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| SPOTLIGHT | | The most fabulous places to sleep, eat, shop, relax, and get away from it all-right on the water's edge |
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 IMPORTANT TRAVEL NOTICE |
| All travelers, including U.S. citizens, to and from the Caribbean, Central and South America and Bermuda will be required starting December 31, 2006, to have a PASSPORT or other accepted document that establishes the bearer's identity and nationality to enter or re-enter the United States. For information visit the U.S. State Department's website: www.travel.state.gov for more information. |
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Tips While Travelling Antigua Beaches
- Use sun block, as the rays in the Caribbean are stronger than many people realize.
- Don’t forget to bring along some bug spray.
- Take your passport, and if you don’t have one, apply for one at least three months prior to your trip.
- If you plan to rent a car, realize that you’ll be driving on the left side of the road.
- Take extra precautions with prescription drugs. Carry medicines in carry-on bags in their original packaging.
- Get the best rates by traveling during the summer or fall months.
- Purchase comprehensive travel insurance.
- Remember that there is a $20 USD departure tax.
- Bring comfortable sneakers/beach shoes.
- Photocopy all of your travel documents and leave with a relative who you can contact if you lose your information.
- Bring a hat and sunglasses.
- The monetary conversion rate is US$1 to EC$2.70.
- Best shopping deals are found at Heritage and Redcliffe Quays.
- Local time is Atlantic Standard Time, which is one hour ahead of Eastern Standard Time and the same as Eastern Daylight Time.
- If someone asks you to “whine up yourself,” don’t fret, they are merely asking you to dance.
- Part of the island is wired with 110 volts and the remainder is 220 volts. Most hotels have both voltages available.
- Attire is informal, but conservative. Beach attire is not appropriate for town, shops or restaurants. Some hotels and restaurants stipulate jacket and tie for men and dresses for women in the evening.
- Most business are open Monday through Saturday 8 a.m. to noon and 1 p.m. to 5 p.m.
- No vaccinations are required.
- Taxis are not only plentiful, but most drivers are happy to serve as your “tour guide.”
- Go to www.antigua-barbuda.org or call 888 268-4227 for more information about Antigua and Barbuda.
- Gratuity--expect to tip between 10 and 15% depending on the service. Some restaurants and hotels will automatically add a 10% gratuity. If in doubt, just ask. Give porters and bellhops about $1 per bag, taxi drivers 10-15% of the fare.
- Calling home is easy--most hotels offer USA Direct calling service, or you can be connected with a U.S. operator for calling home.
- Cell phones coverage is available; however, check with your carrier to ensure you have international calling privileges.
- When booking a taxi, charter guide, etc., always confirm price first and whether currency quoted is in USD or EC.
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| Little Bay Beach, Anguilla |
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To reach this remote cove, you'll need to hire a boat or climb down 66 feet on the fishnet ladder carefully tied to the bluff's top. The difficult approach is worth the work; you're rewarded with 80 yards of talcum sand, walled in by high cliffs on three sides. |
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| Curtain Bluff, Antigua
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The wide, golden beach is fringed with palms and mangrove wetlands on one side, water clear enough to see your feet in on the other. The only way to set up camp under one of the private waterfront palapas, though, is to spend a night at the luxurious Curtain Bluff Hotel. |
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| Dos Playa, Aruba | |
Fronting a jagged, limestone coast that's perpetually awash in salty surf, this isolated sliver of sand has rolling dunes and Dr. Seuss—like cacti burrowed into the rocks. Leave your snorkel at the hotel—the waves are too wild for swimming—and watch the wind surfers from the safety of a picnic blanket. |
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| Anegada, British Virgin Islands | More than 300 ships have crashed into the sharp reefs surrounding this deceptively tiny islet. The part you see is only 15 miles around. But on the north end's Loblolly Bay, the reef is so close to the crescent-shaped shore that waves are reduced to lapping white foam. |
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| La Sagesse, Grenada | |
A nature preserve at the end of a one-mile, rock-studded road (note the grazing cows), this half-mile of sand curves along a cliff dense with coconut palms. Have lunch at the rustic seaside restaurant, then rummage through booksellers' stalls beneath the almond trees. |
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| Honeymoon Beach, St. John | |
One of seven beaches that make up Caneel Bay, Honeymoon Beach is part of the 5,000-acre Virgin Island National Park. There are no huts or cabanas, just empty stretches and neon-colored coral reefs. Lie on the endless white sand and watch the sailboats—and the world—go by. |
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| Anse Chastanet, St. Lucia | |
Reachable by water taxi (or by an hour's walk along a hilly dirt road from Soufrière), Anse Chastanet has some of the island's best snorkeling. A resort of the same name crawls up just behind the dark-sand beach, its whitewashed guest cottages peeking from the Day-Glo green hillside. |
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| Manzanilla Beach, Trinidad |
The island's eastern coast is rough enough to deter development, and that keeps this beach free from the masses—well, almost. Roaming water buffalo, herons, and egrets regularly parade down the 17-mile strip of brown sugar—like sand, which is bordered by coconut and mangrove trees. | | |
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