The Location of Grand Turk
Grand Turk is an island in the country of Turks and Caicos, a British Overseas Territory located in the Atlantic Ocean between the Dominican Republic and the Bahamas. Grand Turk is the home of Cockburn Town, which is the capital city of the Turks and Caicos Islands.
Grand Turk is about 650 miles (1,046 km) distant from Miami, Florida, and 450 miles (724 km) from the city of Nassau in the Bahamas.
Grand Turk has an airport, the Grand Turk JAGS McCartney International Airport (GDT), yet there are currently no scheduled international flights that fly to the island. Most visitors to Grand Turk arrive via cruise ship, which docks at the Grand Turk Cruise Center. A comparative minority of guests, who tend to be scuba diving enthusiasts wanting to explore the phenomenal coral reefs offshore, fly into the Turks and Caicos via the Providenciales International Airport (PLS) before boarding a domestic island hopper flight to Grand Turk.
As the country name suggests, the archipelago is made up of two island groups: the Turks Islands and the Caicos Islands. The Turks Islands consist of the relatively small islands of Grand Turk, Salt Cay, and a handful of tiny uninhabited cays, and the far more extensive Caicos Islands are home to more than 90 named islands, cays, and rocks, and seven inhabited islands. The two island groups are divided by a 6,000-foot-deep (1,829 m) and 20-mile-wide (32 km) rift called the Turks Island Passage. The channel was formerly named the Columbus Passage after Christopher Columbus, who some historians argue made first landfall in the Americas on Grand Turk.
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Cruise Ship Guests
Nearly all visitors to Grand Turk arrive by cruise ship for the day, and ships dock at the Grand Turk Cruise Center. It's highly advised that cruise ship guests do a little research prior to landing so as to make the most of their visit to the Turks and Caicos.
Grand Turk is a safe and fun island to explore on your own. One of our top recommendations is simply to rent a car, scooter, or golf cart and explore. For information on great things to do and attractions, see Things to Do and Beaches of Grand Turk.
How to Get to Grand Turk by Flight
If you’re interested in staying overnight on Grand Turk, there’s a small collection of quaint boutique hotels and villas. As there are no international flights to Grand Turk, it’s necessary to enter the Turks and Caicos through Providenciales or South Caicos, and then take a domestic flight via a small aircraft to Grand Turk. There are two local airlines that offer regularly scheduled service. Immigration and customs clearance takes place upon landing at the Providenciales International Airport (PLS) or the South Caicos Airport (XSC).
The Grand Turk Airport is small and quaint, and is located on the southern end of the island near Governor’s Beach and English Point Beach. Rental cars can be picked up onsite, which makes it easy to visit Grand Turk via a day trip from Providenciales.
Locations on Grand Turk
Grand Turk isn’t extensive, yet due to the sea salt industry that once operated here, there are fascinating and beautiful historical buildings to discover. Salt production primarily took place on Grand Turk, Salt Cay, and South Caicos, yet Grand Turk was largely the center of trade and government, resulting in some of the best civic infrastructure of the period being built on the island. There’s the iconic Grand Turk Lighthouse, the scenic beachfront Front Street, the Turks and Caicos National Museum in historical Guinep House, Her Majesty’s Prison, the Victoria Library, and many beautiful colonial homes.
In addition to the sights and attractions on land, the island offers the incredible Governor's Beach, Pillory Beach, English Point Beach, Cockburn Town Beach, and the Cruise Center Beach.