Trip report and pictures to you warm up
Jan 11th, 2011, 07:42 AM
#1
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Trip report and pictures to you warm up
Just spent 18 glorious days in Provo, and really didn't do much on this trip. No excursions, no island hopping, just boring and terrific!
Weather: crazy! always sunny, bright sun! no rain. Was windy much of the time, cool at nights. Water had a tiny chill-like the first time in a pool in June on the East Coast. Water was wavy most of the time, but the last 5 days were like post cards, clam, crystal clear, basically "I get it days." There was a J Crew photo shoot last Wednesday.
Food: tried many, my rundown:
Parallel23-- most improved. Excellent presentation, nice service, before I'd never been a fan, I am now. Had all kinds of foods, great company, all was great.
Bay Bistro--excellent! High on my list for repeat. Had fish and filet, very nice.
Coyaba--amazing meal, worth the price but can't keep eating there, be paying for it until next year! Had filet and fish dishes, followed by chocolate foundant--YUM
Vix-really nice. We didn't have reservations and were turned away 3 nights in a row, good for them! Had rib-eye and lamb and ribs, all good.
Mango Reef (now at Alexandra Resort)--sorry to say, not the best meal. We all had stomach issues (it was 11 of us!) tried it for lunch and again just okay. It does have a lovely atmosphere and watching NaDa play Tuesday nights are worth it!
new Caicos Cafe--again just alright. We tried a couple of nights without reservations and were turned away. Tried ravioli, fish, ribs. Service good, food good but not great.
Pelican Bay (at RWI) surprisingly great. Good value for money, waitress was a hoot! and terrific. Very pleasant evening.
new Cabana Bar at Ocean Club for lunch--just okay, good not great. Had steak and cheese and fish.
Somewhere On The Beach-terrific bargain. Had lunch twice--once was excellent, second time not as good, but not bad. Good value for the money. Had loaded nachos, chicken quesadillas, fish tacos.
Baci-picked up oven pizzas one night-excellent-best on the island.
Tiki Hut--the usual ribs. Service was terrific when their busy, just okay when it's slow. (seems backwards?)
Aqua II--good value, nice setting, terrific service. Food was good, not the best on island though.
restaurant at Veranda--for AI it's pretty good. It's extremely expensive though for outsiders. There are better restaurants on the island, but still nice. Service was the best! Really cool feature, the menu lights up! Terrific for my aging eyes, why did no one think of this before?
the Deck at Seven Stars--went a couple of times. Nice for appts, and especially to listen to NaDa on thur and Sat nights. Gorgeous on the beach deck with pit fires, couches, etc. The also had the lit up menu-I'm loving that! (Anacaona now also has them too.)
Angelas Top of Cove deli--the best steak and cheese ever. Even rock stars agree (I've ran into them there before)
Froots-new smoothie place. Nice sandwich wraps, excellent smoothies.
Hemingways--we feel at home here. Food was great. Lunch fish tacos the best.
http://s49.photobucket.com/albums/f2...view=slideshow
Happy to answer any questions! 8-)
Weather: crazy! always sunny, bright sun! no rain. Was windy much of the time, cool at nights. Water had a tiny chill-like the first time in a pool in June on the East Coast. Water was wavy most of the time, but the last 5 days were like post cards, clam, crystal clear, basically "I get it days." There was a J Crew photo shoot last Wednesday.
Food: tried many, my rundown:
Parallel23-- most improved. Excellent presentation, nice service, before I'd never been a fan, I am now. Had all kinds of foods, great company, all was great.
Bay Bistro--excellent! High on my list for repeat. Had fish and filet, very nice.
Coyaba--amazing meal, worth the price but can't keep eating there, be paying for it until next year! Had filet and fish dishes, followed by chocolate foundant--YUM
Vix-really nice. We didn't have reservations and were turned away 3 nights in a row, good for them! Had rib-eye and lamb and ribs, all good.
Mango Reef (now at Alexandra Resort)--sorry to say, not the best meal. We all had stomach issues (it was 11 of us!) tried it for lunch and again just okay. It does have a lovely atmosphere and watching NaDa play Tuesday nights are worth it!
new Caicos Cafe--again just alright. We tried a couple of nights without reservations and were turned away. Tried ravioli, fish, ribs. Service good, food good but not great.
Pelican Bay (at RWI) surprisingly great. Good value for money, waitress was a hoot! and terrific. Very pleasant evening.
new Cabana Bar at Ocean Club for lunch--just okay, good not great. Had steak and cheese and fish.
