Turks and Caicos islands are two groups of islands that come under the overseas territory of the United Kingdoms. They are located in the Caribbean sea and are known for their gorgeous sea-green and blue beaches and luxurious travel experience.
Such islands can be a great place for travelling and vacationing with your family, friends or by yourself. The islands are also a biodiversity hotspot for many different species of reptiles like snakes and lizards and different types of plants, insects and aquatic animals.
But there are some things that one should be aware of before visiting or travelling to the Turks and Caicos Islands. Those being:
1. The busy and less busy seasons to visit the islands
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Though the islands are suitable to be visited all year long. There are some times of the year when the island might be more crowded than usual. This includes the time from mid-December to mid-April with December being the peak season. The prices of the services and activities during the peak season may be hiked up as compared to the off seasons of June till November. So, if someone wants to travel on a lesser budget, they can go during the months of June to November on their trip.
But, to still get good accommodation during the peak season, one can look for turks and caicos luxury resorts by visiting sky-tours.com to book the best resorts on the islands.
2. Lots of opportunities to dive and snorkel
Snorkelling and diving are two of the most popular activities that one can try on the islands. The islands have a beautiful and the third largest barrier reef, this means a lot of underwater fauna and flora. Diving and snorkelling gives one the opportunity to be closer to this flora and fauna and experience the beautiful world of the reefs.
One can either bring their own gear or get them on rent from the site itself. Some resorts might also provide their own snorkelling kits to the people who stay there. One must also ensure that one is scuba certified to be able to do activities like scuba diving.
3. Sunscreen is a must
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Sun shines bright on the islands of Turks and Caicos and hence having a big bottle or tube of sunscreen handy is very important to protect your skin from the sun rays and heat burn. Sunscreens may also help in preventing excess tanning of one’s skin.
But just any sunscreen would not be apt for the Turks and Caicos islands, one needs to specifically use only coral safe sunscreen when one goes to beaches as normal sunscreen mixed in the ocean water can be bad for the environment. Normal sunscreens might contain chemicals that are harmful to aquatic life once they get mixed with the ocean water and hence using a coral safe sunscreen that does not consist of these harmful chemicals is preferred.
One can find a good range of coral safe sunscreen to choose from online and one should make sure to buy it before one heads to the islands since the price of sunscreen on the islands is pretty hiked up due to the large demand.
4. Tipping the service workers is preferred
Though some places might have service charges included in the bill which are then forwarded to the service employees, there are some places that don’t. It is considered a good thing to tip the service workers who serve you in places like restaurants and pubs on the Turks and Caicos Islands. A tip of 12 to 20% of the total bill amount is preferred and acceptable. This tipping culture is quite the same as that of the USA.
5. Things are expensive
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Although the tipping culture of the islands is almost the same as that of the USA. The goods sold in the islands are particularly expensive as compared to their prices in the USA. The cost of goods like groceries is double the times of what it costs in the USA, this is also the case with restaurants.
Moreover, alcoholic drinks are pretty expensive here as compared to the States. Hence, if one is flying to the Turks and Caicos islands from the States or any other country, one can choose to carry their own food, snacks and drinks to prevent paying extra for it on the islands.
6. Prefer going to the islands on the weekdays
There is only one airport in Turks and Caicos for the arrival of international flights. This airport too is quite small to accommodate the large number of flights, and hence people, that arrive especially on the weekends hence one might have to wait in long queues when they arrive on the weekend.
This is why one should try to book their flight tickets for the weekdays so they can get out of the airport quicker. Though there can be longer queues in the airport in case one visits during the peak season even on the weekdays.
7. One can visit any beach on the islands for free
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Being a group of islands, Turks and Caicos have a number of beaches that one can visit. What is more exciting is the fact that one can visit any beach that too for free. All the beaches are accessible to the general public and there is no concept of a ‘private beach’ unlike at other places.
So if one visits Turks and Caicos islands, one can rest assured that one will never run out of beaches.
Conclusion
Visiting new places is one of the best experiences that a person could have. The Turks and Caicos islands are a great destination for a tropical vacation. It has amazing weather all year round and hence can be visited anytime.
Though there are some things one should keep in mind like having good coral safe sunscreen and bringing some amount of food, one can still have a lot of fun on the islands with activities like diving, snorkelling or simply visiting beautiful beaches.
