8 Gems of Provo, Turks n Caicos: An Explorers Guide

I haven't been to any other island of Turks and Caicos but I hear (and I can vouch from my experience) Providenciales, Aka. Provo, is the ONE island you cannot miss. Provo has something for everyone. It has the perfect combination of long soft sanded beaches, for those looking to unwind and relax in the sun, local shops, for those looking to bring home some special artesian goodies, and large green spaces for those explorers looking for adventure.

This post will focus on 8 amazing adventures, so pack your camera, put on your hikers, hop in your rental car (preferably 4x4) and let's get going!

West of the island:

#1 West Harbour Bluffs

Just look at this place! A breath-taking view - but you have to work for it.

What I mean by having to work for it is you should beware that it is 45 minutes down an extremely bumpy, rocky, pot-hole filled unpaved road. If you have been to Provo before you will know that 97% of the roads are unpaved, and all roads (including the main roads) have potholes and aren't very well maintained. But this road is exceptionally bad.

Dallas and I rented a little car from Payless Rental for $30 a day. On our third day in Provo we found this gem in one of their local magazine maps labelled as "Pirates Cove," "SO cool" we thought. That day we hopped in our little blue Suzuki Alto and started the drive out. I would say about a quarter of the way down Tom Lightbourne Dr we knew we had to turn back. I wish I had taken a photo of this for reference, but basically the roads are made up of rocks in gravel, HUGE rocks, with HUGE holes and crevasses. We reached this platform point of the road and looked at the rest of the way we had to go, with the various boulders sticking out of the path ahead, and turned back, not wanting to risk a flat tire so early in our trip.

To get out to the West Harbour Bluffs you can choose to do an ATV day tour or rent a car! The ATV tours are only 3h long and really don't give you enough time to explore the area. Instead, I highly advise renting a jeep for a day, or a 4x4 SUV! We ended up getting a smokin' deal at TCI Car Rental for a Jeep...

(Quick story here about this Jeep). So, we initially rented a Jeep Renegade for $70. However, when we got to the car rental shop they explained they could not rent the Jeep Renegade because it had an A/C issue, BUT they would rent us a Jeep Liberty that had a transmission issue (it wouldn't go above second gear).

Somehow she thought renting out a Jeep Liberty that had a transmission issue would be better than renting out a car with an A/C issue? Ok... I thought why not? You have to go dead slow down this bumpy road anyways. We will figure it out.

Anyways, we haggled her to $40 for the junk jeep rental. And we took this jeep that wouldn't go above second gear, the seatbelt sign beeped the whole way there (even though we were buckled up!!), the radio didn't work, the internal lights wouldn't go off, and handles/buttons were falling off as we drove it - BUT IT GOT US THERE AND THAT'S ALL THAT MATTERS!

Haha - Hopefully you have a better car rental experience, but regardless I feel renting your own vehicle for the day to get out there is absolutely worth it. You can go out on your own time, bring all the gear your heart desires, and explore the area for however long you want.

PS. Remember to drive on the LEFT side of the road. Provo has an average amount of aggressive driving and a lot of round-abouts so don't be timid out there!

There is a few different parts to this area. The West Harbour bluff which you can see in the above photo. It features a coastal walk out to the point, where you will be greeted by a nesting Osprey! You will also come across a cave, that you access by climbing down a ladder to the beautiful Pirates Cove!

1b. (AKA. Pirates Cove)

This is the perfect spot to go in for a little swim and enjoy your packed lunch and a few drinks! However, if you are planning on going here for the sunset, which you should, make sure you bring bug spray!! Otherwise you may be chased away from the view by the thousands of skeeters. We stuck it out but we got eaten alive.

Before you drive back to town, check out the beaches! To get to them you just need to take your 4x4 on the other side of the road! A quick 5min drive will get you to another point that has beautiful white sand! There is also a little shipwreck here.

#2 North West Point Marine N.P.

Again... This place isn't the easiest to get to without a 4x4 or a quad, but IT IS doable. You just need to commit. This road is fully sand so if you do not drive at a steady pace you may get stuck, but we did it in our Suzuki Alto and so can you! 3/4 of the way towards the point, the sand will get too deep to drive through, so abandon your car and continue the following 1/4 of the way by foot (it's about a 20 minute walk). The beauty of this place is in the contrast between the lush vegetation, red rocks and blue waters, as you can see in the above picture.

Things you will get to see here are lots of pelicans, a shipwreck, beautiful private beach, and continuous waves crashing.

