Turks And Caicos Excursions: Have an experience of a lifetime

Just north of the Caribbean, there is a dream place made up of 8 islands and numerous cays. The Turks and Caicos Islands are located south of the Bahamas and about 500 miles south of Miami, FL. The three most visited islands here are Grand Turk, North Caicos, and Providenciales or Provo as it is commonly known. The entire island of Grand Turk is only 6 miles long and 1 mile wide. Recently, a visitor center and cruise ship dock built by Carnival Cruise Lines has increased tourism exponentially.

The sand on the Grand Turk beach is so soft that it feels like icing sugar on the feet. It passes between the toes like a feather massage. It is pure white and it gleams like snow.No doubt it is one of the most delightful things to witness in a Turks and Caicos excursions. Few things look so beautiful and delight the sense of touch as this sand does. While visiting the Grand Turk as a port in the navigation of the Carnival Elation, my family and I took a trip on a semi-submersible boat. Our guides were asked why the sands surrounding Grand Turk were so soft. We were all dismayed to learn that sand is the waste product of parrotfish. The fish feed on algae that grow on the coral reefs that surround the island. Much of the coral is intact due to the limited number of tourists who have been allowed to visit Grand Turk. Parrotfish have teeth that extend down their throats that they use to chew the coral into a fine porridge to extract the algae. The part that remains after the digestion is small fragments of fine coral that become the sand of the beach that we enjoy.

The Turks Caicos cruise took us to a spectacular area adjacent to Grand Turk Island, known as the 7,000-foot drop. In fact, the name of this area is the Passage of Columbus. It divides the Turkish and Caicos islands of the Bahamas. This is a natural coral reef in the sea that measures 180 kilometers long. Many varieties of marine creatures make this reef their home. If you visit Grand Turk in the spring, you are likely to see dolphins or sharks that feed on the smaller forms of marine life that live there. We visited in the heat of summer and we could see stripes of all sizes in their natural habitat from our secure perch inside our semi-sub. We also saw many types of coral and got a new appreciation for keeping these beautiful natural habitats.

For the more adventurous, you can learn to dive and try your new skills. For those who are already certified for diving, you are ready to treat your life in the views it will take.