Governor's Beach worth it?

[CruzControl]

Going to Grand Turk in June. I think we may be the only ship in port, but also will be there from 1-7. We have 3 kids, never been to Grand Turk, and will be cruising with a family who has never cruised before and is very excited to go to Grand Turk. I have read that Governor's Beach is beautiful and  not as crowded. Also understand that you can't walk along the beach to get there. For those who have been to Governor's Beach, is it worth taking a cab ride? We are looking for nice beach. Snorkeling is a bonus but not necessary. Thanks!

[crewsweeper]

There are ZERO facilities on Governors.  No lifeguards, no refreshment stands, not even sure if the shack of a building with the restrooms is maintained.

 

Beautiful beach?  Yes (at least before the hurricanes)

Uncrowded? Absolutely.

Place for 3 kids?  Not IMO.

[brookeq]

I was pretty much going to type everything that crewsweeper  did.  

 

I would get off the ship and check out the beach area right there.  If its too crowded just walk down further and find a quieter spot.  

[ProfCruise]

To avoid crowds, consider turning RIGHT at the end of the pier.  That beach area is much more private (although rockier).  I've written a review on my blog where I talk about the three areas easily accessible just off the ship, if you're interested:

 

https://profcruise.com/a-carnival-cruise-to-grand-turk-bringing-together-the-left-and-right/

 

It's a beautiful place.  Hard to go wrong, IMO.  Enjoy!!!

 

 

[Formytinkerbelle]

On 3/12/2019 at 5:33 PM, ProfCruise said:

To avoid crowds, consider turning RIGHT at the end of the pier.  That beach area is much more private (although rockier).  I've written a review on my blog where I talk about the three areas easily accessible just off the ship, if you're interested:

 

https://profcruise.com/a-carnival-cruise-to-grand-turk-bringing-together-the-left-and-right/

 

It's a beautiful place.  Hard to go wrong, IMO.  Enjoy!!!

 

 

Loved your review!  I think we will turn right 😉

[kaiiak]

We were at Governor's Beach last week and absolutely loved it. There is not food/drink service but that was fine for us.  We brought a few cold drinks from the ship.  It cost us $4 each one way in a taxi (tourist van) and was a quick ride there. The water is beautiful and calm. We paid somebody to rent two chairs for $20. There was a bathroom nearby.  My 10 year old absolutely loved it and said it was the best beach ever (we live in Southern California and go to the beach often too).  It is so hot that 2 hours at the beach was plenty for us and then we returned to the port area, looked at the shops and headed back to the ship for a late lunch (that is free). I highly recommend Gov Beach. The Margaritaville area looked like a madhouse with so many people.

[mitsugirly]

Governors beach is absolutely beautiful and hardly anyone there. However, as others have said...no place to get food or drinks so you'd have to bring something with you. There is a bathroom there and showers to rinse off. The time we went, we rented a golf cart and explored the island and went to different beaches and then ended up at Governors...so that made it easy for when we wanted to leave. 

 

HERE'S the part of my review for Governors Beach with tons of pictures if you are interested. 

 

The beach right in front of the cruise ship is a great and beautiful beach too. It does get crowded with the ships though and like someone else said, you can walk further down the beach for less crowds. However, the beach chairs in front of the ship are free and if you go down more, you'll have to rent chairs. 

 

I found that the beach to the right of the ship (when facing the beach from the ship) is just not much of a swimmable beach. It's nothing but rocks. The first time we went there were only a few chairs there. This last time they had added a lot more chairs, but it was VERY hard to get out into the water and over the sharp slippery rocks in the water that there's no way I would want to stay on that side...especially with kids. Just my opinion. 

 

Don't forget there's a super large pool at the port as well (free to use) and it does have a beach type entry on one side. Not sure of the ages of the kids and the depth of water matters. 

