Antigua and Barbuda is a former British colony in the Caribbean that gained independence less than fifty years ago. It is still part of the Commonwealth of Nations and Charles III is officially the ruling monarch there but in reality, Antigua and Barbuda is a self-governed country with a parliament, a Prime Minister, and all other institutions that a truly independent country has to have. It consists of two large islands and a few small ones. Around 95% to 97% of the total population live on the island of Antigua so all the other islands including Barbuda can be thought of as satellites of Antigua. Thus, if you are planning a Caribbean vacation in the country of Antigua and Barbuda, you are probably planning to visit Antigua and from there, you can take short boat trips to some of the neighboring islands.
Is the place worth a visit? If you are looking for a classic Caribbean vacation, it certainly is. There are some interesting sites to see on Antigua and plenty of things to do: you will not have to lie on the beach all day long. The island is a highly popular tourist destination especially with travelers from the USA. Visitors from the country comprise between a third and a half of all tourists coming to Antigua.
Local people are certainly happy to live on a paradise island that is attractive for people from other countries and they do their best to keep the tourist infrastructure in good order. They build nice hotels, constantly improve the quality of the services that they provide, pave the roads in the countryside, and offer a wide choice of outdoor activities to the visitors. They have to be industrious because their national budget is heavily dependent on tourism: this sector of the economy brings more than half of the overall revenues.
What is Antigua especially famous for? Many tourist agencies will call it ‘an island of 365 beaches’ and claim that you can spend time at a new beach every day of the year. The figure may be suitable for advertisement purposes but even though it is hard to say if the figure is exact, the fact that multiple beaches are found in Antigua is true. If you value solitude, you can take a boat, sail along the shore for only a few minutes, and then you can certainly find an empty beach where you can rest alone. If you want a well-equipped beach with all the seaside amenities, you will also have a wide choice of those in Antigua. Beach restaurants, restrooms, shady palm trees, lounges, snorkeling/ diving/ windsurfing equipment for rent – you can find everything that you need to spend the whole day on the beach.
What else can you do in Antigua? Different water entertainments are readily available there: boating, snorkeling, windsurfing, fishing, and so on. There are some unique opportunities that you can rarely find in other places too. For example, there is a shallow lagoon where you can swim with stingrays. When you do, you are going to find that they never actually sting and that their skin is very pleasant to the touch. Yes, you can touch them because the stingrays are used to being fed by humans and they are very friendly.
You can also take trips inland to find some beautiful sceneries and see some historic sites. Shirley Heights (that used to be a military look out), for example, give a breathtaking view of the bay underneath. (We must note, however, that Antigua is not as mountainous as St Lucia or Dominica is, for instance: the highest elevation is only about 400 meters above sea level there.) If you pay a visit to Nelson’s Dockyard, you will find that it is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. And the dockyard is still functional! If you take a trip along the Fig Tree Drive (‘fig’ is the local name for ‘banana’), you can understand how living in the countryside feels on Antigua. The road is well-paved and it will be interesting to note that around 75% of Antiguans live in rural areas. This figure is unusual because more than half of the world’s population on average lives in the cities rather than in the countryside. Old forts, ruins of windmills, a frigate bird sanctuary – there are many interesting places to see on Antigua.
What about the prices? Is Antigua and Barbuda an expensive country? It may not be among cheap places to live in the Caribbean but it is not overly expensive either. A nice room in a nice four-star hotel will cost you around 100 US dollars but not more than 200 dollars per night. If you want to book a presidential suite in a luxury hotel (there are a few top-notch hotels on Antigua) or rent a villa, the price is going to be considerably higher, of course. On the other hand, if you are low on funds, you can find a hostel on the island where the room costs ten dollars per night or even less!
The prices for food are average in Antigua. Meat can be rather expensive at around US$ 15 per kilo but chicken, for example, costs twice as little. A loaf of bread sells for about $2.50, a dozen eggs costs around 4 dollars, a liter of milk is about 2 dollars, and fruits and vegetables are reasonably priced.
If you want to eat out, a meal at an inexpensive restaurant will cost you around 10 dollars and even less if you opt for a McDonalds. At the same time, a dinner at a nicer restaurant is going to cost you 50 dollars or more. Some tourists also complain that bars and restaurants in popular tourist areas often have unreasonable price tags.
As far as boat trips and tours around the island are concerned, you will find a wide choice of offers on Antigua. Few excursions are going to cost you less than a hundred dollars per person but then again, the price is seldom more than US$ 200 or US$ 250. All in all, staying in Antigua is not very cheap but it is not too expensive either.
