The coastline is the argument for Antigua. Bay after bay of it, most of them empty on a weekday.
Antigua and Barbuda Family Travel Guide
“Three hundred and sixty five beaches is a marketing line and everybody knows it. The coastline is still the real draw, and unlike most beach islands this one has proper history attached to it.”
Nicole Damiano, ASTA Verified Travel Advisor with FG Luxury Travel
Do we need to rent a car in Antigua?
You do not have to. Minibuses run out of St John's for a couple of dollars and taxis have fixed government rates. But if you want the whole island and not just your resort, a hire car opens it up. Get the small four wheel drive, not the saloon. Potholes are real.
What is the best time to go to Antigua with kids?
My pick is late May into June. The dry season is still holding, the Sailing Week crowds have gone home, and rates drop noticeably. December through April is the safest weather bet but it is also peak crowds and peak prices.
Is Antigua all inclusive friendly for families?
Yes. Antigua has a real supply of all inclusive resorts at every level, several set up with kids clubs and family suites. For a family of five that is usually the cheapest way to control the total, and it solves the expensive restaurant problem in one decision.
What currency do we need in Antigua?
The East Caribbean dollar, pegged at 2.7 to the US dollar. US dollars are widely accepted too. Just check which currency a price is quoted in before you agree to it, especially with taxis.
Do you need a special permit to drive in Antigua?
Yes, a local driving permit, bought right at the car rental desk with your home license for a small fee. It takes five minutes but it catches people off guard who expect to just grab the keys.
Which beaches in Antigua work best with young kids?
Pigeon Point and Galleon Beach near English Harbour are sheltered, shallow and calm, with somewhere to eat close by. Good for pairing a beach morning with a visit to the dockyard after.
Nicole’s Perspective
Why families hire me for Antigua
What this page is, plainly. There is no Antigua story on this site and none of these photographs are mine. I sell the eastern Caribbean constantly and Antigua sits in a very specific slot that I think is underrated.
The slot is this. Most Caribbean islands make you choose between a resort trip and an island with something to look at. Antigua gives you both without much effort. You can spend five days on a beach and then spend one afternoon at Nelson’s Dockyard, which is a working Georgian naval yard and a UNESCO site, and one evening at Shirley Heights with a steel band and the best view in the country. That is more than most beach islands can offer.
It is also drier than its neighbors. St Lucia and Dominica are green because it rains on them. Antigua is scrubby and low, which means more reliable sunshine and far less rainforest. That is a plus or a minus depending entirely on what you want.
The 365 beaches line is a tourist board invention and nobody has ever counted them. It does not matter. The coastline is the draw, the bays are small and separate rather than one long strip, and you can have most of them nearly to yourself.
Beyond the Bookshelf
Stories to carry you deeper into Antigua and Barbuda. Two islands, one real voice, here is what to read, watch, listen to and cook before you go.
- A Small PlaceJamaica Kincaid
- Annie JohnJamaica Kincaid
- UnburnableMarie-Elena John
- Sir Vivian Richards
- Wendy
- The Antigua and Barbuda PantrySteve Page
- Lonely Planet Caribbean Islands
- Sir Lester Bird
- Dame Nellie Robinson
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Why this country, for this family
Why Antigua and Not the Island Next Door
Poppy marks the family parts. Wherever you see her, that section is written for traveling with children.Antigua is the beach island that also has something to do on the day the children are done with the beach. That is rarer than it sounds in the eastern Caribbean, and it is why I put it in front of families who want one week, one resort, and a couple of real outings.
The coastline is the real thing
Not one long strip but dozens of separate bays, each with its own character and most of them uncrowded outside the resort clusters. You can drive fifteen minutes and have a different beach every day of the week.
Real sailing heritage
English Harbour was the British navy’s base in the eastern Caribbean and it is still a working yacht harbour. Antigua Sailing Week in April and the Classic Yacht Regatta are serious events. Even if you never set foot on a boat, it gives the island a spine.
There is actual history
Nelson’s Dockyard is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and the only continuously working Georgian dockyard left anywhere. Betty’s Hope sugar mill and the forts around Shirley Heights fill an afternoon. Rare on a beach island.
It is drier than its neighbors
Low and scrubby rather than mountainous and green, which means far less of the daily rain that soaks Dominica and St Lucia. If you are booking a week and want the sun to show up, that matters.
Good flight connections
V C Bird International takes direct flights from the US, Canada and the UK, and it is the regional hub for LIAT successors, so island hopping is easy from here.
Sunday at Shirley Heights
Steel band and barbecue on a hilltop above English Harbour every Sunday afternoon, going back decades. Tourists and locals both go. It is the single best evening on the island and children are welcome.
