Loads of Caribbean islands are recognized for his or her seashores, however blissfully stunning Antigua beats all of them. With 365 seashores rimming this island of simply over 100 sq. miles, there is a completely different one for on daily basis of the yr, the saying goes.

Choose an untouched seashore and conceal away for a day; whereas close by islands are all about seeing and being seen (ahem: St. Barts), vacationers in Antigua often have a bit extra privateness in thoughts. «Antigua is the right island for vacationers who desire a relaxed and chilled genuine expertise,» says Andrew Hedley, director of enterprise improvement at Tamarind Hills Resort and Villas, one of many island properties that will get what so many vacationers are on the lookout for today: the luxurious of seclusion.

All eyes are set on Antigua’s sister island of Barbuda because it awaits the brand new Robert De Niro-backed Nobu Seaside Inn set for early 2026 and a Rosewood property coming a number of years later. Nevertheless, as a number of of Antigua’s award-winning boutique properties and personal island resorts emerge from top-to-toe refurbishments and enhancements, it looks like a greater time than ever to flee to Antigua.

Finest Lodges & Resorts

Jumby Bay Island, Oetker Assortment

Few properties within the Caribbean are as famed or really feel as unique as Jumby Bay Island, a non-public island resort perched only a brief boat experience off the coast of Antigua. The island’s beach-wrapped shores unfurl to disclose a tropical paradise dotted with cottages, villas, and expansive non-public estates that really feel becoming for every part from multi-gen celebrations to romantic getaways. Crisscross the tranquil, car-less island by bike to find every part from just lately up to date eating locations alongside a number of swimming pools to a water sports activities heart and crusing academy, sports activities courts, and a spacious spa. It was chosen by Journey + Leisure readers as one among the best resorts in the Caribbean final yr.

Curtain Bluff

Lengthy one of the vital beloved all-inclusive resorts in Antigua, Curtain Bluff is again and higher than ever after a wow-worthy multimillion-dollar renovation that landed it on T+L’s coveted 2024 It List. Along with upgrades to all 72 rooms and suites, the property now options an expansive new wellness heart with its personal infinity pool, yoga pavilion, and an expanded health heart. Beachfront rooms are perennially standard, however views from rooms set on the bluff overlooking the ocean are extra memorable.

Tamarind Hills Resort and Villas

Clinging to the cliffs overlooking the white sands of Ffryes Seaside, Tamarind Hills Resort and Villas is a luxe assortment of studios, suites, and personal residences. The property’s spaciousness lends peace and privateness that makes it good for intimate multi-gen getaways or group journeys, although the 35 luxe one-bedroom studios full with non-public decks revealing gorgeous sundown views over the Caribbean scream romantic getaway.

Hermitage Bay

A boutique adults-only resort so particular it has been a fixture on T+L’s listing of the perfect locations to remain within the Caribbean in recent times, the refreshed Hermitage Bay feels sleeker and sexier than ever. A brand-new seashore membership, an intimate spa, and seasonal, island-fresh eating full the visitor expertise. Nevertheless, it is the property’s signature hillside and oceanfront villas, every providing expansive non-public outside area with plunge swimming pools or direct beachfront entry, that make it among the many greatest honeymoon spots in the Caribbean.

Royalton CHIC Antigua

One of many island’s latest resorts, Royalton CHIC Antigua is an adults-only playground perched on the gorgeous Dickinson Bay Seaside.

This Marriott-affiliated Autograph Assortment all-inclusive property options seven eating places, 5 bars, wellness areas, a spa, and loads of alternatives for water sports activities up and down the sand. Its most spectacular options embrace the overwater Pescari restaurant and a group of overwater bungalows that come full with non-public butler service and loads of perks.

Finest Issues to Do

Discover Nelson’s Dockyard.

Antigua’s English Harbour is likely one of the greatest pure anchorages within the Caribbean, drawing in generations of sailors to this scenic spot on the island’s southern coast. Immediately, the colonial-era port Nelson’s Dockyard is a UNESCO World Heritage Website full with two boutique accommodations, a museum, native craft outlets, cafes and eating places, and a marina full of every part from stately sloops to gaudy megayachts. It made T+L’s locals-curated listing of the perfect under-the-radar spots in the Caribbean.

