Our visit to Grand Turk, on the Turks & Caicos Islands, during our cruise last December provided an interesting contrast between the Cruise Center where our ship docked and Cockburn Town, the government seat just three miles away. The Cruise Center opened in 2006, developed by Carnival Corporation & plc to welcome large cruise ships and their passengers to this 7-mile-long, 1.5-mile-wide island surrounded by clear, turquoise waters and coral reefs.    It features a long, two-berth pier which allows ships of any length to easily tie up,   from which visitors step right into 18 beautifully landscaped acres featuring a large pool; a 45,000-square-foot shopping center; restaurants; a FlowRider attraction; and a long stretch of powdery white sand lined with lounge chairs and umbrellas.   For many visitors, it provides everything they could want in a tropical island visit: clean facilities; souvenirs; warm, clear water and soft sand — all literally just steps from their ship.

Of course, that wasn’t enough for us, as we wanted to get out of this pristine environment and see a little more of the island. We hopped into a taxi van for a ride into Cockburn Town and fortunately found our driver, John, provided a running narration of the sights we passed by, along with bits of history and interesting facts. His deep, commanding voice and precise diction in the Queen’s English made me wish we had the time to take his full-island tour; nevertheless, he squeezed a lot into our short ride into town and our return to the ship a few hours later.

The U.S. Air Force once had a base here, and the airport still provides commercial service. Just outside the entrance to the airport sits a replica of John Glenn’s Friendship 7 spacecraft, which splashed down in the waters just off Grand Turk in 1962. (If you’ve seen the magnificent Hidden Figures, it is that mission which is the focus of the film’s characters.) We passed several of the island’s salinas, or salt ponds, for which the island was famed and which brought it much wealth. John told us Thomas Jefferson proclaimed Grand Turk’s salt was the best in the world, but it is no longer produced in commercial quantities for export — though small bags of it may be purchased in the local shops. It was also harvested at a horrible human cost, with slaves brought in to work barefoot with open sores in the stinging salt water in withering heat.

We passed several historic Bermudian and Colonial-style buildings and a few more modern government buildings before disembarking in the commercial center of town. Harry and I set off to find a pharmacy, and our meanderings took us past tiny bodegas; small, careworn cottages; and overgrown, empty lots. Most of the roads were sandy dirt or cracked and potholed pavement with very little traffic, vehicular or pedestrian. After finally finding the pharmacy, we decided to look into the island’s one supermarket, curious about the prices and availability of goods. Fresh fruit and produce were at a premium, with very little variety, and most other items were very costly, as well, as everything must be imported. We returned to the town center and perused the local artists’ stalls for a few souvenirs. Clearly, tourism is virtually the sole industry here, and life for most of the 4,500-some inhabitants is not easy.

We returned to the Cruise Center beach and enjoyed a little time in the brilliantly clear water (even spotting a sting ray gliding his way up the beach just a few feet off shore), more mindful that our leisure provided vital income to many of these islands we would visit. As we strolled down the pier to return to our Holland America ship, we passed one of the Turk’s head cactuses (so named for its resemblance to a fez) for which the islands were named.

  I truly wish we’d had more time here to learn a little more of Grand Turk’s history and to explore its famed dive sites. Perhaps on another visit!

— Patty Vanikiotis, associate editor/copy editor