Somewhere On The Beach-terrific bargain. Had lunch twice--once was excellent, second time not as good, but not bad. Good value for the money. Had loaded nachos, chicken quesadillas, fish tacos.
Baci-picked up oven pizzas one night-excellent-best on the island.
Tiki Hut--the usual ribs. Service was terrific when their busy, just okay when it's slow. (seems backwards?)
Aqua II--good value, nice setting, terrific service. Food was good, not the best on island though.
restaurant at Veranda--for AI it's pretty good. It's extremely expensive though for outsiders. There are better restaurants on the island, but still nice. Service was the best! Really cool feature, the menu lights up! Terrific for my aging eyes, why did no one think of this before?
the Deck at Seven Stars--went a couple of times. Nice for appts, and especially to listen to NaDa on thur and Sat nights. Gorgeous on the beach deck with pit fires, couches, etc. The also had the lit up menu-I'm loving that! (Anacaona now also has them too.)
Angelas Top of Cove deli--the best steak and cheese ever. Even rock stars agree (I've ran into them there before)
Froots-new smoothie place. Nice sandwich wraps, excellent smoothies.
Hemingways--we feel at home here. Food was great. Lunch fish tacos the best.
http://s49.photobucket.com/albums/f2...view=slideshow
Happy to answer any questions! 8-)
Jan 11th, 2011, 09:42 AM
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blamona, I enjoyed your photos (holidays in Provo look fun and there appear to be more/different restaurants then my visit 2 years ago)thank you. I do have a question, you helped me out a couple of years ago with "where to stay" advice in Provo for a girls trip. We did stay on Grace Bay and loved it. I am now starting to plan a trip for myself, boyfriend, his son and my Nephew (17 and 11) all of us are Dive certified, this would be in July of this year. When I took my girls trip I did go diving but the boat trips were very long. I am considering a week on Grand Turk where we would have much faster dive access. My question for you is you mention Island Hoping which it sounds like you have done in the past...I think we have to fly to Grand Turk, is this true and do you have advice as to the best (aka cheapest) way to do this. Thank you again
Jan 11th, 2011, 02:39 PM
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Your pictures are great! My husband and I are leaving Feb 6th and we CAN'T WAIT!! This will be our 1st visit and I just hope we have beautiful weather just like you had. Where did you stay for the 18 days? Did you try different hotels?
Jan 11th, 2011, 03:43 PM
#6
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Mango Reef moved to Alexandra Resort! same menu, same chef. Maybe it was the new kitchen?
Pelican Bay is at RWI now.
Stayed at a villa, but I update Fodor's Caribbean T&C chapter and wrote Fodor's In Focus: Turks and Caicos, so I get to explore all of the hotels and restaurants. Lucky me!
Only way to Grand Turk is Air Turks and Caicos, $160 per person rt-flights all day.
Did you dive at West Caicos? It probably takes about 1/2 hour? Is diving your primary thing? Keep in mind hotels on Grand Turk are at a lower level than Provo--I've stayed at Osprey and enjoyed it. Overall Provo and GT have a completely different feel to each other.
Pelican Bay is at RWI now.
Stayed at a villa, but I update Fodor's Caribbean T&C chapter and wrote Fodor's In Focus: Turks and Caicos, so I get to explore all of the hotels and restaurants. Lucky me!
Only way to Grand Turk is Air Turks and Caicos, $160 per person rt-flights all day.
Did you dive at West Caicos? It probably takes about 1/2 hour? Is diving your primary thing? Keep in mind hotels on Grand Turk are at a lower level than Provo--I've stayed at Osprey and enjoyed it. Overall Provo and GT have a completely different feel to each other.
Jan 12th, 2011, 06:50 AM
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I did dive West Caicos (the diving was great) but it took 45 minutes to get to the site then another 30 minutes to the next and then about an hour to get back to the dock so it was a whole day on a boat (which was great for one day but when this group goes on vacation we try to dive every morning usually get done by lunch and do something else in the afternoon) I would look to rent on Grand Turk (did the same on Provo thanks to a great recommendation from Virginia). I gather that maybe there isn't enough "other" stuff for the kids to do with the day and that might be an issue? I appreciate the flight info. We are also looking at Bimini it looks like getting reasonable flights there from Florida is tuff.
Jan 12th, 2011, 12:13 PM
#9
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The dive sights on Grand Turk are pretty close, unless you go to Salt Cay, about 25 minutes away. You must do Salt Cay at least once, it's excellent-plus North Beach there is stunning!
I liked Osprey Resort. GT is very low key and quiet, but on cruise ship days your kids will love hanging out at the port. Margaritaville has a huge winding pool, and the shops are open when their's a ship.
