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Turks & Caicos trip for the kids - 3/8/2013 7:23:07 PM
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MissingMexico
Posts: 137
Joined: 8/28/2005
From: Winnterpeg, Manisnowba, Canada
Status: offline
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We left Winnipeg on Sat morning and arrived in Turks & Caicos by 2:30ish. Once at the resort we were welcomed by very friendly staff to a fantastic room with towel art for the kids and a plate full of the most wonderful chocolate chip cookies for all of us.
The kids were out of their travel clothes and off to the "Pirate's Island Water park" faster than I've ever seen them move!! There were water slides, a tube slide, a lazy river and a splash park all very conveniently located next to the greatest "snack" bar with ice cream, milkshakes, cookies, chicken fingers, fries, burgers, and so on.
Managed to pull them away for supper time where we tried our first restaurant of the trip, Arizona's (there were 16 to choose from) and enjoyed a tex-mex dinner. The food was fantastic no matter where we went and we did try to go to most of them. Kimono's was not hard to get reservations for at all and enjoyed dinner there immensely. The kids loved Barefoot by the Sea for dinner with their toes in the sand. Schooners serves a lobster and alaskan king crab risotto that I could have eaten everyday. The Jerk barbeque buffet at Arizona's was a must at lunchtime. I loved that we could walk up to any restaurant we chose for meals and be seated and served. Our supper on the patio at Mario's the last night was highlighted by our kids excusing themselves to swim in the pool while we finished our dessert watching them splash away.
The staff took sincere pleasure in making sure the kids were always having a great time, from kid drink concoctions like a "Chinese Firecracker" (way too sweet for grown ups! lol) to substituting food choices on the menus and involving them in activities by the pool. The kids were especially fond of Jason in the Caribbean Village, he has a smile that can light up the resort!
Then there was the water....
Between the awesome beach with snorkeling right off shore and the three gigantic pools to choose from I thought for sure the kids would have gills by the time we left. We took the Beaches Catamaran excursion and were taken snorkeling where we got to see sea stars (starfish?), conch and tons of coral and fishes and to Iguana Island where we were able to see lots of local land and sea creatures up close.
The second last day we walked down the beach about 10 minutes to the most spectacular underwater marine park. It is all roped off and protected but you can snorkel around the outskirts and see SO much! We saw little leatherback (?) turtles, a 4-5 ft wide ray, a bazillion different kinds of fish (even a puffer fish - they don't scare as easily as on Nemo...) and all kinds of different color coral. Unfortunately we all forgot cameras.... The next morning, our last day, I got up bright and early and jogged down to the park again to just grab some pictures for the album. It was beautiful, no one else around, just me and the fishes - the 6 barracuda fishes out swimming together that morning too! - so I did get a ton of pictures for their album. Whew However most of the reason I am posting this here is because of the signage that was there to keep "less aware" tourists mindful that the reef is alive. I would gladly help raise $$'s for signage like that in Akumal!!
We have been to a few different resorts but this one exceeded all my expectations! The staff are warm, welcoming and eager to help you have a great vacation. We felt very secure in letting the kids do some exploring on their own as there are staff and lifeguards everywhere. I don't think we spent more than the "sleeping hours" in our room as there was always so much to do, but I would have to say the rooms are great. The Caribbean Village is the first section of the resort to have been built so it's not as "new" as the other parts but there was nothing I could complain about at all. They were clean, large, air conditioned, flat screen TV and gaming console (kids didn't even turn that on..) coffee, fresh towels and so on. You'd have to work pretty hard to be unhappy here. Oh, and the beds...OMG... wonderfully comfortable!
Choosing which restaurant to eat at was our biggest stress (ha ha) as the food was excellent everywhere. A lovely surprise was the curry shrimp at the Cricketers Pub - phenomenal!! We choose to go there again for our last lunch before we had to leave as there was something for everyone.