Social gathering at Shirley Heights.

Excessive up on the hillside above Nelson’s Dockyard is Shirley Heights, a restored navy gun battery that’s half historic landmark, half breathtaking lookout providing sweeping views throughout the island and to sailboat-speckled harbors beneath. «The Metal Pan orchestra at sundown each Sunday at Shirley Heights is all the time nice leisure and an exquisite place to see top-of-the-line sunsets within the Caribbean,» says Hedley of the weekly events that draw locals and guests alike for barbecue and drinks because the skies flip orange and pink.

Go beach-hopping.

Antigua is way from an island the place you will need to persist with the seashore in entrance of your resort for a complete trip. Lease a automobile and spend a day exploring the island’s west coast, together with Jolly Seaside, Ffryes Seaside, and Little Ffryes Seaside, a shocking stretch of white sand named one of many most beautiful beaches in the Caribbean. Take a look at among the extra windswept however quieter seashores on the east aspect of the island, too. Half Moon Bay involves thoughts; although currents could make it tougher for swimming, the sands are naked and delightful, house to little greater than a seashore bar and eatery with native bites and beers.

Set sail.

No trip within the Caribbean is full with out getting out on the water. Spend a day with Barefoot Antigua crusing to among the greatest seaside spots on the island. Most guests persist with the bay and inlets on the island’s west coast for a day spent snorkeling, swimming, and sunning, although cruises can circumnavigate the island on calmer days. Ensure that to cease at Deep Bay on the island’s west coast to discover the shallow-water shipwreck of the Andes, even with only a snorkel.

Go to Barbuda.

Untouched, cotton candy-colored seashores aren’t the one spotlight of a go to to Barbuda, Antigua’s little sister island. «For an ‘off-island’ journey, a tour of Barbuda inclusive of the Frigate Hen Sanctuary—the one sanctuary of its form within the Western Hemisphere—is extremely advisable,» says Rob Sherman, managing director at Curtain Bluff. The seashore membership at Nobu Barbuda, on the white sands of Princess Diana Seaside, has been one other requisite cease on the island for the previous 4 years. Come again and plan to remain in early 2026, when 17 bungalow cottages and a group of world-class eating places at Nobu Beach Inn are set to debut.

Finest Eating places

Sheer Rocks

Wind previous the pool at Cocobay Resort and down towards the waterfront to find Sheer Rocks, a cliffside restaurant and bar so spectacular it made it onto T+L’s listing of the most beautiful places in the Caribbean. This hidden, out-of-the-way spot is completely perched for sunsets over the ocean, made even higher with a Caribbean-inspired menu of tapas and seafood specials with craft cocktails to shut out the day.

Catherine’s Cafe

Tucked right into a shady, palm-fringed nook of Pigeon Level Seaside, Catherine’s Cafe is not any fundamental beachside eatery. «It is a must-visit and affords a French-inspired menu that makes use of recent substances from the island’s fishermen and farmers,» says Sherman. Every part from leafy salads to grilled fish sandwiches served on genuine baguettes make for a wonderfully mild seaside lunch, although the true spotlight is the recent seafood tower, shared with a bottle of rosé or refreshing cocktails.

Papa Zouk

It is heavy on the nautical decor and native taste on the beloved St. John’s hang-out Papa Zouk, the place you will discover simply as many locals as guests. Island-style conch and saltfish fritters are a should earlier than ordering the recent catch or grilled lobster. Wash all of it down with a rum punch produced from the restaurant’s in depth rum assortment; with «over 250 distinct bottles, it’s the largest on the island,» says Frederic Vidal, managing director of Jumby Bay Island.

