Our first trip as a family of three was a complete success! Thank God! Before Jake and I decided to start a family we promised ourselves that we would not stop traveling. Finley was 6 months old when we took our first vacation to Turks and Caicos. It was April, which was a perfect time to go weather-wise; 80 degrees and sunny with no rain! Northwest seminars was actually hosting an Emergency Medicine conference at Beaches Resort Turks and Caicos so this was a great opportunity to not spend a ton of money and get a little group discount. All-inclusive is not exactly our favorite type of vacation (boutique hotels are our thing) but for a first vacay with a baby this was perfection! And, I could also see how this would be an amazing choice if you have multiple children or are going with grandparents, etc.
The amount of research that I did on traveling with a baby prior to this vacation was insane. I read blog after blog and I felt like I was ready. From all the gear we would need to breastfeeding on the plane to getting through security while wearing a baby, I had us covered. Type A personality in full gear (poor Jake).
1st recommendation while traveling with a baby: wear that baby in the airport! What we have done every time we have flown with Finn so far – I wear him, we throw carry-on baggage onto his stroller, and then Jake has the car seat and 1 large rolling suitcase. While wearing Finn, I push the stroller. Jake loads everything up on the X-ray scanner at the security checkpoint while I collapse the stroller down and throw that up on the scanner conveyor belt too. Usually they let me wear Finn through the body scanner. Wearing your baby makes you completely hands free and it’s wonderful and so easy!! Here are two of my favorite baby carriers: Ergo Baby Omni 360 and this amazing lightweight wrap that is worth every single penny!
The flight went really well! We flew from BWI to Turks with a 2 hr layover in FLL. I nursed Finn on the first flight taking off and landing (like everyone recommends) and we didn’t have any problems. I love these cover ups – he fell right to sleep underneath. I had to blast air on myself of course the entire time haha! Once we got to Turks we exited the plane directly onto the jetway. We popped Finn in his car seat/stroller combo and rolled through customs! Vacay time!
Next up was the transfer from airport to the resort… we learned real quick that they don’t use car seats here (many of the vehicles aren’t even equipped to handle them), so we threw our car seat in the back and crossed our fingers (I know it sounds terrible!) Another family with a 2 year old were actually in our van too and they helped us as new parents to not freak out!
The Beaches Turks and Caicos resort is massive, but easily walkable. The resort is broken up into villages which are all themed: Caribbean, Italian, Key West, French, and Seaside. We stayed in the Caribbean village. There are so many activities for everyone in the family; it’s the ultimate all-inclusive resort! We definitely want to go back when Finn is a little older so he can enjoy the kids’ amenities. They did have daycare and nannies available but we didn’t need to utilize this at all during our trip.
Our days were spent lying on the beach, eating from the jerk shack and sipping cocktails. The jerk shack was our favorite lunch spot – they had the best jerk fish, and cold beers in a huge tin tub to just grab. The resort is right on beautiful Grace Bay. The beaches were filled with covered loungers which were perfect to keep Finn out of the sun. The water was also super calm; we could literally take Finn out in his little baby float without worry of waves attacking him! We brought a beach pack n play with us and it was definitely useful but I think if we had to do it again we would prob leave it at home since it was burdensome carrying around. A beach necessity that we cannot live without is a mini personal fan. This was the first time we used it and we have used it every beach vacation since then. This isn’t for us, it’s for the comfort of the napping baby, we aren’t that bougie…
Finn at this time was still an awesome napper so we were able to get him to nap pretty much anywhere so we got tons of beach time! If this isn’t parenting goals I don’t know what is! haha
In the evenings we would plan to have dinner a little later, around 7pm and take the stroller with us. We would start off with Finn awake during dinner and he would very quickly fade and fall asleep in the stroller with the cover that I linked above! All the restaurants were so accommodating about us bringing the stroller in next to our table so Finn could sleep and we could have a 2 hour dinner and drinks! Some of our favorite restaurants on the resort include: Soy and Bombay.
2nd recommendation when traveling with baby : be sure you get a room that has some kind of separate area from where your baby is sleeping! We had a balcony and we were so thankful for it. After Finn went to sleep in the provided crib, we went out onto the balcony, watched the water, listened to the music from the resort and drank bottles of wine that we grabbed from the bar downstairs. Perfect couples time because it’s not all about the baby right?
Speaking of a couples musts on vacay… definitely make sure you get to the spa! Beaches has an amazing one – Red Lane Spa. They were so accommodating with booking Jake and I back to back for massages and letting us switch off baby duty in-between.
Two of our most favorite off-resort experiences we planned were the Island Fish Fry and Da Conch Shack!
The Island Fish Fry is held every Thursday from 5:30 pm-9:30 pm at a nearby park. There are local food vendors, entertainers and the great local culture is on full display. Do not miss this if you go to Turks and Caicos!! We actually bumped into one of my co-workers while we were there! The music was so energetic and the food- AMAZING!
Da Conch Shack & Rum bar was an easy shuttle ride from the resort and the food and atmosphere were awesome! We sat outside right on the beach and drank a pitcher of Classic Rum Punch, ate conch fritters and cracked conch of course! Finn loved the conch as well! He is an adventurous little eater.
As you can see, an all-inclusive trip to Turks and Caicos was the perfect first family trip for us. Beaches was an amazing resort and we will definitely be going back in the future! Every trip has it’s ups and downs – most people don’t mention the downs but here are two of mine:
- Our room refrigerator/freezer combo was not what I thought it would be. All the frozen milk that I brought so that we could bottle feed Finn (so I could enjoy some drinks) was completely thawed and had to be discarded… it was sad! Mommas, I know you know what this feels like, dumping liquid gold down the drain. (crying)
- The Providenciales airport on the way home was insane! Very unorganized. They didn’t announce they were boarding our flight and we almost missed boarding and we were sitting right there next to our “gate”. But we made it and then once we got home we talked with Southwest customer service and got two $100 vouchers (insert dancing girl emoji here). Southwest has proven themselves over and over again to have great customer service, we love them!
Has anyone else gone to Turks and Caicos with their family and have any recommendations? Leave a comment below! I am learning too!
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LOVE💗 Count Mike, Benjamin, and I in next time you go🥳
Patagonia is our next group trip right??!!
Josh and I have been wanting to try Beaches, mostly because it’s so kid friendly. But last year when we asked the kids, they opted for the Disney Cruise again. It’s good to hear that you had a great experience!
ooo yes! We definitely want to take Finn on a disney cruise, maybe like when he is 5?
He’ll love it! I’d recommend waiting until he’s potty trained, because if he’s not.. he’s not allowed in the pools.. just in the splash pad.
Thanks for the great tips! I’m sure I will be messaging you when we decide to take our first trip with Nora!
Thanks for reading! I think the most difficult part is just pulling the trigger and just booking and knowing you are gonna have to go with the flow.