Facts about Turks & Caicos - Turks and Caicos Vacation Rentals - South Fleetwood Villas

About Provo and Turks & Caicos

Name:
Turks & Caicos Islands (kay-kos)

Language:
English

Capital:
Cockburn Town, Grand Turk

Population:
Approximately 25,000 people dispersed over eight inhabited islands

Primary Islands:
Grand Turk 7sq miles and Providenciales 37.5sq miles

Geography:
Comprised of 40 islands and cays over 193sq miles and a 22 mile passage, the Caicos Islands fall to the west and the Turks Islands to the east, 575 miles south of Miami, 39 miles south of the Bahamas and north of the Caribbean Sea.

Airports:
Grand Turk, Providenciales, South Caicos. Departure tax of $15 for visitors over the age of 12 years, normally included in air ticket travel.

Air Travel:
75 minutes from Miami, less than 3 hours from Charlotte, North Carolina, 3 hours from New York and 3½ hours from Boston. Easily accessible from the US, UK, Canada, Bahamas, Dominican Republic, Jamaica and Haiti. Islands are only 10-25 minutes by air from Provo and also reachable by boat. Ferries run from North to Middle Caicos.

Airlines:
American Airlines, US Airways, Delta Airlines, Air Canada and British Airways offer direct routes from Miami, New York, Boston, Charlotte, Philadelphia, Atlanta, Toronto and London. BahamasAir, Air Jamaica Express, SkyKing and Air Turks & Caicos from Nassau, Montego Bay, Puerto Plata, Cap Haitien or Cuba.

Industry:
Tourism, fishing (spiny lobster, conch) and offshore financial services.

Tax:
There is no income, capital, inheritance or general sales taxes. There are some taxes on tourism.

Government:
The legal system is based on British common law with a small number of laws adopted from Jamaica and the Bahamas.

Time Zone:
Eastern Standard Time. Time zone 4 hours behind GMT

Temperature:
Average 75°-85°F (24°-29°C) November-May. Up to high 90°F (30°C) June-October. Average year-round temperature 83°F (28°C).

Climate:
Sub-tropical. Annual rainfall of 21 inches. Hurricane season is June-October.

Visibility:
Underwater visibility of 200feet.

Beach:
230 miles of white, powdery beaches. Grace Bay Beach voted World’s #1 Beach by Conde Nast Traveler has a 12 mile (19-km) stretch.

Sports:
Provo Golf and Country Club.

Recreation:
Snorkeling, scuba diving, fishing, boating, swimming. Motorized sports such as waterskiing, jet skiing, boating adventures, and parasailing. Land activities include shopping, eco tours, tennis, cycling, horseback riding and whale watching.

Testimonials

Well, if you want a lovely, small and private, well-located place to stay in Provo, South Fleetwood is it. That is, if you can forego room service, multiple extra pillows, beach treats and water excursions, and night time activities on location. Kit and Colin (much praised by many reviewers) are the ideal hosts—generous with their information, charming to talk to, ready to help with almost anything when you need it. Together over the years they have created a wonderful one acre oasis of palms, plants, ceramics, and flowers surrounding their three rental units. We stayed in the Cottage and loved it: it is most accessible to the shared pool and the lounge chairs around it. Frequent visitors to the pool, amazingly enough, were water birds: a black crowned night heron, a large white egret who landed on a bush two steps from the pool, and an eccentric little green heron who daily came for a drink and did not stir when we walked by. Our friends stayed in the Studio down a path from us, a little smaller interior space but with a wonderful private patio where we often gathered for drinks or lunch. The Suite, the largest unit, is more removed from the other units with a porch of its own.

South Fleetwood is only a short walk away (maybe 100 yards or so down a sandy road) to Grace Bay Beach in all its glory—beautiful white sand, usually calm silky turquoise water, not that populated even though there are condos and small resort hotels nearby. It is one of the prettiest beaches we’ve ever been to. We spent most mornings on beach chairs with our books (and Kindles). Luckily the weather while we were there (for 2 weeks in January) was sunny and warm around 80 degrees—a few rain showers usually at night.

Location is important in Provo. Without a car, staying where we were, you can walk down a dusty road (during the day, along the beach) to some restaurants in the Grace Bay Regent Village area (notable: Yoshi’s Japanese, Danny Boy Irish Pub) but we liked best the restaurants further afield so needed a car---best of all, Da Conch Shack, Tiki Hut and Sharkbite in Turtle Cove, Somewhere at Coral Gardens (the best off-beach snorkeling site), Hemingways at the Sands. Food is expensive in Provo—at the restaurants and at the two IGA groceries so be prepared. We recommend Grace Bay Car Rentals—very accommodating—with an office in Grace Bay Regent Village area as well as airport pick up.

So although we hesitate to come on too enthusiastically for fear that Provo and South Fleetwood will be overrun with visitors, we have to admit that our experience there was splendid. Thank you, Kit and Colin, and love to you!!!

Nancy and Leo, West Stockbridge, MA

Nancy and Leo

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