The best beaches in Providenciales

Providenciales in the Turks and Caicos Islands is a beach goer’s paradise and its most famous beach, Grace Bay Beach, is consistently ranked among the best beaches on the planet. In 2022, TripAdvisor named it the #1 best beach in the world – again. Besides Grace Bay beach, Providenciales has many other beaches and some of them are absolutely spectacular too.

This Backpack and Snorkel Providenciales Purple Travel Guide provides detailed information about the main beaches on Providenciales.

Providenciales Map

(B) - Taylor Bay Beach

(C) - Sapodilla Bay Beach

(E) - Hidden Beach near Turtle Tail Beach

(F) - Turtle Tail Beach

(G) - Long Bay Beach

(H) - Leeward Beach

(I) - Grace Bay Beach

(J) - Coral Gardens - Bight Reef

(K) - Smith’s Reef

Taylor Bay Beach in Providenciales, Turks and Caicos

Taylor Bay Beach is a 2,000ft (610m) long beautiful beach which never gets too crowded as there is only one public access with very limited parking. The small roadside parking lot can fill up quickly leaving you to scramble for additional parking as there are “no parking” signs in front of some of the private residences.

Map of Taylor Bay Beach in Providenciales

Taylor Bay beach is located near Sapodilla Bay beach and Chalk Sound. The bay is lined with private residences and guest houses and the beach has fine and soft white sand. The water is shallow, making it a wonderful spot for families with small children, but it means that you will need to walk out far if you want to swim. There is no good snorkeling at Taylor Bay Beach.

Interesting fact: Dick Clark, the legendary host of “American Bandstand” and the New Year’s Eve celebration at New York City’s Times Square, used to own a vacation home at the western end of Taylor Bay. This house is long gone.

Sapodilla Bay Beach in Providenciales, Turks and Caicos

Sapodilla Bay beach is one of our favorite beaches in Providenciales. It has two parking lots – the main parking lot at the southern end is shared with Sapodilla Hill where you can see rock carvings from the 1700s and 1800s.

Map of Sapodilla Bay Beach in Providenciales

Sapodilla Bay Beach is a 910ft (275m) long beach which features fine soft white sand and shallow water, which makes it perfect for families with small children. Just like neighboring Taylor Bay beach, you will need to walk out far into the bay if you want to swim.

Sapodilla Bay Beach never seems to get too crowded, but you should expect more visitors than on Taylor Bay beach.

There is some snorkeling at the rocks at the northern end of Sapodilla Bay Beach. More details can be found here.

Hidden Beach near Turtle Tail Beach in Providenciales, Turks and Caicos

Since we stayed at Flamingo Villa in Turtle Tail, we enjoyed a completely deserted beach on a vacant lot that was only 0.25 miles (400m) away. This hidden beach has no parking lot, just a cleared area along the street where you can park 1 or 2 cars.

Map of the Turtle Tail area in Providenciales

The beach itself is only about 200ft (60m) long and consists of soft white sand. Entering the water is easiest on the western side as there are no rocks in the water. The water is shallow and beautifully turquoise. There is no good snorkeling at the hidden beach. Whenever we were there, we were the only people on the beach.

Turtle Tail Beach in Providenciales, Turks and Caicos

Turtle Tail Beach is about 1.2 miles (1.9km) from Flamingo Villa, where we stayed. There is an unmarked road that you can drive in for maybe 100ft (30m) where you can park your car.

Map of the Turtle Tail area in Providenciales

Turtle Tail Beach is a 400ft (120m) long sandy beach with soft white sand and beautiful turquoise water. The water is very shallow. You can walk out almost 1000ft and only be in waist deep water. Actually, for much of the walk, you will only be in knee-deep water.

The beach was completely deserted every time we were there.

There is a little bit of snorkeling near the rocks at the far eastern side of the bay. Generally, the underwater visibility is fairly low.

Long Bay Beach in Providenciales, Turks and Caicos

Long Bay Beach is a 2.7 mile (4.4km) stretch of white sand along the eastern side of Providenciales. The main public beach access points are located in the north.

Map of Long Bay Beach in Providenciales

Long Bay is popular with kite boarders and you can find kite board rentals and schools here.

The beach is made of soft white sand and the water is beautifully turquoise. The water here is shallower than at Grace Bay Beach.

Due to the wind, swimming here is good, but make sure to stay far away from the kite boarders. The southern part of the beach is much less busy. There, the beach is not as wide as in the northern part, and you will find more conch shells on the beach and in the water. So, be careful when you walk into the water.

There is no good snorkeling at Long Bay beach.

Leeward Beach in Providenciales, Turks and Caicos

Leeward Beach is the northern extension of Grace Bay Beach. It has three access points:

Sunset beach is the most beautiful part of Leeward Beach also has the easiest access, but limited parking. There are few fish near rocks to north

Pelican Beach is a 350ft (110m) white sand beach that has a public access but no designated parking

There is also the east access that provides access to the fairly busy “Leeward Channel” that separates Providenciales from the uninhabited Caicos Cays.