The Hut, Little Jumby

A part of the attraction of Jumby Bay Island is its exclusivity, however even the locals love The Hut, Little Jumby, a brand new waterfront eatery and seashore membership that crowns neighboring Little Jumby Island. Take a small boat to the island from the mainland or the resort for elevated seafood dishes and craft cocktails alongside fan-favorite seashore fare like sandwiches, fritters, burgers, and beers. Seaside cabanas with solar loungers and bigger, extra comfy seashore huts can be found, so plan on sticking round all day and effectively into the evening for reside music and festive events.

Areas to Go to

St. John’s

Although many guests skip proper by way of Antigua’s capital of St. John’s on the way in which to the seashore, the industrial coronary heart of the island has a handful of colourful dockside buildings to discover, in addition to a colonial-era fort and quaint museum that may curiosity historical past buffs. Should you can, avoid town and close by seashores like Dickinson Bay when cruise ships are in port, as the realm swells with guests.

West Aspect

On a map, Antigua vaguely resembles an rectangular circle, its jagged shoreline interrupted by bays, peninsulas, and tiny inlets that cover every of its 365 seashores. Whereas it is arduous to differentiate when the western a part of the island offers strategy to the east, what is obvious is that the Caribbean-facing west aspect of the island is the guts of Antigua, with many of the island’s resorts, outlets, and eating places stretching up and down the coast. That is the place most guests will need to spend nearly all of their journey seashore hopping, bar crawling, or blissing out poolside with a cocktail at Sheer Rocks.

East Aspect

The island’s less-visited, less-developed japanese aspect is the place the Atlantic Ocean churns and foams, taking pictures sky-high from blowholes at Satan’s Bridge Nationwide Park and giving guests a dramatic vantage level for Antigua’s uncooked magnificence. Most seashores on the island’s japanese aspect aren’t apt for swimming, although gorgeous spots like Half Moon Bay are effectively price a go to. One other attraction, Stingray Metropolis, attracts guests trying to swim with tons of of rays that glide gracefully by way of the waist-deep crystalline waters close to the coast.

Finest Occasions to Go to

The most effective time to go to Antigua for shiny blue seas and sunny skies is between December and April. Although that is the time of yr when the island tends to swell with guests and costs rise at resorts and eating places, it is merely unmatched for seashore days and crusing excursions.

In search of that candy spot of good climate and fewer guests? You are not alone. «Vacationers have now found that the Caribbean can truly be very nice in the summertime, so the excessive and low seasons of journey will not be as outlined as they as soon as had been,» says Vidal. Nonetheless, costs are likely to drop in Might and June, when nicer climate and fewer guests give Antigua a non-public island really feel compared. June by way of November is the hotter, wetter Atlantic hurricane season, with many accommodations and eating places shuttering solely between mid-August and mid-October when tropical storms are probably.

Plan an low season go to for late July and early August to coincide with Antigua’s almost two-week-long carnival, which celebrates the tip of slavery. Although it is not one of many largest or most well-known carnivals in the Caribbean, Antigua’s carnival is a superb anchor for a culturally-minded trip, that includes music, dancing, reside performances, parades, and scrumptious native meals.

The way to Get There

Antigua’s V. C. Hen Worldwide Airport (ANU) will not be the largest airport within the Caribbean, however it’s surprisingly well-served with worldwide flights from throughout North America and past. Direct flights arrive usually from Miami, Atlanta, Charlotte, Newark, New York Metropolis (JFK), and Toronto. Longer, if extra irregular, flights even cross the pond from London Heathrow, London Gatwick, and Frankfurt. A phrase of warning, nonetheless: «Flights are usually decreased in the summertime because of demand, so I like to recommend reserving early,» says Sherman.

The way to Get Round

Vacationers can decide up a taxi nearly wherever in Antigua, making them the best strategy to discover the island. Nevertheless, fares are usually fairly costly; most vacationers who need to enterprise past the bounds of their resort ought to take into account renting a automobile for at the very least a part of their trip as an alternative.

Choose up a rental automobile on the airport, or make a sophisticated reservation with a rental firm for them to drop off a car at your lodge if you want it. It is essential to notice {that a} native driver’s license is required to function a automobile in Antigua, however do not fret: Rental corporations can handle all needed paperwork and embrace the $20 surcharge within the reservation.