Mélange Travel & Lifestyle Magazine January 2017 | Page 468

Major Islands
Provo
Grand Turk
North Caicos

Visiting Turks and Caicos

by Kenneth Graham
Although the Turks and Caicos Islands are often referred to as Caribbean islands , they are in fact actually in the North Atlantic Ocean North of Hispaniola and South East of the Bahamas just 620 miles from Miami . Comprising of 8 main islands and over 300 smaller ones , the Turks and Caicos Islands , in all , cover 238 square miles of land . The islands are a self-governing autonomous British Overseas Territory but they and Canada are considering contacting the UK to consider the annexing of the islands to Canada . There are already good links between the countries as over 10 % of the 350,000 tourists that visit the islands each year , are Canadian .

Major Islands

The total population of the islands is around 32,000 with seventy-five percent of that living on Providenciales , commonly referred to as “ Provo ” whilst many of the rest live on Grand Turk and so understandably these are the two islands that has the most infrastructure and also the main destinations for tourists . Many of the other islands are uninhabited or perhaps sparsely inhabited .

Provo

This island is where most of the international flights take off and land and has a size of thirty-eight square miles most of which is touched by beautiful white sandy beaches which have won awards from the Conde ’ Nast magazine and World Travel Awards on several occasions . Grace Bay is the home to the Princess Alexandra Marine Park which is famous for “ Jo Jo ” the playful Bottlenose Dolphin and is the location where most water sport activities take place . Most of the resorts are on the North of the island where the best beaches are but in the South there are many places like Sapodilla Bay , Copper Jack , Discovery Bay , Turtle Tail and Long Bay where private villas are available for rent . Also towards the South of the island is Chalk Sound which is ideal for photos with small pristine islets in turquoise waters as a backdrop .

Grand Turk

This is the capital of the Turks and Caicos Islands and is also the first place that Christopher Columbus made landfall in the New World in 1492 . Not only is this place steeped in history with many Colonial style buildings and the home to the National Museum , it is also the place where the Cruise Ships stop . Here the reef , which has an 800 foot drop , is close to the shore and during the right time of year , swimmers and those on the shore can watch Humpback Whales as they pass .
Smaller Islands - many of the smaller islands are worth visiting as they also have charms and attractions which are perhaps unique to each one of them :

North Caicos

With a population of about 1,400 and beaches to match those of Northern Provo , this is starting to be developed to cater to the ever increasing numbers that visit the islands each year and already has some luxury resorts . Locally the island is known as the Emerald Island as it is the lushest of all the island chain and visitors know it for having the largest flock of Pink Flamingoes in the islands .
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