Caicos Middle Caicos
Dream TCI, BWI

Preparing For Your Trip


Our first trip to Middle Caicos got off to a somewhat uncertain start. A few things went awry on the way there, like a missing bag in Miami, so we were a little worn from the long trip. Arriving on the island we found that the owner we rented from hadn't followed through on some of our requests, so we thought we might have made a bad choice in our vacation destination.

We gave it our best shot, learned how the island worked, and realized that we were, in fact, in the right spot for a great vacation.

I hope you can benefit from some of the things we learned about vacationing on Middle Caicos.

Connecting to Middle Caicos

We're used to traveling with too many bags. This first became a problem at Miami where we ran into the two-bag limit on checked baggage for international flights. As they sometimes are, the ticket agent was lenient with us and let us check the extra bag. Returning from Provo, we ran into the same limit. This agent didn't seem to show the same leniency, so we just carried one of the small ones on.

The small planes that serve the out islands of the Turks and Caicos, however, have to answer to an even higher authority than international treaties. They have to heed the laws of physics. There's only so much room to stow luggage and only so much the planes can lift. They run into these limitations long before the big guys do.

The airlines of the Turks and Caicos limit you to two pieces and 40 pounds per passenger. Anything over this is charged at a rate of $0.30 per pound. That's not a lot but I hadn't counted on it.

The day we were to leave, we ran afoul of the physical limits as well. When our scheduled flight arrived, our seats were available but there wasn't room available for our bags. "I'll try to send someone back for you", the pilot said. And then he left.

We contemplated just giving up and accepting that we were marooned forever on a tropical island. Instead, we spent the next few hours calling the various airlines and finally managed to get on our way home. On the way, we connected through Chicago right after the biggest blizzard in history, but that's another story...

The moral of the story is Pack Lightly!

Restaurants

There aren't any.

All of the rental properties that I know of are villas or guest house with kitchen facilities. Don't forget that's it's your wife's vacation, too. So help with the cooking or at least wash the dishes.

There actually is one "dining out" option. Annie Taylor, in the town of Conch Bar, is an excellent cook. We dropped by her house and asked if we could arrange for a home cooked meal. At 5:30 the next evening Annie served us three different local fishes along with cole slaw and a traditional rice and beans dish. We ate in Annie and Henry's dining room while sharing conversation with them and their grandchildren. The meal was reasonably priced.

Groceries

Middle Caicos has several small grocery stores. They are all located next to the owner's home. To shop, knock on the owner's door. There was an adequate selection though prices were higher, as you would expect. We found:

You can also order groceries to be delivered by plane from one of the stores on Provo. One family we met on the island ordered "some turkey breast". What showed up was a whole deli-style smoked turkey breast priced at $53. Perhaps they should have been more specific.

On our next trip to Middle Caicos, we arrive on Friday. The ferry runs to North Caicos on Saturday so we plan to take a trip over there for some shopping. The stores are larger and have a more varied selection.

Transportation

I hear that a taxi always arrives at the airport soon after a plane arrives. The airport's just south of Conch Bar where at least two taxi drivers live (Cardinal Arthur and Hormel Harvey). Since we were expected, our taxi, driven by Hedley Forbes of Bambarra, was waiting when we arrived.

A few vehicles are available for rent with daily and weekly rates. We rented a small pickup. This worked well since we could load up groceries, snorkelling gear, other tourists, whatever we needed. The other vehicles are small jeeps and might not have suited our needs as well.

Don't forget to roll up your windows at night. The heaviest rains were at night.

There are two gas stations on the island. Both ran out of gas during the busy holiday period when we were there. Gas sold for $3.50 per gallon.

Bugs

When the wind was blowing, we had no problem with bugs. When it wasn't, we did. We swatted a few mosquitos but the real nuisance was the sand fleas. The lovely tan we had on our return was peppered with little bites. On the brighter side, they were proof the tan was authentic.

Bring bug spray. It worked well.


[ Home ] : CaicosDream


[ Prev ] : A Few Useful Links

Mike Ramsey
Thu Apr 01,1999