BOHIO BEACH (DIVE RESORT)-GRAND TURK
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We rented a golf cart to come here on our own (and do some exploring around the island). We managed to finally find BOHIO and the street we were on pretty much dead ended into it, so not too hard to find, once you are on the right side of the salt pond.
Once we drove up to the property, I started seeing all these "private property" signs. I really didn't know if that meant people that were not staying there or a day pass or what. So, I had the hubby turn around and park over on the side of the parking lot in hopes that we would be able to spend the day there and still come out to a golf cart sitting in the parking lot.
We gathered our things and headed out toward the water entrance from the side street.
The water and sand looked amazing!
The beach was really pretty and just as I expected. I had done my research and had googled pictures of the place and it looked just like what I had found on the internet.
This sand was so soft and fluffy, but I have to admit it reminded me of the sand I encountered at Nachi Cocom in Cozumel that everyone loves. Beautiful place, but the sinking-as-you-walk-in-the-sand will wear your legs out! Not fat girl friendly for me at all.
Up at the building, there would be the place you go to purchase you lawn chairs for the day. You better get moving because it might take you awhile in this sand. The price of the lawn chairs are $10 each I believe...or at least that's what I had in my notes. We got two of them, even though I know that I never stay put in one for long because I spend most of my time out in the water.
We found a spot on the beach with some shade, thanks to a huge tree behind us, and we planted ourselves. Sakari found a crab walking up the sand and away from the water. Such an animal lover...even if it can hurt you, she loves them. That girl has no fear.
It wasn't long before Sakari would morph into a mermaid for everyone to see. From here to eternity, the girl will never have tan legs again while cruising. Sigh
Well, I guess she must have forgotten all about the burn/rub marks from the water park yesterday. WhatdItellya! Nothing is about to stop this little mermaid from getting in the salt water at the beach.
"Hey dude, did you know I was a real mermaid? Hey, hey you, are you listening to me? You are swimming next to a mermaid."
Not too much longer she would be bringing me her "find of the day", a heart sea urchin (or spatangoida). Pretty cool seeing how I have never even spotted one of these when snorkeling before. Great job Sakari...now I have my picture, go put it back in the water so it will survive...and off she went.
After that exciting find, I knew I had to get in the water and take a look around.
Once I entered the water and headed to any "darker" areas, the only thing I would see would be the "wrong" kind of sea urchins that you really don't want to run in to.
These things were everywhere. It kinda made me think twice about getting in the water. There were so many unsuspecting people bopping around in the water that could step on them. I watched people on paddle boards looking oh-so slightly wobbly and I just held my breath hoping they didn't lose their balance and plummet into the water and land on one of these. Yikes.
A little tid-bit on sea urchins. The above sea urchins are not poisonous (like the black/red sea urchins I normally encounter). People actually eat these kind. The part that you eat is actually the sea urchins "parts" (wink wink) and it's considered a delicacy, just like caviar. People say it taste salty and sweet as well, but would all depend on what the sea urchin had to eat that day too.
There were a lot of itty bitty fish swimming around, but nothing to write home about. I had always heard that this place is "the" place to go for snorkeling and diving. I mean it's one of the dive shops here on the island, so it had to be good right? Well, maybe you need to do a boat tour to get there or something because I found nuttin! So don't get your hopes up high if you think you are going to do any snorkeling from the shore...unless maybe it was really out there far and this fat girl isn't into swimming out too far these days.
Another thing they said about this place is you could sometimes sit on the beach and watch the whales go by. For any of you that want to whale watch, Grand Turk is a great place to be during the months of January to April. Humpback whales come to Grand Turk during these winter months for mating and birthing and they pass by the island quite frequently. You will also see many whale spotting tours being offered during this "season". We were here last year just the first part of April and didn't manage to see a thing.
Well what have we here??? The hubby decided to actually come out and play in the water? This must be a special occasion because this usually doesn't happen too often these days. He's been practicing sitting on the beach in a chair over the last several years (since I usually have Sakari or Kendra to swim with) and he's been perfecting it pretty well I might say.
I guess since he managed to come into the water, I would have to take a break from this "wonderful" snorkeling for a bit.
Meanwhile we have a beached mermaid instead of a whale.
I ran out of the water and plopped down and the hubby grabbed my camera and took this picture. Give the guy a camera and he thinks he's an instant photographer.
As the sun moved, so did we. We kept having to pull our chairs up more toward the tree instead of the direction of the water...darnit. I decided to take a few pictures of the area. Beside the restroom, they had a pool. It looked like they had dug it out a bit and built a deck around it and it appeared to be an above ground pool. I didn't see anyone in it, but I'm sure it was reserved for guest as well. Most of the area's around the place were reserved for "guest" staying there. The patio was super nice and I believe this is the area that I have seen in pictures stating that you can see the whales from here if you watch.
Since the sun continued to move and so did our chairs, we decided we would not be staying much longer. We were starting to infringe on the people behind us that were directly under the tree and...well you all know that "closeness" is not my thing while eating in the MDR and neither is it when sitting on the beach.
I informed my hubby that the next place we were going to would not have any place to eat or get drinks. If he was even the slightest hungry, he should probably get something here.
He went up and ordered food and came back with 1 plate. This plate of food cost $20!!!!! Wow, that's just crazy and such a rip off. I have to say that it wasn't very good either. The chicken nuggets had a fishy taste, so I assume that they cooked it in the same oil as they do fish. The cole slaw was decent and the fries "ok". I just couldn't get over the price of this platter and there were 3 of us that had to share it!
After eating, we gathered our things and headed for the entrance.
On our way out I would take more pictures of the grounds. We arrived here at BOHIO at 9:53am and we were pulling out at 12:12pm. Plenty of time left and right on schedule. Back to the parking lot, we would still find our golf cart waiting on us. We said our goodbyes and off we went to the next beach.
FINAL THOUGHTS:
It was a beautiful place, nicely landscaped and laid out (although it's off limits to for the most part due to being for "guest only") and the beach was beautiful, just hard to walk in, but I would honestly not come back to this place. It's good to experience it once and once was enough for me. The outrageous price for the 1 platter of food threw me into shock, the lack of snorkeling right from the beach, the over run sea urchins, the hard to walk in sand...just all something that would not have me screaming "Gosh darnit I love this place so much that I HAVE to return next time". But definitely a beautiful beach and water!!!
TO CONTINUE WITH OUR GOLF CART TOUR TO THE NEXT BEACH (GOVERNORS BEACH),
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