Our day in Grand Turk

[busiestmommy]

I spent lots of time reading here before we cruised (8/27/07) and felt like it was my duty to report back.

 

We spent most of our day in Grand Turk at the beach at the Bohio resort. It was gorgeous! We got off the ship by 7:30 am, rented scooters just outside the cruise terminal gates (from Tony), and scooted around the island; all the way up to the lighthouse, along the coast, through town etc... We did come across donkey and cattle in the road and really didn't meet much traffic at all. We knew Bohio was going to be our eventual destination but had fun seeing the island, their schools, homes, businesses, and all of the new construction going up. We got directions from two separate islanders, one who pulled up in his car and said "where are you headed", then told us to follow him so we could get onto the correct road. The other walked about a block down the street to point around a corner and show us the proper road. Everyone we met there could not have been nicer! --- I brought a couple of maps with us but they weren't of much use - not very many of the streets have signs and often times it is difficult to tell what is a road or a private driveway.

 

When our group of 4 got to Bohio there was one other couple on the beach. Eventually we were joined by a family with 3 children. So we pretty much had the beach to our selves. We rented a lounger for $10, started off with 2 corona for $8 and began relaxing. The water was very still and clear and the sand was super fine. My husband and I swam out to the reef that was off shore. We followed the description that someone else had posted on here that you had to go over the sea grass bed and then past a rocky wall like feature, then it really opened up to reef. It should be said that I am not a strong swimmer AT ALL, I was wearing a snorkel vest but no flippers and didn't have any problems getting out/back. We saw lots of fish, all of the tangs, angels, and parrot fish etc that you would expect. There was quite a bit of coral (even the pretty blue ones), a huge purple sea fan, 2 anemone, several big urchin, some largish brain corals, etc.... My husband even said he saw a little baby nurse shark of some kind (I can’t corroborate that one) We all agreed that we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves.

 

There was shade if we had wanted/needed it. Lots of watersportsy kind of equipment etc. We did not have lunch there as we had to be back on the ship by 2 pm. We brought our own snorkel gear (I’m a petite person and actually use jr. size gear) so I cant speak to the equipment that they had there. There were plenty of taxis at the cruise terminal but none sitting, waiting at Bohio. (But I'm sure one could have been called.)

 

I should also note that we stopped by Margaritaville for the required Margarita on our way back aboard. Small plastic cup of margarita and one corona was $16. It was defiantly the loud party kind of environment, not really what I personally have in mind for a day of relaxation. But there were a ton of empty beach chairs on the water too where it was a little quieter.

 

We have talked that our next vacation may be just be a week to Grand Turk. We enjoyed it that much. Hope this helps someone out there, sorry to be so long winded! I will check back here -if anyone has any other questions that I can try to help with??

[rebeljohn]

Thanks for your report...............The wife and I like snorkeling, and we have thought about going here for our time in GT.

Is there a charge for going to the Bohio Resort? Any kind of entry fee?

 

Thanks...........

[busiestmommy]

no there is no charge or entry fee. I think that the idea is that you will be drinking/eating/rent chairs or equipment, so that essentially pays them for the use of their beach. I think that I read that you could book excursions through them as well. On thier web page it talks about the snorkel/dive opportunities. www.bohioresort.com.

[rebeljohn]

THANKS!!! I guess now you can get back to being the busiest mommy...........:)

[WeRockChalkKU]

How much was the scooter rental? Were they for 1 rider or would 2 fit on?

 

Thanks for all the other info.

[McDebbie]

My question too, could two fit on the scooter? I am not at all sure about how to drive one, did they give you instructions? I think it would be totally cool to set off on a scooter around a Caribbean island, especially if they are as friendly as you say they are. We don't want to march with the bus band if you know what I mean.

[busiestmommy]

yes two could fit on the scooter without a problem, and he had plenty of helmets to go around. In our case the four of us took them individually because we didn't know if we might want to split up later. In hindsight we could have paired up and saved some money. But it was nice to be able to stop when you wanted to take a picture without having to discuss it with someone else....

