Turks and Caicos Incredible Photos & Pictures

The one and only Grace Bay Beach on Providenciales. This unrivaled beach has taken countless awards and accolades, and is home to a wide range of luxury hotels and resorts, from the expansive Beaches Turks & Caicos family all-inclusive, to smaller boutique hotels.

The quiet Leeward Beach is adjacent to Grace Bay to the east, and vies with it in sheer beauty. A few low rock jetties and outcroppings break the white sand beach in a few places, but it’s definitely one of the top beaches in the Turks and Caicos.

The uninhabited paradise of Water Cay is a top destination for boat charters from Providenciales. This island offers an amazing beach, low white cliffs, and tranquil seclusion. There’s even a small shipwreck to snorkel on the east side of the cay!

The Turks and Caicos archipelago is supported by an underwater plateau, and the edges of this plateau usually have quite dramatic transitions from shallow to deep.

It’s typical for depths to go from 40-50 feet (12-15 m) into the thousands. This drop-off, or wall, features some of the best scuba diving and freediving in the Caribbean, with vibrant coral, schools of colorful fish, and cruising sharks.

Due to their sheltered locations on the leeward side of islands, the Malcolm’s Road area and the West Caicos Marine National Park off the uninhabited island of West Caicos have amazing water clarity, and are some of the best spots in the country for underwater photography.

The Turks and Caicos is known for its peaceful beaches and breathtaking blue water, yet we have some awe-inspiring landscapes as well. Mudjin Harbour on the sparsely-populated island of Middle Caicos is one such vista.

Here, high limestone cliffs overlook the deep blue ocean off the Caicos Plateau. Mudjin Harbour is especially impressive when the ocean swell is high, and the spray from waves breaking over Dragon Cay can reach more than a hundred feet (30 m) high at times.

Long Bay Beach on Providenciales is one of the best kiting locations in the region, with shallow clear water, and a soft sandy ocean floor. This coast is also a favorite for horseback riding, and Provo Ponies can be seen making the trek once or twice a day.

Pristine reefs surround the Turks and Caicos, and many are excellent snorkeling spots. This reef near Leeward on Providenciales offers exquisite coral arches and gullies, as well as yellow sea fan beds.

This amazing spot is the far northeast point of the island of Providenciales. Its proper name is Leeward Going Through Point, but many refer to it as Emerald Point.

In the distance here is the nature reserve island of Little Water Cay. There’s always something going on here, from the opulent yachts cruising to and from Blue Haven Marina, to kayakers and wakeboarders enjoying the vibrant turquoise water.

Half Moon Bay, which is a sandbar that connects Little Water Cay to Water Cay, features an amazing beach on its north coast and a crystal-clear sheltered lagoon to the south. The site is a favorite with boat charters and kiteboarders. The indigenous Turks and Caicos Rock Iguana can be seen scurrying through the dunes, and tiny lemon sharks swim through the shallows here.

The Turks and Caicos supports vast mangrove wetlands, including the extensive Ramsar Nature Reserve off the southern coasts of North Caicos, Middle Caicos, and East Caicos.

Due to its ease of access from Providenciales, Mangrove Cay in the Princess Alexandra Nature Reserve is the top paddleboarding and kayaking spot in the country. Local water sports company Big Blue Collective has been pioneering eco-adventures into these verdant channels for decades.

Most of our visitors are unaware that the Turks and Caicos is home to a great number of underwater caves and blue holes. Some, such as Cottage Pond on North Caicos and The Hole on Providenciales are modest tourist attractions, yet others go without recognition. This example is found inland on one of our uninhabited islands. That’s a snorkeler in the center of the photo.

The West Caicos Marine National Park protects some of the best wall diving in the Caribbean, and features some of the clearest ocean water in our archipelago. Coastal cliffs line the edge of the park here, and the fascinating Yankee Town historical site is close by as well.

Grace Bay Beach is a great place to herald in the New Year. Many resorts put on a colorful fireworks displays, and explosions can be seen spanning from Parrot Cay to Northwest Point.

Many of the channels between the Caicos Islands exhibit great visits, with sandbars, turquoise and blue channels, and beautiful beaches. Parrot Cay shown here is one such site. In the background is the exclusive COMO Parrot Cay Resort, a retreat that’s a popular choice with celebrities.

The shallow Greenwich Creek channel leads into the turquoise lagoon of Bottle Creek at North Caicos. The island seen here is Bay Cay, which is part of the East Bay Islands National Park.

The Turks and Caicos offers a flourishing collection of rental villas, with vacation homes ranging from quiet cottages to expansive mansions. This rental is Villa La Koubba, an elegant Moroccan-style home at the beautiful Sapodilla Bay Beach.

Plandon Cay Cut Beach is located off the island of South Caicos and is a picturesque collection of channels, cays, and shallows. This area has one of the most impressive ranges of water hues in the Turks and Caicos.

Providenciales has two popular beach snorkeling reefs: the Bight Reef and Smith’s Reef. These reefs are home to colorful fish, rays, and small creatures such as shrimp, snails, crabs, and lobsters.

Eagle rays can often be seen cruising back and forth in the seagrass beds at these shore reefs.

These large 1700s cannons were once part of Fort Saint George, a defensive complex that has since completely succumbed to coastal erosion. The cannons are in very shallow water and make for a very interesting snorkeling spot. Today, the uninhabited island of Fort George Cay is a favorite place for day trips.

The south coast beaches of Sapodilla Bay and Taylor Bay are typically sheltered from the regular eastern trade winds, and the water at these beaches is very calm and shallow. Both locations are home to luxury vacation rentals.

The small yet elegant Grand Turk Lighthouse is the only lighthouse in the Turks and Caicos. This structure was commissioned after the sinking of the R.M.S Medina on North Reef, which was the first British Royal Mail ship to be lost at sea.

The tiny and isolated island of French Cay in the Caicos Islands was also a consideration as a lighthouse location. By the later 1700s, many vessels had sunk on the treacherous reefs in the area. At the time the French controlled Haiti, and they sent an engineer to survey the cay. However, the Haitian Revolution occurred and the project was abandoned.

The Caicos Banks is an extensive shallow marine bank that’s located off the south coasts of the Caicos Islands. Much of this area features shallow, clear ocean with a sandy bottom. On calm days the Caicos Banks is surreal, as it looks like the world’s largest swimming pool.

Parasailing offers a breathtaking view of the exquisite marine environment of the Turks and Caicos. Along with the crystal clear ocean, you’ll see coral, luxury resorts, boats, and the fascinating spur and groove formations of the Caicos barrier reef. If there’s an ocean swell, the waves breaking over the reef are majestic as well.

Many of the shallow sections of the Caicos barrier reef support a serene environment of sea fan and soft coral. These Gorgonians are found in vibrant hues of yellow and purple, and it’s difficult for photos to do this underwater scene justice.

There’s even a small cay in the Turks and Caicos that’s sort of shaped like a heart!

The exquisite sand and turquoise ocean water at Leeward Beach, Providenciales.

The Turks and Caicos has a truly breathtaking spectrum of ocean hues, and several reasons account for this. See Why the Turks and Caicos has the Best Beaches in the World.

Another view of the amazing Grace Bay Beach on Providenciales.

The La Famille Express off of Long Bay Beach on Providenciales is a very popular boat charter stop. This eye-catching shipwreck was grounded on the shallow Caicos Banks during Hurricane Frances in 2004.

The Turks and Caicos is home to a wide array of birds, including the Caribbean flamingo, ospreys, many types of herons and egrets, spoonbills, brown pelicans, and more. We have some great birdwatching spots.