 

 

 

[Organized Chaos]

For those able, I'd also recommend going to the right (south) of the pier. But I wouldn't say the rocks there are sharp. We've swam/snorkeled in that spot a couple times and was able to navigate over the rocks just fine barefoot. They can be slippery, though, that's true. So it can make it somewhat awkward to get over them with the waves. Once you clear them, it opens up to a sandy bottom with some vegetation, smaller rocks, and large depressions in the sea floor. Good places for smaller critters to hang out. We've seen small fish, crabs, & a live conch in this area. But yeah, maybe not the best for smaller kids because of the rocks. If you walk farther to the south, you won't have to navigate over big rocks like that and no one hardly goes that way. Even when you're at the southern tip, you can still sea the ship. It's only about 1/4th to 1/3rd of a mile from the pier. There's a large rocky area at the southern point you can climb on that has a whole lot of sea urchins clinging to the sides near the waterline. But these rocks ARE sharp, so you'll need water shoes or something with harder soles. Pretty fun for those who like to explore.

 

We'll be in Grand Turk for our 3rd time next March. We've yet to go to Governor's beach. We wanted to last year, but started playing around at the southern tip of the island and ran out of time. I've read that Governor's is a good place to hunt for sea glass, but that was an old article, so not sure if it still applies. Has anyone done this, found any there? We don't care about food & drinks or renting chairs. We'd only go for a while to try to find some sea glass.

[Banks822]

On ‎5‎/‎22‎/‎2019 at 11:24 AM, Organized Chaos said:

For those able, I'd also recommend going to the right (south) of the pier. But I wouldn't say the rocks there are sharp. We've swam/snorkeled in that spot a couple times and was able to navigate over the rocks just fine barefoot. They can be slippery, though, that's true. So it can make it somewhat awkward to get over them with the waves. Once you clear them, it opens up to a sandy bottom with some vegetation, smaller rocks, and large depressions in the sea floor. Good places for smaller critters to hang out. We've seen small fish, crabs, & a live conch in this area. But yeah, maybe not the best for smaller kids because of the rocks. If you walk farther to the south, you won't have to navigate over big rocks like that and no one hardly goes that way. Even when you're at the southern tip, you can still sea the ship. It's only about 1/4th to 1/3rd of a mile from the pier. There's a large rocky area at the southern point you can climb on that has a whole lot of sea urchins clinging to the sides near the waterline. But these rocks ARE sharp, so you'll need water shoes or something with harder soles. Pretty fun for those who like to explore.

 

We'll be in Grand Turk for our 3rd time next March. We've yet to go to Governor's beach. We wanted to last year, but started playing around at the southern tip of the island and ran out of time. I've read that Governor's is a good place to hunt for sea glass, but that was an old article, so not sure if it still applies. Has anyone done this, found any there? We don't care about food & drinks or renting chairs. We'd only go for a while to try to find some sea glass.

Yes! It is a great place to get sea glass. We go there every time we cruise to Grand Turk and we love it. You can also do some good snorkeling around the big washed up ship. 

[mitsugirly]

On 5/22/2019 at 11:24 AM, Organized Chaos said:

 

 

We'll be in Grand Turk for our 3rd time next March. We've yet to go to Governor's beach. We wanted to last year, but started playing around at the southern tip of the island and ran out of time. I've read that Governor's is a good place to hunt for sea glass, but that was an old article, so not sure if it still applies. Has anyone done this, found any there? We don't care about food & drinks or renting chairs. We'd only go for a while to try to find some sea glass.

1

 

 

There was a lot of sea glass when we went. My daughter and I put our snorkel mask on, laid at the waters edge and collected tons of it.

[Organized Chaos]

On 5/23/2019 at 10:20 PM, Banks822 said:

Yes! It is a great place to get sea glass. We go there every time we cruise to Grand Turk and we love it. You can also do some good snorkeling around the big washed up ship. 

 

On 5/24/2019 at 8:37 AM, mitsugirly said:

There was a lot of sea glass when we went. My daughter and I put our snorkel mask on, laid at the waters edge and collected tons of it.

