If you have been to Antigua…

[HolidayPeople]

Where were your favourite beaches, restaurants, places, activities?
Where did you stay?
What should I not miss?
Where to avoid?

Thanks 🌴

Half Moon Bay was our favourite beach but there are so many and it depends on how much seaweed is around and wind direction, where is the most appealing on any day.

The food at the yacht club in English Harbour was okay, but generally we didn't rate the food in Antigua. The views are spectacular from some of the resorts though. Nelson's Dockyard is the most interesting historic place. St John's is not very exciting for shopping or food. Cricket is a good day out if there's an international, and you enjoy the game.

But you should probably ignore me because I am not a great fan!

We stayed at the Verandah hotel a few times. The last time was about 7 years ago so I don’t know what it’s like now, but we absolutely loved it. Gorgeous beach, great pool, perfect size resort, good accommodation.

Catherine's Cafe was my favourite place to eat and Pigeon beach . Restaurants and dinning out is expensive in Antigua.

Half Moon Bay is lovely but I wouldn't stay there very quite, the sea is the rougher side of the island, prone to a lot of Seaweed. So I would stay the other side, more commercial but more going on and some great beach bars.
The same for St James.

We stay once in a swanky villa at Pelican Ridge, sea views, villa to ourselves. You needed a car to get around. Then we stayed at Nonsuch Bay - fab but isolated. So next time I would stay at one of bigger resorts at the other side of the island (west side).

Beaches are to die for.

I’ve just had a look and the Verandah is adult only now.

Catherine’s cafe on Pidgeon Beach was one of my favourite places too.

I recommend staying in English Harbour Town, it’s a much nicer part of the island and doesn’t have huge hotels and resorts on it. We stayed at Admiral’s Gunpowder Suites which was just perfect. You can take the free water taxi to Galleon Beach from there, or kayak / paddle board across.

27 dollars for chips at Catherine’s Cafe!
Is this indicative of prices everywhere?

We stayed at the Jolly Beach, it was a basic all inclusive but the food was decent if a bit restricted and was more likely to be Carribean than international. We did a fair bit of sightseeing and it was noticeable when the cruise ships were in.

A tour around the island with a knowledgeable local guide is the best way to see the island. The local buses are fun with local characters.

Love a local bus ☺️
Where were the cruise ships most noticeable?

Following as we’re going end March and are just looking at what trips to book.
So far I’m looking at a day trip to Barbuda, a whole island catamaran trip, an island tour inc historic sites and some beaches and then a tuktuk adventure through the rainforest.
We’re staying at St James Club.

Ooo - who are you looking at booking the barbuda trip with Hmmmwine?

It is very expensive! But Nelson’s Harbour is lovely and I thought Darkwood beach was stunning. It’s got such a great vibe about it though, I loved it there

We paid just over $50 for two greasy chicken baguettes and a bottle of water at Catherine’s Cafe last month. Wouldn’t recommend it,

Is everywhere so expensive?

We were only there for a few hours (cruise ship!) but it seemed expensive on every island, Taxis weren’t cheap, but we preferred doing that than paying ship excursion prices. Local buses were cheap though.

Not sure on the company I’m afraid as it’s booked through the hotel tour desk, that is if it’s still going, a hotel guest on Facebook said they asked and were told it’s no longer available…..

Has anyone been there and gone a bit more off the tourist track? Where do locals eat out?

I second what some other posters have said about English Harbour. We stayed at Admirals Inn, but in the gunpowder suites, which is where the hotel pool and fab views are! English Harbour is a unesco world heritage site and where the navy, and Lord Nelson were based from. The hotel has little boats and collects you from the dock to cross the water and can take you to the nearest beach.

We also loved Jolly Beach, and lunch at the marina. We sailed around the island from here.

Swimming with Stingrays.

Shirley Heights.

Pricing is carribean dollars, not USD, it felt no more expensive that being somewhere beautiful in Europe.

We stayed in st James villas which is English harbour it was good, we did a day trip to barbuda, which I really enjoyed a couple of small local kids came out and joined us to play on the beach, I had a five year old with me for quite some time, she wanted to plait my hair. So we played in the water and built sandcastles with her,

there is an abandoned hotel on it, the k club, apparently Robert de Niro has bought it, not sure if any work has been done, but I found it fascinating wandering round it,

Ah ok thanks for that - was thinking it meant USDs! ☺️

Hi, did you do any of the tours via the hotel tour desk

Yes, it is completely dedicated to ripping off the tourist. You could not pay me enough to go back.

$50 Antiguan dollars?

Yes everything was via the hotel.

I’m not a massive Antigua fan but yes, the prices are in EC, not USD. Exchange rate is about 3 EC to 1 US.

Thank you @Brightlittlecanary