Tourism on Turks — DAVID YARBOROUGH

Beautiful Grace Bay Beach from Point Grace

Just before the busy holidays, we escaped for a very fulfilling week in Turks and Caicos. We being my wife and son and daughter and her boyfriend. Everyone agreed it was one of the most relaxing, hassle-free trips we’ve taken to the Caribbean. There’s a lot to admire and enjoy here. Grace Bay Beach is, IMHO, one of the most beautiful beaches in the world. In fact, it has been ranked the world’s best beach by Trip Advisor two years running, so others must agree. There are thirteen miles of uninterrupted white sand lapped by crystal clear water, a dream for anyone who loves beach walking. You could stay in an outstanding hotel or condo with spectacular views, enjoy excellent snorkeling and other water sports, and walk to any of dozens of good restaurants without ever leaving the beach itself.

Grace Bay is located on Providenciales, the island that is the center of the country’s tourism industry. The country of Turks and Caicos is an archipelago of more than 40 islands and cays. The political capital is on Grand Turk, a smaller island, despite its name, some 50 miles to the east. There is very little tourism development other than on Provo. The gorgeous Grace Bay beach is lined with hotels and condos. Other than a huge Beaches all-inclusive and a smaller Club Med, most of these are very tasteful properties targeted at the mid-and upper tier of Caribbean travelers. There are also two very upscale properties that are not on Grace Bay: the Amanyara, which is in a secluded spot on the western shore that can only be reached via a bumpy, unpaved road and the Como on posh Parrot Cay, which requires a 30-minute ferry ride.

This was our second stay at a beautiful boutique property called Point Grace. The suites, the beach, the pool and the staff are all excellent. The location, literally on the point of the beach and with no immediately adjacent buildings, provides the best views and most privacy of any other property. Their swimming pool is one of our favorites anywhere. While Point Grace does not outright prohibit children, they are clearly discouraged, in part by a “quiet pool” policy and also by the absence of any facilities or activities for them. There were no youngsters there at all throughout our stay. The resort changed ownership since our previous visit, but the changes so far appear to be few and positive. The on-site restaurant, Grace’s Cottage, has seen a significant updating. It is gorgeous and serves some of the island’s best food.

While Turks is not known as a foodie destination, we do have a few favorites places that can be recommended. Da Conch Shack is a must. You can try authentic island specialties, while sitting barefoot at a table in the sand. Cocovan is a recent addition to the Coco Bistro, an over-priced restaurant even on an island where everything is expensive, that struck gold with this causal, faster concept. A limited menu of excellent offerings—think designer tacos and salads—is served from a vintage Airstream trailer and eaten under the same canopy of lighted palms that diners still waiting on their food in the bistro are enjoying. For a coffee or light lunch, you can’t go wrong at the Asian-themed, vegetarian/vegan friendly Sandbox in the middle of “downtown Grace Bay.”

As a constant traveler, I am always observant of the impacts of tourism. I was keen to see whether I would see any evidence here of the over-tourism about which I’ve written recently. I’m happy to report that even on well-developed Grace Bay there is still room for more. With so many other beautiful spots on North Caicos and East Caicos and beyond, Turks and Caicos appears to be a prime location for tourism investment for years to come.

Hulking over the small commercial village of Grace Bay is the construction site that will be a massive new Ritz-Carlton project. Further west along the beach is the site of a recently announced Andaz resort by Hyatt. There are signs of numerous other smaller scale projects visible as well. With its world-class beach, favorable climate and welcoming people, Turks has much to offer. Sadly, they have one giant bottleneck that will prove hard to solve: their airport.

Since Provo, thankfully, does not have a port for cruise ships to call and since T&C is not very friendly towards private yacht cruisers, virtually all visitors arrive via air at PLS. This airport’s single 9000 ft runway is adequate to handle the dozens of flights arriving each day. Its terminal, however, is not. The main problem is one of scale: since nearly all the large jets arrive within a few hours of each other in the early afternoon, the terminal is stretched beyond its comfort level every day. I saw an impressive line-up of aircraft sporting liveries of American, British, Jet Blue, Air Canada, Delta, United and Southwest as I rolled my bag across several hundred yards of tarmac to reach the undersized terminal.

Arriving passengers face at least an hour’s wait standing in a labyrinth snaking at a snail’s pace toward a meaningless chat with an immigration officer. This is a horrible way for a visitor to be greeted. It is wholly inconsistent with the government’s emphatic support of the tourism sector. They don’t even serve rum punches while you wait. And it doesn’t get any easier when you finally have to leave this paradise: there is seating in the departure area for perhaps a third of the number of passengers waiting there.

It will not be inexpensive to enlarge this terminal. Given the constraints of the location, the only solution will likely be to build a two-level terminal. In the meantime—which may well be a long time—there are obvious ways the T&C government could minimize the negative impacts of the current facility by improving their processes. More agents, kiosks, pre-flight online documentation, etc. are all readily available and are not expensive, especially relative to the cost of building a new terminal or the discouragement of tourism growth.

Another drawback of the current airport is its ingress/egress. There is a single, one-lane road that is clogged every afternoon. Renting a car is preferable to relying on taxis, which are large shared vans that make multiple stops. Notwithstanding the information on signs at the airport and on various websites, we were charged $15 per person for the 6-mile ride to Point Grace. I expect $60 plus each way would be discouraging for many families or groups of four or more. Neither Uber nor Lyft operate in Turks and the local app-ride operator is not allowed to pick up or deliver at the airport.

All that said, I look forward to my next opportunity to visit Grace Bay. I’m confident we will be back before a new terminal is constructed, but, hey, a man can dream!