Beaches Turks & Caicos December
 

I heard mixed reviews about the Beaches Resort at Turks & Caicos. Many reviewers suggest it is a highly overrated trap that presents itself as a 5-star luxury relaxing resort when in fact it is at best a 3-star over-crowded, noisy pit. Others suggest it is quite good. Can anyone that has been there shed some light on these sharp differences in interpretation and also suggest whether it is likely to be even worse if one were to go for the X-mas to New Year holiday period.
Thanks,
CaribBoy

We were there about 2 years ago in October. As ti was off season, it was definitely not at full capacity; it was by no means crowded. It is primarily a family resort, with little or no night life for adults. The restaurants were pretty good - we did the sit down restaurants only; the French one is adults only and is excellent. It sits on a good strip of beach, not rocky, very calm. The grounds are very well landscaped. Overall it was a great trip, and worth the price. (of course, it was cheaper in the off season) If you like all inclusives, you'll be fine-

Sabine

Take a look at Coral Gardens - we had a huge condo suite with gorgeous ocean view. It also has a top restaurant right on the property and a scuba shop too (with the best snorkeling reef right out front).

Perfect for a couple or families too.

We were there several years after New Years for some R&R. I think Sabine1215 accurately describes the place quite well. I can only add that the island is very quiet. A beaufiful beach, very little shopping, and Beaches itself provides no nightlife. The food I thought was decent. A great place to relax if that is what you are looking to do. If you scuba dive the price includes unlimited dives. At least it did for us.

Hi CaribBoy - We stayed there in late June and had a nice vacation but wouldn't stay at Beaches again as we realized a resort like that just isn't for us. June is a busy time and it was loud and crowded. The food was good, our room was standard but clean, the grounds are nicely kept, the staff was great and the beach was disappointing. It's much more narrow in front of Beaches than other areas of Grace Bay, crowded and somewhat littered with debris from other travelers (again, compared to other areas of Grace Bay). We love Provo and will return but will look in to Coral Gardens, Ocean Club or the Sands for our next stay. I'm one to research a vacation spot half to death before we travel anywhere. Beaches T&C is the only time I've been wrong in a choice for us but that's not to say it isn't the right choice for some. If you have specific questions I'll be happy to try and help.

diann, how was the weather and water temperature in December? We won the one bedroom penthouse at Coral Gardens on Luxury Link and are planning on using is November 5-10. I was a little concerned that the water would be cooling off and the air too.

ScubaMom, any tips about Coral Gardens you can share?

Seems like the biggest problem is finding airfare there with most of the airlines except Delta flying there only wierd days. Of course the price is expensive since it's not like flying to San Juan where there's lots of competition.

Karen--We have stayed at Coral Gardens the last 11 trips to Provo. You'll really love it--the penthouse suites are awesome and the LL package a steal.
IN our opinion Coyaba at CG is the best restaurant on the island. Believe your package included one dinner. It is expensive but there are lots of relatively inexpensive good restaurants to eat on Provo. My sources tell me the reef off the beach didn't sustain much damage from Hurricane Frances. The beach bar/restaurant has really nice breakfasts. You'll need a car to explore go to the store, out to dinner etc. Cabs are expensive. CG has rentals and there is also Hertz. Avis and Budget on the island. Weather in Nov is pretty much like Florida--mid to high 80's during the day, mid 70's at night. Water warm enough for swimming. CG also has two small pools. A good source of info on Provo is www.wherewhenhow.com the online magazine of the Turks and Caicos. You might consider a 1/2 day snorekl trip with J$B tours or an all day sail/snorkle trip with Sail Provo.

Karen--Forgot to address the airline question.

Not sure I am Up to Date but American has at least two flights a day Via Miami. They have a non stop from JFK
Thursday thru Sunday. Direct from Boston on Sat. US Airways has a daily flight from Charlotte and a Saturday flight from Philly. Last I knew Delta only flew from Atlanta on Saturday

If you like wall-to-wall people on their small and dirty beach then this is the place for you. We've been to Provo twice. Our 1st trip included a stay at OCW and last year we stayed at The Sands. During both stays we walked to the outstanding reef at Coral Gardens and had to go thru the crowds at Beaches.
It sure is not for us but they do get the crowds - mass marketing and all inclusive feature sells.
This past year we had to actually walk thru their grounds - nothing impressive.
Buildings resemble college dorms - landscaping here compared to most of the other properties on Grace Bay Beach is just average.

Hi TG - which resort did you like better - OCW or the Sands? And can you tell me where in relation to Beaches and the old Allegro these resorts are? We stayed at the Allegro two years ago and loved that section of beach but can't remember what resorts were on the sides. Thanks!

Royal West Indies Resort should be a property that you look into. We stayed there last April (2 families) and couldn't find one thing to complain about. Check out their web site.

OCW was the next building east of the Allegro, but now a new structure has been built in between.

The Sands is a mile or so west of the old Allegro site.

Lots of construction going on near OCW; not sure about Sands.

OCW and The Sands are both very nice. We preferred The Sands however. The employees were much nicer. The restaurant at The Sands was better and we liked their beach location better.
The Sands is near Sibonne and much closer to the reef at Coral Gardens.
OCW is right next to the recently demolished Allegro.

HowardC,

Thanks for your input on Coral Gardens and the airlines. I'm still struggling with the airline issue. U.S. Airways doesn't fly from PHL on the 5th, would have to overnight in Charlotte and the best price I could get was $492 per person. A couple days ago I found $488 on Delta but now that fare is gone. I'll have to try booking during the middle of the night, sometimes I find better rates that way, usually during week days.

Karen, I would suggest booking your flight home during the week. Provo's airport is small and the weekend out bound flights can get backed up at the luggage security check point.
I ditto considering Coral Gardens, it is clean, friendly, lovely suite lay out, balcony and right in front of the coral reef for snorkling.
I think that Beaches would crowded that week you are considering, many families. There are many great restruants on Provo, not to be missed!
The bluest water and whitest sand.
Have fun!

Karen we were the shortly after N.Y. 05 Jan. 12 Jan. The weather was very nice, I would say high 70's to mid 80's. It does cool off in the p.m. with a nice breeze. A very lightweight sweatshirt worked for me. The water, was not as warm as I would like it, then I do like it very warm. I did go snorkeling once, and it was fine. I also had an allergy problem there a runny nose. Bring something to if you should need it for medicines are very expensive.

We are going November 5-10, so hopefully the water will still be warm. I hope so because I like the water warm too. As far as the airlines, we leave on a Friday and return on a Wednesday. We wanted to be there on the 9th because it's our anniversary. When we were married on Maui we had to leave on the day we were married, so it would be nice to be in Provo on that day instead of sitting on an airline again like our wedding day. The Luxury Link offer was for 5 nights, so this is what we have to do.

HowardC, when's your next trip? I hope someday we can met up with you and buy you a drink to thank you for all the great information you have shared on this forum. I'm sure you have saved many people lots of money, time and aggravation. We still need to go to Frangipani to sample that resort you recommend so highly.

Stayed at Beaches Turks & Caicos with my husband and kids who were 10 and 12 Christmas 2 yrs ago. The rooms, beach and water were very nice but the food and drinks were mediocre. The only entertainment was the guests performing. It was difficult to get a chaise at the pools and beach but all in all it was still very nice. My husband said that the diving was first rate. The one thing that I noticed was many family who had

oops! I hit send by accident. What I noticed was that many families had traveled together leaving us feeling like outsiders. When I speak of families I am referring to several groups of 20-30 people. We never had the feeling that it was too crowded or too noisy.

$492 to the Caribbean is a steal.