First time to Grand Turk

We are looking at booking a Caribbean cruise soon and one of our ports of call is Grand Turk.

We have never been to Grand Turk before and I was wondering what is their to do there?, any tips/advise??

Can you snorkel there?

Any tips/advise/ideas are very welcome

The beach is right there where you dock so you really don't need to go elsewhere! :)

LuLu

Read the first 2 pages of this board. There are very few things to do there (it's mostly a great beach), so every option is found in just a handful of threads.

The snorkeling is very good in GT, either book a snorkel tour while on the ship or at the pier with the locals.

Grand Turk is best known for its scuba diving along the wall in the National Marine Park. If you are already a certified diver, you can either book through the ship or with one of the two independent dive shops (Blue Water Divers or Grand Turk Diving). If you are not a certified diver, but are in good health and interested in giving scuba diving a try, you can book a Discover Scuba Diving trip with either of the dive shops mentioned above. Hope you enjoy your visit!

Lots to do right at the port all within walking distance and you can spend as little or as much as you like. Beautiful beach and even more beautiful water.

Here is the link to my photo tour. http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2139903

We just returned from GT last month and it was our first time. We had decided not to do any excursions or anything that would cost money this time around. It worked out perfect and we had a wonderful day.

I did a complete review of it (located in my signature line) and it has TONS of photos. We spent some of the day there on the beach at the port, some time at the beautiful huge pool area there in port and the other time going to the conch graveyard. (The beach area on that side is amazing and hardly anyone goes over there, but plenty of chairs and shade/sun). :)

Mitsugirly I can't seem to open your Grand Turk review. Any ideas for how I read it?

Mitsugirly I can't seem to open your Grand Turk review. Any ideas for how I read it?

You should just be able to click on the words "Grand Turk" and it open. It works for me. :confused: Are you on a computer or ipad or ...... ? Maybe that's the problem?

HERE'S the link (click on "here's") and it starts at post #251

Grand Turk was my favorite port of all time. It's not very large, not many buildings, and absolutely beautiful! It's on the beach, has a "community" pool that everyone can use for free, and a Jimmy Buffet's Margaritaville. It also has some shopping, and a surf wave (like in some waterparks) that you can pay to use.

If you simply want to get off the vessel and relax at an amazingly beautiful beach with next to no hassle, this is the place.

We were there in April, and it is a beautiful beach as everyone has said. What everyone has posted on here is true.

We did take a tour of the island for about $20. There is a lot of poor area, and then we got to see about 2 or 3 very nice homes. The tour guide said they belong to the people that owned the grocery stores at Grand Turk.

Also, I did not see where anyone had mentioned this. If you like shells, there is a conch graveyard. If your looking for the shells, they are just beyong the Space Shuttle area. Some are larger than others (I have been collecting small shells for many years and have them displayed in my living room), and I did find a large one as I was walking. There may be a few, but most of them are not perfect, and if they are you will have to look a LOT to see them. I had carried this large shell for a while, and all of a sudden I came across a light blue shell, weighing about the same, so I brought it home, and it is in the middle of all my other shells.:)

I also did a review under Carnival Splendor, called Brenda's Splendor review.

Mitsugirli,

Same here. The link you list goes straight to a write up that starts with "Up to the buffet we went". As a first time cruiser I was under the impression that there was nothing to do on Grand Turk unless you paid for an excursion so I definitely like to read about experience.

Mitsugirli,

Same here. The link you list goes straight to a write up that starts with "Up to the buffet we went". As a first time cruiser I was under the impression that there was nothing to do on Grand Turk unless you paid for an excursion so I definitely like to read about experience.

As it stated above in my last post:

HERE'S the link (click on "here's") and it starts at post #251

Which means you have to scroll down to that post, which is where the Grand Turk review starts. :)

I had to share the picture you had of the line to get back onto the ship. Everyone who saw that laughed and said what idiots!!! I would be on the beach TAKING the picture as well:D

Mitsugirly,

I looked at your underwater photos and they are fantastic!!

Can you please tell me what kind of camera you used?

I love snorkeling, and it's nice to know that I don't HAVE to book an excursion to see a few things.

Thanks!

Deb

Mitsugurly,

I scrolled down and saw the pics. Looks beautiful! Thank you. Sorry for the brain cramp.

Scott

Mitsugirly,

 

I looked at your underwater photos and they are fantastic!!

 

Can you please tell me what kind of camera you used?

 

I love snorkeling, and it's nice to know that I don't HAVE to book an excursion to see a few things.

 

Thanks!

 

Deb

I have 2 cameras. They are both Olympus Tough point and shoot cameras. Model 620 and 830. :)

You definitely don't have to book something to find something to do and see...even under water...that's for sure. We had an awesome time. :)

Mitsugurly,

I scrolled down and saw the pics. Looks beautiful! Thank you. Sorry for the brain cramp.

 

Scott

You are very welcome and no problem at all for asking how to get to them. I'm happy to help. :)

There really isn't too much to see, but you can take a tour (they are right there, once you get off the ship) for about $20.00. This way they will take you completely around the island. Most of the island is pretty poor, so they depend upon the tourists. This tour will take you by the salt mines (this is one of the main places where we get our salt), and take you by a couple nice homes, where the grocery store owners live. You will also see horses, everywhere, on this tour. I don't know how they eat, or get by, as they are not close to homes, etc.

We're booked our Caribbean cruise, going on the Emerald Princess :D

Cant wait to check out Grand Turk :).

Any other tips or ideas on what to do here?

So if we were planning to do a beach where is recommended once we get off the ship. I just want to enjoy a beach day without a huge crowd

Beach is right there when you get off the boat. Free lounge chairs, umbrellas, palm trees, etc.

Actually the Salinas on Grand Turk haven't been commercially producing salt since the 60's. Most of the world's table salt comes from mined salt. A lot of the US sea salt comes from Cargill or Morton who have several solar or evaporation sites around the continental US. :)

(Those day-glo funky ponds you see as you fly into San Francisco? Cargill salt production)

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If you take a taxi to town there is a museum that has some interesting items found in the waters around Grand Turk. We were able to buy jewelry and flavored salts make locally. It will only take an hour or two and we really enjoyed it. The people were very friendly and excited to see people from a cruise ship.

Thank You everyone for the information, very helpful! :)

Cant wait to check out the Grand Turk!

when i was there in june I did a paower snorkle tour. they pick you up at the port, take you to a beach. they show you how to use the power snorkle stuff, its basically a torpedo like thing with a button on it. it will pull you thru the water at 3 different speeds. then they take you out to the great barrier reef and you snorkle there for a bit and thenpower snorkle all the way back to the beach, i was following a sea turtle around and it was amazing