Half Moon Cay, Grand Turk, Amber Cover... what to do?

[TinaHunley]

I don't like to do the ship excursions... too big, feels like herding cattle.  LOL  I normally research and book things myself for each of our ports, but this cruise I haven't done anything.  What are some fun things to do in Grand Turk and Amber Cove?  We will be there the first week in July. 

 

On Half Moon Cay, can we just get off the ship and go to the beach for the day?  That's really all I want to do there.  How easy is it to do this?  What can we expect?

[CCLcruiserga]

Highly recommend the Supreme Snorkel with White Sands Snorkel in a Grand Turk. The group was small maybe 10 people. We had a few snorkeling spots, including the wall - which is amazing, Gibbs cay for the sting rays and a conch dive. For Amber Cove, I know you said you don’t like cruise excursions but La Casa En playa is great and not a huge group. Maybe 20 people. The food is great and there are lots of beach toys. 

[tortuga1975]

I think we might be on the same cruise - Carnival Magic?  Half Moon Cay is great.  Take a tender from the ship and big beach is waiting for you.  They do a free grill out lunch too in a picnic area.  

 

Ive done  beach excursions at Amber Cove and I haven’t been too impressed.  It’s a long drive down bumpy roads and the beach wasn’t great.  I just save my money and hang out at pool.

[meanjean80]

You're on a great cruise for "no excursions".   For me, I love Grand Turk; just get off the ship and walk a ways down the beach.  Pay 20 bucks to a guy for a couple of beach chairs and an umbrella.  Swim.  Drink local beer, eat conch fritters.  If I could live the rest of my life that way I would be a very happy cruiser...

 

If you do want to "see" Grand Turk, down by Jack's Shack there is usually someone offering a trolley tour to the "downtown" 

[purplephenom]

These are all great just get off the ship and chill ports.  Carnival put a lot of money into Amber Cove so you don't have to leave the port area if you don't want to.  Grand Turk, you basically get off onto the beach.  You can stay close to the ship and there are some free chairs there, or you can walk down a little bit and pay, but it is probably less crowded.  And you can go visit Topher at Jack's shack.  And Half moon cay is a beach day.

 

You had mentioned you don't like ship's excursions- Amber Cove, you could find a private excursion if you like (a lot of people do the waterfall tours).  Grand Turk, most of the tours seem to be more expensive compared to other ports, whether independently or thru the ship.  And Half Moon, you'd have no choice but to use Carnival, but you had mentioned you'd want that as a beach day anyhow. 

[Aviendah]

We just did this cruise in February and wanted to stay away from the crowds as well. I highly recommend Carnival's La Casa En la Playa - A Select Retreat in Amber Cove. There are some YT videos that give you a good idea what to expect. Not crowded, great lunch and friendly staff.

 

In Grand Turk we did Carnival's Home Sweet Home! Your Caribbean Retreat; great lunch and lovely staff. In fact everyone left early (you can ask to be taken back to the ship early) and we had the beach to ourselves for 3 hours. I couldn't believe it. You may want water shoes for this but the actual beach is lovely.

 

Half Moon Cay is a fabulous beach, just make sure to keep walking to get away from the crowds. The further down you go the more private and it's fantastic. We had a great beach trip and loved this cruise. 

[havanadaydreaming]

Previously, I've just hung out at the Margaritaville pool and swim up bar in Grand Turk.  It's pretty awesome, but I love fresh water pools. 

 

We are headed on the Magic in Sept on this itinerary and I think we are doing a catamaran excursion then Margaritaville. 

 

I think we're hitting the pool at Half Moon also.  Havent decided on Amber Cove yet.  

[ishap]

All just lazy port days in my opinion:

Grand Turk: Beach right off the pier (be careful of the beach chair scams) or walk down the beack to Jack Shack

Half Moon Cay: Take the tender over, find a nice beach chair in the shade and enjoy the day at the beach.  No muss, no fuss.  Leave a little later and come back early to avoid the tender lines.

Amber Cove:  Another lazy day around the pool.  

