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 Strung out
in a chain between Providenciales and North Caicos are a dozen tiny islands, of
which all but two are uninhabited. Though there are airstrips for the private
planes of the millionaire residents of Pine Cay and Parrot Cay, the most likely
way to set foot on any of the cays is by taking a boat trip from Leeward Marina
- one of the undoubted highlights of any visit to the country. All beaches are
open to the public and, on all the uninhabited islands, you're pretty much free
to wander around at your leisure.
Five minutes by boat from Provo, the nature reserve of Little
Water Cay is home to several thousand rock iguanas. These
reptiles - unique to the region - were once found throughout the
islands, but development and destruction by man and dog has led to
their virtual extinction elsewhere. Here, wooden boardwalks have
been put up across the cay to allow you access to the heart of their
protected habitat. You'll see dozens of them - up to two feet long -
sunning themselves on the beach or foraging around in the scrub.
Northeast of the cay, Water Cay is fringed by small sandy
cliffs and fantastic white sand, while the adjoining Pine Cay
has a small hotel and about 35 private homes dotted around its
beaches and interior providing winter retreats for their wealthy and
mostly US-based owners.
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The twelve-room Meridian Club hotel
(phone 203/602-0300, fax 602-2265; US phone 1-800/331-9154, ) is one
of the finest of its kind in the world, priding itself on being
simple but classy ("barefoot elegance" is the apposite slogan), with
nature trails crossing the cay, and kayaks, snorkeling, fishing and
diving all available for guests. Rooms cost US$825/650 in
winter/summer based on double occupancy, and no children under 12
are allowed.
Beyond Pine
Cay as you head east, Fort George Cay once housed a fort erected in the
eighteenth century by the British to deter pirates from concealing themselves
and plunder pinched from Spanish galleons sailing further south. The fort is
long gone, though two of its iron cannons can be seen by smokeless in shallow
water just off the northwest shore.
Last in the chain and closest to North Caicos, Parrot Cay
(formerly known as Pirate Cay, and thought to have been a refuge for
pirates including Calico Jack, Anne Bonney and Mary Read) saw a
multimillion-dollar hotel (phone 649/946-7788, fax 946-7789; ) with
all mod cons open its doors in the late 1990s.
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With fifty rooms and six villas, some with private swimming pools,
and a fabulous spa, the place is altogether grander (and, most would
say, rather snootier) than the Meridian Club on Pine Cay. Prices starting
at US$400 a room/$2000 a villa mean that it's for the rich only, and
in true copy-cat style a bunch of celebrities have beaten a steady
trail here since it opened to the likes of Paul McCartney. Bruce
Willis and Donna Karan are building holiday homes on the cay.
Turks and Caicos Islands
Where to go
Getting there
Money and costs
Getting
around
Brief history
Best of Turks &
Caicos
Explore Turks and Caicos
Caicos
Orientation
Caicos Cays
Middle Caicos
Around the Island
Arrival, info, getting around
Hiking and biking
Concha Bar
North Caicos
The Island
Getting there and around
Restaurants
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