Hollywood Beach North Caicos
Hollywood Beach is a secluded coast located on the central north coast of North Caicos. The beach features white sand and turquoise water. The eastern extent of the beach is marked by Hollywood Hill, after which the beach becomes Pelican Beach. The western boundary is the coastal cliffs of Pumpkin Bluff, which terminate the beach. Invasive casuarina trees line much of the coastline.
Hollywood Beach is located near the settlement of Whitby, and about a 10-minute drive from the Bellefield Landing ferry port.
As is the case with most of the beaches on North Caicos and Middle Caicos, and in contrast to its Florida namesake, Hollywood Beach is quite quiet and secluded, and you’ll likely have the entire beach to yourself.
There isn’t much snorkeling in the area, and underwater visibility in the area typically isn’t great due to the usual wind chop. The Caicos Barrier Reef is found about 0.6 miles (1 km) offshore, which mitigates the open ocean swell, and typically a line of white waves can be seen breaking on the reef. During calm and clear conditions, southern stingrays, turtles, and small fish can be seen in the seagrass beds close off of Hollywood Beach.
The Wind and Seaweed
Hollywood Beach is usually exposed to the typical eastern trade winds, so ocean surface conditions at the beach are often choppy, with small to moderate amounts of turtle grass and seaweed and sargassum often accumulating on the beach and in the ocean.
Prospect of Whitby
The most significant manmade feature in the Hollywood Beach area is the abandoned and dilapidated remains of the Prospect of Whitby hotel. This site was a 25-room boutique hotel that opened in 1974 and closed in the early 2000s.
Although not a large resort, the Prospect of Whitby attempted to offer a great range of amenities. There were tennis courts, a scuba diving operation, restaurant, and swimming pool.
As is common in the Turks and Caicos, after the property ceased operations, it was quickly looted of anything of value. Today, the Prospect of Whitby has been largely reclaimed by the vegetation, and the decaying structures are a hazard.
The River Arc
Despite almost entirely having succumbed to the elements now, the bow of a wrecked freighter still remains on the barrier reef offshore. This vessel was the River Arc, an abandoned drug-running cargo ship that appeared in the Turks and Caicos in 1985 and drifted onto the reef.
Theo de Booy’s Cave
A small yet interesting feature is a little open-faced cave, which is found hidden in the casuarinas a short distance from the beach. Theo de Booy, a famous archaeologist who visited the Turks and Caicos in the early 1900s, found Lucayan ceramic shards in this cave. It appears that there may have been a partial collapse of the cave since the exploration by de Booy.
Beach Accesses
Silver Palms is the primary beach access.