Grand Turk is the administrative and political capital of the Turks & Caicos Islands and Cockburn Town has been the seat of government since 1766. This small island is bursting with turn-of-the-century Caribbean charm.

Founded by Bermudan Salt Rakers some three centuries ago, its Bermudan British colonial architecture amidst the colorful, Caribbean-style local dwellings make Grand Turk worth a visit.

Donkeys, horses and cattle were the means of transportation during the salt industry, and these animals are seen still wondering the streets and countryside of Grand Turk.

Every summer Grand Turk becomes party town. In July Grand Turk is host to the annual Grand Turk Heineken Game Fishing Tournament, a fun-filled event for local and visiting sportspeople as well as party enthusiasts. Also sometime between June and September, GT parties down again with their annual "SummaJam", dancing to a week full of island music, sporting challenges, local food and much fun and the "Conch Carnival" in June.

Grand Turk is six miles long and just over a mile wide. Like the other islands, Grand Turk is blessed with miles of quiet sugary beaches and is close to several uninhabited cays just waiting to be explored. At the north point of the island, a channel to the sea gives access to North Creek, the only hurricane shelter for yachts traveling between Nassau and Puerto Rico.

Grand Turk excels in providing spectacular diving, snorkeling, fishing and sailing. Grand Turk is consistently rated among the top 10 dive destinations in the World. The warm Atlantic Sea waters are filled with marine life ranging from a tiny seahorse to manta, eagle and sting rays, green and hawksbill turtles, dolphin, shark, whale shark and the magnificent humpback whale. Diving is just a 5 minute boat ride offshore to the 7,000 foot vertical wall. On the top of the wall divers enjoy diving through the incredible coral formations and sand gullies.

Grand Turk diving is relaxed, boats go out with one-tank and easily return to shore for an hour interval before going out to the government's marine conservation parks for the second dive. The local dive operators have combined efforts forming an organization to 'Protect Reefs & Islands from Degradation and Exploitation' ensuring that the reefs are managed and used with respect.

Grand Turk houses the Turks & Caicos National Museum which displays span the whole of human history in the Turks and Caicos, from Indian occupations starting at 700 AD right up to modern times, the arrival of John Glenn after his historic three-orbit space flight in 1962. The Turks & Caicos National Museum also has a Natural History gallery with displays on the Geology of the Turks and Caicos and Reef and Island Ecology. The recovered artifacts of the "Molasses Reef Wreck" (1513), the oldest known European shipwreck in the New World, are displayed along with manuscripts, prints and items of art and culture relating to the history of the Turks & Caicos Islands.