When we had originally set our eyes on Turks and Caicos, it was around Thanksgiving 2021 with an anticipated travel date of late January 2022. We wanted a nice, care-free, hassle-free vacation where we could just relax at a resort that catered to young children. With that criteria identified, we found Beaches Turks and Caicos, as well as travel consultant, Chris Grum with Premier Custom Travel. Chris was fantastic and helped us work through issue after issue with the trip that had been a direct result of our personal life.
Without getting into too much detail, Austen got COVID immediately after Christmas 2021 and then a few weeks later (after only about a 3-day reprieve from the cough), got extremely sick with 8 weeks straight of fevers, a misdiagnosis, and then ultimately, a 2-week hospital stay. While all of this was occurring, the trip was obviously put on the back-burner and when it was all said and done, rescheduled 4 times. The fourth and final time resulted in our family visiting the island in December 2022 which, given the year we had, ended up being the perfect time for us.
Turks and Caicos was fairly easy to fly to with a layover in Ft. Lauderdale and then a short, 1-hour flight to the island. From there, we were picked up by the resort shuttle and after a quick, 15-to-20 minute drive, we were at reception being given the resort overview and being treated to a complimentary drink. Since the resort was all-inclusive, we did not leave except to go on one excursion. Therefore, we’re breaking this post out into different sections of things we experienced at the resort.
Activities
Grace Bay
The water of Grace Bay, which is steps away from the resort, is the picturesque turquoise you see on television. Although the water was a little chilly during December, it was refreshing and you could walk out pretty far. We were actually pretty surprised with how much seaweed lined the beach but the resort staff was doing a wonderful job shoveling it every day and in the area we took pictures.
Camp Sesame was by far the highlight of our trip. Camp Sesame is a kids’ camp that is included in the all-inclusive resort fees. On the third day of our trip, we dropped our girls off at camp and they participated in a wide array of activities including chilling out at the kids’ pool, arts and crafts, and interacting with a sesame street character. One day, The Count even came by, gave them the number of the day (10), and read them a story. Both days our girls participated in camp, they were smiling ear-to-ear when we picked them up. Mom and dad also got some time to relax for once. Highly, highly recommend!
Sesame Street Stage Shows and Character Parades
Every night, the resort offers Sesame Street stage shows. During our stay, they even had a Christmas-themed show the girls were ecstatic about. During our last night, they also had a character parade with traditional costumes and music. These shows and the parade were also some of the highlights and unforgetable moments during our stay.
Catamaran – Island Routes Adventure Tours
The last full day we were in Turks and Caicos, we decided to try out a catamaran excursion. We were extremely fortunate because we had heard the majority of excursions throughout our stay had been canceled due to the wind. We were one of the only excursions that were cleared.
Our catamaran took us out to Princess Alexandria Marine Park where Austen and I took turns snorkeling while the other drank tropical drinks with the girls on the boat. The marine park was incredible. There were a large number of tropical fish and you could swim somewhat close to the reef.
After we finished up at the marine park, we went to Iguana Island where we, believe it or not, saw a lot of iguanas. We docked and all got off the catamaran, waded through shallow water to the beach, and then walked across an old wooden pathway that wound its way through part of the island.
Pools
Unfortunately when we were at this resort, all of the pools were extremely cold. There weren’t many people jumping in and braving the cold water but we’re a crazy bunch. What’s an all-inclusive beach resort without taking advantage of swim-up bars and ending the day with your whole body looking like a raisin because you were in the water too long? It would be just any other hotel. We weren’t going to let a little cold water take away our fun. However, we do wish the resort heated the pools better or at a minimum, were informed of the water temperature of the pools beforehand.
This pool was a family favorite. Although you could get into the pool from different stairs, there was also an area you could gradually walk into the pool from. Our girls had the time of their lives swimming and playing games in this area. This pool was also used frequently for resort activities like dance competitions and swimming races.
Cascades in the Caribbean Village
This pool was one of the more-frequented pools during our stay since we were staying in the Caribbean Village. Although the majority of the time was spent in the overly crowded hot tub, we still made the occasional dip in the pool to go up to the bar to get rum punches and virgin piña coladas.
Since it catered mostly to adults, we didn’t spend much time at the French Village pool. However, the architecture around the pool was beautiful, and both the pool and the hot tub were massive. Austen and I spent the majority of our time there sitting on the bar stools at the swim-up bar and taking turns swimming while we waited for drinks. Yes, I know, we’re those weirdos.
