ISLAND HOPPING IN TURKS & CAICOS

Can the water really be that clear? Can the beaches really be that white? The answer is a resounding “yes” in this archipelago nation, where the pleasures run from sun seeking and beach bar hopping to sand dollar hunting and snorkeling. But where to dive in first?

- TRACEY MINKIN

It begins with the water. And it begins the first time you lay eyes on it: gliding on a flight path toward the Providenciales International Airport, skimming across it on a boat bound for a private island, meeting your gaze from the lounge chair outside your villa, brushing your toes on a white-sand beach.

No matter where you first meet the crystalline seas surrounding the low-lying limestone islands and cays of Turks and Caicos Islands, you will forever hold other waters lacking. You will tell your friends about it, and they won’t believe you. “It’s as clear,” you’ll say, “as gin.” And you won’t be wrong. But the magic of this archipelago—tucked in the North Atlantic (not the Caribbean) southeast of the Bahamas—is far more than its aquamarine seascape.

Long Bay Beach

This is a nation of more than 30 islands, large and small, some developed for pleasure-seeking visitors and some left wildly pure, with history, culture, wildlife, and even a whimsical-looking cactus that inspired its official name. But with all those riches comes, perhaps, an onset of paradise paralysis: Where to begin?

Where would your best Turks and Caicos vacation be? What’s it like to make your base camp on the chief island of Providenciales, with its famed beaches, buzzy restaurants and shopping, and day-trip options nearby? On the other hand, Turks and Caicos is famed for its private island resorts—from low-key luxury on Pine Cay to splendid villas and bungalows on Ambergris Cay.

Oceanfront One-Bedroom Suite, The Palms