Seeking sun, surf and sand without sinking your wallet? Check out this guide to the Caribbean.
St. Louis Post-Dispatch/Tom Uhlenbrock via MCT
In Curacao, a diver takes a break while waiting for the boat to take him on his next adventure
A room with blue water views? Private terraces shaded by coconut palms? Villas set in a tropical rain forest with swimming pools and French maids? A wave of stylish hotels has washed up on the Caribbean's white sands, but finding one that costs less than a yacht is another matter. To help, several travel writers and editors of The New York Times slept on Caribbean islands to uncover the beachside bungalows and hilltop hotels that won't sink your budget, many for less than $100 a night.
Providenciales
Tourism is booming on Providenciales, the most popular of the Turks and Caicos Islands, and there are nonstop flights from Dallas/Fort Worth Airport. Condos and luxury hotels pepper the skyline along its northeastern coast. But as Provo, as the island is better known, gets more popular, it also gets pricier, so finding deals is a challenge. (The U.S. dollar is the official currency.)
Staying
During the winter high season, even a modest hotel in Providenciales can run $300 a night, and there are virtually no rooms for less than $100. But for those willing to forgo beachfront views and sleek design, there are a few options.
The Turtle Cove Inn ( www.turtlecoveinn.com) is on the waterfront at Turtle Cove Marina, a busy departure point for fishing, diving and snorkeling excursions. The inn's 30 rooms have an institutional look, with pine furniture and floral bedspreads, but the "value rooms" -- the ones farthest from the pool -- are $105 in the winter ($85 in the summer). A 10-minute walk will get you to Smith's Reef, a prime snorkeling spot, and just a bit farther is Grace Bay Beach, a 12-mile stretch of white sand along the island's northeast coast.
Visitors not averse to big hotel chains can get a little closer to the beach at Comfort Suites (Grace Bay Road; www.comfortsuitestci.com), a standard-issue 98-room hotel across the street from Grace Bay Beach.
Published rates start at $160 in the winter, but you can get that down to $130 by booking through Expedia.com and other travel sites.
Eating
Budget eating in Provo boils down to this: learn to love conch (pronounced conk). This football-sized mollusk (think giant snail with pink shell) is on just about every menu, since the waters around the island are rich with the critters. Though you can get them anywhere, the ideal spot is Da Conch Shack (Blue Hills Road; www.conchshack.tc), a pair of dilapidated huts with white picnic tables on Blue Hills beach, just west of Grace Bay Beach.
Free beaches
All of Provo's beaches are public and free.
What to do
There are plenty of aqua-diversions like scuba diving and kayaking, but they don't come cheap. For a more unusual attraction, visit the Caicos Conch Farm (Heaving Down Rock, at the eastern tip of Provo; www.caicosconchfarm.com), where $6 gets you into what it says is the only place in the world where conch are commercially grown.
Shopping
Provo is not exactly a shopper's paradise. Shopping plazas like Ports of Call and Salt Mills, along Grace Bay Road, the main artery, are filled with pricey gift shops, diving stores and art galleries. For local crafts, visit the Middle Caicos Co-op (on the shore in Blue Hills; www.middlecaicos.biz).
-- Steven McElroy |
