Trip report Club Med, Turkoise Turks & Caicos Islands Oct. 2000 Getting there and Back: Our trip was booked through Le Beach Club who were able to find a very good rate, although it did require somewhat less than ideal flight schedules. Because of an early departure from Turkoise, we extended our stay a day and ended up as a Sun - Monday schedule. The Atlanta to MIA flight departed at 7:15, so it required an early start, followed by a 3+ hour layover in Miami, which turned into a 4.5 hr layover because of a delayed inbound aircraft. We did arrive in PLS at about 4:00, which was a little over an hour late. Unfortunately, another large aircraft (a charter, I believe) had just arrived in front of us, so the two flights somewhat overwhelmed the customs people and baggage handling. Considering the large number of people arriving at one time, the airport people did a good job and were pleasant (more so than some passengers). The handling and processing by Club Med was friendly and competent (the airport GO recognized us from a visit to Columbus Isle two years ago). This was our second visit to Turkiose, so we knew our way around. Although this was our eighth Club Med visit, we attended the Informational Meeting, but there were no surprises. The return flight left at 8:02 AM, which required a 5:30 AM baggage drop and we left the village at 6:10. The aircraft (a very new 737) overnights at PLS, so the departure was on time. The MIA - ATL flight was about 80 minutes late leaving so we had about a 2.5 hr layover. Our flights were American Airlines, arranged via Club Med, but Delta is scheduled to start flying to PLS (from ATL, I believe) in December, and someone mentioned that TWA is going to start a PLS route soon, so there should be good schedules and rates available as competition heats up. I was somewhat disappointed by American Airlines. Although I certainly enjoyed the greater legroom (I'm about 6'1", so legroom is important) only the "first trip of the morning" flights were on time and the ground staff, especially in Miami, seemed confused and very poorly organized. In-flight service and food/beverages were mediocre at best. The Club: Turkoise is a "Three Trident", or mid-range club. It has recently had a minor renovation (paint, minor repairs, and TV & phones in every room) and was in reasonably good condition. Rooms are fairly spacious, but a bit sparse of furniture. AC was efficient, with ceiling fans as an option for the cooler months. Bath facilities are somewhat basic, but functional. King beds are two doubles put together with a 'bridge' between them, so they are not as long as a true king-size bed. It is located on Grace Bay, a very pretty reef protected bay on the NW side of the island. The beach runs continuously from about .75 miles north of the club, for more than 10 miles to the south and west; very nice for walking. The Allegro resort is about a 15 minute walk down the beach, and the Beaches resort would be another 20 minutes beyond that. The Club Med was the first major resort on the island(built in 1984) and probably has the best location. I would estimate that the club was about 70-75% full the week we were there. While the club was reasonably kept up, there was a definite lack of attention to detail. Housekeeping was OK, but could have been better; general cleanliness around the pool area was a bit lacking until the last day when everything was cleaned up some, apparently in preparation for the arrival of the incoming new Chef de Village that night. Major items were being done (widening the sidewalks) while minor items were left undone. (The speakers at the classical music shelter stopped working about our forth day and were never fixed.) Sports Activities: Turkoises' claim to fame is really the SCUBA diving, with numerous very nice sites within an hour boat ride. (We do not dive, so this is relying on comments from other guests.) There are three dive boats, but only two seemed to be used, probably because of the light occupancy at the club. The dive boats are very nice steel catamarans, about 50' in length and very wide. About the only complaint about the boats are that they are so large, and can accommodate so many divers, that some dive locations get a bit crowded from just the single boat. Snorkeling is also available, with two trips a day on a dedicated snorkel boat. They seemed to have about 6 or 8 sights they visited, some depending on weather and wave action. Many people know about JoJo the dolphin who frequents Grace Bay. He generally appears relatively infrequently, and on no recognizable schedule. On our second snorkel trip, he appeared around the boat as we were loading up. He stayed there while the captain backed the boat out to clearer water and many of us got out to swim with JoJo. We did so for just a few minutes before he took off after another passing boat. The boat captain said that was the first time JoJo had been seen in two weeks, and as far as I know, we was not seen again the rest of the week. We later spoke to a couple who had come all the way from Japan, mostly to see JoJo, and they just happened to be on that snorkel trip..... perhaps JoJo knew they had come to see him. Although we enjoy snorkeling and beach walking, we really went there for sailing and windsurfing. The only sailboats there now are Hobie Waves; catamarans designed for resort use. They are very easy to sail and very safe, not but as fast or as much fun as Hobie 16s. The windsurfers are mostly large beginner boards, with a few 328s and smaller to midsize sails (a 6.5 was the largest I found). However, the wind was not there while we were. Most days there was no wind in the morning, and barely enough to sail at all in the afternoon. When I did go out