I would honestly say that anyone considering their first trip with kids or their 50th should plan a trip to Beaches (Sandals). We will definitely try our hardest to get back there!
https://picasaweb.google.com/113229689260643135650/Beaches02?authuser=0&authkey=Gv1sRgCNWimcOT3saxCQ&feat=directlink
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ABR 1/05, 1/07, 1/09, 2/11
Antigua 2/10, Grand Sirenis 11/12, Turks&Caicos 2/13
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RE: Turks & Caicos trip for the kids - 3/9/2013 8:13:31 AM
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Jamie
Posts: 2548
Joined: 3/10/2005
From: Southern California
Status: offline
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Wow, great report and pictures, thank you so much. Would sure love to go to the Caribbean some time (only been to the Bahamas once a long time ago) but airfare from Southern California is so darn expensive, something I have to consider being retired now and on a fixed income.
I really like the signs you posted. I have seen one in Akumal but it was kind of near the entrance, they need something closer to the beach.
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RE: Turks & Caicos trip for the kids - 3/10/2013 1:19:59 PM
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MissingMexico
Posts: 137
Joined: 8/28/2005
From: Winnterpeg, Manisnowba, Canada
Status: offline
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We went off resort one day for an "Ocean Outback" adventure. I had emailed Captain Bill before we left and he gave me the number to call when we got in. He arranged to have us picked up at the resort and we were taken to Sapodilla Bay where we got onto the boat. As we waited for some other passengers we watched the bay for surfacing turtles and caught sight of about a dozen. If I ever get back to this island I want to snorkel in that bay!
We were taken from the bay to an open ocean spot to snorkel, some of the pics were from that trip, and then off to a pirates cave. We all unloaded and climbed up to the top of the cave to check out pirate maps and writings in the rocks. The cave had served as a camp for "pirates" traveling through the area. Captain Bill put on a short corny pirate reenactment that was a little racy once or twice for the kids but hope they missed most of the reference...? The kids enjoyed the show and giggled the whole time. It was very interesting to see the smoke stains and remains of years of cooking that took place there and to look into the water and see hundreds of discarded conch shells from their meals.
Then a short two minute ride to a deserted strip of beach for some beach combing and lunch. There was lots to see on the beach, sea stars in the water just off shore, conch shells everywhere, birds and more.
What was surprising this trip is that despite all my beach combing I wasn't able to find ANY sea glass, any time during the trip... it was very odd.
The lunch was barbecued chicken, gourmet tube steaks for the kids lol, and coleslaw that was very addicting!
After lunch it was a lovely ride back to the bay and a short trip back to the resort. The island is very flat so traveling the roads you can often look out and see across it for some distance.
We enjoyed chatting with our driver who is called a "returner" on the island because he lives there now but was not born there. We had noticed coming into the airport that there was a customs line for "Returners" and "Belongers", so our son asked what the people from Turks & Caicos were called. (Turks & Caicosians???) so he explained that the people born and raised on the island call themselves Belongers. I really loved the sound of that, kinda wished I was a Belonger!
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ABR 1/05, 1/07, 1/09, 2/11
Antigua 2/10, Grand Sirenis 11/12, Turks&Caicos 2/13
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RE: Turks & Caicos trip for the kids - 3/19/2013 9:48:27 AM
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holliemollie
Posts: 97
Joined: 8/2/2007
Status: offline
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Loved your trip report and was pleased to hear that there is some good snorkeling at Turks & Caicos. Would be very interested to how you feel Beaches compares to ABR or Grand Sirenis - beach quality, size, etc. Thanks!
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RE: Turks & Caicos trip for the kids - 3/23/2013 5:06:19 PM
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GlubGlub
Posts: 22
Joined: 3/1/2006
From: Minneapolis, Minnesota
Status: offline
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Great trip report! Turks and Caicos has always been on the list of places to snorkel and now even more so. The abundance of fish reminds me of Akumal a decade a go or Grand Cayman 20 years ago. Thanks for sharing!
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