OK… so about that trip to Turks and Caicos for our annual girl’s trip…
O.M.G!!! It was the best place we’ve been to… YET!
It was a very last minute trip that the girls and I planned literally within a month! We knew we needed a getaway —> so, we made it happen!
Since we didn’t have a whole lot of time to wait… with the last minute planning and all… we were so ecstatic the whole time to just get there already!
And when we did?? YEP, it was an unreal experience- so beautiful it seemed straight out of a movie!
So here’s how our trip went down…
THE VILLA:
I knew an Airbnb would be nice for all of us so that we could all stay together in one place and get to do whatever we wanted to do freely without worrying about being around a bunch of other people (like in a hotel).
I found a villa for the exact days we wanted to go so we immediately booked it and started planning on our trip from there. We stayed on Grace Bay Beach– a super popular tourist area- and we were never more than 15 minutes away from anything!
THE FOOD:
Our first meal there wasn’t all that great but it was highly recommend by people on the island and it was only walking distance away… so we went.
INSIDE TIP: We found out that first night that they charged for refills and so it’s best to just drink bottled water (and a cocktail, of course if you wanted).
The next couple of nights we actually found some other really great spots where we loved the food! Locals recommended these places… so of course, they were great… and I highly recommend them as well!
At Crackpot Kitchen, I tried the jerk chicken and it was AMAZING. Everyone loved the food there, too. Mango Reef… where we found a lot more Americanized food… was a big hit too! I had the shrimp pasta which didn’t disappoint. We also had lunch at another popular spot called Bugaloos, which someone recommended basically every day we were there, so we had to give it a try, right? It was near one of our activities so it just made sense to have our last meal there while out adventuring. I kept it simple with chicken tenders and their signature sauce… plus a strawberry and pina colada smoothie- so delicious!
Definitely check out those three places!
THE BEACH:
You should have heard all of the “ooo’s” and “ahhh’s” from everyone taking pics as we were landing in Turks and Caicos. Looking down at the island and the beautiful water from our plane windows was unreal… like I said, it seemed like something out of a movie!
The water was so blue it didn’t even seem real and every time we were out, it’s like you couldn’t help but to comment on how beautiful the water was. Not to mention, I didn’t want to get out of it all day long! Out of all the places I’ve been and all the beaches I’ve seen this was hands down…by far… the most beautiful beach EVER!
THE ACTIVITIES:
We did so many fun excursions while we were there to make the most of the time we had. One day, we did a two-hour jet ski tour to Pirates Cove. It was a really fun experience to do together, so I’m so glad that we did. I’ll admit the water was pretty choppy and it was a really far ride out there but seeing the gorgeous houses and villas along the way was pretty cool and so was climbing to the top of the cove to see everything below. Seeing how beautiful the water and the islands were made it all worth it!
The next day we did a morning boat ride with a company called Panoply. We cruised along to different islands, where we stopped at Iguana Island to walk around. The iguanas were all really friendly and don’t bother you at all.
Of course we stopped for some pics!
We also stopped by Prince’s House to take a photo by his purple driveway before and snorkeling for a bit to see some beautiful fish and coral! loved taking the tour through Panoply. They provided lunch, snacks, and plenty of drinks <<—- Basically everything we needed for a great day!
Finally, we went horseback riding on the beach to end our trip… and it was perfect!
TRANSPORTATION:
Before our trip, our host provided transportation for us with a taxi company that seemed to be trying to get one over on us. They were trying to charge us anywhere from $10-$15 per person… per each place we went! So if we tried to go to three places in a night they charged to go to every single place per person <— Which is clearly ridiculous.
After asking around to see if that was normal- it wasn’t- we searched for another taxi company. We found another company and the guy we found was just the sweetest ever! He charged us for a round trip that was like half the price of what we would have been paying with the other company, so we stuck with him the rest of the trip and that worked out great! Moral of the story: DON’T let someone scam you!
THE PEOPLE/ ATMOSPHERE:
I didn’t know what to except from the locals or really what to expect at all about Turks and Caicos, so I just went open-minded and excited!
And you know what?
The people there really made the trip even better!Everyone was so kind and chill! They truly wanted you to feel the same way while staying there.
It’s nothing like being in America where everyone has their phones out taking pictures and caring about social media all day, every day. It’s nothing like that there! There’s just so much more to life– and I can definitely see why so many celebrities go out there simply for that reason! They know they aren’t going to get hassled by anyone and can just relax.
They say everyone’s on “island time” <<— And they aren’t wrong!
MY TOTAL EXPERIENCE:
Overall, it was a great trip and I’m already thinking about going back next time with Mike because I know how much he would love it there. From the food (when you trust the locals to give you a heads up) to the crystal clear/ blue waters and the laid back vibes, everything about our trip to Turks and Caicos was absolutely magical!
