Beaches in Antigua and Barbuda

Antigua markets itself on a beach for every day of the year, and the claim is roughly accurate: the island is low limestone, deeply indented, and reefs hold most of the water flat, so the coastline resolves into a great many small coral coves rather than a few long strands. Barbuda, thirty miles north, is a different proposition — flatter, emptier, ringed by a pink sand beach that runs some seventeen kilometres with almost nobody on it, and almost entirely evacuated after Hurricane Irma crossed it in 2017. Its lagoon holds one of the largest frigatebird colonies in the western hemisphere, reached by boat from Codrington. Beaches are public by law throughout both islands and the right is well established and generally respected, including in front of the resorts. The southern coast of Antigua holds Nelson's Dockyard, a Georgian naval base still working as a marina and listed as a World Heritage site, and the hills above it give the view of English and Falmouth harbours that appears on most of the island's photographs. Sailing Week each spring is the busiest event in the calendar and fills every room on the island; the Charter Yacht Show in December does the same on a smaller scale. The dry season runs December to April and hurricane season June to November, with the island squarely in the track. Practically: distances are short and a car makes the coves accessible, the north-west around Dickenson Bay holds most of the larger hotels, and the ferry to Barbuda takes about ninety minutes when it is running, which is worth confirming before planning a day around it.