Honeymoon date: February 2021

Travel advisor: Andrea Norfolk

Destination: Turks and Caicos

Resort: The Palms

Length of stay: 7 nights

Why did you choose your resort & destination for your honeymoon?
We chose the destination because neither of us had been, but we both have spent ample time in Mexico, the Bahamas, and the keys and we really wanted somewhere tropical. Turks was also strict on Covid so we felt it would be a safe place to go and it was. We actually didn’t pick the resort - we let Andrea pick it because she knew we were laid back and relaxed and it would be a good fit for us. The Palms was a perfect fit for us!

What activities or excursions did you do on your honeymoon?
We did everything! We took the ferry to North Caicos and spent an entire day getting a private tour of north and middle Caicos from a native tour guide! It was UNREAL. We also took jet skis out one day to the ghost freighter ship wreck where Mike actually climbed up the ship and jumped off a few times. After that, we jet skied to Iguana Island, which was also cool! I grew up horseback riding so we definitely booked a horseback ride on the beach which was so cool! We also spent a day at The Shore Club, which is something Andrea recommended we do, because The Palms is on Grace Bay and The Shore Club is on Long Bay so we saw tons of kite surfers and it was a gorgeous resort. Completely different from The Palms!

What was your most memorable moment from your honeymoon?
The local guide who took us around north and middle Caicos for a day ended it with pulling 2 coconuts off a tree and opening them so we could drink pure coconut water after spending an amazing day exploring with him. Honestly, the tour of middle of north Caicos was incredible and a day I will never forget. It was the least expensive thing we did, which is crazy because it was the most surreal excursion and longest excursion. We had entire miles of pristine beach to ourselves and saw cliffs and caves and flamingos and the pictures don’t do the place justice. Provo is gorgeous and Grace Bay is amazing but North and Middle Caicos is way better for exploring. It’s so remote and untouched and our guide was just fantastic. We ended up hanging out with him in Provo for a day after that!

What were the top 5 things you did on your honeymoon?
1. Walking into The Palms and seeing Grace Bay for the first time
2. Tour of North and Middle Caicos - DO NOT rent a car and drive around there on your own... get a guide and prepare to have your mind blown all day! No road sides and you can drive for 3 hours and not reach the “end”
3. Jet Skis! The company we used put us on 2 week old jet skis and showed us the coolest places around Provo including Iguana Island and the shipwreck.
4. Exploring local Provo restaurants with our tour guide from North/ Middle Caicos. I don’t even eat ANY seafood and he took us to a hole in the wall and made me try conch fritters and they were amazing!!
5. Horseback riding on Long Bay

What was your experience using Shoreline Destinations for planning your trip?
Andrea SAVED our honeymoon. We had booked an all-inclusive on our own and they cancelled on us 3 weeks before we were supposed to leave. They had never reopened as they were supposed to due to Covid. They tried to move us to a sister resort and would “honor our price we paid for our first resort”. When we looked online, the other resort they were trying to send us to was WAY CHEAPER than our initial booking! I was so stressed! We actually have another trip booked through Andrea for our friends’ destination wedding in May. We had already talked to another travel agent who wasn’t giving us many options to fit our budget and the kind of couple we are. In a frenzy I emailed Andrea on a response to an email about the Mexico wedding and the rest was smooth sailing! She rebooked us at a resort which was a perfect fit for us within 3 days.

Traveling to Turks and Caicos with all the Covid restrictions was daunting and if it hadn’t been for Andrea, I have no idea how we would have managed it on our own. Andrea made it an organized and seamless process. When I explained to others what we had to do to travel to Turks and Caicos, it sounded like so much work, but Andrea was on top of it for us. She answered every question no matter what time of day and I am so thankful we had her in our corner. Getting married in a pandemic was hard enough, but this process to have an epic honeymoon was TOO EASY! My only regret is I didn’t just book through Andrea initially. Now is the time to travel! Planes aren’t crowded for international travel and resorts aren’t crowded either. It was so quiet and beautiful!

On a final note, the resort Andrea put us in was right next to the one the previous resort tried to rebook us at, and OURS WAS WAY BETTER! It was all meant to be. So thankful to the whole team at Shoreline Destinations. I have never used a travel agent before and now we have one for life. We are already saving up for the next trip!