Getting Around Turks and Caicos Islands

Taxis can be pricey if you let the hotel do the arranging. We learned this after we had paid $60 to get to the Conch Festival. Call the taxi yourself and negotiate a price.....you find it's much cheaper.

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The Providenciales Airport is quite small but provides several direct flights to Provo from the states. American Airlines, British Airways and Air Jamaica are big carriers that fly into Provo. AA has two to three flights a day to Provo.

The airport itself is pretty well organized and we didn't have any problems checking in for our flight. Retrieving baggage was slow on our way down but hey it's "Island Time".

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American airlines flies from JFK directly to Provo. Whenever we fly to Provo it is out of JFK. There is usually a 6:50am flight which gets us to Provo early enough to enjoy the day. The flight is a little under three hours with no problems. With such a short flight; time flies by quickly while I read my kindle and Liz reads one of her magazines.

Taxi drivers are often heard saying "I'll come back, just tell me when" etc. It might work some places, but not here. Don't rely on their word--if a better client comes along, believe me they'll take it! This is important if you're cruising, take a taxi away from port and need to get back on time. Just plan on being near somewhere that can call a taxi for you right before you're ready and give plenty of leeway. It happened to several people we spoke with, and one person narrowly missed the ship due to a taxi mishap.

The Ocean Club (and perhaps other resorts on the island??) have a nightly Diner's Express, which goes to and from all the island's restaurants.

Ours was a pleasant man with a large and air-conditioned van.

Using this, with a cost of about $8 round-trip, means there is no need at all for a car on the island. Not only to dive shops offer complementary pick-up and drop-off, but the Diner's Express is prompt, courteous, knowledgable and fairly cheap.

I recently had someone contact me regarding how to get to the different islands in TCI. Salt Cay, Grand Turk, Provo, North & South Caicos...etc. depending on where your staying. I knew there was an airline that traveled from the different islands, but other than contacting the front desk of the hotel for info I didn't know much about it. Thus I went to the magazine I brought home & found out that the name of the Airline is Skyking. You can contact them directly either by phone or internet to make reservations. Their website is full of information & they even travel to the Dominican Republic, Haiti, Jamaica, Bahama's & so much more. I was also able to find out that since the majority of the visitors to TCI end up staying at Provo, they have a special excursion to Grand Turk. This includes airfaire & a tour of the island. After that your on your own to explore & eat at Turks Head Inn.....a highly recommened resturant. You can book this tour for $159.00 and it is an all day event. The schedule is found on the website below. Just to travel to the different islands of TCI or one of the other carribean islands I mentioned you'll have to contact them directly for the price. Skyking is a wonderful way to explore the islands when you want to see it all!

The Turks & Caico's islands are fairly small and basically undeveloped. Please don't rent a car....the road's are unpaved and bumpy, if you can even call them roads. More like paths to me. Your best best in getting around Provo is to rent a Moped. You can arrange to rent a moped at your hotel's main desk and expect to spend $40.00 per day. But don't freak on the cost. One day's rental will cover the entire island. If you choose to stay on Grand Turk your best form of transportation is by foot. Grand Turk has only 1 city where the hotels and dive shops are all within walking distance. For the more adventurous, you can rent a sailboat & explore some of the cays in the area.

The main goal of my trip was to dive. For that reason, I just made a stopover in Provo. On the way to Grand Turk from Provo, I hopped aboard Sky King. Their planes are small, which I expected. I just wish they would have told me to check my carry on. I had to duck to get in to the cabin, and there was no place to store my small backpack under the seat. The other passengers were locals, and did not want to wait for me to figure it out... they knew the drill. I will next time! I ended up stowing my backpack on my lap the whole way. On the way back to Provo, I checked my carry on!