 

Good to hear! Looking forward to this. Has anyone ever walked here? I know you can't get all the way to Governor's beach along the shoreline because of the industrial area right before you get there, but it looks like you can walk along the beach from the port to Jack's Shack, then detour around on the road. We don't mind the distance and we have plenty of time. It's only a little over a half mile as the crow flies. Maybe a mile with detouring around from Jack's Shack. Just wondering if walking it is even doable with the industrial and power plant area.

[bunnyette]

On 5/6/2019 at 4:54 PM, mitsugirly said:

Governors beach is absolutely beautiful and hardly anyone there. However, as others have said...no place to get food or drinks so you'd have to bring something with you. There is a bathroom there and showers to rinse off. The time we went, we rented a golf cart and explored the island and went to different beaches and then ended up at Governors...so that made it easy for when we wanted to leave. 

 

HERE'S the part of my review for Governors Beach with tons of pictures if you are interested. 

 

The beach right in front of the cruise ship is a great and beautiful beach too. It does get crowded with the ships though and like someone else said, you can walk further down the beach for less crowds. However, the beach chairs in front of the ship are free and if you go down more, you'll have to rent chairs. 

 

I found that the beach to the right of the ship (when facing the beach from the ship) is just not much of a swimmable beach. It's nothing but rocks. The first time we went there were only a few chairs there. This last time they had added a lot more chairs, but it was VERY hard to get out into the water and over the sharp slippery rocks in the water that there's no way I would want to stay on that side...especially with kids. Just my opinion. 

 

Don't forget there's a super large pool at the port as well (free to use) and it does have a beach type entry on one side. Not sure of the ages of the kids and the depth of water matters. 

 

 

 

 

We did the same, rented a golf cart (thanks to your great review), and had governors beach all to ourselves!  Met some local police and had a nice conversation.  A great day.  There were restrooms and we brought water with us.  A good beach if you want a quiet beach experience.

[cbowls30]

We are at grand Turk in September and would like to do governors beach, if we get a taxi from the cruise terminal how do we get back?

[mets07]

On 6/2/2019 at 10:29 AM, cbowls30 said:

We are at grand Turk in September and would like to do governors beach, if we get a taxi from the cruise terminal how do we get back?

Hi - see some info here...

 

[mitsugirly]

On 5/29/2019 at 11:40 PM, Organized Chaos said:

 

 

Good to hear! Looking forward to this. Has anyone ever walked here? I know you can't get all the way to Governor's beach along the shoreline because of the industrial area right before you get there, but it looks like you can walk along the beach from the port to Jack's Shack, then detour around on the road. We don't mind the distance and we have plenty of time. It's only a little over a half mile as the crow flies. Maybe a mile with detouring around from Jack's Shack. Just wondering if walking it is even doable with the industrial and power plant area.

 

You can definitely walk there with no problems. Even if you go out of the cruise compound at the gate and walk down the street. It would be super easy to do. There's a sign at the street that tell you to turn (left) that goes right down to Governors. I didn't realize how close it was until we drove back from there to the port on the golf cart. 

[Organized Chaos]

5 hours ago, mitsugirly said:

 

You can definitely walk there with no problems. Even if you go out of the cruise compound at the gate and walk down the street. It would be super easy to do. There's a sign at the street that tell you to turn (left) that goes right down to Governors. I didn't realize how close it was until we drove back from there to the port on the golf cart. 

 

Thanks. I think this is what we'll do. The biggest reason I don't want to take a taxi is because I don't know how long we'll be there. I wouldn't know what time to tell the driver to come back. It all depends on how good of a time we're having, or not. He could come to soon or maybe we'd be ready to go long before we told him to return. Just easier to do it on our own. Shoot, we'll walk a heck of a lot farther than that in a day on board the ship.

[teknoge3k]

I think the serenity of Governor's Beach is gone. Every year we've gone to Grand Turk, there's not been anyone at Governor's Beach. I think more and more people are learning about it. We were there last week and I couldn't believe how many people were there. 