[GradUT]

A couple years ago, we got "burned" by a private snorkel  tour company in Grand Turk who cancelled the tour when we arrived because they hadn't gotten enough people signed up.  So last year, upon our return to Grand Turk, we just chose the Carnival 
"Two Reef Snorkel and  Beach Getaway".  I wasn't sure how good it would be (since I tend to avoid ships excurisions), but it was actually excellent.  There were only about 20 or less people on the boat; the snorkeling at both Horseshoe Bay and the rays place was great; and hanging out at the private beach club was great because we weren't hassled by anyone all afternoon long!  (And you are close enough to the dock  to walk back, but they also provide a shuttle.)  At $60 per person, this was among the best money we spent on our cruise. 

[ShakyBeef]

2 hours ago, havanadaydreaming said:

I think we're hitting the pool at Half Moon also.

 

There's a pool at HMC?  I don't remember there being a pool.  Where is it?

[havanadaydreaming]

1 hour ago, ShakyBeef said:

 

There's a pool at HMC?  I don't remember there being a pool.  Where is it?

my bad, pool at Amber Cove.   mixed the two up. 

 

I reckon we are just chillin on the beach at HMC.

[ShakyBeef]

1 hour ago, havanadaydreaming said:

my bad, pool at Amber Cove.   mixed the two up. 

 

I reckon we are just chillin on the beach at HMC.

 

OK, thanks.  That's what I thought you must have meant.  But then I thought there was a possibility that I just never saw it on my visits to HMC.

[clc9912]

In Amber Cove, we did Carnival's Outback excursion and really enjoyed it! Long day, but we saw a lot and visited a school where we brought school supplies and gave them to the teacher.

In Grand Turk, we rented a golf cart from Wet Money($100 inside the port boundary) and drove to the light house(7 miles), Governor's Beach(Amazing!), and lunch at Jack's Shack before returning to the ship. It was a perfect day! We had a great time.

[lasvegascruising]

I did this same trip at the beginning of May 2019.  Half Moon Cay is a wonderful beach day with bbq lunch supplied by Carnival.  The sand is like flour.  Grand Turk is a very small island.  I could see across the entire island from my balcony.  I did the tram tour for $25 and lasted about 2-3 hours.  After the tram tour, walked around Margaritaville a little bit and headed to the beach to cool off.  Amber Cove, took another tour via bus for $35 also 2-3 hours and then headed back to the ship for lunch and drinks.  Have a great time!

[Joebucks]

I don't even WANT to do anything else on HMC day. It's so relaxing and beautiful. Next time, I will move further down the beach though.

 

Last Grand Turk, we spent the day at Margaritaville. Let me preface this by saying I don't care for most Margaritaville's. They are overpriced, boring, tourist traps. With that said, this one is a lot of those things but it is fun. The pool is very big, and it was a good day. Next time, we will probably try out Jack's Shack.

 

Haven't been to Amber yet

[DanvilleCruiser]

I echo the posters who recommend La Casa En La Playa at Amber Cove.  Great food, limited numbers of people allowed on excursion, and the people who run the excursion take great care of you.

[Carolina Girl 99]

On 6/20/2019 at 3:25 PM, GradUT said:

A couple years ago, we got "burned" by a private snorkel  tour company in Grand Turk who cancelled the tour when we arrived because they hadn't gotten enough people signed up.  So last year, upon our return to Grand Turk, we just chose the Carnival 
"Two Reef Snorkel and  Beach Getaway".  I wasn't sure how good it would be (since I tend to avoid ships excurisions), but it was actually excellent.  There were only about 20 or less people on the boat; the snorkeling at both Horseshoe Bay and the rays place was great; and hanging out at the private beach club was great because we weren't hassled by anyone all afternoon long!  (And you are close enough to the dock  to walk back, but they also provide a shuttle.)  At $60 per person, this was among the best money we spent on our cruise. 

I chose the 'Gibbs Cay Stingray Encounter and Beach' excursion through Carnival when there was a sale. While I realize the company providing the tour may be different than the one you took, can you tell me where the pick-up and drop-off location was? We have a 1:00 pm time slot and I'm trying to plan out my morning, but don't want to be too far away from pick up