Many major U.S. airports, including my home base of Dallas/Fort Worth International, have non-stop flights to the island that are four hours or less. John F. Kennedy is just three and a half hours away. You can get there from Charlotte, North Carolina in three hours. Miami is a whopping two-hour journey.
Preserve even more precious vacay time by traveling on an off-peak day to avoid long waits in security and custom lines. (While it’s a short journey, it is international travel, so be sure your passport is good to go well in advance of your departure date. Like months in advance these days.)
Providenciales International in Turks & Caicos welcomes flights from all over the world; but it’s small facility with one runway and one customs area. High travel days like Friday, Saturday and Sunday can leave you frustrated and frazzled. But we flew in on a Monday, and getting through customs was a tropical breeze. Literally.
You’ll exit the plane via stairs leading down to the tarmac and walk into the airport terminal.
But don’t worry. You’ll acclimate and soon be feeling cooling breezes off the gorgeous turquoise-toned waters.
Especially if you choose to enlist the services of a private driver instead of trying to rent a car or flag a taxi. Trust me. It’s totally worth it, and not that crazy expensive. My husband, the family Uber driver wherever we go whether at home or away, was treated to a map-free, argue-less week of simply sitting back and watching the scenery while chatting with our amazing driver, Dr. Love.
With one simple text introduction via the gracious owner of the Villa we called home for a week, we were connected with Dr. Love…and he was already waiting at the curb for us as we rolled our suitcases out the baggage claim area.
Dr. Love gave us a big friendly island welcome. Grabbed our suitcases and heaved them into his air-conditioned van. Then he loaded us, and off we went. The fare was just $40 from the airport to Grace Bay. Plus a tip of at least 15%.
From an 11 a.m. takeoff at Dallas/Fort Worth International, to digging our toes into the sand of the internationally acclaimed Grace Bay in time for a late afternoon ocean swim and sunset happy hour, this was our easiest international journey. Ever.
That’s paradise in my book!
Spectacular views of Turks & Caicos can be seen on the approach to Providenciales International Airport.
Driving from the airport to Villa 306 on the “wrong” side of the road was not a problem with the help of Dr. Love.
Within a few short hours the hustle of daily life is replaced.
GETTING AROUND TURKS & CAICOS