Unfortunately, we didn’t go to the water park until our very last day and it was probably the girls’ favorite spot. From water fountains to slides to a giant bucket that dumped water, there wasn’t a moment both of them weren’t running, jumping, and laughing. We waited until the last day because we were pretty intimidated by the big slides at the front of the park but don’t make our mistake! If we return in the future, this will likely be one of the places we make camp at for the majority of the vacation.
Restaurants
Since the Turks and Caicos Beaches hotel has a partnership with Sesame Street, we signed up for a character breakfast. The character breakfast was located at La Petit Chateau. The breakfast included your standard breakfast foods like eggs, pancakes, sausage, and pastries. Who’s at a character breakfast for the food though? Zoe was the character featured at the breakfast before all the other characters made their debut. Our girls loved interacting with each of them as they came by our table. They also loved joining in on the big dance party at the conclusion of our breakfast. If have the opportunity to stay at this resort, the character breakfast is a must.
This restaurant is located in the same building as reception for the Caribbean Village. We stopped here the first night out of convenience and determined it wasn’t worth revisiting. The creamy spinach and red beans and sausage were good. However, the fish was way too salty and most of the food was room temperature due to the food being served buffet-style.
Although we didn’t try Marios for what it’s known for (Italian), we did go for their buffet-style breakfast. The food was decent but the key breakfast selection was the french toast. The interior of the restaurant is also pretty memorable. On the far right side of the buffet area, you’ll find some statues of the Sesame Street characters dressed up in medieval attire.
We did not sit down and dine at Arizona’s but we did grab some quick bites at their poolside counter by the Caribbean pool. We enjoyed burgers, gyro meat, and hot dogs while we lounged. They food was enjoyable and we definitely would have returned if it weren’t for our desire to try as many restaurants as we could during our stay.
Kimonos was the only restaurant you needed to call ahead for reservations during our stay. Our recommendation is to book a few weeks ahead of time to ensure your table as we were in Turks and Caicos during one of their down times and it was hard to find a table. Kimonos is a hibachi-style restaurant meaning the chef cooks all of the food right in front of you. Our girls loved the different, quirky things the chef was saying throughout the meal. We definitely recommend eating at this restaurant during your stay not only for the food, but also the atmosphere.
As a quick stopping point in a rush to catch one of the Sesame Street shows, we made a pit stop at Bobby Dees. This restaurant is inspired by a 1950’s diner and is located right outside of the Pirates Island Waterpark. The food did take a long time to be served although we were one of two families in the building. The food also kind of reminded us of the food you would have been served in an elementary school cafeteria. If we return, we probably won’t be visiting this restaurant again unless we’re desperate.
Mac Daddy of Cheese
Now, Mac Daddy of Cheese is not on the official restaurant list. However, it is definitely worth a mention. It is a food truck set up right beside the little kid’s section of the Pirates Island Waterpark. It was delicious. They only serve macaroni and cheese but all the different variations we tried were incredible and the perfect poolside snack. our youngest is also a mac-n-cheese fiend so it was the perfect stop.
We went to the Cricketers Pub one of the days we dropped the girls off at Camp Sesame. It was a great place to chill out, drink a beer, chat, and watch sports. We had the fish and chips, beef and stout pie, tried a Turks Delight drink, and had Scottish shortbread for dessert. We enjoyed everything we ate and drank and recommend visiting this restaurant during your visit.
Although Neptunes doesn’t take reservations, we strongly recommend getting to the restaurant early because the tables fill up quickly. Since all the restaurants are included in the all-inclusive setup, I would recommend visiting this restaurant at least once. The food was not only delicious but they also serve things like lamb shank and swordfish.
We visited Schooners on our second-to-last day in Turks and Caicos and it was our favorite breakfast spot. The atmosphere alone was incredible. We sat on the patio overlooking the ocean. With the breeze, we truly felt we were in paradise. While there, we enjoyed salmon eggs benedict and a seafood omelet while the girls ate cereal and pancakes.
If you want to do a breakfast buffet, this was the best one we visited just due to the sheer variety of food they had. They had anything from crepes to spicy pork and beans. I think our biggest mistake in not being able to enjoy the food even more was that we asked for a table outside and we sat directly in the sun. With the sun beating down (no cloud coverage) and our unwillingness to ask the hostess to move all of our things to a table inside, we suffered through.
Do not go to this place if you have anywhere to be. If you plan on just lounging around the pool and aren’t starving, perfect. Pizza by the pool. However, we ordered pizza right before we were supposed to catch our ride to the airport and barely made it. The pizza was nothing special, especially for it to take well over an hour for 3 personal-sized pizzas.
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