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Turks and Caicos
Since the 1980s, the Turks and Caicos Islands have rapidly been developing into one of the Caribbean's favorite island destinations. The agents at Caribbean Real Estate Showcase want to share the natural beauty and untapped real estate potential of these amazing islands. Beach villas along Providenciales or at the capital in Grand Turk offer breathtaking views and a great investment opportunity in some of the Caribbean's best real estate. Agents with the Caribbean Real Estate Showcase will show investors stunning luxury villas that make great vacation homes. The popularity of the Turks and Caicos Islands as one of the Caribbean's best diving and snorkeling sites also means these luxury vacation villas can also be used as rental villas and provide both a nice annual return on vacation rentals and a long-term appreciation in the Caribbean real estate market. The Turks and Caicos' charming, white-sand beaches will make your luxury villas a sweet spot for some of your favorite Caribbean memories, as will the fantastic dining, lively nightlife, and rich history and culture of these islands. Come let the professional and courteous agents with the Caribbean Real Estate Showcase present the boundless real estate opportunities waiting in the diving and beach paradise of the Turks and Caicos Islands.
Overview
The Turks and Caicos Islands are an overseas territory of the United Kingdom. Comprised of eight islands and more than three dozen cays, the Turks and Caicos lie at the southeastern tip of the Bahamas 90 miles north of Haiti and the Dominican Republic and some 575 miles southeast of Miami, Florida.
The Turks and Caicos area actually two sets of islands. The Turks Island Passage separates the islands of the Turks to the southeast from those of the Caicos to the northwest. Grand Turk and Salt Cay are the two major islands forming the Turks. The Caicos includes the islands of North Caicos, South Caicos, East Caicos, West Caicos, Middle Caicos, and Providenciales. The islands of East Caicos and West Caicos are not inhabited. Prominent cays in the Caicos include Parrot Cay, Pine Cay, Ambergris Cay, French Cay, Mangrove Cay, and Little Water Cay.
With some of the most extensive coral reefs in the world alongside beautiful, white-sand beaches, the Turks and Caicos Islands are havens for diving, snorkeling, sunbathing, and watersport enthusiasts. The Turks and Caicos also feature some of the Caribbean's best bonefishing, great music, and excellent regional and local cuisine.
History
The Turks and Caicos islands derive their name from the native cactus plant known as the "fez," or Turk's Head, and the Lucayan Indian word for chain of islands, "caya hico." Before European settlement in the sixteenth century, first the Taino Indians and then the Lucayan Indians inhabited the islands. Sources debate whether it was Columbus in 1492 or Ponce de Leon in 1512 who became the first European to see the Turks and Caicos.
By the 1660s, British settlers from Bermuda, about 750 miles to the north, had begun to harvest salt in the Turks. This industry would dominate the economy of the Turks and Caicos for three centuries and help the British consolidate their presence there.
During the American Revolution, Loyalists in the southern colonies left America to develop plantations in the Turks and Caicos. This brought more slaves to the islands and a short-lived attempt to make cotton a staple in the economy. Salt continued to dominate the island, however, and the demanding nature of the work and its harsh conditions made slave life one of backbreaking labor. The 1834 Emancipation of slaves throughout the British territories ended the practice of slavery but did little to ameliorate the difficult working and living conditions inherent in the salt industry. In the 1960s, the Turks and Caicos salt industry succumbed to its inability to meet global demand nor keep pace with modern technologies and was wiped out. Today the economy revolves around tourism, financial enterprises, and fishing.
The Turks and Caicos have been part of the British Crown since the American Revolution, in the process maintaining close political ties with Jamaica and the Bahamas. Though in recent history they have explored independence initiatives, they remain today an overseas territory of the United Kingdom.
For over thirty years, beginning in 1952, the United States operated a rocket and missile tracking station on Grand Turk. In February 1962, astronaut John Glenn's Friendship 7 spaceship landed in the waters off the Turks and Caicos Islands after Glenn had become the first America to orbit the earth. Astronaut Scott Carpenter followed Glenn to become the second America to orbit the earth that May, he, too, landing in the Atlantic Ocean near the United States' base at Grand Turk.
Government
The capital of the Turks and Caicos Islands is located on Grand Turk. Since 1766, Cockburn Town on Grand Turk has been the government's headquarters.
The government of the Turks and Caicos is comprised of a Governor; a Chief Minister, who is the majority-party leader; and a one-house Legislative Council, five members of which are appointed by the Governor to serve on an Executive Council. The Legislative Council has 19 seats, of which 13 are popularly elected.
