Living the Grand Life in Turks & Caicos

DRESS: c/o Buddy Love // WEDGES: Andre Assous  //  BAG: Topshop  //  HAT: Sincerely Jules x Billabong  //  HEART SUNGLASSES: BP. //  EARRINGS: c/o J. Bubs

If you’ve been following along here on the blog lately, I’ve been diving into the 7-day Eastern Caribbean cruise Cole and I took this March with Princess Cruises, taking you through our adventures, port-by-port, day-by-day. We started our journey on the OceanClass-enabled Caribbean Princess ship in Fort Lauderdale and then set sail for our first stop at Princess Cays in the Bahamas. Our next port day was in the beautiful city of San Juan, Puerto Rico, followed by a day of adventure in the Dominican Republic. The final stop on our Caribbean getaway was the perfect way to end our tropical vacay, along the gorgeous white sand beaches and turquoise waters of Grand Turk, the capital of Turks and Caicos islands. Princess knows a thing or two about cruise port planning, because after two days of exciting tours and adventures, a day relaxing at what was easily the most beautiful beach we’d ever seen, was exactly what we needed. Click through to read my Grand Turk cruise port guide and find out what Cole and I did at our last port stop on our Caribbean adventure with Princess.

PS – click here to book your Caribbean cruise now with some of the incredible deals Princess is offering!

BIKINI TOP: c/o Albion Fit  //  BIKINI BOTTOM: c/o Albion Fit  //  EARRINGS: BaubleBar  //  BAG: Red Dress Boutique

Grand Turk – Overview

I’ve always heard about how beautiful the beaches are in Turks and Caicos, and let me tell you, they did more than live up to expectations. Our day in Grand Turk was the third port day in a row, coming right after San Juan and Amber Cove (we had a day at sea in between our first and second stops). After, lots of walking in San Juan and sliding/jumping down waterfalls in the Dominican, Cole and I were just a liiittle tired, but we were SO excited for the snuba excursion we had planned in Grand Turk. Unfortunately, the visibility wasn’t great on the day we were in-port, so it ended up getting cancelled, which I was super bummed about at first, but we actually ended up agreeing that having a lazy beach day was exactly what we both needed after two action-packed days of travel. Whether your family has the energy to do an excursion like the Grand Turk snuba adventure or swimming with stingrays at Gibb’s Cay, or simply wants a relaxing day at the beach, whatever you plan to do at Turks and Caicos, definitely plan to be in the water!! I’ve never seen water so clear or blue before…you could easily see your toes, no matter how far out you walked. What’s also great about Grand Turk is that there are lots of bars, shops and restaurants conveniently located right by the beach.

Getting There + What To Bring

At Grand Turk, your cruise ship will dock just off the island, and the walk down the pier is pretty short…no longer than 5-8 minutes. The cruise port area is super clean, with plenty of shops and restaurants for you to explore. The beaches are all open to cruisers and are located right off the dock, with deck chairs, umbrellas and covered loungers free for use. It would be a short walk to get back on the ship and change or enjoy lunch if your prefer, but if you like to enjoy your full day in-port (which we always do!), I would recommend wearing a swimsuit beneath your clothes and taking a spare set of clothes if you have an excursion planned in-town or don’t plan to spend your full day in the water. Per usual, I brought along more than one extra outfit to change into for photos, and I can assure you that the bathrooms are clean if you need to change in them too! Our OceanMedallions weren’t ready to use as forms of payments yet at this cruise port while we were there, so also be sure to bring cash and/or a credit card, especially if you plan on leaving the main port area to go in-town or grab lunch at a local spot like we chose to do.

PALM PRINT SWIMSUIT: c/o Buddy Love

What To Do – Beach Day

Like I said, Grand Turk is the perfect spot to have a relaxing day beachside, or just chillin’ in the water, which is exactly what we decided to do once we learned our excursion had been cancelled. Me and Cole weren’t the only ones form our group that had this idea in mind…we had SO much fun hanging out with our friend Courtney from Sweet C’s Designs and her bestie Kim for hours in the water. As much as I love the ocean…I’m not really keen on sitting in the water when I can’t 100% clearly see everything around me, but at Grand Turk, this wasn’t an issue at all! We saw lots of people using snorkel equipment right were we were floating (I believe they have it available to rent in port or you can buy it at one of the shops!)

Helpful Hint – we were floating in the water/beach that’s immediately to the right when you walk off the peer, and I will say it’s a bit rocky, so you do have to walk carefully. It looked like there were a lot more people of the other side, so I’m assuming it’s less rocky, but we liked feeling like we had the whole beach to ourselves!

What To Do – Snuba

Okay so obviously I don’t have any photos or the actual experience of snuba-ing in Grand Turk since it ended up being cancelled, but I had to recommend it as something to do in Turks and Caicos because of all the incredible things I heard about it. Cole and I have never snuba-ed before, but basically it’s a hybrid of snorkeling and scuba diving, where you are hooked up to an oxygen tank and connected to a boat, but you don’t have to worry about operating it yourself (hope that makes sense, haha!) And, you don’t have to be scuba-certified, which is amazing!! I was SUPER excited for this because I’ve always wanted to scuba dive, but never wanted to go through the intense courses that are required. I did lots of research before we left for our Eastern Caribbean cruise and had read that the snuba experience at Grand Turks is incredible because they take you to a nearby coral reef where it’s common to see sea turtles (my dream!!) and lots more beautiful, colorful aquatic life. Furthermore, it had incredible ratings via trip advisor, which you can read here, so I can confidently say that if this is something that interests you, Grand Turk is a great place to do it!! Just note that it does get cancelled often because visibility has to be good.

What To Do – Have a Cold One

One thing we all agreed upon – the drinks were very good in Grand Turks. Right on the beach where we parked our things and hopped in the water (immediately to the right of the dock when you get off the ship), there’s a little tiki-style bar. I tried a local craft beer and we all enjoyed a couple of margaritas and were so impressed with how delicious they were! What’s even better?! There are servers along the beach to take your drink order and they’ll bring them right to you! It was SO nice to enjoy a few cold ones while relaxing in the beautiful water!!

What To Eat – Jack’s Shack

If you want to venture out from the restaurants and food options located at the port for some local flavor, definitely put Jack’s Shack on your list! It was just a short taxi ride (5 minutes!) to get there, but you could easily walk down the beach to get there if you have the time to walk (you would go left when you get off the dock from the boat). After a few hours drinking in the sun, we were starving, so we wanted to get there as quickly as possible. Two of the gals in our group, Rebecca from Sugar & Soul Co., and Rachel from Eazy Peazy Meals, had read really great review on the restaurant, and I’m SO glad they suggested it.  We ordered the fried conch ad the jerk chicken combo + fried shrimp and it was SOOO good!! Not only was the food delicious, but the vibe was so fun too! They had Caribbean music playing, lots of fun drinks to choose from and a myriad of rainbow umbrellas and loungers sprinkle don the beach! The view from this part of the beach was gorgeous too!

And that does it! To see all of my posts from this Eastern Caribbean cruise and more, click here! Stay tuned for more on the incredible experience Cole and I had on the new MedallionClass-enabled Caribbean Princess ship here on the blog!

 

Fair-well xx,

**Thanks so much to Princess Cruises for sponsoring this post. All opinions are my own.