Sailrock Resort: Love at First Visit!

By Barbara Beckley

Natural. Authentic. Rustic luxe. “This is what life on vacation should be!” I sighed, reclining into my lounger, alone on the sugary sand, sipping a rum punch and contemplating the amazing colors of the sea – pastel blue, turquoise, green, azure and navy at the horizon.   

Set on South Caicos, the most remote and least developed of the Turks and Caicos Islands (TCI), a Caribbean British Overseas Territory, the Sailrock Resort is my new all-time favorite. And I’ve stayed at a lot of resorts.   

Miles of undisturbed beaches lapped by turquoise/blue/green seas. 35 breezy-elegant ocean-view accommodations perched amid 700 acres on an unspoiled coastal peninsula. Sailrock Resort is the only luxury resort on the island (there’s only one other hotel) – and acknowledged as one of the Caribbean’s best.

Yet, it’s more than an unspoiled location that makes Sailrock so special. Delicious cuisine, excellent cocktails, friendly and efficient staff (when I left the beach bar to walk on the sand, the bartender brought fresh ice for my rum punch without my asking), delightful fellow guests — who were as happy as I was to be there —  amazing water sports and even more amazing down-time watching the beautiful sea and sky. And surprise, surprise – it’s all hidden in plain sight just two hours from Miami!

Think The Maldives – But Closer

“We’re like the Maldives – only you don’t have to fly 40 hours to get here!” Kashmi Ali, resort managing director, laughed, as we sipped pre-dinner Blue Margaritas in the Great House Bar. “Guests compare us to somewhere in the Maldives,” he continued. A valid comparison, since 30 percent of the guests do vacation in the Maldives. “People are always surprised to find this quality of experience so close to home.”

I sure was. TCI has always been an enigma to me. Near yet far. A best kept secret for those who discover them. This was my first trip. And I didn’t know what to expect – or even where they were in the Caribbean — when I flew from LAX via Miami to Providenciales, the capital city. Then a 30-minute prop plane hop over impossibly blue waters to South Caicos. 

“Ahhh…” The moment I landed I felt refreshed, relaxed and in welcome company. Before deplaning, I asked the young pilot about the gorgeous water. “I think I saw sting rays,” I said. We were flying low enough to be safe, and easily see shapes in the clear water below. “Maybe,” he replied. “But the tide is out and the water is only about five feet deep. Shallow for rays.” “What!” I was taken aback by the lack of depth. My first lesson about TCI: they’re sprawling sand banks. A huge ocean plateau. Not volcanic, like the islands farther south. 

All the more beautiful, as I passed sweeping greenswards framed by sparkling Caicos Bay and emerald cays, on the resort shuttle ride to our official welcome – not in the lobby – but at Sailrock Beach, one of the resort’s pristine beaches. “We want you to experience the natural beauty – before you settle in to your suites and villas,” our super enthusiastic greeter Harvey Moss, the resort real estate guru, enthused. That we did. Oohing and aahing at the untouched seascape over Blue Margarita welcome drinks (the color of the sea) served in the open-air Cove Restaurant & Beach Bar.    

Nature with a Twist of Luxury

But natural beauty is everywhere. Beginning right outside my suite. Newly completed in 2018, Sailrock’s 35 accommodations are built into the natural landscape. No non-indigenous plants or artificial landscape here. Guests choose among the ridgetop suites and beachfront window-walled villas with cathedral ceilings, measuring 900 to 5,992 square feet; and ocean-view estate Peninsula Homes (available for purchase – there’s no property tax!), averaging 4,000 square feet, with infinity-edge pools.

Pathways wind from the suites and villas to the open-air lobby, adjacent indoor-outdoor Great House Restaurant & Bar, serving dinner and breakfast, and infinity edge pool – and breathtaking 360-degree open-air views of the Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea. A short shuttle or bicycle ride brings guests down to The Cove Restaurant & Beach Bar for lunch and the Tuesday night “Beach Bonfire & S’mores Experience.”  

