Anguilla
Our 10 day trip to Anguilla
Anguilla is about as good as is gets for beach lovers. The beaches are stunning, and they rarely get crowded. We went in May, and it felt like we had the beaches all to ourselves. It’s also the best food I’ve found in the Caribbean, and the customer service is outstanding. It’s perfect for people who can spend all day at the beach and want to get away from it all to unwind. It’s not ideal for people who like lots of non-beach activities, or people on a tight budget. While it is possible to do Anguilla on a budget, it’s not ideal.
It’s a very expensive island, most of the hotels are high end and eating out is very expensive. There is a 13% GST tax on all goods and services, including restaurants and hotels, plus a 15% service tax is added to most bills. It was never made clear if this is in lieu of a tip, some people said it goes towards the employees’ wages, so we also tipped on top of it.
Where's the best place to stay on Anguilla?
There’s no wrong choice of where to stay, everywhere is great, it's a small island, and it’s easy to get to all the different beaches from anywhere. We stayed for 10 days total, for the first part of our trip we stayed at The Fountain Residences at Shoal Bay East. It’s not as fancy as some other places on the island, but for us it was perfect. It's clean and comfortable, with a nice pool, and it's very close to the beach. Having a kitchen at both of our places was key and saved us a ton of money. I don’t cook, and I certainly don’t want to cook on vacation, but we liked being able to have some meals at our place. There isn’t a beach directly in front of the property, but it’s a short walk away. Loungers are available for guests to use, but they are at Tropical Sunset, about a 2-minute drive from the hotel. You could walk, but we drove there since it was a little far to walk in the heat with all of our beach stuff.
For the second part of the trip we stayed at Tranquility Beach Resort. We were in the second building back from the water, and the view was still spectacular! It’s a beautiful property and we loved Meads Bay. I never thought I’d use a hot tub in the Caribbean, but we had one rainy afternoon and sitting in our property hot tub with an ocean view felt so luxurious. I loved that it’s a smaller property as opposed to a big resort, the rooms felt brand new, and the concierge service was very helpful. They also have beach loungers for guests’ to use right in front of the hotel with drink service.
The best beaches on Aguilla
- Shoal Bay East (SBE) is stunning and fantastic for long walks on the beach. It has some options for food and beach bars, but its farther removed from the main part of the island.
- Meads Bay is also beautiful and is more centrally located, closer to more restaurants, and has the best grocery store nearby. Perfect for watching the sunset.
- Maundays Bay, a stunning white crescent shaped beach. There’s only one thing located on this beach, the Cap Juluca Hotel. If you aren’t staying at this hotel, it costs $100/pp and priority is given to guests. I highly recommend taking your own chairs and umbrella to this beach.
- Rendezvous Bay is home to the Dune Preserve, a fun beach bar with live music, and the Sunshine Shack, a beach bar with loungers available to rent. The Dune Preserve was bit more of an older, Jimmy Buffet vibe, while the Sunshine Shack is more of a party scene and the most crowded beach area we found on the island.
- Sandy Ground, this is probably the calmest beach on the island and has a very gentle slope into the water. It’s perfect for kids and people with mobility issues. You can rent beach chairs from Roy’s Bayside Grill, which is also a fun beach bar.
Car rental and beach chair rental
We used Andy’s Car Rental and they were great, but don’t get the cheapest car. It only spoke Japanese and was too small for our beach stuff. We rented our own beach chairs from Kidz Kare and I’m glad we did, it was nice to go wherever we wanted without having to pay to use loungers at hotels or restaurants. We put them right next to the Dune Preserve and listened to the music while having a beach day. We were also able take them to beaches like Katoucsh Bay, that don’t have any beach chairs available.
Currency
Everywhere we went took USD, even places that have the price in the East Caribbean Dollars (XDC.) We didn’t need much cash, credit cards are widely accepted.
My best of Anguilla list
Best meals:
Steak fajitas at Picante
Warm goat cheese salad with shrimp at Blanchard Beach Shack
Best Snorkeling:
- Little Bay, to the left of the rock you can jump off.
- The far-right side of Meads Bay. Walk towards the Malliouhana hotel and swim out a little way along the rocks.
Best Grocery story:
We went to several and Best Buy West was by far the best one on the island. It’s a large, well organized grocery store with everything you need, including sunscreen. Be aware that prices are in the East Caribbean Dollar.
Best Beach Bars:
Tropical Sunset. I may be biased because this was the first place we went to when we arrived, and I’ll never forget how stunning the view was. The food was also good, and they let you use the beach loungers if you eat there.
Gwen’s Reggae Bar and Grill. A very casual beach bar with picnic tables on the beach and music.
Dune Preserve. THE place to be on Sunday afternoons, great for live music.
Advice on traveling to Anguilla
I live in the Caribbean and never get bit by bugs, but the no see ums ate me alive there. Definitely use Skin So Soft wipes (don't use the oil, you will get a bad sunburn and the sand sticks to it) or put a few drops of lavender, citronella, and lemon-eucalyptus essential oil in your body lotion and sunscreen.
Pro tip: Start using it before you get bit, you won’t even know you’re getting bit until you itch all over and it’s too late. Click here for more or more Caribbean packing tips.
The airport leaving was a mess, and we were on a small flight, I can’t imagine how crazy the AA flight is. It takes a while to check in and you have to pay a $28 departure tax at a separate window. For some unknown reason TSA completely unpacked my whole bag next to the conveyor belt, took everything out, shook out my clothes, and unzipped everything.
We loved Anguilla, and like everyone told us, the people and the all over vibe on the island are wonderful!
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