Turtle Cove Marina, Providenciales, Turks & Caicos

We have a great night’s sleep in the marina despite the wind, Invincible is actually more stable than ever before trussed up between the posts. We decide we will hire a car for the day, do some grocery shopping and see the island. We have learned that the apparently great value 95c / foot at the marina is slightly misleading, as you are charged $5 per day for water and 15$ per day for power regardless of whether you are connected to it or use it! We go to remonstrate with Carol at the office and she is extremely hard faced about it (talking to the other cruisers they have all done the same to no effect). We point out we cannot even connect to their power with our European sockets. She helpfully says she will send the electrician to help, the very nice guy from Guayana does the work and then tells us there will be a $40 charge added to our bill, in three other marinas we have had such assistance, never before have we been charged. We do get as far as ringing the IGY marina just opened at the north east of the island intending to leave, but that is only part built yet and we decide we have invested so much here we may as well carry on. We can have unlimited showers and power usage as the daily rate is about what we would use in a week which is just as well as the marina showers are not in use. So Kevin washes the boat again.

I go to the car hire place on site, it is $59 a day for a car plus 10% tax, plus $15 insurance. I look on the internet and ring Avis they will hire me a car including everything for $59 and pick me up in 15 minutes to collect it, deal done. Avis are not usually the cheapest but even they are better than those business within walking distance of a marina with marina tax added. A nice guy from Haiti collects me and we drive through the plush Grace Bay area of Turks and Caicos where all the posh new apartments, hotels and shopping arcades are. I am soon equipped with a little lavender Daewoo and just about work out my way back to the marina. I spot a sign at the nearby cinema for the new Star Trek film and realise what my evening will be when Kevin spots that one….

Kevin and I then set off to the nearby supermarket that we spot on the way. The fruit and veg look the freshest we have seen in months and the range is great, though it is not the cheapest we buy lots. We even manage to buy some truffle oil and Angel hair pasta, which Jean introduced to and we have been trying to find since. We go back to the boat, quickly unpack and make a lunch with our buys before heading out. We drive through downtown Providenciales (the main town is named the same as the island), it lacks any character at all, lots of widely spaced malls with big carparks in front, no feeling of a town centre at all. The architecture is modern, concrete and characterless. There are bizarrely barbers everywhere, they must be a well dressed crowd in Turks and Caicos.

We drive down to South pier trying to look across the inner reef between the Turks and Caicos island group. There is a large limestone quarry on the way and the route is very industrial, the run off from the quarry makes the water look almost fluorescent and is not the idyllic looking tropical scene we imagined. Further down the road when we can see south there is a far more natural looking bay with lots of little islets and well landscaped villas.

 Fluorescent looking waters near the quarry

 

Looking south over the inner Turks and Caicos reef 

We decide to drive through to the North East point and see the new IGY marina, we drive the length of the Leeward Highway through the centre of the island (only 12 miles long), just peeking over the brow of the hill on the left through the centre of the island you can see the locals houses which are rather less plush than the large villas we have seen so far down the unmade tracks. The marina is mostly constructed, though the surrounding resort is unfinished. They still have a number of big motor yachts in though, it did look a more appealing entrance than Turtle Cove, though less sheltered because of it.

New IGY marina 

I drive Kevin through the plush Grace Bay area next, there are quite a few jewellery shops, restaurants, etc amongst the big developments, the lands are landscaped and it looks much more finished than the many incomplete developments elsewhere. Finally we pull in at Princess Alexandria beach for a closer look at the long sandy beaches we could see on the way in. The sand is amazingly fine and water crystal clear. The protective reef all along the shore makes for great snorkelling and a gently lapping waves on the shore and we see a few holiday makers enjoying the sun despite the squalls offshore.

Jo on Princess Alexandria beach 

Looking out at the squalls over the lovely clear waters

We are still early for Star Trek, so we have a coffee at the coffee shop by the supermarket, where it seems the local ex-pats all meet up in an afternoon. Finally I succumb to the inevitable and take Kevin to the cinema to see his Star Trek film and surprise myself by enjoying it too.