[MisterOJ2]

On 6/7/2019 at 11:11 AM, teknoge3k said:

I think the serenity of Governor's Beach is gone. Every year we've gone to Grand Turk, there's not been anyone at Governor's Beach. I think more and more people are learning about it. We were there last week and I couldn't believe how many people were there. 

 

So if there are a bunch of people there, would you say it's not worth the effort for someone who's never been there?

We will be making our first stop at Grand Turk in about three months. We're scheduled to be there from 11 am to 7 pm. We have early dining, so preferably I'd like to be back on the ship in time to do that, but I'm not the type that gets real wound up if we miss it and I have to grab a salad or a sandwich from the deli for dinner.

 

The general plan I have in the back of my mind is to walk down to Jack's Shack, have a couple beers and try the jerk chicken; then walk on down to Governor's Beach, spend an hour or two there and then walk back to the ship. Ideally, I'd like to get out in the water and do a little snorkeling too. I don't need anything crazy. Just look at a few fish and whatnot. 

 

Does this seem doable? Or, should I just skip walking down to Governor's Beach and just stick to Jack's Shack? Would we be able to do a little basic snorkeling from there?

[teknoge3k]

It's not a TON of people, but it was definitely a lot of people there. Every time we've been to Governor's Beach previously it's been dead. MAYBE 5 people at most. This year though it was quite a bit of people. Definitely nothing compared to the amount of people at Jack's or even around the port area. So many people know about Jack's Shack now, even that's not as great as it use to be. 

 

When/if I go back to Grand Turk, I would probably enjoy the ship but if I had to get off, I would still go back to Governor's Beach despite the people. Jack's Shack and the port area are just way too crowded anymore. I'd enjoy Governor's Beach while it lasts, before it gets taken over as well. 

 

As far as snorkeling, I can't answer that since I don't snorkel. I know people do snorkel around the ship at Governor's Beach but not sure what they see, if anything.

[MisterOJ2]

10 minutes ago, teknoge3k said:

It's not a TON of people, but it was definitely a lot of people there. Every time we've been to Governor's Beach previously it's been dead. MAYBE 5 people at most. This year though it was quite a bit of people. Definitely nothing compared to the amount of people at Jack's or even around the port area. So many people know about Jack's Shack now, even that's not as great as it use to be. 

 

When/if I go back to Grand Turk, I would probably enjoy the ship but if I had to get off, I would still go back to Governor's Beach despite the people. Jack's Shack and the port area are just way too crowded anymore. I'd enjoy Governor's Beach while it lasts, before it gets taken over as well. 

 

As far as snorkeling, I can't answer that since I don't snorkel. I know people do snorkel around the ship at Governor's Beach but not sure what they see, if anything.

 

Hey, thanks. I just noticed the link to your cruise blog. That's a really nice site. I wish I'd thought to start something like that when I started cruising. Oh well, maybe it's not too late.

 

Did you get a golf cart again on your most recent trip? After reading your blog, I am considering that again. That was sort of my original plan all along, but then I read a few threads that made it sound like getting a decent golf cart in Grand Turk was pretty dodgy nowadays and decided just to walk to Jack's and Governor's.

[teknoge3k]

1 minute ago, MisterOJ2 said:

 

Hey, thanks. I just noticed the link to your cruise blog. That's a really nice site. I wish I'd thought to start something like that when I started cruising. Oh well, maybe it's not too late.

 

Did you get a golf cart again on your most recent trip? After reading your blog, I am considering that again. That was sort of my original plan all along, but then I read a few threads that made it sound like getting a decent golf cart in Grand Turk was pretty dodgy nowadays and decided just to walk to Jack's and Governor's.

 

Thanks so much! I wish I had started the blog when we first started traveling years ago but unfortunately I didn't. I just started it 2 or 3 years ago. 