The north access is blocked

Map of Leeward Beach in Providenciales

Just like Grace Bay beach, the sand is soft and white, the water is beautifully turquoise, swimming on Leeward Beach is excellent and there is no good snorkeling as the water is very hazy.

Compared to Grace Bay Beach, Leeward beach is very tranquil and you can have large stretches of sand all for yourself.

Photos of Sunset Beach in Providenciales, Turks and Caicos

Photos of Pelican Beach in Providenciales, Turks and Caicos

Grace Bay Beach in Providenciales, Turks and Caicos

Grace Bay Beach is the main attraction of Providenciales in Turks and Caicos as it is consistently ranked among the best beaches on the planet. In 2022, TripAdvisor named it the #1 best beach in the world – again.

Grace Bay Beach is a gorgeous 3 mile (4.8km) stretch of powdery and soft white sand with some of the most beautiful turquoise water on the planet. Some sources claim that it is longer – 7 miles or even twelve miles long – but this math only works if you add the neighboring beaches of Leeward Beach, Smith’s Reef and Bight Reef. Technically, this math works as all of them are located on a continuous stretch of sand, but officially those are different beaches.

Grace Bay Beach has 7 public access points. Even though not very large, there is typically enough parking capacity at each access point.

Map of Grace Bay Beach in Providenciales

Parking spots for the different access points are explained below. The exact locations are in the downloadable Providenciales Purple Travel Guides that you can get from the Backpack and Snorkel Travel Store:

Flamingo Cafe – you can park in the fairly large Flamingo Café parking lot and either enter the beach through the café or walk to the right of the buildings to the beach. The building has a cultural market where you can buy souvenirs or beach items and there are restrooms.

Grande Court – there is a fairly large parking lot

Central Access – this is a popular part of Grace Bay Beach and the parking lot can fill up, but I have never seen it fully occupied

Renaissance – this is a fairly large parking lot, but be advised that some parking spots are blocked for the Tourist Center on the western side of the lot. The parking lot is close to lots of small shops on Renaissance Rd and Grade Bay Rd. If you need to take a Covid test, the FamilyCare Medical clinic is located only a few feet away from the parking lot. You enter the beach via a wooden path.

Mansions – this access is located on the fast eastern side next to the “Mansions”. The parking lot is fairly large.

Hemingway’s – this access is located on the fast western side not very far from “Hemingway’s on the Beach”. The parking lot is fairly large.

Rotary Park – the parking lot is fairly large and you enter the beach over a short wooden path. Rotary Park has tables and a playground for kids. This part of Grace Bay Beach features soft white sand and clear water, but no good snorkeling. I spent lots of time in the water and at one point I saw some fairly large fish (maybe up to a foot (30cm) in length) swimming around me and a few minutes later some flying fish right next to me. What a memorable moment!

Photos of Grace Bay Beach near the Flamingo Cafe in Providenciales, Turks and Caicos

The following photos were taken where Grace Bay Beach meets Leeward Beach

Photos of Grace Bay Beach near the Central Access in Providenciales, Turks and Caicos

Photos of Grace Bay Beach near the Renaissance Access in Providenciales, Turks and Caicos

Photos of Grace Bay Beach near the Rotary Park in Providenciales, Turks and Caicos

Coral Gardens - Bight Reef in Providenciales, Turks and Caicos

Coral Gardens located at Bight Reef is the best snorkeling spot near the beach in Providenciales.

Map of Bight Reef in Providenciales

The two access points are explained below. The exact locations are in the downloadable Providenciales Purple Travel Guides that you can get from the Backpack and Snorkel Travel Store:

Stubb’s Road – this is on-street parking

Penn’s Road – this is on-street parking

Map of Bight Reef in Providenciales

The beach has soft white sand and the water is beautifully turquoise. It is not as shallow as many other beaches on Providenciales. The reef is about 60ft (20m) off the beach and the area within the buoys is off limits. To learn more about snorkeling at Coral Gardens and other spots in Providenciales, check out the Best Locations to Snorkel in Providenciales.

Smith’s Reef in Providenciales, Turks and Caicos

Smith’s reef is the second best snorkeling spot in Providenciales.

The beach has three public access points which are explained below. The exact locations are in the downloadable Providenciales Purple Travel Guides that you can get from the Backpack and Snorkel Travel Store:

West access – this is the main access point and closest access to the best part of Smith’s Reef

Central access

East access

Map of Smith’s Reef in Providenciales

The beach at Smith’s Reef has coarser sand and the transition is rocky. You will either need water shoes or need to take a close look to find the occasional sandy areas between the rocks.

Once you are in the water, swimming is good.

As with Coral Gardens, buoys mark the best part of the reef and is off limits to prevent damage from swimmers and snorkelers. To learn more about snorkeling at Smith’s Reef and other spots in Providenciales, check out the Best Locations to Snorkel in Providenciales.

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