 

I had never in my life been on a motorized 2 wheel anything. Tony showed us how to start and stop, go fast and slow. He told us not to use the front brake only the back one. I think the hardest part was getting the kick stand up and down!;) IMO you would have to try very hard to wreck one of these... unless you were a lunatic running head first into parked cars. However, this is a British Colony and they drive on the left side of the road. I found this was only an issue when at an intersection and you had to think for a quick second which lane to turn into. I think I read that the speed limit on the island is 25 mph. We paid $55 for each scooter in cash to Tony. We made sure we had exact change so it would be easy on him. He had us fill out a short form giving our name and stateside address as well as drivers liscence number. He has a website and answered my e-mail questions within 2 or 3 days. (tonyscarrental.com)

 

I should add that Tony was waiting for us just outside the gates to the cruise terminal, not actually in the terminal (not where all of the shore excursions are meeting). We walked towards the area where cabs were waiting and then asked one of them where we would find Tony. One of the guys hanging out there (a cab driver I assumed) actually called Tony on his cell phone for us to find out where Tony was waiting (he was only about 50 yards, but outside the gate, from where we were standing)

 

We did also drive by Govenor's Beach as we left the south end of the island but wanted to do more exporing before we stopped, so I can't comment on it, other than to say it was really close to the pier. Also we really wished our snorkel gear and stuff had been in a backpack instead of a bag with shoulder straps (we ended up putting our bag between my husbands feet.)

 

hope this helps!

[McDebbie]

Thanks for the web site, I just checked and scooters are now $60 per day but I think it would be fun.

[RLKELK]

busiestmommy : GREAT post and good info; we are visiting GT this October - with our new "Triumph roll call" friend McDebbie (previous post-have not met yet but she is from Ohio so just based on that fact alone she is really good people).

The scooters sound like a reall hoot n holler- now if I can talk the Admiral into just one more scooter ride. :eek: (long story- funny now but not at the time- I will share it with you over the corona below):)

Have a great day - hope to someday meet you guys - buy you one of those $4 coronas. vbmenu_register("postmenu_11587939", true);

[KelliKevin]

BusiestMommy:

Also another Thank-you! We now know to rent ONE scooter and take a backpack! You have been a tremendous help!

I am also on the cruise with the other two posters above!

Any directions you want to share on which road to take?????

thanks again!

[robomom]

I spent lots of time reading here before we cruised (8/27/07) and felt like it was my duty to report back.

 

We spent most of our day in Grand Turk at the beach at the Bohio resort. It was gorgeous! We got off the ship by 7:30 am, rented scooters just outside the cruise terminal gates (from Tony), and scooted around the island; all the way up to the lighthouse, along the coast, through town etc... We did come across donkey and cattle in the road and really didn't meet much traffic at all. We knew Bohio was going to be our eventual destination but had fun seeing the island, their schools, homes, businesses, and all of the new construction going up. We got directions from two separate islanders, one who pulled up in his car and said "where are you headed", then told us to follow him so we could get onto the correct road. The other walked about a block down the street to point around a corner and show us the proper road. Everyone we met there could not have been nicer! --- I brought a couple of maps with us but they weren't of much use - not very many of the streets have signs and often times it is difficult to tell what is a road or a private driveway.

 

When our group of 4 got to Bohio there was one other couple on the beach. Eventually we were joined by a family with 3 children. So we pretty much had the beach to our selves. We rented a lounger for $10, started off with 2 corona for $8 and began relaxing. The water was very still and clear and the sand was super fine. My husband and I swam out to the reef that was off shore. We followed the description that someone else had posted on here that you had to go over the sea grass bed and then past a rocky wall like feature, then it really opened up to reef. It should be said that I am not a strong swimmer AT ALL, I was wearing a snorkel vest but no flippers and didn't have any problems getting out/back. We saw lots of fish, all of the tangs, angels, and parrot fish etc that you would expect. There was quite a bit of coral (even the pretty blue ones), a huge purple sea fan, 2 anemone, several big urchin, some largish brain corals, etc.... My husband even said he saw a little baby nurse shark of some kind (I can’t corroborate that one) We all agreed that we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves.

 

There was shade if we had wanted/needed it. Lots of watersportsy kind of equipment etc. We did not have lunch there as we had to be back on the ship by 2 pm. We brought our own snorkel gear (I’m a petite person and actually use jr. size gear) so I cant speak to the equipment that they had there. There were plenty of taxis at the cruise terminal but none sitting, waiting at Bohio. (But I'm sure one could have been called.)

 

I should also note that we stopped by Margaritaville for the required Margarita on our way back aboard. Small plastic cup of margarita and one corona was $16. It was defiantly the loud party kind of environment, not really what I personally have in mind for a day of relaxation. But there were a ton of empty beach chairs on the water too where it was a little quieter.

 

We have talked that our next vacation may be just be a week to Grand Turk. We enjoyed it that much. Hope this helps someone out there, sorry to be so long winded! I will check back here -if anyone has any other questions that I can try to help with??

 

Can you give us directions on how to get to Bohio by scooters?