Nature and luxury surrounded me from day one. After unpacking — and making the best espresso ever with my in-suite Nespresso machine – I enjoyed the companionship of a tiny green lizard and yellow butterflies on my short walk to dinner at the ridgetop Great House Restaurant & Bar. There, magnificent views of Caicos Bank bay paired perfectly with crisp sauvignon blanc and an incredibly delicious lamb chop with curry. Fresh Caicos Bank red snapper delighted on another evening. For breakfast, the Eggs Veracruz were light and delicious with exquisite layers of flavor.    

Sailrock Beach proved equally dreamy for lunch — and activities. It’s the Caribbean! Of course I ordered the Conch Fritters and a (tall) rum punch. Perfecto! The soft blonde sand was so pristine anemones and other small sea creatures live at the waterline. I watched as a lone guest angled for bonefish from the shore and his wife paddle-boarded in the mirror-like waters. I was also lucky to be at the Cove for the “Beach Bonfire & S’mores Experience” under the stars. And on my night, under a glorious full moon!    

Cozy, Friendly – Unique – Wade to a Sandbar Anyone?

The resort was fully occupied. Yet meals – and all my activities — were friendly affairs with only a handful of guests. “People are doing different things so you don’t see them,” Ali explained. One fabulous perk reduces the number of diners at the Great House. The Sailrock culinary team is available to prepare in-villa meals – which many guests do!  Also, the resort’s guest capacity is low. Only 80 guests max. “An enhancement to guests’ sense of relaxation and feeling of being “far, far away,” Ali explained.    

This hidden serenity is catching the attention of celebrities. Justin Bieber and his wife; Neil Patrick Harris, David Burtka and their twins, and Academy Award-winner Regina King are among recent guests.

A full slate of activities keeps everyone busy – or not. One couple told me, “we’ve been here a week and still not done everything we wanted to.” Boating, fishing, biking along miles of natural trails on the resort property. Snorkeling, scuba, swimming. “Much of the surrounding cays are in very shallow water. Often two feet deep between islets. So it’s fun to bike and wade over to a sandbar for snorkeling and a picnic lunch,” advised Sara Burnett, the resort’s fun-loving IT manager. Also Hobie-Cats, paddle boarding and birding. Two Ridgetop Spa Cabanas provide full service soothing. Look for the Na Spa to open in late 2021/22. Bicycles, rental cars and courtesy vans let guests explore on their own.

Pirates, Donkeys, the Queen, the Coast Guard and Keith Richards – Oh My!

South Caicos may be small (8.2 square miles), but there’s lots to see. Especially with a local like Benjamin Zirin, Sailrock’s fun and oh so informative Activities Host. Zirin was born on South Caicos, so he knows it all.

Jerry Camp was our first stop. A blissfully blue lagoon on the north end, surrounded by mangrove islets and hidden cays and beaches. “All the resort kayak trips depart from here,” he explained. I spotted a stingray gracefully flapping through the shallow water, accompanied by a harmless baby shark. “Rays and sharks are cousins,” Zirin explained.  

Then out to the North Tip for sweeping views of the ocean striated in turquoise, blue, greens and navy punctuated with emerald cays. No people. No boats. Just water and color. A left turn down a country road brought us to the abandoned US Coast Guard LORAN Station, sitting weathered and empty on a beautiful ocean bluff. It was operational from 1959 until 1981, largely to keep an eye on drug smugglers, Zirin told me. “The gorgeous cays and lagoons that we treasure for their remote beauty, were equally idyllic as hideouts to swashbuckling pirates during the 16^th and 17^th centuries, and to drug runners in the 1970s and ‘80s,” he explained.   

