Tortola or Grand Turk????

[scomar]

I am tring to decide between two cruises they both have the same port of calls except one is Grand Turk and the other is Tortola. Never been to either one. Which would be your pick? Keep in mind we love to snorkel.

 

Thanks in advance.

 

Scomar

[Zeno]

I am tring to decide between two cruises they both have the same port of calls except one is Grand Turk and the other is Tortola. Never been to either one. Which would be your pick? Keep in mind we love to snorkel.

 

Thanks in advance.

 

Scomar

 

This is a HARD one. I have been to Tortola and to the Turks and Caicos (Not GT though Having been to the T&C many times I have met a lot of people from GT)

Grand Turk -excellent beaches, I don't know much about the snorkeling but if it is anything like the rest of the T&C (I have been to Provo, North Caicos and Water Cay) - it will be excellent with great visibility).

 

Tortola (I have been there a couple of times)

The beaches are very nice (not quite as nice as T&C (my opinion)) The snorkeling I have done was OK BUT there are certainly some places there that I have not been to.

What Tortola has is easy (via ferry) access to Virgin Gorda (incredible water clarity, The Baths and very good snorkeling)

 

Personally I don't think you can go wrong with either.

[jaga04]

Keep in mind when reading this that I've spent 2 weeks in Tortola and one cruise stop in GT.

 

The islands themselves are very different. Tortola is lush and mountainous, with dramatic, gorgeous views as you drive around on winding roads. GT is flat, but the surrounding water is beautiful.

 

The cruise terminal in GT is pretty new and separate from the town, has a Margaritaville (with a huge pool), a nearby beach, and a bunch of stores. In Tortola, you're let off in more of a real place, Road Town, the largest town/city on the island.

 

Tortola has more options for snorkeling, though of course you'll only be doing 1 day's worth anyway. You can either go on a boat (I highly recommend going to the Indians if you can work it out to do that), snorkel from a beach such as Brewers Bay (there are other posts about that on this board), or go over to Virgin Gorda and the Baths. Any of those options would be great.

 

We did a snorkeling excursion in GT and thought it was good, not great, but snorkeling can vary a lot on differents days/times. We didn't have time to explore the island, but wish we did.