Grace Bay Beach Providenciales
The world-famous Grace Bay Beach is located on the northeast coast of the island of Providenciales. This pristine beach is the hallmark of the Turks and Caicos Islands and the recipient of many designations and accolades.
Grace Bay Beach has won numerous awards, including the World Travel Awards’ World’s Leading Beach Destination and the Tripadvisor Travelers' Choice Awards' World’s Best Beach. It has taken first or second place in these two competitions around a dozen times, and is widely regarded as the top beach in the Caribbean and North Atlantic.
Grace Bay is home to most of the large luxury resorts on Providenciales. Many of the boat tours and water sports that take place near Providenciales occur in the shallow waters between the beach and barrier reef.
Beach Overview
The entirety of this beach is excellent and breathtaking, with clean turquoise water, soft white sand, and virtually no rocks, seaweed, or pollution. An extensive barrier reef is located about one mile (1.6 km) offshore that protects Grace Bay from the ocean swells of the Atlantic, which generally helps keep the water at the beach calm and safe.
Grace Bay Beach is part of the Princess Alexandra National Park, which also includes the Bight Beach, Smith’s Reef, the Bight Reef (Coral Gardens), Leeward Beach, Little Water Cay, Half Moon Bay, and the eco-tour destination of Mangrove Cay.
How Long Is Grace Bay Beach?
Many sources cite Grace Bay as being 7 or 12 miles long (11 or 19 km). However, Grace Bay Beach is only a little over 3 miles long (4.8 km). On its eastern side, the beach continues as Leeward Beach. On the western end, it becomes the Bight Beach.
In the past, it was possible to walk the entire 7 miles (11.2 km) from Leeward Going Through Point (also known as Emerald Point) near Little Water Cay to Turtle Cove Marina and Smith’s Reef. Sea walls built by villa owners on Leeward Beach have interrupted this natural continuation.
The inlet canals of Turtle Cove Marina and the residential neighborhood of Thompson Cove—as well as a few outcrops of limestone ocean cliff near Blue Mountain—interrupt the beach, which would otherwise continue another 7.5 miles (12 km) past Blue Hills, Wheeland, and finally to Northwest Point and the Northwest Point National Park.
Grace Bay's Name Origin
Grace Bay Beach was named after Grace Jane Hutchings, wife of Hugh Houston Hutchings who was Commissioner of the Turks and Caicos from 1933–1934.
Places to Stay
Many of the best-known resorts and luxury hotels in the Turks and Caicos are located on Grace Bay Beach.
The first beachfront hotel on Grace Bay was Club Med Turkoise, an adults-only all-inclusive resort that opened in 1984 and is still open today. This expansive resort is located on one of the finest stretches of the coast, and offers a wide collection of activities and water sports for guests.
Grace Bay Club was the first luxury resort built on Providenciales and on this beach. The original hotel building still stands, yet the resort has greatly expanded since. Later additions include The Estates at Grace Bay Club, which are condo residences built to the east of the main property. Today, Grace Bay Club is one of several properties belonging to the Grace Bay Resorts group (which also manages Point Grace, West Bay Club, Rock House, and South Bank Resort).
Staying at a hotel or resort on Grace Bay can be expensive. It's usually cheaper to stay at one of the smaller and more budget-friendly inland hotels in the area than to book a beachfront property.
Top Grace Bay Resorts
You can find some of the best deals on accommodation at the beachfront Ocean Club Resort, Sibonné Beach Hotel, the all-inclusive Club Med Turkoise, and Royal West Indies Resort, as well as inland at Villa del Mar, The Oasis at Grace Bay, Ports of Call Resort, and the Inn at Grace Bay.
Excellent luxury options are Seven Stars Resort & Spa, The Ritz-Carlton, Turks and Caicos, the boutique Point Grace, The Palms, Grace Bay Club, and the family-friendly Beaches Turks and Caicos all-inclusive, which includes a water park, more than 20 dining options, and many water sports and activities.
These larger luxury properties have a better range of amenities than smaller budget hotels, and many include complimentary use of kayaks, paddleboards, and Hobie Cat sailboats for exploring the bay's picture-perfect waters.
Due to the premium of the frontage, very few private villas are beachfront on Grace Bay. The most notable example is Coral House, which is located on the far eastern edge of the beach. Leeward Beach and the Bight Beach, which are directly adjacent to Grace Bay on the east and west sides, are home to some beautiful beachfront villas and vacation rental properties.
Restaurants and Bars
Some great beachfront restaurants are located on Grace Bay Beach, and collectively serve everything from classic burgers to fresh sushi. Popular restaurants on the beach include Bay Bistro, Hemingway’s on the Beach, The Deck at Seven Stars, Somewhere on the Beach, Asu at the Alexandra Resort, and Infiniti Restaurant & Raw Bar at the Grace Bay Club Resort.