to windsurf, I explained to the GOs that I was going to "go hold the sail up for a while", which is about the way it worked. On our last day we got some good afternoon winds, probably 15 kts (well, relatively good). The wind was side/on-shore and worked up quite a chop, so I still couldn't work up planing speed on the windsurfer, but the Hobies were fun. If you haven't sailed or windsurfed before, this would be a good place to try it, if there is enough wind. Lessons are offered every morning and afternoon, but are rather brief and the GMs are just turned loose on the boats after the lesson. First time sailors should probably get a GO to go out with them on a boat after the lesson. If you ask for help, the GOs are glad to assist, but you may have to ask. The one real complaint a about the beach team is that they wanted to close up too early in the afternoon. They were scheduled to be open from 9:30 AM to 5:00PM but they seemed to interpret the 5:00 time as when the boats are all put away, sails folded, and they could leave the beach. That meant that they wanted all boats on the beach by 4:30. If you showed up at 4:30 looking for a short ride, you were out of luck. The water-skiing dock was under repair so skiers had to swim out a little to the end of the dock for pick-up. Water-skiing only ran about 3 or 4 days due to rough water. This is a Club Med Circus club, and several people we spoke to said it was a "must do" activity. (We didn't.) The Food: As usual with Club Med, the food was plentiful and well presented. There are both 'mass produced' food and some specialties prepared by the chefs as you watched. The specialties were reasonably good, although slightly bland, but the mass produced food was apparently produced for non-discriminating American tastes; it was, with few exceptions, bland and unexciting. The salad, fruit, and cheese tables were reasonably complete and well supplied. The bread table was a little of a disappointment; they only had about 7 different breads, and seemed to focus on the chocolate breads, for which they are famous. The selection of other breads was a little lacking. Papayas were served only twice, and were not completely ripe; mangos were also served twice, and were nowhere near ripe, a definite disappointment and a waste of mangos. Friday night was the "Around the World 50th Anniversary" buffet, and it was done very nicely, although most food was still somewhat bland in taste. The Grill restaurant was open Monday - Thursday and reservations had to be made at noon for the same day. Actually, you had to be in line prior to 12:00, or you probably would not make the list. The Grill featured table service at tables for 2, 4 or 6 and buffet style soup/salad/cheese. Service was good, although there did seem to be some confusion among the staff. While there was a choice of two entrees, everyone got the same appetizer and desert. In general, we felt there was a lack of attention to quality food because of the large number of young Americans (especially New Yorkers) who were more interested in drinking than eating. Entertainment Entertainment was typical Club Med. We've seen most of the shows several times, so didn't bother seeing them again. They did have a "Comic Tennis" show one evening, which was cute, and the circus team show was very well done. The focus was definitely on the young crowd, and the disco was apparently very active at night (we didn't go in). Pool activities and drinks were definitely oriented toward the young. We did enjoy watching some of the activities, especially the "foam party": it was really amazing... both the foam itself and the way people immersed themselves in it. Some GMs made the short walk down the beach to the Allegro to go to the casino there. Anyone doing this should probably check ahead, since the hours of operation seemed unpredictable. General This is definitely a club heavily influenced by the young crowd and the charter flights from New York. As mentioned, we felt the food quality was not quite up to par, largely because this crowd was not looking for good international style food. Other than that, the youthful atmosphere didn't really cause any problems; we were not kept awake by party music or other noise. Many activities were oriented around the Saturday charter flight to/from New York and that caused a minor disruption in schedules, but nothing serious. The large concentration of people (young and old) from the NE United States was probably more of an impact, causing a more homogeneous population than at most clubs. Since we enjoy meeting people from different countries and backgrounds, we saw this as a minor disadvantage; others would probably see it as a good thing. At prior clubs, GOs (normally from the reception area) seated diners in the dining rooms. They normally did so in an "intelligent" manner, based on age, probable language, etc. At Turkoise this time, local employees had the task of seating the GMs and they generally seem to do so in the manner that most efficiently filled the tables. My wife and I enjoy sitting with people from different countries but on several occasions we were poorly seated, such as when we were put at a table with 5 young men just arrived from New York. While they were very pleasant, they were obviously a bit uncomfortable (we are over 50) and on good behavior with my wife there. I'd like to cast my vote for returning to GO seating. Much of the above is subject to change because a new Chef de Village arrived just before we left. The character of a village is strongly influenced by the Chef de Village so Turkoise may be changing over the next few months. Jean Marc (the outgoing CdV) seemed friendly and personable; I did not hear the name of the new CdV.