At This Turks and Caicos Resort, You Can Slide From Your Villa Into the Ocean

Stay Here For

The best of both worlds: the amenities and buzz of a beach resort, plus the privacy and personal service of a villa.

Wymara Resort + Villas presents an enviable Caribbean conundrum. Will you opt to stay in a condo-style suite on Grace Bay Beach, a stunning sweep lauded as one of the best in the world? Or will you check in to Wymara Villas, Sunset Cove, an enclave of plush homes where you’ll wake every morning to the sight of sapphire seas and the sound of waves lapping at your private sundeck? The good news is, there’s no wrong choice.

The resort portion, known as Wymara Resort, Grace Bay Beach, is a beauty—with its new modern, all-white decor, the former Gansevoort hotel epitomizes Caribbean sophistication. And because it’s a condo-hotel (each unit is privately owned), suites are sufficiently spacious for extended stays, with full kitchens or patios big enough for entertaining. Guests here swan through the lobby in flowing caftans and designer sunglasses en route to coconut palm–shaded cabanas built into the middle of the signature pool. Or you’ll find them clinking coupes of rosé at Pink Bar, the resort’s see-and-be-seen beach spot.

Meanwhile, at Wymara Villas, Sunset Cove, a gated waterfront enclave that’s just a short drive away, the emphasis is on privacy and personalized service. Unless you leave your villa for pickleball, a workout in the fitness center or a sundowner at the beach club bar (the compound feels very much like a posh residential community), you may never see anyone other than your travel companions. The only exception: the concierge assigned to each villa, who is dedicated to fulfilling your needs, from offering sightseeing recommendations to tracking down a particular brand of bottled water.

When you’re ready to trade solitude for people-watching, you and other villa guests can hop on the complimentary shuttle to the resort to enjoy lounging by the pool, soaking up the scene on popular Grace Bay Beach or taking a dip in the impossibly blue waters for which the Turks and Caicos Islands are famous. Conversely, resort guests can purchase day passes to enjoy the more intimate ambience of the villa compound’s Sunset Cove Beach Club. Highlights here include a seawater pool, a small beach with shallow waters perfect for little swimmers, and a waterfront bar and restaurant, Land + Sea.

Again, there are no wrong choices.

The Essentials

The Location

The Wymara resort is ideally located on the western end of Grace Bay, where the beach is widest.

A 15-minute drive from the airport, the resort is in The Bight on the western end of Grace Bay, where the beach is widest, adjacent to Princess Alexandra National Park. The Wymara Villas, Sunset Cove are waterfront in the Turtle Tail neighborhood, less than a 10-minute drive from the resort. Complimentary shuttle service connects the two properties. (Both the resort and the villas are cashless.)

The Time to Go

There’s never a bad time to visit Provo, as locals colloquially refer to the island of Providenciales—but between February and April, breezes temper the day’s heat and evenings may be cool enough for a cover-up.

The Rooms

Resort rooms are sleek and modern, with an almost entirely white color scheme punctuated by pops of blue.

At the resort, there are a handful of studios (the least expensive have a pool view, right above the lobby), 32 oceanfront suites and four penthouses. Common to all categories is a sleek, modern and almost entirely white color scheme, and floor-to-ceiling windows that direct your attention to where it should be: on the cerulean sea beyond. Pops of blue punctuate the decor, showing up in throw cushions and rugs. You’ll also appreciate thoughtful niceties such as Aesop amenities and Dyson hair dryers.

A short drive away, Wymara Villas, Sunset Cove includes four one-bedrooms (an uncommon villa category, and one that sells out quickly) and 11 four- to six-bedroom homes (the largest of which clock in at a generous 10,000 square feet). High on the bluff overlooking the water and serviced by dedicated staff, each villa is decorated in Wymara’s signature white-and-turquoise palette. The interiors are modern, spacious and full of light, but it’s the outdoor spaces that really make heads swivel. Four Bedroom Acua Villas, for example, have two outdoor pools, a dining terrace with its own grill and a sunken outdoor living room with a firepit (s’mores kit included). All multi-bedroom villas also have a wooden stairway that descends past a sundeck and overwater hammock, directly into the water below. Two villas even have their own waterslides!

The Bars and Restaurants

There are three food and beverage venues at the resort, two of which (Pink Bar and Blue Water Bistro) are open-air, on decks over the sand. The other, Indigo, offers both indoor and outdoor seating. It’s open for breakfast but is busiest at dinner, when locals and resort guests alike come for everything from caviar to cauliflower steak at what’s considered one of Providenciales’s hottest tables. (Make your reservations early to avoid disappointment.) Fronting Grace Bay’s sandy sweep, Pink Bar is a lively sports bar (there are five TVs) and a hot spot for happy hour with sunset views over the water. Blue Water Bistro is its neighbor on the beach, serving lunch and casual dinner. The Sunday-night barbecue and Thursday’s sumptuous seafood feast offer true destination dining.

Accessible to resort guests by complimentary shuttle, Land + Sea at Wymara Villas, Sunset Cove is yet another option. Its location—on a two-tiered deck overlooking the beach at Sunset Cove—is perfect for a special-occasion meal or a romantic dinner à deux. The blue-crab cakes with mango salsa are a must, but also save room for the best-selling banana, bourbon and caramel crêpes, served with house-made vanilla ice cream.

The Standout Feature

The ocean pool at Sunset Cove Beach Club is carved directly into the limestone bedrock.

Sure, we’ve seen soaking tubs in hotel rooms before. But we’ve never seen a faucet mounted in the ceiling. And watching the water cascade dramatically from 8 feet above into the bath is strangely fascinating. Over at the villas, Sunset Cove Beach Club claims to have the Caribbean’s only ocean pool—an oasis carved 10 feet deep into the limestone bedrock, accessible from the shore via stairs.

The Vibe

For a grid-worthy picture, stand in the lobby and shoot across the pool toward the beach.

What are people drinking? Into The Turquoise is the resort’s signature cocktail, served as a welcome drink and featured on the menu in every restaurant. The electric-blue libation is made with lychee purée, coconut cream, pineapple juice and blue curaçao, and it really hits the spot, whether ordered virgin or with a slug of vodka.

The perfect spot for your social media post: For a screen saver–perfect picture, stand in the lobby and shoot across the pool toward the beach. Since the trees on the pool-to-beach walkway are strung with fairy lights, the scene is as impressive at night as it is during the day.

Where are people going at night? The Thursday-evening fish-fry street party (aka “jump-up”) at Stubbs Diamond Plaza in The Bight is a Provo institution. The whole island gathers here each week for live music, handicraft vendors and a Junkanoo band. Best of all: Resort guests are only a five-minute drive from the action.

The souvenir from the gift shop you’re bringing home: Reed diffusers in Wymara’s signature scent: a delightful blend of grapefruit, white tea, arugula root, ginger and vetiver that evokes “vacay vibes” with every sniff.

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