Just Back...

[jeff33436]

Just returned on the Carnival Liberty and one of the stops was Grand Turk. After reading the reviews here, they were very mixed, so wasn't sure what we would find.

 

We LOVED this port/island!!! This was our 6th cruise and this is our new favorite port of all time. We didn't do any excursion, so I'll just describe the perfect day we had.

 

As you get off the ship, facing the island, right in front of you is the cruiseline's created shopping plaza area. Several little and medium sized shops. Then off to the left is Margaritaville. Tons of chairs on the beach and lots by the pool. Really nice area and a gorgeous beach. You have the ship docked very close in front of the beach, so it looks pretty cool. The water is crystal clear blue/green, with pure white sand. Picture perfect. The pool was much more crowded than the beach.

 

BUT...after reading this board, we decided to walk up the beach, past Margaritaville, to the left (as you face the beach from the ship) and away from the crowds. We walked about 5-10 minutes and came across Jack's Shack. The beach, again, was amazingly beautiful! We walked up to Jack's and spoke to the man himself- Jack. Nice guy and he told us we could rent chairs for $5 each. Nice small beachfront bar and a barbeque that served burgers, hot dogs, and chicken. We had a couple of beers to start the day and then walked the few steps to the pure white sandy beach.

 

We went to our chairs but immediately went into the water. PERFECT beach. Water was pretty calm. Crystal clear, with different shades of blue, green, and turquois. SNORKELERS- we snorkeled right there from the beach and it was really great. There are large rocks that run parallel to the shore just feet into the water and there were tons of fish to see, with perfect visibility. We kept going further out (literally straight out toward the docked ship) and we came to the "wall", which is a 1000 foot dropoff! Grand Turk is famous for this and for scuba divers, it's one of the best places in the world to dive. For snorkelers, it was a bit intimidating because you go from a nice white sandy bottom, to DEEP DARK water. So we just snorkeled back toward shore. We were in about 10 feet of water most of the time and came across tons of Sand Dollars, which we collected (they were not live, but just the skeletons). Also, we came across many old conch shells in perfect condition, and we took two to take home. (Skipping to the end, yes, we were allowed to take them back into the US).

 

For about an hour, it was just the 2 of us! About an hour into it, some younger people showed up and started playing around on the beach. We realized that these were crew from the ship and this must be where they take their day off (the lucky ones anyway). We actually recognized some of them. We just kept snorkeling for about 3 hours and had the best day in paradise! I even came face to face with a sand shark.

 

We had lunch there at Jacks (burger and chicken) and looked up the beach toward Margaritaville's and saw hundreds of people in the water. Where we were, there was just us and a few crew members!

 

On the walk back toward the pier and ship, we stopped into some of the shops and were not impressed with what was there. Instead of charming local shops, it was SO commercial and there was a Ron Jon's, some jewelry stores, and a huge Duty Free shop with the usual bottles of liquor, jewelry, etc.

 

So, that was our perfect day in paradise!

[SraLiz]

for the great review. We are headed to Grand Turk in November and are very excited.

[lovevacadays]

That sounds like a fantastic day. I'll be in Grand Turk next year and will do my best to duplicate your day!

[Shelly97060]

Thanks for the post. We are heading to Grand Turk next month and I hadn't a clue what to do. This info is very helpful.:)

[MamaParrotHead]

Awesome review. I'm thinking we might check Jack's out. Thanks for posting!

[VermeulT]

Thanks for posting. ... especially about the snorkling. Did you bring your own equipment or did you rent from Jack's?

[GetMeToABeach]

Wow, that does sound like a perfect day! Thanks for the review.

[jeff33436]

We brought our own mask and snorkel, although you could rent from Jacks. We didn't even use fins as the water was pretty calm. If your new to snorkeling, you should get fins and maybe a vest too to help you stay on top of the water. I forgot to mention that there was also a long pier just to the left of Jacks and we did check that out too and found mostly schools of thousands of tiny fish. I have never swam through schools of fish that were so large before. They didn't seem to mind us though!

[pghsteelerfan]

So glad you had a great time - I loved your review. We also went to Jack's Shack while there in May and loved it. We were there for a couple of hours but just hung out on the deck near the bar. If we ever make it back, we plan on spending the day there, as you did, on the beach & in the water there with our snorkel gear. I appreciate your description of the wall - I'd love to see that. I replied to a post of yours a couple of weeks ago about what to expect coming off the ship and about the fence. We were going to try to snorkel off the beach, past the fence and around the point (read on another post it was good) but didn't. It was cloudy and windy (ship captain finally got the ship docked on the 3rd try) and the water was choppy so we didn't think we'd see much. We made our way back to Margaritaville, got a t-shirts and then headed to Jack's. While we were at Jack's, the sun came out not long before we had to start making our way back to the ship, so we didn't get to snorkel. We still had a great time.

[jeff33436]

It was kind of creepy when we got to the wall. It got real deep real fast and it got dark. From white sand and blue water to darkness in just moments. If I can't clearly see where I am in the water, I don't like to snorkel. It must have been great diving though, because we could see all the excursion tours just past where we stopped in the water.

[ron57nie]

Thank you for sharing your day, did you get a feel for how deep it was at the dropoff, snorkeling depth, 10-15 feet or 50 or so feet? Sometimes that dropoff edge is the best for both snorkeling and diving.

