Antigua
Antigua is the largest of the British Leeward Islands, and is one of the Caribbean's premier tourist destinations.
The Trade Winds that once blew British men-of-war safely into English Harbour now fuel one of the world's foremost maritime events, Sailing Week. The coral reefs, once the bane of marauding enemy ships, now attract snorkelers and scuba divers from all over the world. And the fascinating little island of Barbuda -- once a scavenger's paradise because so many ships wrecked on its reefs -- is now home to one of the region's most significant bird sanctuaries. Antigua is about 14 miles long and 11 miles wide. To the south are the islands of Montserrat and Guadeloupe, and to the north and west are Nevis, St. Kitts, St. Barts, and St. Martin. Temperatures in Antigua generally range from the mid-seventies in the winter to the mid-eighties in the summer. Annual rainfall averages only 45 inches, making it the sunniest of the Eastern Caribbean Islands, and the northeast trade winds are nearly constant, flagging only in September. Low humidity year-round.
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Shirley Heights
This is an area of gun emplacements and military buildings. From here you can look far out over English Harbour, and on Sunday afternoons you can also enjoy a barbecue, rum punch, and steel bands and reggae music.
Sea View Farm Village
Antiguan folk pottery dates back at least to the early 18th century, when slaves fashioned cooking vessels from local clay. Today, folk pottery is fashioned in a number of places around Antigua, but the center of this cottage industry is Sea View Farm Village. The clay is collected from pits located nearby, and the wares are fired in an open fire under layers of green grass in the yards of the potters' houses. Folk pottery can be purchased at outlets in the village as well as at a number of stores around the island. Buyers should be aware that Antiguan folk pottery breaks rather easily in cold environments.
Harmony Hall Art Gallery
Harmony Hall, in Brown's Bay at Nonsuch Bay, is the center of the Antiguan arts community. Exhibits change throughout the year, but the annual highlights are the Antigua Artist's Exhibition and the Craft Fair, both in November.
Museum of Antigua and Barbuda
This lovely museum tells the story of Antigua and Barbuda from its geological birth through the present day. The museum contains a wide variety of fascinating objects and exhibits, ranging from a life-size replica of an Arawak dwelling to the bat of Viv Richards, one of the greatest cricket players of all time.
Both Antigua and Barbuda are almost completely surrounded by well-preserved coral reefs, walls, and shipwrecks.
The southern and eastern coasts of Antigua and virtually the entire coast of Barbuda are surrounded by shelfs, providing excellent conditions for spectacular shallow diving and snorkeling.
There is little or no current in most places, and the water temperature averages about 80 F (25 C). Underwater visibility ranges from 50 to 140 feet, and tropical marine plants and animals are diverse and plentiful.
Snorkeling is possible at many of both islands' most beautiful beaches; one of Antigua's best-known offshore sites, Cades Reef, is now partly contained in a designated underwater park.
Another popular destination is the wreck of the Andes, a three-masted merchant ship that sank in 1905 and now rests in less than thirty feet of water in (ironically enough) Deep Bay.
Antigua's dive facilities are far superior to those available on smaller Barbuda, and so most of the sites that have been established as dive destinations are Antiguan. The southern and eastern coasts are considered to offer the most consistent diving; for more advanced divers, the ledge of Sunken Rock on the south coast is a popular site. Dive depths generally range from 25 to 80 feet and can reach 180 feet; distances from shore to site are in some cases no more than five minutes and at most 40 minutes away.
Barbuda's encircling reefs contain an enormous number of wrecks, most of which are yet to be explored; in fact, the Codrington fortunes on Barbuda were intimately linked to their acquisition of rights to the wreckage in the 17th-century. To dive off Barbuda, it is best to make arrangements with a dive shop on Antigua to have the necessary equipment taken over by air or boat.
Click here to see a video guide to Antigua
Call us on 0870 1999 038 for further details of holidays and flights to Antigua.
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