Anyone been to Turks and Caicos?

B

Badfish740

Explorer
Feb 19, 2005
589
44
Copperhead Road
My Mom announced at Christmas that in light of the fact that I'm graduating from college in May we'll all be going to Turks and Caicos this June. I've been reading up on things to do and my priorities are as follows:

Beaches
Gambling
Cigars

I've heard that the best beaches are reached via dirt roads and 4WDs which you can rent, so I'm looking forward to maybe driving some sort of oddball right hand drive (They drive like the British) diesel 4x4. Anybody done this? Also apparently there is one casino at the Allegro hotel-anybody know if they play Hold 'Em there or is it just Blackjack, Carribean Stud, etc... Finally cigars-I've never had a real Cuban, so what better place to experience one than a Carribean island. What brands are out there? How much can I expect to pay? I've never been south of Florida so any advice will help a lot-I'm hopin to have a blast down there!
 
Ben Ruset

Ben Ruset

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Site Administrator
Oct 12, 2004
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I honeymooned in Aruba, which is a Dutch island and is left-hand drive. They have both oddball and standard 4WD's. Oddly enough I rented a Yellow Jeep Wrangler.

The things I will suggest when renting a car in the islands are:

1. Try to rent from a well known brand. Avis, Hertz, etc. all have locations on the bigger islands.

2. Do a thorough walk-around of the vehicle BEFORE you sign anything. Make sure existing damage (there will be some) is noted before you drive away.

3. Make sure the vehicle is in working condition, has good tires, etc.

The Jeep that I rented apparently had a cut in it's radiator hose before I got it, meaning that as I drove, it leaked out all of it's water. It overheated and blew a head gasket on me, leaving us stranded in the middle of a desert (in the middle of this brown splotch).

The company then claimed that I was responsible to replace the engine because I had not checked the water level daily. Long story short, with a lot of yelling, complaining, and having to call the Aruba Tourist Board, we got the matter settled. Still, it pretty much ruined the last few days of our honeymoon, and the one thing that I was looking forward to - which was off-roading around the island and exploring.

Oh, and the Jeep also had three bald tires from different manufacturers.

So -- be very wary when renting cars in the islands.
 
bobpbx

bobpbx

Piney
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Oct 25, 2002
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Badfish740 said:
My Mom announced at Christmas that in light of the fact that I'm graduating from college in May we'll all be going to Turks and Caicos this June. I've been reading up on things to do and my priorities are as follows:

Beaches
Gambling
Cigars

I've heard that the best beaches are reached via dirt roads and 4WDs which you can rent, so I'm looking forward to maybe driving some sort of oddball right hand drive (They drive like the British) diesel 4x4. Anybody done this? Also apparently there is one casino at the Allegro hotel-anybody know if they play Hold 'Em there or is it just Blackjack, Carribean Stud, etc... Finally cigars-I've never had a real Cuban, so what better place to experience one than a Carribean island. What brands are out there? How much can I expect to pay? I've never been south of Florida so any advice will help a lot-I'm hopin to have a blast down there!
Click to expand...

If your mom will take me along I'm sure we can figure all that out.
 
B

Badfish740

Explorer
Feb 19, 2005
589
44
Copperhead Road
bruset said:
So -- be very wary when renting cars in the islands.
Click to expand...

Wow! What a nightmare! I will definitely keep that in mind because I'm really looking forward to getting to some of the beaches less traveled. One thing I've read to look out for though is the machineel (sp?) tree which apparently can cause painful scarring blisters! I think if I avoid shady car rental agencies and poisonous plants I should be ok though :D

Gillian thanks for the info on the casino and the cigars, my two guilty pleasures. I've since been able to find out that there is only one casino on the island and it's not all that large. I think I may devote more of my time to exploring the uninhabited islands-there are over 30, only 8 of which are inhabited. A little weird factoid is that Canadian politicians of late have proposed annexing T&C as part of Nova Scotia or something to that effect because of historical relations with the tiny island nation. At least they could consistently hold claim to the "warmest place in Canada" record year after year!
 
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