English Harbour. Sheltered enough that the British navy hid its fleet here through hurricane season, and boats have been anchoring in it ever since.
The 365 Beaches, and Which Ones Matter
Nobody has counted them and the number is invented. What is true is that the bays are small, separate and numerous, so a rental car turns the whole coastline into your itinerary.
Dickenson Bay is the busy one. Northwest, calm, resort lined, with water sports and beach bars and people selling things. The easiest beach if you want facilities and the least interesting if you do not.
Half Moon Bay is the beautiful one. A long crescent on the wild Atlantic side, undeveloped, with surf at one end and calm water at the other. It is a drive and it is worth it. Bring your own everything.
Ffryes and Darkwood are the sunset ones. West coast, calm, a couple of beach shacks doing decent food and cold beer. Ffryes in particular is the one I would spend an afternoon at.
Pigeon Point and Galleon Beach are the family ones. Near English Harbour, sheltered, shallow and calm, with somewhere to eat. Good for combining a beach morning with the dockyard afterwards.
All beaches are public by law. Even the ones in front of the big resorts. Park, walk on, use the sand. You cannot use the loungers, but nobody can keep you off the beach itself.
Mamora Bay on the south coast. The island is low and dry, which is why the hills are gold rather than green for half the year.
English Harbour and the Bit That Is Not a Beach
This is what Antigua has that most of its neighbors do not, and it is the reason I recommend it to families who need more than sand to stay interested.
Nelson’s Dockyard is a real place, not a museum piece. Restored Georgian buildings that now hold shops, hotels and a marina, with yachts tied up where naval frigates were careened. Small entry fee, an hour or two, and it covers Shirley Heights too.
Shirley Heights is the view. The old military lookout above the harbour, and the single best panorama on the island. Go on a Sunday afternoon for the barbecue and the steel band, or on a weekday morning for the quiet version.
Betty’s Hope is the harder history. The ruins of a sugar estate with its windmills restored, and an honest small museum about slavery on the island. Worth an hour with older children who are ready for it.
St John’s is a half day. The cathedral, the market on a Saturday morning, Redcliffe Quay. It is also where the cruise ships dock, so check the schedule and go on a day without four ships in port.
Barbuda is a different country. Ninety minutes by ferry, seventeen miles of pink tinged sand, a frigate bird colony with thousands of nesting pairs, and almost no infrastructure. It is still rebuilding after Irma. Go as a day trip and go with a guide.
The map
Antigua and Barbuda Place by Place
Antigua is small, about fourteen miles across, and everything on it is within an hour of everything else. Barbuda is a separate island entirely and a separate decision.
Anthem Fair Antigua, We Salute Thee. Language and money English. The East Caribbean dollar, and US dollars taken everywhere.
Barbuda
Dickenson Bay
English Harbour
Half Moon Bay
Jolly Harbour
Nelson’s Dockyard
Shirley Heights
St John’s
Culture and Etiquette
Antigua and Barbuda has been fully independent since 1981, and the island runs at its own unhurried pace, cricket, church, and Carnival setting the rhythm more than tourism does.
Cricket is closer to religion than sport. Sir Vivian Richards is a national hero, and a Test match or a local match on the village green will draw a real crowd.
Sailing is in the culture, not just the tourism brochure. Antigua Sailing Week each April is a genuine local event, not a manufactured photo opportunity for visitors.
Sunday still means church for a lot of families. Shops and some restaurants keep shorter hours, and it is worth planning around rather than against.
Manners are warm and unhurried. A greeting before getting to business is expected, service moves at its own pace, and nobody on the island is in a rush to change that.
What You Will Eat
Antiguan cooking is eastern Caribbean, built on cornmeal, saltfish, root vegetables and slow stews. The photographs below show the kind of plate each dish arrives on, not that exact dish photographed in Antigua.
Getting Around
Hire a car if you want the island. Roads are mostly fine, distances are tiny, and signposting is poor enough that you will use your phone. Potholes are real. Take the small four wheel drive rather than the saloon.
The minibuses are cheap and useful. Routes run out of St John’s to most of the island for a couple of dollars. They stop running in the early evening and they do not go to the Atlantic side beaches.
Taxis have fixed government rates. Published by route. Agree the fare and the currency before you set off. Drivers will happily do a half day island tour and many are excellent guides.
Barbuda is the ferry. Around ninety minutes from St John’s, and it can be rough. Day trips are long but doable. Check the schedule carefully because it changes and it does not run every day.
The best day out is on the water. Circumnavigation trips, Stingray City, or a catamaran to Green Island. On an island this shape, seeing it from the sea is not a gimmick.
Dickenson Bay, the calm north coast where most of the family resorts sit
What It Costs
Antigua sits in the upper middle of the Caribbean. Cheaper than Turks and Caicos or St Barts, more expensive than the Dominican Republic, and unusually dependent on which model you book.
