I am planning a girls trip to Turks and Caicos. We are looking for a nice hotel (but not too over the top, even though I'd love to stay at the new Amanyara, but that is WAY over the price range!) for a trip next June (planning ahead). We'd like to stay somewhere on Grace Bay in Provenciales. Has anyone been there and have hotel recommendations? Right now we are considering Coral Gardens, Ocean Club, RWI, The Sands, and The Palms. I have read through lots of posts here and just can't decide!

We were leaning towards Coral Gardens because of the snorkeling, and that they have a spa there. But from the map, it's pretty far from the other resorts and doesn't seem to be walking distance to any restaurants. So we're trying to decide whether to stay somewhere more central, or near snorkeling (I prefer the snorkeling myself!). How was the beach in front of Coral Gardens? Is it as nice as the other resorts? And does it get crowded from people coming to snorkel there? Thanks very much!

The other choices in walking distance to the coral garden reef are the Alexandra and the Sands, they are centrally located and you can walk to a few good restuarants, and both have great restuarants and at both resorts you can use the spa at the Palms Resort which I hear is wonderful and right next to both resorts

We have stayed at Ocean Club West and The Sands. We much preferred our stay at The Sands although you cannot go wrong at either property.

The beach at The Sands is simply awesome as it is for most of Grace Bay. Coral Garderns reef is great, close to shore and well marked. Lots of fish and easy for novice swimmers. Coral Gardens is close to Beaches which means lots of people flock there during the course of the day to snorkel.

If I were you I'd go with The Sands and enjoy the 30 minute walk to Coral Gardens (make sure to bring and drink plenty of water).

Good luck and I am sure you will love Grace Bay.

lauren27,

We stayed at Coral Gardens last August, I love to snorkel and wouldn't stay anywhere else if I visit T&C again. The closest resort is Beaches which is a 10/5 minute walk.

The beach is almost deserted either side of CG's so there is plenty of space to escape the snorkelers who have to walk in the heat to enjoy what you have on your doorstep They are not supposed to use the loungers on the beach.

Coral Gardens has Coyaba Restaurant which as you probably know is well recommended and the resort next door - can't remember the name? - has a restaurant called Simba which is also recommended on this forum.

Grace Bay is a wonderful beach where ever you stay - except Beaches, a very thin beach with lost of loungers and public access.

We looked at Sands but decide to stay at CG because of the snorkeling, also we needed internet accesss - I did a trip report if you want to search for it. Sands looked nice but larger than we wanted and we ate at Hemingways for lunch and had a very tasy lunch.

Are you going to hire a car?

We went to RWI. Loved it.

HUUUUUGE room. Actually it was too big. Full kitchen, living room, terrace. Awesome.

Gorgeous lush gardens, present staff. Great pool. Quiet as all get out. Can walk to the stylin Anacaona restaurant on the beach.

We bought groceries (van takes you there) to offset costs for breakfast, etc. Never ate there except breakfast and lunch. Took cabs (reasonable enough) to dinner. One restaurant nearby was walkable and it was nice.

Highly recommended.

dc

How was the snorkling near RWI? After 4 nights on North Caicos, we're going to spend only a couple days on Provo and of course want to be on Grace Bay. We selected RWI, after considering all the others mentioned above, but I still want to be able to do some snorkling - i don't mind a pretty long swim or walk.

Hi
You will get a pretty long walk or swim if you want to do some snorkeling from RWI. The Coral Gardens is the resort you want to stay at if you would like to do alot of snorkeling. Coral Gardens and RWI are at opposite ends of Grace Bay

Hi Lauren,
We stayed at CG and loved it!!!
I felt very comfortable and safe snorkeling alone early in the morning to see the shy fish and eels. We did not really notice a crowd, when there was people around, good time to walk or sit on oceanfront balcony.
Great sunsets too. ib.

Thanks so much everyone. I think I'm going to push for Coral Gardens. Hopefully my friends will agree!

We are going to stay at OCW. I already made reservations for October as I used airline miles. How far is it from OCW to Croal Gardens? Can we take a taxi for one day reasonably? Looked at Google Earth for great satellite photos of area and can pick out OCW but not sure which resort is Coral Gardens.

google.earth.com

We just returned yesterday from Provo. We rented a private villa this time. Would highly recommend it as well, let me know if you want more details. I spent a lot of time doing research before we left and once we were there I visited several resorts. I think that the Palms or Grace Bay Club would be most comparable to Amanyara. It seemed to me that the Palms was a bit of a younger crowd and Grace Bay was a bit older, honeymooner crowd. Have you considered Parrot Cay? Hands down our favorite place to relax. The spa is outstanding. Very private, very quiet, no nightlife. The Palms has two great restaurants, one more upscale called Parallel 23 and one by the pool called Plunge. Both were delicious. Nothing on the island is inexpensive. One place to keep in mind for less expensive, delicious food is the Barefoot Cafe. I highly recommend Tropical Auto rental which was hundreds less for our 7 day rental than the more familiar car rental companies, and it was flawless. Have a lot more to tell, please let me know if you have any questions.

Did you book through Tropical Auto before you arrived in T&C?? Or when you got there? We still need to book our car for our May trip.

Also, what type of car did you get and what was the total price for the week?

we booked before, we got a 12 passenger Kia Pregio (we needed the room) for about $700 for the week. If your group is smaller you can spend a lot less. The car was clean and had a/c and ran perfectly. The service was excellent.

Great. thanks for the info!

By the way... are they in the airport or offiste?

Hi cpb2004, Can you please post a link to the villa you rented? Thanks!

hi, they are offsite but met us at the airport and we returned to the airport for no additional charge (or hassle). I agree with Inspiration's opinion about the nicest resorts, but I prefer more intimate resorts so I would list Parrot Cay first. Hands down for us, our favorite. The link to the house is http://www.fivelittlecayshouse.com/. I don't think the pictures do it justice there, but if you want to look at the villa through Carribeanway.com (our rental agency)you might get a better feel. We were very happy with the villa, the owner (who we met) and our service with Carribeanway. Let me know if you have other questions.

so sorry got the link wrong it is: http://caribbeanway.com/

Glad I read through this post. We just reserved with Tropical Rental, we were a little hesitant since it was not a well known name. Actually they were the only car rental agency who emailed us back quickly and answered all our questions before asking for the credit card. And they were a bit cheaper then the others for a 4x4. Thanks for the added info in your reply!!