We spent the day here while in port on a cruise. This beach was suggested over the beach right beside the ship as there would be less crowds on cruise ship days. We were very pleased with the beautiful sand and turquoise water. You have to swim out a ways to get decent snorkelling. There is a huge sea cliff about 100' out, which is amazing. Better to buy a $45/hr excursion to have a boat take you out there. The only down side, was that snacks and drinks were very expensive, the water near the shore was murky and there were lots of sea urchins under water close to shore. You don't want to be in bare feet and step on those, and they were everywhere!!Cab was $8 per person each way from the ship.
Went to this beach for the snorkeling. Chairs to rent are $10/ea. Taxi $8/pp per way. Water was too rough so we decided to go back to the beach by the dock. Little did we know that chairs there were no cost, although well used and beach crowded. If you want quiet, less than ideal swimming or snorkeling close to shore, then go to pillory beach. We did not do the boat ride out to the shelf to snorkel. Felt it was a bit too expensive.the snorkeling near the ship was clear, plenty of fish. Relatively shallow water.
They removed all the reef, rocks, and coral from the beach by the Cruise Center, so up to Pillory Beach if you wanna see better marine life in the gorgeous water. So clear!!!!!! More clear than our pool back home!!!
Took a taxi here and then went snorkeling on a boat. The boat went out about a mile near the continental shelf. Great snorkeling and the crew was great. Much cheaper than the cruise ship excursion with a better beach and service. Water was clear. We also rented chairs and had some food. Perfect day! This is probably my favorite beach.
We rode with TCI Beach Buddies to get to Pillory Beach from our ship. We told them what time we wanted to return to the ship, and they were there promptly. Very friendly dependable service in nice, clean vehicles!
After landing in Grand Turk on the Carnival Breeze we felt we needed to see more of the island. We asked around and were told that Pillory Beach was the place to visit. We took a cab to a shopping area - from there we walked to the beach. We found a spot that rented Chairs and had some Rum drinks and Grand Turk "Turks Head" Beer. A very scenic beach with turquoise blue water- occasional fish in schools would come up around you too. On the ride back our taxi driver took us on a longer route that had some nice scenic views on the other side of this tiny island.
We stopped in Grand Turk while on a 7 day Caribbean Cruise and decided to grab a taxi to a local beach to go snorkeling and enjoy the beach for a day.We asked some locals where they recommended we go and they suggested Pillory Beach.I'm so glad that we went, the beach was beautiful, the sand was so soft and the water was warm and crystal clear to about 18 - 20 feet in depth.There was a little hotel with a beach bar and restaurant right there, along with public restrooms. I recommend the Conch Salad for lunch, it was quite tasty.We spent approximately 1.5 hrs snorkeling with our 7 year old daughter. There is a dive shop right there as well for anyone that is interested in a guided snorkeling or scuba tour. We had our own snorkeling gear with us, but there is equipment available for rent.The beach was not busy which for us made it that much more enjoyable.
We had a group of 17 and had a great time stopping here for a break and drinks! Beach was good, but surf was a little rough due to storms in the area. Fantastic drinks!!!!
This beach is NOT within walking distance of the cruise port for those wondering. A taxi was $8/pp one way so for a family of 4, it was $64 round trip to go here.. what it worth 64 to me? No... plus the taxi guys scared me with the way they drive. You'll see what I mean.. we had planned on downtown but kept going tot he beach when we saw it..Back to the beach review... the water was BEAUTIFUL and clear- one of the clearest I have seen (and I live in FL). On the day we were there, there was a lot of sea grass in the way and hardly any shells for the kids to pick up. The waves were not strong and only about a foot high so it was great for younger kids. They had restrooms, food/bar and a place to rent snorkel gear... get the snorkel gear! As I said the water was clear so it was fun to hunt for stuff.. I was able to see conch, urchins, sand dollars, a sting ray and fish. One area has a grassy sea floor and the other area had just sand and nothing else going on.. it wasn't a fantastic spot to snorkel but it was a start in exploring the island. Some locals saw we were there and brought out their horses for horseback rides. My issue with it is the kids in control of these horses were about 8-10 years old and MY kids almost got ran over a few times because the horse was scared off by the random dogs laying on the sand. The horse would even run into the water so I was always on my guard. Overall it was okay but when we got back, we realized we should have stayed closer to the ship- much more fun and interactive things going on along with good shopping....
Went to Pillory beach when we docked in Grand Turk for our Carnival Cruise. It cost $8 each way and taxis were frequent. We were excited to snorkel but found this beach to be rough and very cloudy. Visibility was extremely poor, maybe it was just the weather that day but you couldn't see a person standing 5 feet in front of you underwater. Seaweed and sea grass was floating around everywhere in the water and gathered up on the beach. Not an ideal spot if you are looking to snorkel right off the beach. Also there were lots of stones and pieces of broken coral that were rough on your feet walking in. Lots of loud drunk tourists around. We didn't stay here for more than 20 minutes before we decided to head back to Governor's Beach which is left of where the cruise ships dock and walkable from the ships. The water at Governors beach was SO MUCH CLEARER. Not a lot of fish there but did see a few. They cleared out all the natural reefs there so there's not a lot to look at underwater but it was still nice and super clear. Lots of drunk tourists here too but you can walk further down where it's less busy. Don't waste your time at Pillory.