#3 Malcom Beach

At this point you shouldn't be surprised by the fact that it this is yet ANOTHER crappy road to venture down. But it is nothing compared to the Tom Lightbourne Drive to the west harbour bluffs, and I have full confidence you can make it there in any car rental.

Make sure to bring your snorkelling gear because this is THE prettiest spot to snorkel on the island. They have an artificial reef system here and you will be able to come across hundreds of tropical coloured fish, jellyfish, pufferfish, and squid.

It is a really long, beautiful sandy beach. The side where you park your car will most likely have the entire beach to yourself, but if you wander down the beach you will find a private resort and beach bar. Very cute.

3b. Lookout Point

Also, don't miss out on this great look out point just before Malcolm Road takes you down towards the ocean. Just look for the tall cell phone tower with two ospreys nesting on top of it!

Central island:

#4 Chalk Sound National Park

Chalk sound is such a beautiful area. It features a bunch of small rocky islands through out it's shallow waters (as seen above). It is a bit of a maze driving through the twisting residential roads to get to the tip but it is worth it. Once you reach the end there is a short path that leads you down to the waters of this turquoise lagoon!

Be weary though, there is a strong current here. These waters are known to inhabit bonefish, barracudas, stingrays and lemon sharks! However, we didn't come across any in our short swimming excursion.

Renting a kayak or paddle board for a day to check out this entire inlet would be a perfect way to check out all this national park has to offer, since you can only experience so much of this national park from the road.

#5 Flamingo Lake

Flamingo Lake is a saline pond located off of Turtle Tail Rd. If you are an avid birder, or just fascinated by pink flamingos this is the place for you. I can guarantee you will see at least one flamingo sleeping out in the marsh right from the side of the road. There is also a platform you can drive to across the lake if you want a better vantage point to spot all the various birds hanging out in this lake area.

#6 Turtle Tail Drive

We came across this place as we were trying to check out the "Too Hot To Handle" house that Season 2 was filmed at. If you haven't watched that Netflix serious, I don't blame you it is just a silly game show.

This beaches just located off the Turtle Tail Rd are a wonderful spot to watch the sunset, throw the footie back and forth or just to watch the sea birds flying about.

There are two beaches here that are accessible by a small path, just park your car on the road. The coordinates for them are LAT21.764030, LONG-72.202505 and LAT21.761573, LONG-72.189689, in case you have trouble finding these thin walking paths.

East of the island:

#7 The hole

Located on Sea Sage Rd, in Long Bay Hills, just a few meters from the road this deep blue hole remains. The hole is 60ft deep and while in the past this used to be a known cliff jumping spot, it is now illegal to jump or climb into the hole due to the weak bonded limestone walls of this cave.

For those serious adventures, if you wander down the thin path shown in the top left of this shot, you will come across a cave access. If you are feeling brave you can climb through to view this black hole from about half way down. (I didn't but you can - hehe)

#8 Bird Rock Trail

Provo is not really the focal point you think of when you want to go hiking... This Bird Rock Trail is actually the only trail designated for hikers on this entire island. In 2014, this trail was developed to lead out to a small lighthouse on the point. The main trail head seems to have overgrown, so we accessed this trail by driving down to the beach, and walking along the beach until we could meet up with the designated trail.

What I found so fascinating about this trail was all the rock formations! The rocks are known as ironshore, which is a limestone, you will see many small karst-features like sinkholes and caves on this walk! And of course, as the name portrays, you will come across many birds, such as herons, ospreys, pelicans, and doves!

While we were hiking, we kept seeing this looming dark cloud edging closer and closer, we kept pushing our luck advancing further out towards the point until we eventually got chased out by a heavy downpour of rain! Sprinting back to our car, being careful to not twist an ankle on the sharp and jagged rocks, we make it back dripping wet. Thankfully, our camera gear safe in our waterproof backpack.

#9 Grace Bay Beach

This is just a given. And ya, I know, not really an adventure. But Grace Bay is the most beautiful beach, with the most amazing sand and calm waters, also lounge chairs GALORE!

However, if you are like me and don't always love a popular beach but still want to enjoy the perfect beach to swim in and lay out and tan go to NightJar Rd. There is public beach access to a smaller beach area. There wasn't a single time we didn't have the whole little beach to ourselves, and we went here A LOT.

Let me know if you have done any of these adventures before! Or tell me which of these excites you the most about Provo!

... Down in the comment section below!