The ultimate family destination?

The Turks and Caicos Islands consist of 40 islands and cays, eight of which are inhabited. The islands are located 550 miles southeast of Miami, Florida, just below the Bahamas chain and just to the east of Cuba and the island of Hispaniola.

To get there we had to fly to Providenciales. At the moment, British Airways fly once a week from Gatwick via Antigua or there are various options to fly in via Miami. We stopped in Antigua for a few days before continuing on to Turks and Caicos and flew back on the direct flight that touched down in Antigua for an hour to pick up more passengers.

Beaches is the family sister brand of Sandals couples resorts. They have two Beaches resorts in Jamaica and one in Turks and Caicos and they really have thought of everything a family could possible need - including the world's best footballer (apparently!) who was also staying there at the same time!

The resort is situated about 20 minutes’ drive from the airport and provides fast and efficient transfers, It is situated on a 12 mile stretch of beach that is possibly the nicest beach I have even seen complete with soft, white sand and the most turquoise sea you can imagine.

The resort is split into 4 'villages' each with their own distinct look and feel - Caribbean Village, French Village, Italian Village and, the newest edition, Key West Village.

We had a fabulous suite with a large balcony with views of the ocean in the Caribbean Village. We had ample storage space, a large bathroom with a bath and shower and two large, extremely comfy double beds. Our fridge was re-stocked daily with soft drinks. If you opt for concierge or butler suites you also get full sized bottles of spirits and wine too!

There are 20 restaurants on site so there really is something for everyone.

We loved them all and the food was outstanding! Kimonos Japanese Teppanyaki was a fun night out with the chefs out-singing each other. Another favourite was Barefoot by the sea where you can dine on sand. Open for breakfast, lunch and dinner with a great choice of options.

The adult only Sky restaurant is nice. Situated in an elevated position looking out towards the ocean, the food was divine!

As you would expect, there is a lot of fresh fish and sea food options as well as meat and vegetarian options with themes from around the world - including the British Cricketers Pub, Arizona Mexican style restaurant and Giuseppe’s Italian restaurant.

The kids have their own Bobby Dee’s diner and ice cream parlour open from 11am - 6am serving a wide range of meals and snack and a great place to hang out. This is situated within the Pirates Island water park which is a 45000 square foot water park with slides big and small as well as a lazy river and a pirate ship. They even have a kid's swim up bar!

Even though the hotel was completely full the week we were there, we never queued to get on any of the slides or struggled to get a ring to bob around the lazy river or had to wait excessively for a table in the restaurant of our choice.

Beaches is an ultra-all-inclusive resort so that includes all premium brand spirits and cocktails as well as land and water sports. It also includes scuba diving! As a qualified scuba diver that hadn't dived for a few years, I took the refresher course which I paid a small fee for then I was free to take up to two dives a day, every day! Also included are snorkelling trips, paddle boarding, wind surfing and hydro bikes. You can learn how to sail a hobie cat and go off on your own or they will take you out.

Other activities included croquet, volley ball, basketball, pool, snooker and lawn chess as well as tennis courts and organised football.

For the kids.....where do I start! There's something for tots, toddlers, tweens and teens. Sesame Street characters can be found around the resort meeting the kids as well as scheduled shows. There are kids clubs and activities organised by age groups as well as the Xbox Play Room and teen’s Liquid disco and many other things to keep kids happy!

The Red Lane Spa offers a wide range of fabulous treatments that can be carried out on the beach or in the spa and there are two well-equipped gyms along with a schedule of classes and activities.

I absolutely loved Beaches at Turks and Caicos and there is so much more I could tell you, so if you have any questions or want to know more, why not get in touch?