[WillieD13]

LOVE the review!!! We will be in Grand Turk a week from right now. We are doing the "Ultimate Snorkeling" excursion in the morning, but that is finished at 11:00, and I've been wondering what to do after that, aside from the obligatory Pina Colada salute at Margaritaville, for my father's birthday. Now I know, what I will do. My wife is not keen on further snorkeling, but she will be happy to sit on the beach with her book, while I check out the rocks, fish and wall. Thanks again. (note: before you all go off on me for drinking and diving, the drink will be after the snorkeling, on the way back to the ship) :D :D :D

[jeff33436]

I would say that right at the shore, it's about 4-5 feet deep then gradually goes to 10, then 20 feet. Still white sand and perfect visibility- like being in a big aquarium. As you approach the wall, it gets to be about 30 feet and everything darkens. Then rapidly, it gets much deeper and darker and that's where I chickened out, so I can't tell you what's beyond that. Keep in mind that all this happens relatively close to shore, so it's not like you have to swim way out.

 

The word "wall" isn't exactly accurate, as there is no wall in front of you. It's more of a dropoff into an abyss.

[w8ing2cruz]

I would say that right at the shore, it's about 4-5 feet deep then gradually goes to 10, then 20 feet. Still white sand and perfect visibility- like being in a big aquarium. As you approach the wall, it gets to be about 30 feet and everything darkens. Then rapidly, it gets much deeper and darker and that's where I chickened out, so I can't tell you what's beyond that. Keep in mind that all this happens relatively close to shore, so it's not like you have to swim way out.

 

The word "wall" isn't exactly accurate, as there is no wall in front of you. It's more of a dropoff into an abyss.

 

I'm thinking you were beginning to become a part of the food chain :D. I would have chickened out to - and probably will when we're there! Thanks for the review!!

[Nicole in NJ]

Jeff: We may be doing the Carnival Miracle August 27 and I've already written down your instructions to Jack's Shack. I'm hoping the Miracle will stop at the same place in the Port as your ship did. Did Jack's Shack have a full bar? I assume you were able to walk back to your ship for lunch or whatever you needed too. Thanks for the tip.

[Poohb]

We were it GT last week. 2 ships 8-( Very crowded, very hot. Jack's Shack was extremely crowded. The little shack is on the 'patio' of the dive shop (I think that's what was there). I'd say the shack is about 12ft circular with 2 ppl in the middle serving you. The bbq cooking was to the side of the patio. I am hoping that if there is only 1 ship in, it's much more comfortable and cooler with a breeze. It was ~94 degrees. The water is beautiful.

[jeff33436]

I guess it all depends on the day. We were the only ship in port that day and there were maybe 15 people (tops) at Jacks, most of whom were crew from the ship. I felt like we had the beach pretty much to ourselves.

 

I would imagine that Margaritaville is a zoo if there are 2 ships in port.

 

You could easily walk back to the ship for lunch from Jacks and then go back. The ship is literally right in front of the beach.

 

I think I am attaching a picture of me on the beach in front of Jacks. I'll see if it works...

[NJ04SS]

Thank you for a great review. We will be cruising to there around August 11. Was the beach rocky or full of shells? Do you reccomend wearing water shoes?

[jeff33436]

The sand on the beach was like fine white powder. No rocks at all. So, no water shoes needed. In the water, there were the rock formations, but they were smooth. Beyond those rocks, the sand was again powdery and easy to walk on.

[Asil65]

Sounds wonderful. Great report. We were in Gt last week with 2 ships in port. It was so crowded by the pie and Margaritaviller. I wish that I would have had the time to go to Jack's shack. My friend who went there did say that the cocktails are very reasonable and quite strong too.

[pghsteelerfan]

Sounds wonderful. Great report. We were in Gt last week with 2 ships in port. It was so crowded by the pie and Margaritaviller. I wish that I would have had the time to go to Jack's shack. My friend who went there did say that the cocktails are very reasonable and quite strong too.

 

Your friend is absolutely correct - those drinks were strong (but very, very good) and only $6.00. We had the "Rum Punch", which they actually mix, themselves, at the bar. There are other drinks they make as well, in addition to the beer. If we'd have had one more of those Rum Punches we'd have been crawling back to the ship. :)

 

Jeff - I can really picture what the wall looks like with the great detail in descriptions you gave. I didn't think it would be that dark out there, seeing as how clear it looks from the ship. Wow! I'd have taken a quick look and booked it back to where I could see. Did you have an underwater camera to get pictures? If so I'd love to see them. Thanks again for the great descriptions.

[Asil65]

Sounds wonderful. Great report. We were in Gt last week with 2 ships in port. It was so crowded by the pie and Margaritaviller. I wish that I would have had the time to go to Jack's shack. My friend who went there did say that the cocktails are very reasonable and quite strong too.

 

I meant pier. I guess I was thinking about all of those yummy desserts that I had on the cruise.

[VioletHorse]

Thank you for sharing your day, did you get a feel for how deep it was at the dropoff, snorkeling depth, 10-15 feet or 50 or so feet? Sometimes that dropoff edge is the best for both snorkeling and diving.

 

The drop off is indeed an abyss - about 7,000 feet! I've been to GT 2x -on both my snorkeling excursion and my dune buggy excursion, each tour guide mentioned this mind boggling depth.

[sabookkeeper]

Thank you for these reviews. We will be at Grand Turk next February and this is what we had planned so now I know it will be worth it.

 

Darlene

[jeff33436]

I have tried to post pics a few times and each time, I get a message that the upload failed. Don't know why!! I'm gonna try again. :confused: