Southern Caribbean Day 5: Antigua

Winter is officially here in Alabama–it is below freezing and the wind is fierce and steady.  Today I received an email offer for another Caribbean cruise vacation, and all I could think was “ahh, warmth.”  Antigua was already on my mind because I just finished reading A History of Mary Prince: A West Indian Slave, which chronicles Prince’s journey from Bermuda to Turk’s Island to Antigua and finally to England.  Reading about the slave history of Antigua was eye-opening, since the island I visited has changed so much over the last two-hundred years.  Of all the islands I visited, Antigua was probably the most modern (and expensive!), due to the heavy British (and celebrity) presence still there.

Hell's Gate

Stingray City

I honestly didn’t spend a lot of time on the actual island though.  We did the Xtreme Circumnav tour with Adventure Antigua, and it was fantastic.  Our guides for the day picked us up right at the cruise ship dock, and after a brief stop at the Sandals to pick up some other passengers, we were on our way around the island.  It was warm, sunny, and the water was a perfect, clear blue.  We rode past Bird Island and stopped for a photo op of Hell’s Gate before heading on to our first real stop–Stingray City.  The “city” is far away from shore, but the water is shallow and the pinned area where the stingrays are is open on one end so they can leave if they choose.

Pillars of Hercules

First, we took turns getting our pictures made with a stingray (very slippery-smooth and hard to hold on to), and then we were free to snorkel around with them.  They were everywhere, and it was so cool to have them swim right past you or under you.  There was also a reef area to snorkel in, but I didn’t spend much time there because I was trying to get pictures of the stingrays underwater.

Rendezvous Bay

Soon we were back on the boat speeding around the island, and our guides pointed out all of the houses (mansions?) we passed and who lived there.  (People like Eric Clapton, Oprah, J.K. Rowling, etc.)  Our next stop was on Green Island, home to one of the world’s best yacht harbors, where the boats all dwarfed ours.  One yacht even had its own helicopter!  We lounged on the beach and swam a bit before having a delicious lunch right on the beach.  I was glad (as always) to have my ground cover.  It is perfect for a picnic and super lightweight.  I highly suggest getting one if you like beach bumming–it keeps the sand off your towel and lets you sprawl out a bit without worrying about getting sand in your bag or clothes or whatever.

After lunch we headed for Nelson’s Dockyard and the Pillars of Hercules.  Along the way we got a nice view of Montserrat (which was spewing smoke and ash–Chris said it is when it is not spewing that you have a problem).  Mostly we just motored around the dockyard while the guides gave us the history and we took some pics (more huge multi-million dollar boats!).  Then we went back out to the Pillars to snorkel.  The snorkeling was very good, though the current was strong in some places.  The fish were a bit too deep to get any good pictures, but they were very colorful.

After snorkeling we headed for our last stop of the day, and potentially the reason I loved Antigua so much–Rendezvous Bay.  This beach was the picture of tranquility; I’m pretty sure we were the first people to step foot on it all day.  You have to get there by water, and the water was a little choppy, so we had to jump overboard and swim in a bit–that means no pictures from the beach. 😦  (Although the fourth picture is one I took of the beach from the boat.)  But it was absolutely heaven.  The sand was as soft and fine as flour.  With each step I sank up to my ankles.  (And since there were no footprints on the beach when we got there, that’s why I assume we were the first visitors of the day.)  The beach was a perfect crescent of white sand, perhaps half a mile long, and the water was a crystal clear, cool blue.   Again, I never wanted to leave, and when I go back to Antigua, it will be with the specific goal of getting back to this beach for an extended time. (Perhaps a full day, if possible.  There are no beach chairs or bathrooms or hotels there, which is both fantastic but also limiting in terms of how long you can spend there.  However, its isolation is what makes it so amazing.)

All too soon we had to leave that slice of paradise and head back for the ship.  On the ride back we hit some of our highest speeds, and it was fun to be on such a fast, powerful boat in the open sea.  The water around Antigua is so perfectly blue and clear, and the landscape is rugged, with lots of interesting cliffs and rock formations, so the journey around the island was never dull.  In fact, Antigua was one of my favorite islands, even though I never really saw much of the island!  When we got back, I did do a little shopping in the markets right by the dock, but those are very touristy, so I don’t really judge the rest of the island by them.  Overall, though, it was a great day, and Antigua had a wonderful feel to it–very different from the other islands we went to.  It definitely had its own personality (they all do, really), and the water is such a huge part of life there that I would have to own my own boat if I lived there.  (If nothing else, just so I could make trips to Rendezvous Bay!)