I’ve crossed a new country off my travel list: Turks & Caicos! I arrived yesterday afternoon to this small island where we deplaned via stairs. You know it’s a good vacation island when they don’t have jet bridges! I was wearing yoga pants and a fleece sweatshirt not realizing that our journey involved a short walk in feels like 100 degree weather. Luckily, the customs area was inside and soon enough I was once again cold in my attire. Live music welcomed us while we waited to go through customs. Our plane was the only one that arrived at that time so it was a fairly quick process.
All of the checked bags were on the other side of the customs desks. I picked up my bag and headed for the exit. It’s a super small airport. Taxis and transfers are part of a union on Turks and Caicos which sort of makes things confusing and easy at the same time. There is essentially one guy in charge of everyone’s transfers so no matter which resort you’re booked through, that one guy is ultimately in charge. You may see a rep for your resort and you can check in with them but they then check with this guy or you can check with the guy. I booked a third-party shuttle and was directed to the guy. It’s a very different system than many other destinations.
The island is small so it’s a short commute to any of the resorts. The shuttle was very nice and I shared it was a lovely couple from Boston. They were dropped off first at Seven Stars Resorts and then I was taken to mine. My Turks journey is starting at Club Med Turkoise.
The reason I’m on the island is for a travel conference. The conference is only 3-nights and it seemed like a long way to go for only 3-nights so I extended my stay by 1-night. I also wanted to check out another resort besides the one where the conference was at and I’ve never been to a Club Med property so here I am!
I was welcomed right when I stepped out of the shuttle. A gentleman took my bag and another one welcomed me into a nice shaded welcome area. Here there was water and iced tea waiting for me with a nice cold towel. While I sat and cooled down, he gave a mini presentation about the property and all the key details I needed to know for an enjoyable stay. He then walked me to the front desk to check-in. Check-in involved the usual of checking IDs and a credit card for incidentals. My room wasn’t quite ready so I was asked to return later for my room key. I grabbed lunch and walked around until it was ready.
Club Med is known for their activities and excellent coaches. I threw my stuff into my room and raced over to the first activity that started right when my room was ready. Trapeze School! If you’re staying for a week, you can learn to do trapeze tricks. They teach you one piece at a time and they build onto things once you’ve mastered them. I walked over and stood there watching as others swung on the trapeze. At some point, one the of coaches walked to me and asked if I was going to do it. I said I wasn’t sure. A few questions later and I was strapped up. There was a little lesson on the ground first. The first part of the lesson was about how to climb the ladder. You had to face the buildings first then when you reach a red marking switch to the other side of the ladder. Then, climb until you reach the next red mark. Then reach with your left foot then left hand then once you’re strapped come all the way over. After the ladder lesson was a lesson about grabbing the bar. You basically have to have all your weight forward and they are holding you. You listen for their directions for when to jump off, when to bring your legs up onto the bar, when to hang your hands down, when to grab on again, and when to get off. After the lesson, it was go time.
There was a small line and you waited your turn to go. You could start climbing once the person ahead of you jumped off the platform. I started to climb facing the ocean and not the building. 0/1 on directions to start. The coach on the top of the platform was quick to correct me and I swiveled to the other side. The rungs on the ladder were super tiny and it was not an easy climb up. Switching sides wasn’t particularly easy either and all I’m thinking is, “I’m really high. This ladder is hard to hold. I’m not strapped to anything. This would be a bad fall. Don’t fall. Ooo that’s a pretty view.” When I switched sides, I was now facing the ocean and it is a beautiful shade of blue here in Turks and Caicos. I didn’t admire the view too much because there was still plenty of ladder to climb. I finally get to the top. There is a moment of, “Holy crap this is high.” The coach is super calm and chill and probably the perfect person to be up there with me. She gently directs me with what to do. I am seriously more out of breath climbing that ladder than I was running a marathon. I don’t know if it’s the fact that I woke up at 4am, that it’s so hot, or I’m just mildly panicked about the whole thing. Either way I needed a minute. Luckily, I needed to put chalk on my hands before doing the next step so I had some time to catch my breath. I held onto the bar with both hands and had my body weight completely forward so that the coach was fully supporting me from behind. I jumped on queque. Swung my legs up on queue, but couldn’t get them up and onto the bar. Next time!
Dining at Club Med is a lot different than any other all inclusive resort I’ve been to. This resort has one restaurant and one snack shack. The restaurant is a buffet, but it’s not your typical buffet. There are 3-4 entrees and you’ll see them plated in front of each station. Each station has a chef and servers. You go to the station with the entree you want and then the servers will give it to you. (The chefs have the white chef outfits and if you have an allergy question about the dish, they are the ones to ask.) There are also some options which are already plated and you can just take. I had Beef Wellington for dinner and it was amazing. Overall, it was really nice just to walk over and eat whenever I felt like it. No reservations needed. No waiting for tables needed. Very lenient dress code.
This morning I continued with checking out the activities and started with yoga! There were about ten yogis in the class. The class was a nice gentle flow. The schedule had it for 30 minutes so we spent 30 minutes flowing and then the teacher announced it was officially over, but she would be cooling down for another 15 minutes if we wanted to stay. Everyone stayed. The yoga teacher was very good and clearly actually a yoga teacher which surprising is not something you always find at all-inclusive resorts.
Club Med’s check out of your room time is 10am and out of the resort time is 3pm. I stopped by the front desk to surrender my room and they kindly held my luggage before I was ready to leave.
One more activity to try: tennis! (Well really lots more to try, but I only have time for one more.) There is an intermediate tennis lesson so I head over to the tennis courts. Eleven of decided on this sunny feels-like 100-degree-day that playing tennis was the right activity for the day. Not snorkeling or kayaking or stand up paddle boards which were also options. We all chose tennis. Mario was our fearless leader and today we worked on our forehand and backhand strokes. We formed two lines and Mario hit balls to us while we took turns hitting them back. There were cones set up on the other side as targets for us to hit. It was kind of weird being coached again, but it was nice. I initially learned tennis by picking up a racquet and just playing. It was so helpful to actually learn how I’m supposed to do things. Amazing how that works. After each hit we moved to the back of the line which conveniently congregated on a small shadow of a lone palm tree. We progressed into another drill similar to this one and finished with Queen of the Court. It was a lot of fun! I was by myself at Club Med and didn’t know anyone, but this resort has been great as a solo traveler. While most people at the resort are traveling with friends/family, most people doing activities are doing them without their friends/family. I’m not sure if it’s because of the team aspect of the sports but in general it feels like people get to know each other better here than at other resorts I’ve been to. Overall I really enjoyed my time here, but it’s time for the next resort!
The conference is at Beaches Turks & Caicos! I’ve been here since the afternoon, but you’ll have to wait until tomorrow to hear about this place!
Comentários