Economy
The tourism industry, as it does for so many other Caribbean island destinations, dominates the economy of the Turks and Caicos. Supplementing tourism is a viable financial services and offshore banking industry. Fishing also remains a small, but significant, part of the Turks and Caicos economy, especially on the island of South Caicos.
The islands rely on imports for most of their foodstuff and consumer goods.
The Providenciales International Airport is the main airport of entry into the Turks and Caicos Islands. A ferry runs between Grand Turk and Salt Cay twice a week at the rate of $12 round trip.
Money
The United States dollar is the official currency of the Turks and Caicos Islands.
Demographics
Between 20,000 and 25,000 people live on the Turks and Caicos Islands. Only eight of the islands in the Turks and Caicos are inhabited. Providenciales is the largest tourist destination in the islands. More than 80% of the population of the Turks and Caicos lives in the Caicos.
Language
English is the official language of the Turks and Caicos Islands.
Medical Services
Providenciales in the Caicos has a government hospital, several family medical centers, and a decompression chamber. There is also a government hospital, emergency room, and clinic on Grand Turk. There are government clinics on the North, South, and Middle Caicos islands.
Climate and weather
The landscape of the Turks and Caicos is relatively flat and low, with some rolling hills. The beautiful natural cays are complemented by the broad marshes and mangrove swamps that dot the Turks and Caicos landscape. The highest elevation on the Turks and Caicos Islands is at Blue Hills, which stands only some 49 meters.
The native vegetation on the Turks and Caicos islands are part of a rare ecological system known as a "tropical dry forest." Rainfall is limited to between twenty and thirty inches annually, with almost all of it coming in October.
Recreation
The extensive coral reefs in the Turks and Caicos mean the islands are home to some of the world's finest diving and snorkeling. Grand Turk, Providenciales, and Salt Cay all offer superb diving and snorkeling services from trained professionals. Just a five-minute trip off the coast of Grand Turk takes divers to a vertical wall some of some 7,000 feet rich in coral formations. Private diving and snorkeling packages as well as group day trips are available on many sites in Providenciales in the Caicos and on Grand Turk.
Grace Bay Beach at Providenciales offers some of the Turks and Caicos' best windsurfing, kayaking, and the newest Carbbiean watersport, kiteboarding. Professionals at Grace Bay provide lessons in kiteboarding and many of these other watersport adventures. Sailing and boating are also popular in the Turks and Caicos. At places like Windsurfing Provo on Providenciales, vacationers can rent out sailboats for a private tour of the blue waters of the islands.
Along with diving, the Turks and Caicos are home to excellent Caribbean fishing, including bone, bottom, and deep-sea fishing. Charters are available from more than a half-dozen places in Providenciales; fishing tours can also be found on Middle and North Caicos as well as Salt Cay. Beach cruises, glass bottom boat tours, picnic tours, and eco tours are some of the types of boating recreation available throughout the Turks and Caicos. Whale watching is popular in the winter and early spring.
Providenciales has some of the Caribbean most equisite spas. There are exercise gyms on Grace Bay in Providenciales and on Grand Turk.
The Provo Golf & Country Club is one of the best layouts in the Caribbean. A nine-hole course is available at Waterloo Golf Club on Grand Turk.
Shopping, Dining, and Nightlife
The Turks and Caicos offer some of the Caribbean's most unique shopping experiences. Providenciales is home to shops specializing in glasswork, woodcarvings, hand-crafted baskets and brooms, sculptures, great paintings and other Caribbean artwork. The oldest gallery on the islands, the Bamboo Gallery in Providenciales, features traditional fine arts from the Caribbean as well as a unique local art form, metal art, which is created from oil drums that have been recycled.
Caribbean delicacies and local cuisine can be found throughout the Turks and Caicos Islands. Many restaurants in Providenciales offer weekly specials on Caribbean favorites such as conch, lobster, fish, and Jamaican flair. Upscale dining spots in Providenciales include Anacaona Restaurant on the ocean, Aqua Terrace at Turtle Cove, Coco Bistro, and Graces Cottage at Point Grace Resort. Sports bars are also popular in Providenciales, with many serving traditional island drinks and food alongside pool tables, large screen televisions, and slot machines.
At Grand Turk, favorites include the Regal Begal, the Secret Garden at Salt Raker Inn, and the Guanahani Restaurant at Bohio Dive Resort. The Water's Edge offers conch, burgers, and other fare along the beach at Grand Turk.