GT actually has an excellent small museum (pirates, astronauts, Columbus landing-actually quite a colorful history.) There's a lighthouse, an old prison. Grace Bay on Provo is a better beach, but the water there is still a stunning turquoise blue. Day trip to Salt Cay at least 1 of the days, where the kids can ride around in golf carts looking for pirates graves while dodging the donkeys!
Is it quiet? yes. But if you're creative, you can find stuff to do.
I liked Osprey Resort. GT is very low key and quiet, but on cruise ship days your kids will love hanging out at the port. Margaritaville has a huge winding pool, and the shops are open when their's a ship.
GT actually has an excellent small museum (pirates, astronauts, Columbus landing-actually quite a colorful history.) There's a lighthouse, an old prison. Grace Bay on Provo is a better beach, but the water there is still a stunning turquoise blue. Day trip to Salt Cay at least 1 of the days, where the kids can ride around in golf carts looking for pirates graves while dodging the donkeys!
Is it quiet? yes. But if you're creative, you can find stuff to do.
Jan 12th, 2011, 01:38 PM
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was poking around recently and found this small grand turk resort which might be worth a look http://www.bohioresort.com/
Jan 12th, 2011, 01:47 PM
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Great report, blamona! I didn't realize we overlapped! I loved Grand Turk and the Osprey was quite nice, thx for all your help. Diving in GT was great and we were on the boat anywhere from 10-20 min for most sites -- did a very close dive at a site called Library for our night dive -- maybe 5 min from shore.
For extra activities -- charter fishing was great. There's only one place -- Screaming Reels Fishing Charters with Damian and I highly recommend him. His boats are in in great shape (prob the nicest and most comfortable I've ever fished from including SD, Islamorada, Jamaica, and Cabo) and we caught yellowfin tuna, blackfin, and wahoo for just a quick half-day. Super fun day activity for a family although not cheap... but if they're biting you can catch enough fish to feed you for days. We thought Manta House also looked nice for a big group and very affordable.
For extra activities -- charter fishing was great. There's only one place -- Screaming Reels Fishing Charters with Damian and I highly recommend him. His boats are in in great shape (prob the nicest and most comfortable I've ever fished from including SD, Islamorada, Jamaica, and Cabo) and we caught yellowfin tuna, blackfin, and wahoo for just a quick half-day. Super fun day activity for a family although not cheap... but if they're biting you can catch enough fish to feed you for days. We thought Manta House also looked nice for a big group and very affordable.
Jan 12th, 2011, 01:55 PM
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Bohio has a great restaurant that we really enjoyed but it's quite far from other things on GT so I'd think kids could get restless as it's hard to walk to things. Cab from Duke St (where the other 3 dive shops and most restaurants are) to Bohio was $10 each way before tip.
The new owners of Bohio were really friendly and gracious. From what I could tell on-line, their rooms aren't as nice-looking as Osprey although the resort itself (outdoor bar area, place where ppl hang out after dives, etc) is really nicely laid out and had a great vibe.
The new owners of Bohio were really friendly and gracious. From what I could tell on-line, their rooms aren't as nice-looking as Osprey although the resort itself (outdoor bar area, place where ppl hang out after dives, etc) is really nicely laid out and had a great vibe.
Jan 13th, 2011, 04:30 AM
#13
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Bohio Resort is decent, and they do have a dive center there.
I do think Osprey is the best place to stay on GT.
Fishee-I'd love to see a trip report from you, bonus with pictures! Hope you liked all of my recommendations!
Other than taxi, some go around in golf carts, or especially with bicycles there.
I do think Osprey is the best place to stay on GT.
Fishee-I'd love to see a trip report from you, bonus with pictures! Hope you liked all of my recommendations!
Other than taxi, some go around in golf carts, or especially with bicycles there.
Jan 16th, 2011, 03:47 PM
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Hi Blamona,
Great report; some of those beach photos almost seem an unbelievably gorgeous light blue (almost milky in appearance) colour... how amazing. I like your travelling style... no island hopping, just one island, stay put, enjoy and savour the island offerings.... allowing you to truly *relax* on a vacation.
Maybe I'll make it to Turks & Caicos one day...
Thanks again, Daniel
Great report; some of those beach photos almost seem an unbelievably gorgeous light blue (almost milky in appearance) colour... how amazing. I like your travelling style... no island hopping, just one island, stay put, enjoy and savour the island offerings.... allowing you to truly *relax* on a vacation.
Maybe I'll make it to Turks & Caicos one day...