All inclusive is common here. Unlike a lot of the eastern Caribbean, Antigua has a real supply of all inclusive resorts at every level. For a family of five that is often the cheapest way to control the total.
Villas and apartments are the alternative. Jolly Harbour in particular is full of self catering places with a supermarket nearby. Cheaper per night than a resort and it lets you use the island rather than the property.
Eating out is not cheap. Restaurant prices at English Harbour and the west coast are yacht prices. The good value is at the roadside and the beach shacks, where a plate of fish and rice costs a fraction of it.
The currency is the East Caribbean dollar. Pegged at 2.7 to the US dollar, and US dollars are widely accepted. Check which currency a price is in before you agree to it, especially in taxis.
A hire car changes the trip. You need a temporary local license, bought at the rental desk for a small fee. They drive on the left. If you are staying all inclusive and never leaving, skip it. If you want the beaches, it is essential.
When to Go
Dec to Apr
Dry, breezy and reliably sunny. Peak prices, peak crowds, and the sailing crowd arrives in April. The safest weather bet of the year.
Late Apr
Antigua Sailing Week and the Classic Yacht Regatta. English Harbour is packed, the island is buzzing, and rooms near the harbour are gone months in advance.
May and Jun
My pick. The dry season is still holding, the crowds have gone home, and rates drop noticeably. The best value fortnight on this island.
Aug to Oct
Hurricane season and the wettest months. Cheapest by a long way, and some restaurants and small hotels simply close. Carnival at the start of August is the exception worth going for.
How Many Days
How long you need depends on what you are here for, the beaches, the sailing, or a bit of both.
A cruise call (a few hours). Enough time for St. John’s, a look at the harbor, and lunch. Not enough for English Harbour or a real beach day.
A long weekend (3 to 4 days). St. John’s and Nelson’s Dockyard properly, one beach day at Dickenson Bay or Half Moon Bay, and a sunset at Shirley Heights.
A full week. Add a day trip to Barbuda for the frigatebird colony and the pink sand, plus enough beach rotation that it stops feeling like a checklist.
Paired with St. Lucia or Barbados (10 to 12 days). Split the difference between Antigua’s beaches and a greener or livelier neighbor, with a short flight between them.
Shirley Heights, the hilltop above English Harbour
Regions at a Glance
St John’s and the North Coast
The capital, the cruise port, Dickenson Bay and Runaway Bay. Calm water, most of the family resorts and the shortest drive from the airport.
English Harbour and the South
Nelson’s Dockyard, Shirley Heights, Falmouth Harbour and the yachts. The end of the island with something to do beyond the beach.
The East and Half Moon Bay
The Atlantic side. Windier, wilder, fewer resorts and the best beach on the island for older children who want waves.
Barbuda
The flat sister island, an hour and a half by ferry. Pink sand, the frigatebird lagoon and almost nobody there. A day trip or one very quiet night.
Where to Go in Antigua
It is one small island, so this is an order of days rather than a route. A week does all five without hurrying.
Dickenson Bay and the west coast. Shallow, calm and lined with resorts. This is the base for most families and the beach the small children will not want to leave.
English Harbour. Nelson’s Dockyard in the morning before the heat, lunch by the water, then up to Shirley Heights. The one afternoon that is not a beach.
Shirley Heights on a Sunday. Steel band, barbecue and the best view on the island from four in the afternoon. Children are welcome and it is the single best evening here.
Half Moon Bay and the east. A wild crescent of sand on the Atlantic side with surf and nothing built on it. Bring everything you need and go early.
Barbuda. The ferry or a short flight for a day on a pink beach and a boat into the frigatebird lagoon. Worth it if you have a week, skip it on a long weekend.
Antigua With Kids
This is the part people email me about most when they are putting together an antigua and barbuda family vacation. The things to do in antigua with kids list is shorter than the general guidebooks make it sound, and that is a good thing.
Pick the right coast for the age
The west and north beaches are calm and shallow, good for small children. The Atlantic side has surf and current and is better for confident swimmers and teenagers who want waves.
All inclusive works here
Several resorts are set up for families with kids clubs and family suites, which is not true everywhere in the eastern Caribbean. It also solves the expensive restaurant problem in one decision.
Sunday at Shirley Heights is fine with children
Go for the early part, around four, for the steel band and the view before the crowd builds and the DJ takes over. It gets busy and loud later.
The snorkelling is good, not great
Cades Reef and Green Island are the best of it and both need a boat. Beach snorkelling is patchy. If underwater is the point of the trip, Cayman or Curacao do it much better.
Entry and health
No visa for US, Canadian and UK passports for a normal trip. Tap water is generally safe and most people drink bottled. There is a hospital in St John’s and a decent private clinic.