The only beachfront bar or restaurant on Grace Bay that is not on the grounds of a resort is Rickie’s Flamingo Café, near the Royal Turks and Caicos Golf Club.
Numerous cafés and ice cream shops are also found nearby.
Where to Eat
Things to Do
Grace Bay is the perfect playground for many water sports, including Hobie Cat sailing, kayaking, paddleboarding, snorkeling cruises, parasailing, and scuba diving.
For a full list of activities to try and sights to see on your vacation, see Best Things to Do on Providenciales and The 18 Best Attractions in the Turks and Caicos.
Boat Cruises
The vast majority of boat tours and private charters spend at least some time cruising in the waters off this beach.
Some excursions and tours offer pickup directly from shore. An example is the very popular half-day boat tours that visit the uninhabited islands and pristine snorkeling reefs between Providenciales and North Caicos.
As the top boating destinations and sights (like Little Water Cay, Half Moon Bay, and Water Cay) are located east of the bay and Providenciales, most tours don't stay exclusively in Grace Bay. Exceptions are public parasailing and tubing rides.
Grace Bay Beach Snorkeling
Grace Bay is home to exquisite and vibrant reefs. However, except for the Bight Reef (Coral Gardens) located off the far western edge of the beach, the reefs are too far out to swim to and must be visited via boat.
The Bight Reef and Smith’s Reef offer a wealth of fish, turtles, stingrays, lobsters, and corals to explore, but are a little too far to walk to from many of the Grace Bay resorts. A snorkeling cruise to the barrier reef off Grace Bay and Leeward can be a great experience, as the underwater sights are a little different from the interior bay reefs and there are bright sea fans and intricate coral topography to discover.
Sunset Locations
The sunset over the bay can be amazing, and great places to watch the sunset include the Club Med dock, the Forbes Point beach access near The Sands resort, and the Stubb’s Point (also known as Pelican Beach or Sunset Beach) access on the adjacent Leeward Beach. See Best Sunset and Sunrise Locations for a full list.
A sailing charter can be an incredible way to observe the show as well, and is one of the top recommended things to do.
Dangers and Safety Concerns
By far the greatest danger to swimmers is the reckless use of powerboats. Tourists have been killed in the Grace Bay area by boat strike. Most of this behavior is by small vessels offering banana boat and wake rides.
Changes in the law require that such boats have a dedicated spotter. However, such mandated practices are often not followed, and it’s important to be aware of them.
Grace Bay Beach is part of the Princess Alexandra National Park, which has a 15 mph (24 km/h) speed limit for power vessels. Many of the north coast beaches on Providenciales suffer from these negligent boat operators who flagrantly ignore this rule. You must constantly be on the alert for boat traffic in your area in order to avoid injury.
Sargassum and Seaweed
Grace Bay Beach and the adjacent coasts of Leeward Beach and the Bight Beach are very rarely affected by sargassum and seaweed deposits. This is due to the typical east and southeast wind directions, which blow the floating sargassum offshore.
The Bight Beach has lush seagrass beds that grow in sheltered parts of the bay. Sometimes, bits of this seagrass wash up onto the beach. In most situations, if the seaweed is present, it will be a narrow strip at the high tide line.
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Grace Bay Beach Accesses
For persons who are driving to the beach, Grande Court, Forbes Point, Central, Rickie's, and the Regent Street beach accesses offer the best balance of parking availability and beach quality.
Parking
Free parking is readily available at essentially all of the beach accesses. Grande Court, Central, Forbes Point, and Rickie's have the largest parking spaces.
Refreshments and Food
At the Rickie's beach access, takeout food can be conveniently purchased at the adjacent Rickie’s Flamingo Café restaurant for those who want to dine at their own spot on the beach. For beachfront sit-down dining, there’s a very wide selection of choices, including Cabana Bar & Grill, The Deck, The Grill, Coralli Restaurant, Hemingway's, and Bay Bistro.
Accessibility
The Rotary Park, Forbes Point, Grande Court, and Central beach accesses offer easy access between the parking area and the beach, with very little elevation change or obstacles for wheelchairs or carts beyond low curbs or ledges.
Restrooms
The Rickie's beach access has public restrooms onsite. Restrooms can be found at the many restaurants along the beach, yet some establishments may have a customers-only policy for their restrooms.
Beach Rentals
Umbrellas and loungers can be rented from vendors at the Central beach access.
Most resorts on Grace Bay Beach reserve their loungers for guests staying at the property.