Thanks again, Daniel
Jan 24th, 2011, 09:34 PM
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Considering Turks & Caicos for our wedding in March of next year. I have only been to St John & Barbados and was wanting to try somewhere else, though I did enjoy both places.
There will be a variety of ages and interests as far as family that will be joining us, including my 15, 19 and 20 year olds. I'm thinking that an all-inclusive would be the way to go, though I've never tried one. Do you have any place in mind that would have enough to offer (including snorkeling & other water activities along with music & dancing in the evenings) to keep all age groups happy and yet could offer some privacy as well. Of course a beautiful place on the beach is needed for the wedding. Am I looking for a place that exists and am I even looking at the right island? Is the water temperature at that time an issue? After reading some other posts, I see at some islands it can be. Any advice would be greatly appreciated!!
There will be a variety of ages and interests as far as family that will be joining us, including my 15, 19 and 20 year olds. I'm thinking that an all-inclusive would be the way to go, though I've never tried one. Do you have any place in mind that would have enough to offer (including snorkeling & other water activities along with music & dancing in the evenings) to keep all age groups happy and yet could offer some privacy as well. Of course a beautiful place on the beach is needed for the wedding. Am I looking for a place that exists and am I even looking at the right island? Is the water temperature at that time an issue? After reading some other posts, I see at some islands it can be. Any advice would be greatly appreciated!!
Jan 25th, 2011, 04:55 PM
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What beautiful pictures! We are still trying to decide where to stay--the Alexandra, Seven Stars or Royal West Indies? And do you need to rent a car or are shuttles available? It is our first time going to the Turks and Caicos--usually go to Mexico but are changing it up this year for our 20th anniversary.
Jan 26th, 2011, 02:51 AM
#20
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littlejean, T&C is not a typical AI type island, although there are 3: Club Med (basic and adult only, they only place with a party atmosphere) Beaches (ultra expensive really nice family oriented AI) and Veranda (elegant quiet AI with top self and no real activities)
My sister did get married in T&C and had 40 guests! Everyone absolutely loved it! We've also gone with other families members, and everyone loved it (age range of 12-17)
Overall T&C is a quiet destination, there's a little bit of live music, for example Somewhere On The Beach has live music Thursdays and Saturdays (reggie type band), Seven Stars (my favorite for live music but "loungey type") on Thur and Sat, and Calico Jack has music on Thur - Sat. Ganseevort (South Beach Miami type vibe) has DJs and sometimes parties on Fri and Sat nights, and 18 or older kids can always get a night pass to Club Med.
Depends on your budget too-but Grace Bay is 12 miles of scrumptious beach to get married, it has the most beautiful turquoise water you'll kay eyes on.
Contact Sail Provo, they can actually set up a wedding on a deserted cay, take everyone out on a sail catamaran, who great would that be?
catjo, Seven Stars is the nicest of your choices, with the best beds. While from Seven Stars you can walk to many places, I highly recommend a car-cheaper than taxi, to explore gorgeous sights such as Chalk Sound, and to get to all the terrific restaurants, and to go snorkeling at Coral Gardens (off-the-beach)
Wait until you see the water in T&C--blows Mexico away! Be warned though, T&C is not active or crowded like Mexico, it's pretty laid back and peaceful.
My sister did get married in T&C and had 40 guests! Everyone absolutely loved it! We've also gone with other families members, and everyone loved it (age range of 12-17)
Overall T&C is a quiet destination, there's a little bit of live music, for example Somewhere On The Beach has live music Thursdays and Saturdays (reggie type band), Seven Stars (my favorite for live music but "loungey type") on Thur and Sat, and Calico Jack has music on Thur - Sat. Ganseevort (South Beach Miami type vibe) has DJs and sometimes parties on Fri and Sat nights, and 18 or older kids can always get a night pass to Club Med.
Depends on your budget too-but Grace Bay is 12 miles of scrumptious beach to get married, it has the most beautiful turquoise water you'll kay eyes on.
Contact Sail Provo, they can actually set up a wedding on a deserted cay, take everyone out on a sail catamaran, who great would that be?
catjo, Seven Stars is the nicest of your choices, with the best beds. While from Seven Stars you can walk to many places, I highly recommend a car-cheaper than taxi, to explore gorgeous sights such as Chalk Sound, and to get to all the terrific restaurants, and to go snorkeling at Coral Gardens (off-the-beach)
Wait until you see the water in T&C--blows Mexico away! Be warned though, T&C is not active or crowded like Mexico, it's pretty laid back and peaceful.
