November 24 - Grand Turk Island

BEAUTIFUL BY NATURE is the National slogan of the Turks and Caicos Islands which is rumored were discovered by Christopher Columbus in 1492 and now some 500 years later is being “rediscovered” as one of the fasted growing travel destinations in the Caribbean.
Famous for her secluded beaches, crystal clear turquoise blue waters, un spoilt reefs and dramatic walls this archipelago has some of the best diving and snorkeling in the world.

GEOGRAPHICAL LOCATION
The Turks and Caicos Islands are one of the last remaining British Colonies and located some 575 miles southeast of Miami Florida with the Bahamas about 30 miles to the Northwest and the Dominican Republic some 100 miles to the Southeast.
The country consists of two groups of islands, the Turks Islands and the Caicos Islands which are separated by a 22-mile passage called the Columbus Passage. To the west are the Caicos group: West Caicos , Providenciales , North Caicos, East Caicos and South Caicos. To the east are the Turks group: Grand Turk and Salt Cay.

Tied up at Grand Turk Island - Check out he water colour.

We rented a 'clunker' Toyota complete with 'donut' spare tire installed.

We were amazed at how small the first space capsules were.

Is this the Russian capsule?

The Lighthouse is one of the few things to see on this tiny 7 mile island.

We met up with the others at the northern tip. They rented a golf cart instead of a car.

Back at the cruise terminal there was all the usual tourist stuff.

We returned to the ship after some nondescript snorkeling.

Almost every day we played Sfukkle, Pete and Donna's dice game.

One month to Christmas Eve, we arrived at Grand Turk Island. After a good breakfast served to us in the dining room with Pete and Donna, we disembarked at 9:15 as discussed last night at dinner. We wondered through the cruise terminal shops in the phony “Disneyland” designed for “the creatively challenged” and checked out beyond the gates of the Carnival-built compound that is surrounded by chain link fence 12 feet high. Usually, on other islands, there is a waiting fleet of gypsy cabs, hustlers and buses. We like to venture here so we can dicker a deal free of the ship’s commissions. I guess this island is so small and poor that the only thing offered outside the gates was a fleet of gasoline powered golf carts priced higher than the AC equipped Toyotas for rent inside this monopoly that our cruise line parent company created here. Actually, of the fourteen days of this cruise, we will spend five of them at ports built specifically by Carnival for its cruise ships. (Half Moon Cay, Grand Turk Island and Costa Maya Mexico). All this is great if you like an artificial, Americanized Caribbean experience in the complete safety of the company compound but I have read that since major tourism is very new to this island, if you get away from the dock area, the island is supposed to resemble the Caribbean of thirty years ago.

We commandeered a tired looking Toyota with bald tires and one “donut spare” It was the last rental car available and it looked like it may have been the sales attendant’s own vehicle. We sped off down the road, driving on the required left side (most of the time). Fortunately we never had to exceed 20 mph the whole day, so we were pretty safe.

The Internet proclaimed that “the place to be” snorkel site was called Pillory Beach. We decided to check this beach out but chose to explore a little and drive the full seven mile length of the island first to visit the lighthouse where, through the years, islanders would deceptively extinguish the light and place false lights which encouraged ships to run aground on the adjacent shoal so they could plunder the cargos.

Pillory beach turned out to be a bit of a disappointment, both as a beach and for its snorkeling, but it was still nice to get into the warm, turquoise water, if only for the swim. The ship leaves at 3 pm today, so it’s “all aboard” at 2:30. We will be returning here next week so maybe we can find a coral reef the and do some better snorkeling.