Travel to Turks and Caicos Islands

Flying to Turks and Caicos Islands

Multiple international airlines serve Providenciales International Airport (PLS), with onward connections available to Grand Turk and other islands. The main carrier is interCaribbean (intercaribbean.com).

British Airways (www.ba.com) flies from the UK (with a brief stop in Antigua). From the USA, there are direct flights with American Airlines (www.aa.com), Delta (www.delta.com), and JetBlue (www.jetblue.com) on a seasonal basis. Travellers are more likely to get discounted airfares during the Caribbean low season, mid-December to mid-April.

Notes

Despite its name, JAGS McCarthy International Airport (GDT) on Grand Turk does not currently have any scheduled international service; Providenciales is the sole international gateway to Turks & Caicos.

Airport Guides

Flight times

From London - 11 hours 30 minutes (including a short stop in Antigua); New York - 3 hours 30 minutes.

Air passes

None.

Departure tax

Included in the air fare.

Travelling to Turks and Caicos Islands by Rail

Driving to Turks and Caicos Islands

Getting to Turks and Caicos Islands by boat

The main ports are Grand Turk, Cockburn Harbour (South Caicos), Providenciales and Salt Cay.

Water note

You can charter boats to sail between islands as well as to the Bahamas or Haiti.

Cruise ships

Cruise lines currently calling at Grand Turk include Carnival (www.carnival.com), Holland America (www.hollandamerica.com), Princess Cruises (www.princess.com), and Silversea Cruises (www.silversea.com).

Grand Turk has a purpose-built cruise centre, which is regularly visited by cruise lines. The Grand Turk Cruise Center offers the usual duty-free shopping and tourist-friendly dining opportunities plus some interesting entertainment alternatives, including a pool area with a FlowRider wave machine that visitors can bodysurf or ride on a kneeboard. You can also take a swim off Ocean Beach, where you can snorkel and peer down on a sunken 18th-century cannon and anchors.

On the south side of the cruise centre is an exhibit detailing the island’s association with the US space program. Visitors may also book shore excursions or hire taxis and rent cars once onshore.

Downtown Cockburn Town, the capital of Turks & Caicos, is approximately 5km (3 miles) from the cruise centre. Some visitors choose to walk, but there are no pavements, so a car ride might be a safer option.