Grand Turk Cruise Port — Local services in Grand Turk

UPDATE: We visited again in late March 2024. The weather was much better this time and the ocean much calmer. We went to the same spot again to the right of the pier and down to large whale sculpture. It was amazing this time for snorkeling. You walk out like 50 feet or so on a large rocky shelf. We were closed toe water shoes/hiking sandals like Keens. There were numerous sea urchins but they were mostly hiding in the nooks and crannies in the rock. There were much larger ones the further out you got. After the 50 or so feet there is a drop off and the water was like 5 to 7 feet deep but super crystal clear! My oldest and I snorkeled for maybe an hour. My younger ones 8 and 11 freaked out about the urchins and refused to go back in that area. Amazing to see how dramatic the change was from this visit and our previous visit to this cruise port. I think this was the second best snorkeling I have ever done. It was just difficult to physically get out there past the rocks.

• We arrived at 8AM on Friday morning in late Dec 2023 on Carnival Vista. • Weather was a little rainy/misty but cleared up. It did stay fairly breezy/windy, but it was perfect to keep you cool in the sun and also any flying pests away. • We went to the right when we got to the end of the pier and through the Dufry store. We researched the port before we arrived. Our plan was to snorkel. There were tons of rocks, and it was very low tide when we arrive. The wind and storms also created large waves which made snorkeling difficult. We were determined and got batted around by waves on the sharp rocks. We got a couple cuts but nothing too bad. I did it with my 14-year-old and 8-year-old. We did see plenty of fish of only 3 varieties though. • We also found chairs right by the upside-down whale. It was perfect under the 1 palm tree there with no other people around us. It was perfect. Great view of ocean and plenty of sand for kids to play in and view of ship. Because of the rain/mist there was a rainbow over our ship. Super picturesque. See photos in review. We would probably do the exact same thing again. Many people went further down the beach past the metal fenced in area which also had a few chairs at. Not sure if it was worth it but it was nice down there too. • We saw another cruise ship try to dock 2 times and finally gave up because of the winds. We felt bad for them, but it was great for us as the island wasn’t crowded at all. • We did end up going back to the ship around 1PM because we were hungry. We did do some shopping and the shopping here seemed nicer than Amber Cove. Much more variety of stuff. • We would gladly come back and probably do the same thing again. Hopefully we could time it out so the tide would be higher or cross fingers and hope there was less wind with smaller waves so we could...

This is our 2nd trip to Grand Turk, the first being 5 years ago. We love this place. We docked at the cruise ship area and had not issues with debarcation/embarcation. You exit the ship and go down the dock to the Duty Free shop. There is ample security and room to get thru. If you're cruising, especially for the first time, it's worthy to note that any alcohol you purchase here will need to be turned over to ships security upon getting back onto the ship (it will be returned to you when you get home, from what I understand this is standard with most if not all cruise lines). Same goes for candles and other restricted items. After you exit the shop there is a quite large shopping are containing about 2 dozen or more shops (I didn't count) ranging from gift shops, outlet type places like Harley Davidson clothing, several diamond and jewelry places and the main attraction, Margaritaville. That place was a BLAST! There are many different shore excursions to choose from like boat rides, jet ski rentals, snorkling adventures, zip lining, jeep and atv tours and several others depending upon the cruise line you take there. The white sand beaches are wonderful and there are roped off designated swimming areas and beach chairs right next to the docks. The water is very clear, blue and beautiful! In the swimmingg areas you can snorkle on you own, max depth when we were here in the roped off areas appears to be about 5 to 6 feet depending upon the tides and there were lifeguards stationed at the beach. All in all, a great place to spend the better part of a day. We had 2 cruise ships dock at the same time, Carnival Legend and Spirit, so thats about 3+ thousand people at any given time that were in this area, but it wasn't horrible. everything ran...

This dock is owned by carnival corporation. So only Carnival, Princess, and Holland America Ships dock at this pier. After going through the duty free shop, you can go left or right for some free beach time. There are loungers everywhere that are complimentary, just have to rent the umbrellas. The right side is very rocky and less sandy beachy. But that means it is less crowded and good for snorkeling. Just make sure you bring your water shoes. We saw a good amount of fish and sea life out there. We got off early to find a prime spot in the shade, especially before the other ship comes in. Therefore if you are the second ship docking get off as early as you can to find some good seating. It is beautiful scenery with crystal clear waters that are turquoise and white sandy beaches. If you go to the left, that is the larger area. It is a little bit more sandy beachy but still has some rocks in the water. This way is also the way to the little shopping area with your tourist shops and even a small market. If you keep going to the end there is Margaritaville pool area that is complementary for the pool. Its like a little party pool atmosphere if that interests you instead of the beach or in addition to the beach. Grand Turk Island itself is pretty small, so you can rent a golf cart and take a loop around yourself, but that is kind of it outside of having a beach day. You can walk a little further down to governors beach which will be less crowded but there are no complementary...