Entry Requirements –
All visitors traveling to the Turks & Caicos Islands must have a valid passport. Visas are necessary from some countries of the former Eastern Bloc. They are advised to contact the nearest British Consulate Office. All visitors must hold a round trip ticket. Visitors are allowed to stay for 90 days; this is renewable one time only.
 

Arriving by Air –
International commercial flights enter the Turks and Caicos Islands at the Providenciales International Airport (PLS). Other domestic airports in the Sister Islands include: JAGS McCartney International Airport in Grand Turk, North Caicos Airport, South Caicos Airport, Salt Cay Airport, Pine Cay Airport and Ambergris Cay Airport. There are currently direct flights to PLS from many major United States cities, as well as the United Kingdom, Canada, and several Caribbean countries. Inter-island travel is available through local airlines Caicos Express and InterCaribbean.
 

Arriving by Sea –
Most visitors to the Turks and Caicos Islands arrive via cruise ship. Grand Turk is home to a state-of-the-art luxury cruise ship center which was awarded Best Caribbean Beach Port by Porthole Magazine in 2019. The Grand Turk Cruise Center consists of a 3000-foot pier, the welcome facility and the recreational area. The Turks and Caicos Islands is also a sought-after yachting destination with several impressive full-service marina facilities. Owing to its ideal geographic location in relation to Florida, the islands serve as a ‘gateway to the Caribbean’ for many mariners. Inter-island travel is available through local ferry TCI Ferry.

Shorts are worn in town as well as the beach during the day, it is advisable to also wear sunhats and sunscreen. In the evenings, light sweaters and jackets may be occasionally needed in the winter. Dinner is usually not a formal affair, most restaurants accept dress shorts while others require pants with a collared shirt for gentlemen and dress slacks or dresses for the ladies.
 

Visitors from the British Commonwealth Countries, The United States of America, Canada and holders of International drivers license are permitted to drive for 30 days on their respective license.  Visitors from all other countries are required to possess a Visitors Permit, which can be obtained at the Road Safety Department.
 

Traditional Dishes –
The Turks and Caicos Islands does not have a national dish; however, the traditional dishes are as follows:
- Grand Turk: Hashed shark with pear bush buds and rice
- Salt Cay: Wilkes soup, Salt Cay candies and cream cakes
- South Caicos: Hashed lobster, peas and grits and fried bonefish
- North Caicos: Crab and rice and fried fish
- Middle Caicos: Conch and grits and potato bread

.

For almost 700 years, the Taino and Lucayan Indians were the sole residents of the islands, settling mainly in Middle Caicos and Grand Turk. Shortly after Columbus arrived in 1492, the Lucayan civilization disappeared and the islands remained sparsely populated for about 30 years. During this time, the salt making industry was born. Bermudians came to Turks & Caicos to rake the salt and take it back to Bermuda.
 

In 1706, the French and the Spanish briefly captured the Turks & Caicos Islands from the Bermudians. Four years later the British reclaimed the islands for Bermuda but in subsequent years the place became primarily a haven for pirates and British Loyalists fleeing the American Revolution. Ultimately, Britain retained the island country by the end of the century as part of the Treaty of Versailles. In 1766, after being controlled by the Spanish, French and British, Turks & Caicos became part of the Bahamas colony and was placed under the Bahamian government.
 

Attempts to integrate the two distinct communities failed and in 1874, after “the Great Bahamas Hurricane” devastated much of the chain of islands, the Turks & Caicos Islands became dependencies to the British Crown Colony of Jamaica. Jamaica won independence from Britain in 1962 and so Turks & Caicos then became a British Crown colony on its own and still is one today.

Country Overview:

+ Population: 44,542 (2020 estimate. Source: Wikipedia)

+ Land Area: 948 km2 (366 sq mi)

+ Government: Dependency under constitutional monarchy

+ Royal Anthem: God Save the King

+ National Song: We Salute This Land of Ours

There is national healthcare through a modern hospital system comprising two state-of-the-art medical centres, managed by InterHealth Canada; Cheshire Hall Medical Centre on Providenciales and Cockburn Town Medical Centre on Grand Turk. Health services provided at the centres include: emergency care, dental, dialysis, internal medicine, surgical, orthopedic, obstetric and endoscopic procedures, physiotherapy and diagnostic imaging. Tele – medicine is also currently being introduced to improve inter island healthcare delivery.
 

Providenciales also has a number of private general practitioners, and all of the other Sister Islands have community clinics.