Geocaching in Turks & Caicos

It was nice to sleep in a little bit this morning as I didn’t wake up until 8:30. We left the house about 10:30 and I dropped Amanda and Erica off at the place they like to get coffee and blueberry muffins. I proceeded to go snag the geocache near the Beaches resort. I had assumed the cache would be behind the Beaches resort sign, but as I approached I could tell the cache was across the street. I started looking in some likely spots and didn’t see anything but garbage. I thought for sure this was going to be another failed attempt, but I expanded my search a bit and came up with the cache. Whew!! I felt relieved and thought I was starting the day on the right foot as I had planned to do a bunch of caches today.

I went back to the coffee place and met back up with Amanda and Erica who were still eating their muffin. The timing had worked out great and I’m glad I didn’t take too much time with the cache. When they were done I took them down the road for three more caches. The one I chose to do without them did not offer any great views, but the next couple were located just off the beach where we could take in the beautiful blue water. Thankfully both were super easy finds. Sometimes I just don’t mind walking up and knowing exactly where to look and find it. The last cache in the area was outside a cafe. Once again I found it quickly. I was relieved to have found all four that I attempted.

We next drove to Taylor Bay. It was raining ever so slightly but it seemed like a lot of people were leaving the beach when we arrived. This was good news for us because it made getting a parking spot that much easier as there was only roadside parking. The water in the bay was a stunning calm blue and the sand was like flour. So soft and powdery. The beach wasn’t long and easy to walk the whole thing. There was a geocache located just off the beach. Erica, Amanda, and I all began the hunt in the many nooks and crannies of the rock and Erica came up with the find. We continued to walk along the beach to where it became rocky. There was a trail so we decided to walk and explore it. We didn’t see anything unusual on the mini hike and just enjoyed the great views.

We left Taylor Bay with the intent to go to Sapodilla Bay next, but we then did a spur of the moment decision to drive the road in the other direction along Chalk Sound National Park. Every now and again we woud get glimpses of even bluer, blue water. At the end of the road there was a nice little path to see the sound up close and personal. I just can’t even describe how pretty it is. I’m glad we came down this way to check it out.

We then headed back to Sapodilla Bay beach. Parking was a little congested there too and we were about ready to turn into an area of the road that looked like it had some parking, but a very nice lady walking in the street told us we didn’t want to do that because it was a big drop off from the street to the dirt area. She guided us to another spot that worked out perfectly. We grabbed all our stuff out of the trunk anticipating that we would sit and enjoy the beach. We were surprised when we got to the beach and saw all the lounge chairs, music, and bars set up. This was not our beach vibe at all. Erica and Amanda took our stuff back to the car as I walked down the short beach to access another cache. I realized however, when I got to the end of the beach that this cache was not accessible from the beach. I turned around and met back up with Erica and Amanda who were walking towards me. We walked back to the car and came up with the plan to approach the geocache from the street and and then to go back to Omar’s Beach Hut for lunch. Amanda was still craving the ribs I had yesterday.

We turned down a private road and saw there was a little path that led to a gravel parking lot area where it looked like the trailhead was for the geocache. The sign on the road said it was private drive and no parking was allowed, but we weren’t sure how to get into the gravel parking lot area where we probably should have been. Erica and Amanda said they would stay in the car and told me to go off and find the cache. The cache was located on top of a hill that had a rocky trail. Pirates had left their names carved in rocks at the top, which is why it’s one of the reasons the geocache was placed here. It wasn’t the best trail to do in flip flops, but I managed. The views from the top of the hill were great and after a few minutes of arriving at ground zero I spotted the caches hiding spot. It’s too bad Erica and Amanda didn’t come with me on this one. This was one of those geocaches that took you somewhere cool that you otherwise would have never have gone. While I was doing the cache a security guard did approach Erica and Amanda about where we had parked. They explained geocaching to him and told him that we wouldn’t be parked there long. He seemed confused, but was ok with it and let them stay.

It was after 2:00 at this point and we were all feeling hungry. Back to Omar’s Beach Hut we went. Amanda and I got the ribs (yes they were that good that I got them 2 days in a row) and Erica had the nachos. We had a different waitress then the day before and even though the menu states that the ribs come with one side, she told us it came with two. Bonus!! Today I chose the coleslaw and sweet plantains. Both were delicious and the ribs were just as good as the day before. The sweet plantains really had a dessert quality to them so that was nice addition to the meal.

From Omar’s we decided to check out a couple of beaches near Smith’s reef called Babalua Beach and Sunset Beach. Here we walked the beach looking for treasures, but didn’t really find any. There was a lot of broken glass, but all was too fresh and not “cooked”. Someday that beach might be home to some nice sea glass, but not today.

It was getting late, but we went back over to Smith’s reef to snorkel around the buoyed areas (a.k.a. The Snorkeling Trail) this time. It was pretty windy and the water was super choppy. We went just a little way before we decided it was too choppy to be snorkeling and headed back in. I did see a turtle on the reef so that was cool.

We went back to the AirBnB and made it in time to watch the sunset. I saw a turtle popping it’s head out of the water in the canal as if he was saying hello. Erica had gotten a headache after snorkeling and was done for the night, but Amanda and I took a dip in the pool and started packing. We hung out and worked on finishing the beers and Malibu that we had bought and played two games of SkipBo. I won one and she won one.

This has been such a great trip. The Turks and Caicos have beautiful water and beaches. I would definitely consider returning and if I do, my goal would be to walk the beaches from end to end. I can see getting dropped off on one end of the island and getting picked up on the other. It would kind of be like walking around Lake Geneva, but instead around the island. Whose in? Erica? Leah? Kristin?

Stats of the Day

Steps: 13,766
Geocaches: 6 of 6
Number of Times We Turned the Air Conditioning on In the AirBnB This Week: 0
Number of Times we Thought About Turning on the Air Conditioning This Week: 0