Necessary to book excursion?

[AnonymousAllie]

Hi all,

Is it recommended to book an excursion for Grand Turk? Or is it easily walkable by foot?

[Loonbeam]

Depends what you want to do? Carnival has a nice beach right near the ship. Anything else (going into town or another beach) you will need some sort of transportation. The island is small, but its still around 9 miles to the lighthouse for example, I wouldn't want to walk that in the heat and sun.

 

 

Unless you had a specific activity in mind, I don't think an excursion is necessary per se.....

[OCruisers]

Not needed unless you want to go someplace other than the beach there and/or Margaritaville. :)

[kgymn]

Definitely don't need to book an excursion unless you want to, say, go on a snorkel boat. There are taxi vans that will take you where you want to go or even do an island tour if you want to see the whole island. We took a taxi to governors beach ($4 per person) then walked the road from there back towards the ship, hit Jack's Shack for a while, meandered back to Margaritaville and had a drink there and a dip in the pool.

[b&hluv2cruise]

Definitely don't need to book an excursion unless you want to, say, go on a snorkel boat. There are taxi vans that will take you where you want to go or even do an island tour if you want to see the whole island. We took a taxi to governors beach ($4 per person) then walked the road from there back towards the ship, hit Jack's Shack for a while, meandered back to Margaritaville and had a drink there and a dip in the pool.

 

 

How far was the walk from Governors Beach to Margaritaville? Did you walk along the beach? Did it feel safe?

 

Thanks!

[Pellaz]

How far was the walk from Governors Beach to Margaritaville? Did you walk along the beach? Did it feel safe?

 

Thanks!

 

When your ship arrives it will be facing toward the pier, so watch from the port side. As you approach you'll see a tilted over, half-sunken ship. Governor's Beach is right behind that. Then you'll see a small commercial pier next to it, and then Jack's Shack. Margaritaville is right near the cruise-center pier.

That should give you a good feel for the distance. It's maybe a ten minute walk along the beach, although at (or near) Jack's Shack you'll have to walk out to the road since you're not allowed to walk under the commercial pier.

 

As for safety, Grand Turk's permanent population is around 4,000, so when a ship docks, the population briefly doubles. They are dependent on cruise tourism and the last thing any resident of Grand Turk would want is an unsafe reputation or lots of crime. While no destination is completely safe, Grand Turk is surely one of the safest islands in the Caribbean.