Arnie Weisman
Since the Turks and Caicos Islands reopened to tourists on July 22, 2021 after the pandemic shutdown, Travel Weekly has mentioned its resorts 44 times. Of those citations, 40 related to properties in Providenciales.
In fact, until earlier this month, my previous four visits to the country had been to resorts on the island nicknamed Provo.
Provo’s resort boom, most of which are luxury resorts, has greatly increased the pace of activity on the island. I still don’t think it’s crowded, but those who haven’t been here in the past 10 years may notice more people on the beach and more traffic on the main road.
All visitors will realize that Provo’s international terminal is long overdue for an expansion and update. Not only was it overcrowded, it was extremely crowded. It is already overwhelmed.
However, this is not the case at the adjacent domestic terminal. Eight of the Turks and Caicos’ 40 islands and cays are inhabited, and in South Caicos, just a 25-minute flight from the airport chaos, the clock seemed to magically turn back 25 years.
There is currently only one luxury resort, sail stone, in South Caicos Islands. The company that operates the island owns 90% of the island, the vast majority of which remains undeveloped. There currently appear to be more flamingos, wild asses and wild horses than people.
(The donkeys and horses are descendants of the animals that once transported salt to the port of South Caicos from the still-visible salt flats, once the island’s economic engine. After that business failed, the animals were released .)
The island has a broad sphere, where most of the inhabitants live, and a very long and narrow peninsula that separates the Atlantic Ocean from the shallow Caicos Shoals. The entire peninsula is Sailrock’s property, except for a large portion of the bulbs.
The resort’s Great House sits on a ridge where the peninsula begins, positioned so that guests as they enter the lobby can look to the right to see the active Atlantic Ocean, and to the left to see the calm, turquoise banks of the river.
Or in other words: breakfast at sunrise and drinks at sunset. It only takes about 15 minutes to walk from one coastline to the other.
The company currently owns 770 acres of land with 38 units. “We were already practicing social distancing even before COVID,” joked reservations manager Layvern Daniel.
While hotel suites and villas are clustered around the large houses, much of the peninsula is undeveloped, save for a few houses along a dirt road. On paper, it appears to be subdivided into 600 lots for sale. Only a few have been sold and built so far.
Events are mostly low-key. The snorkeling cruise stops at Starfish Alley, a sandbar where you’re sure to see starfish and sand dollars.
I was told that the reefs here are much nicer than the ones I visited on the same trip. The coral we stopped at was mostly dead and the fish seemed to be practicing social distancing. But from the deck of the boat, I saw something unusual: three of the largest barracudas I’d ever seen, each nearly five feet long. At one point they must have heard the dinner bell ringing somewhere, because they flew off together. (I also saw a smaller barracuda while I was in the water, but they’re not really a problem unless you’re a needlefish.)
Another highlight was a 10-minute ride with a giant eagle ray with a wingspan of eight feet.
I also toured the far end of the peninsula on an ATV, kayaked, and the next day bumped along the peninsula’s unpaved roads on a mountain bike. Other activities include multi-purpose tennis/pickleball/basketball courts, soccer fields and bocce courts.
I saw no one engaged in field sports on the hot May day I was there. The atmosphere is mainly cold. A handful of modest spa cabanas offer riverside views and offer Balinese and deep-tissue massages near a yoga platform. The beach on the Atlantic side is narrow, but most guests prefer the wider riverside sand, where umbrellas, lounge chairs and hammocks are available near The Cove lunch restaurant, which also offers campfire dinners every Wednesday night.
By law, there are no motorized boats in Caicos; the resort offers Hobie Cat and stand-up paddle boards.
Interior view of Sailrock three-bedroom villa. Photo credit: Arnie Weissmann
Accommodation is available in suites and villas. Two- and three-bedroom beach villas come with pools, kitchens and expansive ocean views, ranging from 963 to 1,478 square feet (the recently opened new two-bedroom villa is on the Atlantic Ocean; others are further up the ridge The place) .).
Also on the higher ground are Ridgetop suites, ranging from 963 to 1,478 square feet. Rooms offer views of both coastlines, and while there are no full kitchens, each has an outdoor area with a hot tub.
Private Peninsula Villas are more spacious but more secluded with heights ranging from 1,267 feet to 1,975 feet, and come with spa and fitness facilities in addition to swimming pools.
All published rates include flights to and from Provo and a $40 breakfast credit per person per day.
When the former East Bay resort reopens early next year, it will host some high-end tournaments on the island. Saltera, part of the Marriott Luxury Collection Hotels. Extensive renovations are currently underway.
Alas, go back 25 years, and after the flight back to Provo, the airport was in chaos. Still, I found the calm of South Caicos to have remarkable staying power.