Providenciales is the center of nightlife on the Caicos Islands. Stops along the Leeward Highway, such as Club Sodax, Where It's At, and BET Soundstage, promise great music, dancing, and a lively atmosphere. Grace Bay Road is home to Bambooz, Danny Buoy's Pub, Mango Reef, and Carter Café. For the Turks islands, popular spots in the Grand Turk nightlife scene include the Nookie Hill Club, the Lions Club, and the Sand Bar. On Salt Cay, late night revelers can find fun at Island Thyme Bistro and Porters Place.
Slot machines are allowed in some bars and restaurants in the Turks and Caicos. This is the only legalized gambling on the islands.
Cultural and Historic Sites
The Turks and Caicos National Museum on Grand Turk showcases the rich past of the Turks and Caicos through exhibitions on the history, archaeology, and ecology of the islands. The islands' early history with the Lucayan Indians and their later settlement by British colonists from Bermuda is highlighted, along with the important roles salt and slaves played there. Of special note is the gallery on the Molasses Reef Shipwreck, which is the oldest shipwreck of European origin to be excavated in the Western Hemisphere. Other prominent artifacts on display in the museum include stamps, coins, and maps.
The Turks and Caicos Maritime Heritage Federation in the Market Place at Providenciales celebrates the islands' rich tradition of Caicos Sloop building and sailing.
On Grand Turk, visitors can find a lighthouse and remnants of a United States base used to track rockets and missiles for much of the Space Race and Cold War. The White House on Salt Cay is an important landmark dating back to the early nineteenth century.
The Turks and Caicos' National Parks are actually home to most water sport recreation on the islands. The Princess Alexandra National Park at Grace Bay on Providenciales and the Columbus Landfall Park on Grand Turk account for all but about 10% of the entire islands' recreational water sport activity. Popular National Parks on other islands include the Conch Bar Caves Nature Reserve on Middle Caicos and Ft. George Land & Sea National Park in the Caicos Cays. Nature reserves (e.g., Pigeon Pond and Frenchman's Creek on Providenciales) and sanctuaries (e.g., Long Cay on Grand Turk or French or Seal Cay on Caicos Bank), protect the natural ecosystem of the Turks and Caicos and limit or prohibit recreation.
Wildlife, Marine Life, and Flora and Fauna
Horses, donkeys, and cattle, animals which all were central to the salt industry, are still visible in the towns and rural areas of Grand Turk.
The Turks and Caicos' beautiful coral formations and clear blue waters are home to many different species of fish, sharks, dolphin, and even the humpback whale. Turtles and a variety of rays also inhabit the Turks and Caicos.
The Brown Pelican is the national bird of the Turks and Caicos. Herons and ospreys are common to the island, and the ruddy turnstone is a migrant bird that makes its way to the Turks and Caicos every winter.
About 500 species of plants exist in the Turks and Caicos, some eight of which are unique to these islands.
Festivals and Events
Constitution Day is celebrated every year on August 30, to honor the constitution adopted on that date in 1976.
The Famous Fools Regatta, now in its sixteenth year, takes place every summer and features a variety of water races, including sloops, rafts, yachts, and buoys, as well as activities like conch blowing and kite flying in this annual celebration of the Caribbean sea.
The Grand Turk Heineken Game Fishing Tournament is held every July on Grand Turk.
Radio
WDDR 88.7 Providenciales
RTC 105.9 Radio Turks and Caicos, Official Government News Radio Providenciales
Power 92.5 Providenciales
KIST 106.3 Gospel Providenciales
107.7, 103.9, 101.9 Radio Turks and Caicos, Official Government News Radio Grand Turk
KIST 95 Grand Turk
Links
Turks and Caicos Guide
http://turksandcaicos-guide.info/
Turks and Caicos Online
http://milk.tciway.tc/
Fools Regata
http://tcimall.tc/foolsregatta/index.htm
Bonefishing in the Turks and Caicos Islands
http://www.bonefishing.tc/
Department of Environment and Coastal Resources
http://www.environment.tc/
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Caribbean Real Estate Showcase is a division of Caribbean Villa Owners Association 877-248-2862 804-693-5216 804-693-4856 | |||||||||
Disclaimer
Caribbean Real Estate Showcase, Dunham Young Inc. its owner, executives and employees act in good faith in the promotion of this web site but are in no way responsible to either property participants or potential customers or real estate purchasers for any loss of any kind howsoever caused. Continued use of this website indicates acceptance of this condition. Property purchasers should exercise caution and use independent legal advice when entering real estate transactions of any kind.
