of insanity. Weiterlesen
  • Beginn der Reise
    16. August 2020

    Phoenix ->Miami->Providenciales

    16. August 2020 in Turks- und Caicosinseln ⋅ ⛅ 81 °F

    Day 1 - I caught a red eye flight out of Phoenix into Miami International (1st pic is of a very empty MIA) and was in provo by noon. The experience was surreal. Most of the airports are very empty and the flights are only partially filled. All of things have changed on airline travel is done now, face masks are mandatory everywhere and no issues with that on this trip.

    The hardest part was leaving the US. To come to TCI you need a recent PCR Covid test (within 3-5 days), travel insurance for health issues or evacuation from the island, and a pre-approval travel stamp from TCI before you can even check-in) Even with all that I still ran into issues at the airports because the rules keep changing and the airline staff can't keep up.

    It was a complete pain in the ass to get to TCI but sooooo worth once I got there. I took some amazing images from the plane as we were landing in Provo. Look at how blue that water is. I thought this can't be real :)
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  • Providenciales International Airport

    16. August 2020 in Turks- und Caicosinseln ⋅ ⛅ 86 °F

    Turks and Caicos is a British territory but heavily visited by folks from the US. There are two main islands (Turks and Caicos, of course :) and lots of little smaller islands. The population is large only about 55K people between the 2 islands. They use the US dollar and US style electrical outlets, but they drive on the left side of the road like in the UK.

    Getting through customs and immigration wasn't too bad. There were a lot of health check points but everything moved quickly. The best part was the awesome island band that was playing at the airport entrance.
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  • Royal West Indies Resort

    16. August 2020 in Turks- und Caicosinseln ⋅ ☀️ 86 °F

    Best hotel ever!! Seriously amazing. Right on the most beautiful beach ever, Grace Bay. I had the smallest room they had but it was plenty big enough, and it even had washer/dryer and a small kitchen. The best part was the view from my room 😍. There’s a lot COVID rules you have to follow, with temperature checks and sanitizers at every entrance and masks of course. But everyone is very friendly and always ready with a rum punch. My room wasn’t ready when I got there so I went to the bar to get started on all the fruity rum drinks they have to offer 😂 I tried to get through the entire drink menu in one week but sadly I failed 😢Weiterlesen

  • Grace Bay Beach

    17. August 2020 in Turks- und Caicosinseln ⋅ ☀️ 86 °F

    First day beach day ☺️ Grace Bay is one of the best beaches in the world. Crystal clear blue water, soft white sand, and fantastic views that stretch on forever. This was my first day in the water and it was amazing. I bought a new GoPro camera just for this trip and it was worth every penny. Awesome shots on land and underwaterWeiterlesen

  • Pelican Bay Bar (rum drink #2? #3?)

    17. August 2020 in Turks- und Caicosinseln ⋅ ☀️ 86 °F

    Everyday around 1 the clouds came in and we got some rain. Perfect time to head to the bar 😋 The drinks are potent 😳 but you can’t really tell until you’re almost done. Unfortunately they come with a potent price tag ($12 for the cheapest drink 😣) You can either drink or eat but you’re not doing both 😆 Luckily for me the money fairies gifted with 25% of my room cost back because of a special deal they had. Yay me 🤗 So I got to have a real nice time there for lunch and dinner.

    Most of the bar and most of the hotel was empty, so not too concerned about the ‘Rona getting me. But some folks had zero fucks to give and just did there bar thing like normal 😆
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  • Pelican Bay Bar (The Drunken Lobster )

    18. August 2020 in Turks- und Caicosinseln ⋅ ☀️ 86 °F

    There’s this drink on the menu called the drunken lobster that called to me. It was one of the expensive ones ($14 😖) and had a little happy chef symbol next to it. So I thought this drink must be the greatest thing ever.

    It looked deadly upon arrival, dark red like a volcano, and had some of their best liquor. Got some mahi fish tacos to help counteract the alcohol and I was good to go 😁 Except I wasn’t. By the time I finished I couldn’t stand up and I couldn’t even ask for some water. That drink claimed my soul and kicked my ass 🤣. It took me forever to get back to my room. I was out for like the next 4 hours and missed my afternoon swim 🥴 If I ever go back, I’m getting it again 😆
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  • The Hole, Turks Head Brewery

    19. August 2020 in Turks- und Caicosinseln ⋅ ☀️ 86 °F

    The Hole is literally a giant hole in the earth where the limestone caved in. It’s a local attraction that is a thing to do. I guess it was pretty neat but I’m not really a fan of standing over open pits with no bottom 😂 We stopped here first before doing a beer tasting at the only brewery in TCI. Great beer, nice bartender, their Irish stout and key lime Hefeweizen were 👌Weiterlesen

  • Da Conch Shack

    19. August 2020 in Turks- und Caicosinseln ⋅ ☀️ 86 °F

    One of the top two places to get conch in the Turks. Conch is their most popular seafood. It’s basically a giant sea snail but it taste better than it sounds. This place is 90% awesome and 10% tourist trap 😆 But really it’s just fantastic. Great food, great drinks, with the best reggae beats. What’s even neater are all the cool conch shells piled up on the beach. Supposedly some are still alive.Weiterlesen

  • Stargazer & Iguana Island

    20. August 2020 in Turks- und Caicosinseln ⋅ ☀️ 86 °F

    The 1/2 day tour from the Caicos Dream tours included a stop at Iguana Island and lunch on the Stargazer. Iguana Island connects the Atlantic and Caribbean oceans. Everybody else saw lots of Iguanas except for me ☹️. The pool slide on the boat was very fun but I couldn’t get my GoPro angled right to get the full thrill 😁Weiterlesen

  • Ende der Reise
    21. August 2020