We have rented villas in St John for 8 of last 10 years but want to expand our Caribbean footprint. We have tried Aruba and Barbados but prefer a pretty island, less developed, we seek great beaches and snorkeling from the beach. Good food is important but we also like to cook in our villa. We try to avoid crowded beaches and "resorts". We will likely rent a car and will not object to driving for 10+/- minutes on decent roads to get to restaurants and food stores. We are in our 50s and we are not on a budget but seek value, a two bedroom unit for $4-5,000 for the week. Can you recommend areas of T&C that we should be looking at ? Avoiding? Reputable villa rental agents? Thanks

this house would be great for you: http://www.bellasurmer.com/
in a quiet neighborhood, pool, directly on grace bay beach, 10+ min walk to best off beach snorkeling on provo, walking in 15 min or drive in 3 mins to 5 restaurants, dive shop, marina, car rental (scooter bob's). 10-20 min drive to main resort/restaurant area of grace bay beach.
we stayed next door and had opportunity to go in - nice house great pool.
assume you are a group of 4, but if not or if you would consider having 2 places look at: http://www.tcvillas.com/ in particular coriander, ballyhoo, callaloo & nutmeg. all 1 br cottages with pool. in same area as bella sur mer but closer to snorkeling.
or across the street from bella (so not beachfront but only 3 min walk) rented from tcivillas is limbo cottage.
i have not rented any of these but stayed in another one of tci's houses - all owned by one man - very well built and maintained!
all above are near turtle cove marina.
further down the beach towards the resorts is: http://www.aquamarinebeachhouses.com/ a grouping of 3 villas with central pool. several fodorites have stayed there and liked it very much but it will not be as private as above villas.
i would not rent on chalk sound as you can not swim in the sound - it's brac water. does have some gorgeous houses.
ok houses on sopadilla beach but a lot of shallows. taylor bay beach is lovely & has several nice houses but the whole bay is only knee deep so awful if you want to swim.
both ^ are on south side of island so maybe 20 mins to "stuff".
long bay beach has some nice rentals, is very quiet, not sure about the beach for swimming, do know that some parts of this beach are filled with washed up conch shells making walking difficult. more on the west end of long bay as i recall.
this map might be useful: http://www.aquamarinebeachhouses.com/map.htm
lots of excellent restaurants. good full sized grocery.

Check out www.VRBO.com
In each case you rent directly from the owner. We have found fabulous places all over the world. In every situation we have had no problems in the rental process.

Grace Bay, Turks & Caicos is one of our favorite places. We tend to rent a condo instead of a house. The beach is never crowded and is stunning. There are so many great restaurants that you will have a good choice. They also have a huge grocery store with everything you could want to cook in.

We've been to all the islands you mentioned, but will return to Grace Bay for the 3rd year in March.

What time of year do you want to go? That makes a difference on prices.

www.CrystalSandsVilla.com is on Sapadilla Bay, awesome house, gorgeous area, a lot less than your price range.

www.PelicansNest.com is another favorite of mine. It's on an isolated stretch of Grace Bay, again gorgeous.

www.AquaMarineBeachHouses.com was already suggested. These houses have recently been updated, and Paula makes an excellent host. The second story of the yellow house, has a huge arched window with stunning views.

Actually, the new Fodors In Focus: Turks and Caicos, has reviews of some villas in different areas of the island. I wrote it! ;-)

If you don't mind off of the beach--Acacia villa is in Leeward, nice upscale house, but you save a little by not being directly on the beach.

The restaurants in Provo are outstanding! (better than St. John!) They all have gorgeous settings too-most next to the beach.

Be warned--T&C is not like St. John. It's flat, dry and scrubby, and quite frankly the island itself does not give a good first impression. Once you lay eyes on the beach though, all is forgotten, the beaches are the best in the world. (and long! miles and miles of them with the most beautiful turquoise it glows)

I love St. John, it has gorgeous scenery, but I also love T&C. (Anguilla and Out Islands in Bahamas also rank with me, so you understand my tastes.) T&C has excelletn spots for off-the-beach snorkeling, especially Aqua Marine Beach Houses. From the other villas you'd have to drive a car to the reefs. It's easy to get around though, flat straight roads, and nothing is more than 10-15 minutes from each other.

Thank you for your responses. We are intending to visit the third week in March. We have decided to stay on Grace Bay but are reluctant to stay in the middle of hotel strip. (The resorts seem to be clones of each other. Are there really differences?) We are considering West Bay Club because of location. Is it still quiet/isolated with addition of Wymara? One reviewer commented on lots of seaweed. comments? The villas we liked at TCvillas are not available for our stay. Are there any other condo recommendations for Grace Bay Beach?Tired of looking. Any advice for the weary vacation planner? Thanks again in advance.

The condos are all very different in style and price, not as many as you may think-think Caymans 20 years ago, ..we have stayed at many and LOVE The Somerset, easy to walk to restaurants and to snorkel
www.thesomerset.com