Arnie Weissmann
Since July 22, 2021, when Turks and Caicos reopened to tourists after a pandemic shutdown, its resorts have been mentioned 44 times in Travel Weekly. Of those citations, 40 were about properties on the island of Providenciales.
And indeed, until earlier this month, all four of my previous visits to the country were to resorts on the island nicknamed Provo.
Provo's resort boom, much of it on the luxury end, has considerably increased the pace of activity on the island. I still wouldn't characterize it as crowded, but those who haven't visited in the past 10 years will likely notice more people on the sand and more traffic on the main roads.
And all visitors will perceive that Provo's international terminal is way, way, way, way overdue for expansion and updating. It's not merely overcrowded; it's overwhelmed.
Not so, however, at the adjacent domestic terminal. Eight of Turks and Caicos' 40 islands and cays are inhabited, and in South Caicos, a 25-minute flight away from the airport chaos, the clock seems magically to have been turned back 25 years.
There is currently only one luxe resort, Sailrock, on South Caicos. The company that operates it owns 90% of the island, the vast majority of which is undeveloped. For the time being, it appears that there are more flamingos, wild donkeys and wild horses than people.
(The donkeys and horses are descendants of animals that once hauled salt to South Caicos' port from the still-visible salt flats that were once the economic engine of the island. After that business collapsed, the animals were simply set free.)
The island has a broad, bulbous area where most residents live and a very long and narrow peninsula separating the Atlantic from the shallow Caicos Banks. In addition to owning a significant piece of the bulb, the entirety of the peninsula is Sailrock property.
The resort's great house sits atop a ridge where the peninsula begins, positioned so that, upon entry to the lobby, guests can look right and see the active Atlantic and turn left to view the calm, turquoise banks.
Or another way of putting it: sunrise breakfasts and sunset drinks. It takes only about 15 minutes to walk from one coastline to the other.
There are currently 38 units on the 770 acres the company owns. "We were into social distancing even before Covid," joked the reservations manager, Layvern Daniel.
While the properties' suites and villas are congregated near the great house, the bulk of the peninsula is undeveloped, except for a few houses along dirt roads. It has, on paper, been subdivided into 600 lots that are being offered for sale. So far, only a few have been sold and built upon.
Activities are primarily low key. A snorkeling boat excursion makes a stop at "star fish alley," a sandbar where you're guaranteed to see starfish and sand dollars.
I'm told there are better reefs than the one I visited on the same excursion; the coral where we stopped was mostly dead, and the fish seemed also to be practicing social distancing. But from the deck of the boat, I saw a couple of unusual things: three of the largest barracudas I've ever seen, each approaching five feet long. At one point, they must have heard a supper bell ring somewhere because they took off like a shot together. (I also saw a smaller barracuda when I was in the water, but unless you're a needlefish, they're not really a concern.)
Another highlight was motoring for 10 minutes alongside an enormous eagle ray with what had to be an eight-foot wingspan.
I also took an all-terrain vehicle excursion to the far end of the peninsula to kayak and, the next day, bumped along the peninsula's unpaved roads on a mountain bike. Other activities include a multipurpose tennis/pickleball/basketball court, a soccer field and a boccie lawn.
I didn't see anyone engaged in field sports on the hot May days I was there. The vibe is primarily chill. A few modest spa shacks with banks views offer Bali and deep tissue massages near a yoga platform. There's a narrow beach on the Atlantic side, but most guests favored the wider banks-side sand where umbrellas, lounge chairs and hammocks are set up near the lunch restaurant, The Cove, which is also open for bonfire dinners three nights a week.
By law, there are no motorized watercraft in the Caicos Banks; the resort offers a Hobie Cat and standup paddleboards there.
The view from inside one of Sailrock’s three-bedroom villas. Photo Credit: Arnie Weissmann
Accommodations are in suites and villas. Two- and three-bedroom beach villas, each with a pool, kitchen and broad view of the ocean range from 963 to 1,478 square feet (new two-bedroom villas recently opened that are right on the Atlantic beachfront; others are further up the ridge.).
Also on the higher ground are the Ridgetop suites, running 963 to 1,478 square feet. They have views of both coastlines and although they don't have a full kitchen, each has an outdoor area with a hot tub.
Private peninsula villas, roomier yet at 1,267 feet to 1,975 feet, are more secluded and, in addition to the pool, come with a spa and fitness facility.
All published rates include flights to and from Provo and a $40 credit, per person, per day for breakfast.
The resort will have some high-end competition on the island early next year when the former East Bay Resort reopens as Salterra, part of the Marriott Luxury Collection. It is currently undergoing extensive renovation.
Alas, the clock winds forward 25 years to airport chaos after the flight back to Provo. Nonetheless, I found that South Caicos calm had remarkable staying power.