The financial and governmental center of the nation looks like a New England fishing village, and is now being discovered by divers.

Grand Turk Travel & Tourism Information

Grand Turk may be the financial and governmental centers of the nation but the tourism boom of Provo has yet to reach here.

Cockburn Town, the capital city, looks like a 19th century New England fishing village; the old salt pans that crisscross it are still used to harvest sea salt.

Grand Turk is becoming recognized as perhaps the premier dive base. Still an unknown to the majority of divers visiting the T&C it’s a more reliable place for whale sighting since the humpbacks use the Columbus Passage just south of the island as their migration route. Even if you never actually see one of the giant creatures, if they’re anywhere in the vicinity you’ll hear their haunting songs.

For snorkelers, Grand Turk’s old south dock contains an unusually wide variety of marine life, including frogfish, sand dollars, seahorses and octopus. For something truly different, hire a guide take you through the mangrove maze at South Creek that serves as a nursery for many juvenile species including snapper and bonefish.

For an exciting stingray encounter in just 4 to 6 feet of water, visit Gibbs Cay located on the east side of Grand Turk. Scores of the friendly rays always hang out here, making this a sure-fire encounter.

At nearby Salt Cay, divers can explore the unsalvaged remains of The Endymion, which initially was thought to be one of Christopher Columbus’ ships. Instead, The Endymion turned out to be a British warship sunk in 1790, but the rich remains dispelled any disappointment.

You’ll find cannon and other relics still imbedded in the coral. Recovered artifacts and a detailed history of the ship are provided in Grand Turk’s National Museum.

Some historians speculate that it was on Grand Turk that Columbus made his first landfall in the New World. The National Museum here (closed Sundays) offers a detailed account of the local history as well as artifacts from the oldest English shipwreck ever discovered in the Caribbean.

The 120,000 year-old limestone caves on Middle Caicos are the Caribbean’s largest and easily explored with a guide. The best known is Indian Cave with its 50-foot high vaulted ceiling; the cave has yielded pottery shards and other Taino artifacts.

Another popular attraction is the 15-mile long nature walk built to follow the old “Crossing Place Trail” once used by locals traveling to North Caicos.

Pioneering diving is taking place on remote South Caicos, which is infrequently dived and largely unexplored. Among the charted sites are a natural arch rising 10 feet from the bottom and a sunken airplane perched on the edge of the wall.

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