“Parrot Cay – 40 miles to the north — was originally ‘Pirate Cay’,” he continued, “because so many pirates hid there. According to legend, female pirate Anne Bonny camped there in the 1720s. The government renamed it Parrot Cay so not to frighten visitors.” I chuckled that it was appropriate Rolling Stones’ Keith Richards has a holiday house on Parrot Cay. OMG! With that, Zirin mentioned he knows Richards personally. “He calls me ‘Ben’ when we hang out. I take him, his daughter and family on tours,” Zirin said. “You mean I’m doing the same things that Richards has done with you?” I asked wide-eyed. “Yes.” Wow. I was having fun already. This upped the ante.

Turning south, (Sailrock encompasses the island’s northern end), we passed glistening salt ponds. Reminders that sea salt was South Caicos’ top money-maker from the 1850s until 1964, Zirin explained. “Locals raked up the salt in the hot sun and dumped it into baskets which donkeys hauled to port for world-wide distribution.” Well. While the salt is gone, the donkeys have flourished. Free-ranging around the island, grazing here and everywhere, safe and sound without owners, creating photos opps for visitors. Later that night I was amazed to see a donkey below my wrap-around balcony on the resort! Nibbling foliage under the sea grape trees. Today, the salt ponds are for the birds – literally. Home to thousands of wild pink flamingos from December through mid-March.  

Double donkeys stood at a street corner as we rolled into Cockburn Harbour, the island’s only town. As home to South Caicos’ 1,000 residents, Cockburn is simple and authentic. A collection of folksy buildings scattered across the hill and down to the marina and beach. Celo’s Dolphin Grill, the Triple J Grill, and the Sunset Café, upstairs overlooking the marina, make a fun break from Sailrock’s cuisine. Think fresh-made conch salad, lobster wraps, grilled shrimp. A couple of tiny markets carry bead bracelets and other locally-made souvenirs.

We stopped at the Queen’s Parade Grounds on the Cockburn Harbour Front walking down its long pier between brightly-colored pilings for a closer look at Iguana Island, across the water. It’s uninhabited except for — you guessed it – lots of iguanas. Queen’s Parade is the site of TCI’s oldest cultural event, the South Caicos Regatta, held each May to celebrate the visit of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip in 1966, Zirin pointed out. A few blocks away, an eye-catching marine life mural decorated the TCI campus of The School for Field Studies, an environmental research institution with study-abroad campuses around the world.

Cruising With Marley and the Ultimate Shell Game  

Another day found me sailing with Captain Marley (no relation, but cool like Ziggy), and a young Boston couple, on the resort’s Secluded Beach Picnic ½-day sail. We launched from Jerry Camp, sailing past thick mangrove islets out into the Atlantic, where we anchored and briefly fished (no luck this morning), before returning to the lagoon and the sandy shore of uninhabited McCartney Cay. (No relation either). We enjoyed sandwiches and sodas from the resort. And explored the cay.  

I’m a shell purist. So when the couple, who were celebrating their anniversary with a break from their 3-, 5- and 8-year-old, returned with pristine, pink conch shells, I followed in their footsteps to find some, too. I returned to my beach blanket empty handed. Without my knowledge, the husband went back and found two more gorgeous conchs — for me. “Are you sure you don’t want to keep them,” I said. “No, we have ours. We found these for you.” This is a memory I will cherish forever. And a perfect example of the Sailrock Resort experience.

“Every guest has the same beginning; but they create their own journey – be it romance, active sports or leisure,” Ali said to me on my last night. So true. And like the couple I overheard tell the front desk attendant (as they were checking out), “It’s a sad day. We tried to change our flights so we could stay longer…” Sailrock is truly magic.   

 

In the Know  

Rates: From $2,600 for four nights, including inter-island flights, $40 daily breakfast credit per person, non-motorized water sports and more.

Honors: Sailrock Resort is a Conde Naste Johansens Luxury Hotel, a member of The Small Luxury Hotels of the World and a World of Hyatt member.  

Buy? Why Not: New Peninsula Homes are being built as a secluded part of Sailrock Resort, averaging 4,000 square feet, with multi-bedrooms, pools and ocean views. Owners enjoy all the resort amenities and can put their house into the rental pool.   

For more about TCI: Visit https://turksandcaicostourism.com/