For years, the Turks & Caicos Islands' considerable natural attributes were known to just a fortunate few -- many of them divers and snorkelers exploring the stunning ring of coral reefs and dramatic drop-offs of the continental shelf wall. But the sun-kissed archipelago is undiscovered no more: Overnight, it seems, resorts, restaurants, and tour operators have sprung up like mushrooms after a spring rain. Construction along the beauteous 19km (12 miles) of Grace Bay Beach is fashioning a lineup of sleek condos and resort hotels, and the tourist infrastructure is racing to catch up. Notoriously potholed dirt roads have been neatly paved (sidewalks even!), and a brand-new Hotel School at the Grace Bay Club is helping train a first-generation hospitality community.
Even with all the madcap development the islands have undergone in the last 5 years, the Turks & Caicos Islands (or "the TCI") have retained their getaway-vacation feel. The islands are best appreciated if you prefer your pleasures laid-back. If your idea of entertainment is 24-hour steel drums on the beach or a superheated nightlife, you may be disappointed (I take that back -- there's always Club Med). The partying is more a sip-a-beer-in-a-beach-shack variety, with shade from casuarina trees and unencumbered views of that incredible turquoise sea.
This is not to say that you can't get your fill of high-adrenaline outdoor adventures. You can scuba-dive a vertical undersea wall where the continental shelf drops a heart-stopping mile deep (Scuba Diving magazine named the TCI one of the top 10 best diving sites in the world). You can parasail high over Grace Bay and actually swim alongside humpback whales or velvety stingrays. You can cast a line for bonefish, reef fish, night fish -- or free-dive 6m (20 ft.) down to the sea bottom for fresh conch.
Still, what is most remarkable, in even the most heavily touristed spots like Grace Bay, is what you don't experience. You never hear the roar of jet skis or scores of motorboats (the coral reef is a protected national park and simply too shallow in spots to allow powerboats and personal water craft to be rented without a captain aboard in most cases). You don't see giant water parks rising up over the horizon or sunbathers packed cheek by jowl. You aren't confronted by an army of pushy hucksters roaming the beach.
If you dream of lying on a pristine parcel of sugary sand encircled by a mesmerizing aquamarine sea, or want nothing more than to spend an afternoon happily bubbling about a living, breathing coral reef with mask and snorkel, book a trip now.