Reid & Robie

In the Caribbean the temperature never changes, the sun just goes down.

– Kris Marshall

It’s that time of year again!

With stockings and Christmas ornaments stowed for another year, January is the month we trade visions of sugar plums and dreams for a white Christmas into images of white sand beaches and warm turquoise waters. So, here’s a little something to inspire your next mid-winter getaway.

Driving an ATV down a rust-colored road winding between low scrub bushes I crested a hill and stopped to admire the view.

The narrow strip of land bounded by water was caught between the shimmering Caicos Bank and the cobalt Atlantic Ocean. To my left, a graceful manta ray flew through crystalline waters while on the right, trade winds whipped whitecaps toward a small slit of beach.

Benjamin, my guide, pulled up beside me pointing beyond the trail of seafoam in the distance, his finger tracing the route humpback whales travel from February to April. But since my arrival didn’t coincide with the mammals’ annual migration, I was on the hunt for a less elusive animal, one well-known to the island.

Five hundred miles from Miami, the Turks and Caicos Islands were recently named the best place to visit in the Caribbean for 2025 by U.S. News. Yet before Club Med opened on Grace Bay in the 1980s, few travelers had ever heard of the tiny island nation southeast of the Bahamas. In the decades since, a string of high-rise hotels has sprung up on Providenciales to accommodate the country’s 1.5 million annual visitors. And with new construction projects planned for St. Regis, Moon Palace, IHG and Kempinski, the island’s continued growth feels inescapable.

But for Sailrock Managing Director Andre Boersma and his team 50 miles away on South Caicos, a different kind of Caribbean hideaway awaits, “one far removed from the casinos and crowds of Provo,” Boersma says using the local name for Providenciales.

An island of 1,500 inhabitants, South Caicos was known only to divers and wildlife enthusiasts before Sailrock opened in 2018 blending boutique tourism, exclusivity and barefoot luxury. And after the resort caught the eye of celebrities like Justin Bieber, trailblazing travelers soon followed.

Encompassing 770 acres on the northern tip of South Caicos, Sailrock’s low-density masterplan offers suites and villas designed for intimacy while providing plenty for guest who want to stay active with tennis, pickleball, basketball and beach volleyball courts along with bocci ball, cornhole and a soccer pitch. But after long months of traveling for work, I had no plans beyond lounging by my private pool and getting lost in a good book.

Arriving in Provo, I hopped across the turquoise Caicos Banks in a twin-engine plane for the 20-minute flight enjoying views out my window reminiscent of the Maldives. And after I landed at South Caicos’ new terminal, Big Mike took me the short distance to Sailrock. In the lobby I met Harvey, the vivacious real estate director who offered to show me the lay of the land.

Facing the blustery Atlantic Ocean, Harvey pointed to a kitesurfer skimming across the water. From there, he led me across the open-air Great House for a view of the calm western shore where hammocks and Hobie cats lined the white sands, and The Cove restaurant served lunch on the beach as well as a weekly dinner under the stars with a bonfire and s’mores.

In addition to The Cove, Harvey explained, breakfast and dinner were offered at the Great House Restaurant and Bar where the view at sunset was the best on the island.

With my orientation complete, Harvey introduced me to Layverne, the person responsible for my reservation and Tikiera, one of several resort employees who grew up on South Caicos. Then while Big Mike took my bags to my oceanfront villa, the ladies handed me over to the soothing ministrations of Eko, the Thai masseur who graciously fit me in for a much-needed massage.

But out of everyone on the Sailrock team, the person I got to know best was Benjamin. Offering excursions for fly fishing, bone fishing, picnics, bicycle and paddleboard tours, Benjamin convinced me to put down my book and leave the beautiful villa. Then he sent me to kayak the Caicos Banks and get in a boat at Cockburn Harbor to snorkel among the orange invertebrates in Starfish Garden.

On my last day at Sailrock, Benjamin insisted on showing me around on the resort’s ATVs. As we admired the scene caught between the Atlantic and the Caribbean, something emerged from the craggy brush. And after seeing nothing except abundant sea life and iguanas on South Caicos, I’d nearly given up spotting the island’s mascot until a long-eared creature emerged to stare at me with big brown eyes.

Here was what I’d hoped to find. A feral donkey leftover from the salt industry that once dominated the island.

In the late 1600s, British colonists began raking salt from marine ponds to form the backbone of the island’s economy for the next 350 years. But with increased competition from the Bahamas, the industry on South Caicos fell into decline. And once the mines closed, the donkeys used to turn the pumps and transport salt were left to roam free adding to the island’s landscape and charm.

Watching sunset that evening from the Great House, Harvey relayed the story of Liam Maguire, an English immigrant who brought tourism to South Caicos. As the salt mines closed, Maguire built the island’s first hotel. And after learning to fly, he put up an airport and convinced the government to pave the landing strip.

While it’s taken more than half a century for Maguire’s vision to take off, South Caicos won’t remain a secret much longer. On the southwest side of the island, the former East Bay Resort is being replaced by a 100-room Marriott Salterra opening later this year. And with twice-weekly flights from Miami on American Airlines starting in February, Sailrock guests no longer have to step their well-manicured, sandaled feet on Provo to stay at the World’s Leading Luxury Villas Resort in 2024.

For my last evening, I dined on conch ceviche and lobster tacos at The Cove Restaurant’s weekly beachfront dinner. Then I held a stick skewered with two marshmallows over the bonfire and watched them melt before topping a pair of chocolate-laced graham crackers.

In the distance, the gentle bray of a donkey floated on the breeze. And with a blanket of stars carpeting the night sky, I marveled at how a place so close to the bright lights of Provo could feel so far away.

Want to know more about Sailrock’s barefoot luxury on beautiful South Caicos? Check out Sailrock South Caicos | Turks & Caicos Luxury Resort for your next tropical getaway.