10 Best Islands in Turks and Caicos

Providenciales is the most populous island in the archipelago, offering luxurious resorts, pristine beaches, rental homes, restaurants, shopping, and watersports. You can also use Providenciales as a base of operations to tour the other islands, with many tour companies offering day trips to the cays beyond. This island also hosts the country's international airport. You can enjoy every kind of great dining here from fast food to Caribbean jerk barbecue to elegant upscale seafood restaurants.

You'll enjoy vast beaches of pristine white sands and bright blue, clear waters. You can go snorkelling amongst reefs to see colourful fish. It's all right here waiting whether you're a couple, a family, or a solo traveller.

Grand Turk is a major island in the archipelago and home to Cockburn Town and the major cruise ship port, with historic sites, dining, beaches, and scenic ocean views. Here you can visit the only lighthouse on the island where you can overlook the North Reef for spectacular photos, and walk the ruins of the country's old salt industry, once the core of the local economy.

This small island is also renowned for scuba diving, with a barrier reef just offshore, and many ships offering guided dives. If you're not an experienced diver, you can go snorkelling just offshore, or just relax on the endless stretches of white sand beach.

Middle Caicos is amongst the largest islands in the country at the heart of the archipelago and offers green grass and forested nature reserve regions along with beaches. This is a place where many people come for outdoor adventure, like hiking along the coastlines and beaches of places like Mudjin Harbour and the Crossing Place Trail. You can go spelunking in the Conch Bar Caves or have several different kinds of adventure in nature here.

Middle Caicos is joined to its sister island in North Caicos by a causeway road, so you can drive between the two. That makes this a great place to spend several days just exploring the beauty and power of untouched natural surroundings.

North Caicos is one of the largest islands in the country and yet is still sparsely populated, covered by unspoiled nature and offering a variety of outdoor adventure and exploration. Here you and your family or beloved can visit the 18th-century ruins of Wade's Plantation and learn about the history of cotton on the island, then visit a quaint shop with handmade arts and crafts. You can also head for Flamingo Pond Overlook where you'll see thousands of pink flamingos in their natural habitat.

This island offers a wide range of adventures both natural and historic. It's all located right in the heart of islands, and accessible from Middle Caicos by a causeway that allows you to drive.

South Caicos, locally called the Big South, is the fishing capital of the island offering resorts, a largely untouched region, and the opportunity for fishing, watersports, and exploration. You can book time aboard a boat to go bottom fishing or bonefishing. Rent equipment and take lessons to explore paddleboarding, kayaking, or kiteboarding or explore the many uninhabited small cays offshore. If you like, you can relax at one of the island's luxurious resorts and be pampered in the lap of luxury.

This island has a landmass covering around 8.2 square miles, but most of it is salt ponds and salinas that once formed the core of the island's salt industry. The major settlement here is Cockburn Harbour.

East Caicos is a large uninhabited island of 18 square miles offering swamps, mangroves, and unspoiled wetland, plus a 17-mile long beach on the northern coast with sea turtles. The beach isn't the best for swimming due to a large mosquito population but is excellent for seeing the turtles lay their eggs. On the northwest coast, you can go spelunking amongst caves that once were used to mine bat guano, where you can see petroglyphs from ancient settlers.

The island was once the home of a giant plantation dedicated to the cattle industry. It is deserted now, but the ruins still stand where you can explore old railway tracks and ruined buildings.

Pine Cay is a privately owned small island off the Providenciales coast, famed for offering one of the nicest beaches in the islands, with many holiday rentals and boutique getaways. This island offers an upscale vibe and seclusion from the hustle and bustle of crowds on some of the other islands. Here you can just relax and recharge your batteries while being pampered on endless stretches of soft white sand and waters the colour of the sky.

The island is accessible either from a boat from Providenciales or by private plane via a small airstrip on the island. Most visitors take the boat as it's fast and comfortable, but charter flights offer unique aerial views of the archipelago.

Ambergis Cay is a small, private island on the remote southern edge of the chain with rugged coast and terrain, nature viewing, hiking, wetlands, and a full-featured upscale resort. Amongst the most fascinating features here is the opportunity to view the rare and endangered rock iguana as well as other reptiles like geckos and miniature boas. The resort here is small but very upscale and will pamper you and yours the entire time you're on holiday here.

Transport to Ambergris Cay usually comes in the form of small chartered flights on private aircraft. These land at the small regional airstrip on the island.

West Caicos is a favourite spot on the island chain for divers, offering a treasure trove of ecological features, animal encounters, and even historic ruins to explore. The island was once populated by a community that is now gone but left behind the ruins of sisal crops, old engines, stone buildings, and railway tracks. You can explore the Lake Catherine nature reserve for fantastic bird watching. Diving and snorkelling offshore allow you to see an entire world of colourful sea life.

This uninhabited island is reached by charter boat at its small northern harbour. It's a place to visit if you want to explore natural wonders, theorize about the people who once lived here, or just enjoy nature.

Parrot Cay is a private island between Providenciales and North Caicos that's famed as an upscale, luxurious resort retreat with opulent rentals and highly exclusive lodgings. The only way to reach this island is by booking transport on a small passenger ferry operated by the resort. The island offers a pristine beach on its northeastern coast. At low tide, the waters are so shallow you can even wade across sand bars to North Caicos to enjoy everything the island has to offer.

This island has been famed for years as a holiday escape for the wealthy and famous. If you book your trip here, there's a chance you might spot a celebrity or two relaxing at COMO Parrot Cay.