Jackie and I had the opportunity to visit the Beaches property in Providenciales, Turks & Caicos last week. We were so excited to visit a location that we had not visited before but we were wary of visiting a "family" focus resort. Since we don't have children, this would be something different.I have to admit I was pleasantly surprised. Okay, maybe blown away. The property was absolutely beautiful! There are three (3) separate villages at this resort: Caribbean, French and Italian. The accommodations in all 3 were beautiful.

The service was outstanding, the food was excellent and the facilities were state of the art. Beaches are an all inclusive property so there is no tipping and all meals, snacks, alcoholic and non alcoholic beverages. Non motorized water sports are included. If you are a certified diver, and present your diver certification card, up to 2 dives per day are included! If you are not a certified diver, Resort Certification is available for a fee. The only other services not included are spa services, character breakfasts, laundry and dry cleaning, after hours babysitting, internet access and shopping.

There are age appropriate, supervised activities for infants through teens. The resort employs Certified Nannies. The little ones will enjoy Camp Sesame and visits by the characters from Sesame Street. Even I enjoyed the Sesame Street Parade! You could feel the excitement of the children in the air as they waited for the character parade. The looks on their little faces as the parade approached was priceless. The parade ends with a show on the open air stage. There is Pirate Island with a water park and ice cream shop and a kid sized swim up bar. For the older kids there is an XBox 360 Game Garage, Crayola Art Camp, Scratch DJ Academy, Beach Olympics, Karaoke, and more.

There are 8 pools,-5 with swim up bars, a water park with 2 waterslides and a surfrider, a lazy river, outdoor movies, snorkeling, windsurfing, hobie cats, kayaks and sea trykes. There is a 7,000 square foot Shopping Village in just the Italian Village! There are 16 separate dining options! Did I mention the resort sits on a 12 mile stretch of powder white sand beach?

I thoroughly enjoyed the water slides and lazy river. The swim up bars was great and it was a hoot to watch the kids order the "virgin" pina coladas and other frozen drinks. They all thought that they were extremely cool. A few of the parents were envisioning blenders of frozen banana and strawberry drinks in their futures.

There are also special programs available for groups. Packages include Family Reunions; Group, Weddings by Martha Stewart and Best Friends for Ever. The programs offer special rates and exclusive benefits.

We had a great time at this resort and would highly recommend this for a great girlfriend getaway, a family reunion, a family destination wedding or a great beach vacation. If you are looking for a perfect family beach getaway you can't go wrong with Beaches, Turks & Caicos.
For more information on or to book your vacation to Beaches, contact us at 302-266-7910 toll free 888-452-9805 or visit us on the web at http://www.jhammond.cruiseone.com/ we would love to hear from you.