A Cruiser Friendly Port

We've spent the last five days enjoying the company and services of Southside Marina in Providenciales, Turks and Caicos.  We haven't had years of experience at marinas, but so far, I would rank Southside at the top of the list together with Osprey Point Marina and Gratitude Yachts.  We had originally planned to stay in another marina, but after several failed attempts at hailing them on the radio, Simon from Southside, came on and offered to call them on the telephone for us.  Even then, they did not respond to so our radio calls, so we turned around and decided to stay at Southside.  It has turned out to be a very good decision!

Southside is a small marina on the other side of the island from all the resorts and condos making it a bit more peaceful.  However, since they are a bit far from shopping and things, Charlyn is more than ready to drive you where you need to go.  She was kind enough to take us to into town for our grocery shopping and at the same time gave us an orientation tour of the island.  The IGA supermarket is a dream!  The variety, I have to say, rivals the Foodland in Port Carling.  A bit more expensive, but that's to be expected.  The Wine Cellar was also a great stop - can you believe they even had Canadian wines!  And if you want to go out for dinner, Bob, the owner of Southside will take you over to Turtle Cove area (and back again if you are ready when he is!).  What other marina offers this type of service.

Charlyn and Evelyn

Simon doing is morning broadcast.

Simon and Charlyn do a fantastic job of looking after you and give the marina a feeling of community for us transients.  Simon, with his morning weather reports using his BBC radio voice, keeps everyone up to date with what's happening.

And the fearsome threesome (Bob, Simon and Charlyn) host a happy hour every night at five with Charlyn ringing the bells to call us all in for our sundowner! Thursdays is BBQ night.  Bring your own meat, a dish to share, and your own drinks.  People come in from their anchorages and other marinas and some locals join in as well.  It's a great opportunity to talk about where you've been and where you're going.  It's likely you'll find someone who has been where you're going and can share some advice; or they're going the same way as you and you know you may run into them again somewhere along the way.