I had the opportunity to visit so many beautiful beaches on Providenciales, Turks and Caicos this winter. Of all the beaches I went to, these were my top 7 favourites. There are SO many more to explore, I cannot wait to go back! Did you know that all of the beaches on Turks and Caicos are FREE for the public to access?
I’ll do my best to justify my choices. The turquoise water, the white sand, the views, they were all so breathtaking at every beach. This wasn't easy!
Disclaimer: the photos do NOT do these beaches justice. IRL, they would literally take your breath away. Jus' sayin'. Also, you can click the name of each beach to see it on Google Maps.
Pelican Beach is a very small beach located in Leeward Estates. The beach is on the “Grace Bay” side of the island. When I visited this beach, I found it was popular with families renting villas in the area.
The water at Pelican Beach gets deep quick, similar to “Tracadie” aka “Pogie” Beach on Prince Edward Island. Except the water is an incredible shade of blue, it's warm, and crystal clear. The waves can get pretty big though, and when it’s high tide... well there's not much beach. You might want to check the tide before you go!
6. Long Bay
I spent most of my time at Long Bay beach. It’s truly beautiful. The sand here is white, but it is a little more rocky, shell-y, and root-y, than some of the other beaches I’ll be talking about. The water though? Oh, it’s shallow and flat, warm and clear. Perfect. Absolutely perfect. Absolutely perfect for kiteboarding. A kiteboarder's dream destination.
If you’re into kiteboarding, you will LOVE this beach. There are a number of kite schools on the beach and some allow you to rent gear too. If you’re not a kiteboarder, you may find that this beach can be… busy at times. Like if it’s windy, for example. Because, kiters. Kiteboarding. Kite gear. Kite lessons. You get the idea.
You know what though? Kiteboarders bring an awesome vibe to the beach, so if you're looking to meet new people, have a little fun, and take in some of those vibes - Long Bay beach is where it's at.
5. Grace Bay
I spent a lot of time at Grace Bay beach as well. When I say this, I’m specifically talking about the area around the resorts; Seven Stars, Ritz Carleton, Villa Renaissance, etc. The beaches are bigger here, the sand is softer and finer than both Long Bay and Pelican Beach with hardly any rocks or shells.
The water at Grace Bay beach is still that lovely turquoise colour too, warm and clear. It’s on the same side as Pelican Cove and gets deep quick. It can also be quite wavy (see my next beach review for awesome story of my ego getting bruised).
This area of beach will be quiet or busy depending on the season or if there is a holiday.
4. Leeward Beach aka "Sunset Beach"
(there is actually another beach called Sunset Beach. The one I'm talking about is actually called Leeward Beach, but it's nicknamed Sunset Beach, confusing right?)
Leeward Beach is another popular beach on the Grace Bay side of Providenciales, located in Leeward Estates (just up from the Pelican Beach beach I mentioned above).
When you arrive at the beach, you will notice a long, rocky “road” that extends from the beach into the water. If you go to the left of the rocky road, that is where most people go to enjoy their beach days. It’s less rocky than the right side.
Since Grace Bay Beach, Leeward Beach, and Pelican Beach are all just one long beach broken up into sections, they are all very similar in their scenery, the sand, and water.
This was my favourite beach to catch sunsets though. If you're a sunset seeker, you will have to go here at least once as the sun goes down.
Anyway, this is also the beach where my ego got bruised, and then knocked TFO. Pleeeease, let me tell you about it. Picture this:
Little old me, just minding my business was coming in from a doggy paddle in the ocean. Out of nowhere, a rogue wave crashes into me from behind, knocking me over. My drawers are filled with sand and half off, bathing suit top is mangled. Hair? Everywhere. Boogers running down my face because so much salt water went up my nose. And then what happens?
Another wave comes before I can collect myself. Bye-bye bathing suit bottoms. See ya never bathing suit top. I tumbled. I tumbled like a tumbleweed that was never going to tumble again.
After I finally made it out of the water… I went home.
3. Split Rock
Before I get going here, it wasn’t actually “Split Rock” that we went to. We turned right and took the path less travelled before the end of the road. And WOWEE folks, what a journey. I literally felt like we passed through time and across continents on our way there. From luscious green vegetation, to walls of white limestone, salt plains, marshes filled with flamingos, and dusty, desert-like conditions, followed by… paradise. I was tagging along on this outing as a photographer/videographer/sun worshipper, while the rest of the crew went kiteboarding.
I will say this - we didn’t know it at the time, but apparently there had been previous incidents of robberies at gun point up in this area. I would suspect probably because of its very, very, remote location. Needless to say, we never went back.
But… wow, it felt like we were the only people in the whole world while we were there. Would I recommend going here? Tough call, because danger. But also, incredible, breathtaking beauty. Honestly though, I probably wouldn't just because of the rumours. I really love living and would rather not take any chances seeing a real live gun in front of my peepers.
2. Taylor Bay
Another breathtaking beach. Shallow, flat water. Soft, sandy beach with the whitest sand. The day we were here, it was cloudy, so I feel like the photos just don’t do this place justice EVEN MORE than usual. It was a bit busier than I expected, but it is in a residential area, and the bay is surrounded by villas. There were a lot of families and couples on the beach while we were there, but it was still quiet.
1. Hidden Beach
I simply cannot do this beach justice, with words or with photos. It’s perfect. It’s not really a hidden beach, but that’s what it is called. It’s just down the road past “Bob’s”. You know, the one with poutine? It's actually called Bob's Bar & Restaurant and is located on the South Side Marina.
When we were there, we had the place to ourselves. The water was shallow - even more shallow than Long Bay - and it was so incredibly clear. So warm. And such a beautiful colour. The sand was like walking in flour. You know, baking flour. The kind you would make bread or cookies with. So soft. There were no waves. It was so quiet. I think it’s the most beautiful beach I’ve ever been to. It did remind me of Taylor Bay, but it was less busy.
Annnnd, that's a wrap!
What beach would you want to go to first?
Let me know in the comments below!
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Next review: The food in Turks - restaurant reviews. Stay tuned!