Natural Beauty
Sailrock South Caicos Is an Untouched Paradise
I’m lying face down on a soft bed of downy white sheets, with a towel over me. In the background, there is nothing but the sound of distant waves crashing, accompanied by the twittering of birds and a tinkling piano melody. Wood boards creak as my massage therapist shifts her weight to put more pressure on a stubborn knot between my shoulder blades. If I looked up, I could see the cerulean waters of the Caribbean splayed out before me and a small seaplane coming to rest on the tarmac a couple of miles down the road, where South Caicos’ airport lies.
There’s only one international route in and out of the island, and that’s why we’re here, having arrived on a Wednesday afternoon direct flight out of Miami International Airport. American Airlines’ new route flies in and out of the island on Wednesdays and Saturdays, meaning you no longer have to fly into Providenciales (Turks & Caicos’ most popular island) and then take a puddle jumper to South Caicos. Providenciales is a beautiful but crowded island, chock full of resorts. By contrast, South Caicos has only two hotels across its eight square miles of mostly uninhabited wilderness. We’ve chosen Sailrock for our stay, a semi-private four- star resort with views of both the Atlantic and the Caribbean.
Driving down the dirt road to Sailrock, you might think you’re enroute to provincial accommodations. But it’s Sailrock’s seclusion that is its great draw. In our oceanfront villa, which looks onto the Atlantic, it feels like you’re the only people on the island. At night, we leave the screen doors open and listen to the sound of waves, swimming in our private pool by starlight, brighter than we can believe. In the afternoon, we sip on rum punch and go on excursions into South Caicos’ environs.
A secluded four-star resort on an eight-square-mile island with views of both the Atlantic and the Caribbean. Our villa includes a private pool, a full kitchen, and a twice-daily housekeeping services.
First, there’s an ATV tour of the island, exploring rocky cliffside terrain with views of the Caribbean as we white-knuckle the handlebars. We stop near the flats, where kayaks take us along the mangrove-lined shore. After a short paddle, we get out and explore the sandbars, picking up sunset-colored shells. Our guide, Ben, points out various fish, including a juvenile nurse shark that swims mere feet from us.
Then there’s a boat tour on crystal clear water. We come upon a small uninhabited island with bleached conch shell “graves,” where fishermen have tossed harvested shells onto the shore. We hike to a point where we can see both the Atlantic and the Caribbean, bisected only by the narrow ridge of the island. In the distance, we can see “The Wall,” where the ocean drops off suddenly to 7,000-feet: a perfect spot for divers exploring the world’s third-largest barrier reef.
Then we visit a “garden” of starfish, where the foot-long creatures are visible every 10 or 20-feet in the water, along with fish of all sizes, colors, and shapes – even a barracuda. On the way back, a fisherman waves to us – later, as we lunch at the local Sunset Cafe, we see him again, presumably having just dropped off his catch. Here, we have scrumptious snapper and jerk chicken, along with cold I-Soon Reach beer, a light ale from a brewery on nearby Grand Turk island. At night, the only manmade light we can see is from its distant shores, where about 4,000 people and the cruise ship port live.
Waterfront dining and the crystal clear blue waters of Caicos Banks seen from the cove
South Caicos is one of Turks & Caicos’ smaller islands, with a population of only about 1,200. We meet locals, as well as natives from other Caribbean islands like St Lucia, and even an affable bartender named Agus who hails from Bali, Indonesia, and teaches us how to craft his signature cocktails.
It seems like everyone is happy here, from the staff to the guests, most of whom we barely see except during meals at the Cove or the lobby’s Great House restaurant. We live in near perfect seclusion inside our villa, which includes a private pool, a full kitchen, and twice-daily housekeeping services.
On our last night, a chef comes to the villa and cooks up ribeye and snapper for us. We drink glasses of wine and exchange emphatic wishes to return, or to only have just one more day, struck by what ancient philosophers considered one of the fundamental properties of being: natural beauty.
Sailrock South Caicos
Front Street, Cockburn
Turks & Caicos Islands
+1 649-946-3777