 

We did get a golf cart, through Omar Morris. It was a decent cart, no complaints. It was faster than those who rented elsewhere because I was passing a ton of people. We got a golf cart because we wanted to get off of the ship, but didn't want to go to Jack's since it's so crowded now. It gave us something to do for the day. 

[Organized Chaos]

2 hours ago, teknoge3k said:

It's not a TON of people, but it was definitely a lot of people there. Every time we've been to Governor's Beach previously it's been dead. MAYBE 5 people at most. This year though it was quite a bit of people. Definitely nothing compared to the amount of people at Jack's or even around the port area. So many people know about Jack's Shack now, even that's not as great as it use to be.

 

I'm hoping that the lack of food/drinks at Governor's keeps most people away. And the industrial pier that separates it from Jack's. I'm assuming that the existence of the (now abandoned) structures that still stand there meant that it used to be a much more popular beach?

 

2 hours ago, MisterOJ2 said:

The general plan I have in the back of my mind is to walk down to Jack's Shack, have a couple beers and try the jerk chicken; then walk on down to Governor's Beach, spend an hour or two there and then walk back to the ship. Ideally, I'd like to get out in the water and do a little snorkeling too. I don't need anything crazy. Just look at a few fish and whatnot. 

 

Does this seem doable? Or, should I just skip walking down to Governor's Beach and just stick to Jack's Shack? Would we be able to do a little basic snorkeling from there?

 

We'll be there next March. I have heard on more than one occasion that snorkeling at Governor's Beach isn't the greatest. Nothing to see, really. We're going there because I've read it's a great place to hunt for sea glass. We'll do that, then just head back.

 

It'll be our third time there. Whenever we go snorkeling at GT, we go on the south side of the main pier. So if you get off the ship and are facing the shore, south is to the right. This area has only had a handful of people the times we were there. Most everyone stays on the beach in front of Margaritaville. Just to the south of the pier, there's some lounge chairs under the palm trees. Between the main pier and a small dock, there's some decent snorkeling, but there are some large rocks you have to walk over to get to a flatter bottom. They're smooth, but can be slick and a little awkward to get over. Once you're passed them, it gets much better.

 

Last year, we walked even farther to the south, all the way to the southern tip of the island, only about 1/3rd of a mile from the pier. The shoreline is less rocky and hardly anyone down there. It was decent snorkeling. Nothing like you'd see if you went on an excursion, but for us novices, we had a good time. So I think we'll go to Governor's as soon as we get there, spend some time looking for sea glass, then head to the south side of the pier.

[mitsugirly]

Back when we went there, I did some research and tried to find out when this place actually closed and wasn't very successful. However, I did find this page that showed just how popular the place used to be with a pic.

 

GOVERNORS BEACH LINK

 

The beach there is very long and pretty wide too so I can't imagine it ever being too crowded. Most people are going to go where they have facilities with food and drinks, but those of us willing to bring our own, it's a great place to hang out at. At least they have restrooms, showers and a foot washing station.

 

There was plenty of sea glass the day we were there. There really isn't any snorkeling.

 

This is looking in one direction (and the other direction is the boat)

 

https://photos.smugmug.com/BREEZE/GRAND-TURK-328/i-s8VGZ8c/0/3226057e/M/P3280237%20copy-M.jpg

 

 

 

[rtap23]

We never stay at port because we hate the crowds. Always rent carts and have several secluded beaches we hit along the island. Governors Beach is always our last stop before heading back to the ship and it is very quiet.  Someone just posted a review last week with pictures on the Magic that there was someone renting umbrellas and chairs. I will be there next week and will confirm. 

[rtap23]

Ok so just got back from Grand Turk. There are now 2 outfits renting chairs and umbrellas. They have about 30 loungers and about 20 umbrellas each.  I rented 2 chairs and 1 umbrella for $20. It was late in the day so not sure if this is the regular price. They are also selling rum punch, beer,soda,water,and snacks