We just got back from TCI and I already miss the island. We stayed at Villa Paprika on Grace Bay and loved it. The beaches are beautiful and clean. I felt like Jacques Cousteau while I was snorkeling. Here is my pros and cons.

Pros: It is just soooooo beautiful. Every morning I looked at the ocean and was amazed by the colors. The people are kind of reserved at first but are super nice if you talk to them a bit. (ya mon) There were no panhandlers that we saw. I felt safe while we traveled around. Food was great, Coco Bistro beautiful and yum, Hemingway's great food and best waitress Carolyn, Tiki Hut's jerk chicken and mojitos were so good we went twice, Shark Bite's Simone really took care of us all three times we went and we saw a real shark go swimming by. Great grocery store and the castle liqueur store. Being introduced to conch, peas and rice, and jerk chicken...tasty! Chartering Silver Deeps 1/2 day boat with Capt Sean kept us laughing with his stories and First Mate Jose made great rum punch. They took us to some spectacular beaches. Conch Farm guy was nice and made conchs really interesting, it's worth going. TheJohn, Ira and the dudes at Sun & Fun seadoo tours made for a great day zipping to the other islands. Love the vibe at the turtle cove area and brown dog and white dog who came to visit each day and have a couple snacks.

Cons: It is a long trip from California and the six hr layover in Miami was tolerable mainly because we hung out with our pals at the admiral's club...money well spent. Driving on the other side of the road provided challenges and plenty of laughs! Finding some of the other beaches was tricky.

You can tell that the pros outweigh the cons by a mile. I loved TCI and can't wait to go back!