Blue Hills

Before there was an airport, a resort or a road worth the name, Providenciales had Blue Hills: a fishing settlement strung along the north shore, founded by people freed from the failed plantations and by later arrivals, and it remained the island's main village well into the twentieth century. It is still there, a few kilometres west of the Grace Bay strip and a world away from it: single-storey houses along the shore road, boats pulled up on the sand, a couple of beach shacks selling conch and fish, and a pace that has nothing to do with the resorts. The beach in front is broad and almost empty.

What you actually see

• The shore road - the original settlement strung along the beach.
• The beach shacks - conch and fish cooked to order on the sand.
• The fishing boats - drawn up in front of the houses.
• The contrast with Grace Bay - a few kilometres and a different island.

When to go

November to May is the driest. Weekends and evenings are when the beach shacks are liveliest. It is a short drive from Grace Bay and taxis will take you, though arranging the return is worth doing in advance.

Honest expectations

It is a residential village rather than an attraction, so wander respectfully. Facilities are limited to a handful of shacks and small bars that keep their own hours. Hurricane damage and economic pressure are visible. The beach has seaweed at times and is not the manicured Grace Bay sand.

Nearby

Grace Bay is fifteen minutes east; Malcolm's Road is west.