Distances are short
Nowhere on Antigua is more than about forty five minutes from anywhere else. No long transfer days, no internal flights, no early starts. With children that is worth more than it sounds.
Who Should Skip Antigua
It is a good all rounder, which also means it is nobody’s absolute best at anything. Here is when I send families elsewhere.
Anyone wanting rainforest and mountains. Antigua is low and dry. St Lucia has the Pitons and the jungle, and Dominica has the rivers. If green is what you picture, this is the wrong island.
Serious divers. The diving is fine and unremarkable. The Cayman Islands and Curacao are in a different league for anyone who cares about it.
Families on a tight budget. Between flights, car hire and food, Antigua is not the cheap option. The Dominican Republic or Jamaica give you more resort for the money.
Anyone wanting nightlife or a town. St John’s empties after the cruise ships leave and the island is quiet at night outside the resorts and English Harbour. Puerto Rico is the answer if a city matters.
Anyone coming mainly for Barbuda. It is beautiful and it is still rebuilding after Hurricane Irma. Accommodation is thin and expensive. Treat it as a day trip from Antigua rather than the reason for the trip.
Splurge-Worthy Experiences
A few things on Antigua are worth the extra line item.
A day trip to Barbuda. A short boat or plane ride to a quieter sister island, pink sand beaches, and the frigatebird sanctuary at Codrington Lagoon.
A private sailing charter. Antigua is built for it, and a half day out of English Harbour is a different trip entirely from a beach chair.
A stay near English Harbour instead of the busier north coast. Smaller, quieter, and walkable to Nelson’s Dockyard and Shirley Heights.
A private guided walk through Nelson’s Dockyard. A local guide turns the stone buildings into the actual story of Nelson and the Georgian navy instead of a photo backdrop.
Sunset on the west coast. The whole island is small enough that you can be at a beach bar for it wherever you have spent the day.
Things Worth Knowing Before You Book
Check the cruise schedule. St John’s can take four ships at once and the town, the dockyard and Stingray City all fill up on those days. The port publishes the calendar. Plan your St John’s morning around it.
You need a local driving permit. Bought at the car rental desk with your home license for a small fee. It takes five minutes and it catches people out who expected to just take the keys.
Water is scarce. The island is dry and relies on desalination. Villas and small hotels ask you to be careful with it and they mean it. Do not run the taps like you would at home.
The trade winds are constant. Lovely in the shade, brutal for an umbrella, and the reason the Atlantic coast is a kitesurfing destination. Weight everything down on the beach.
Sunday is quiet. Shops shut, many restaurants close, and the island goes to church. Shirley Heights is the exception. Plan a beach day and a supermarket run on Saturday.
Carnival is the last week of July into August. Ten days of calypso, j’ouvert and parades in St John’s. It is a real local festival rather than a tourist event, and prices barely move for it.
Where I Would Start
First time in Antigua with kids? Pick one resort on the calm west coast and stay put. A beach for every day of the year, and the boat to Barbuda for the one day you leave.
The west coast. Five nights. Jolly Harbour or Dickenson Bay, calm water, a resort with a kids’ club, sunset from the beach.
Nelson’s Dockyard. A day. The old naval yard, Shirley Heights on a Sunday evening for the steel band and the view, a swim at Pigeon Point.
Barbuda. A day or a night. The ferry or a short flight, the pink sand beach, the frigate bird colony by boat.
Numbers Worth Knowing
Antigua and Barbuda, by the numbers
Ways to travel
Antigua is not one kind of trip
How you move through it changes the trip more than which places you pick.
Ocean Cruising
St. John’s is one of the busiest cruise ports in the Eastern Caribbean, and a cruise day here usually means a beach chair at Dickenson Bay is a fifteen minute ride away.
For example: an Eastern Caribbean cruise calling at St. John’sRoad Trips
The island is small enough to circle in an afternoon, and a rental car turns Nelson’s Dockyard, Shirley Heights, and a different beach every day into one easy loop.
For example: a loop from St. John’s out to English Harbour and back along the south coastIndependent Travel
English is the official language, taxis and rental cars are easy to arrange, and the beaches are all public, so a family can string together its own week without much friction.
For example: a self planned week split between St. John’s and English HarbourGuided and Small Group
A guide at Nelson’s Dockyard turns a handful of stone buildings into the full story of Nelson, the Georgian navy, and two centuries of sailing history.
For example: a guided morning at Nelson’s Dockyard and Shirley HeightsExplore by interest
What families come to Antigua for
Sailing
English Harbour and Sailing Week
Antigua Sailing Week each April turns English Harbour into one of the best regattas anywhere, and the yachts are there to look at the rest of the year.
History
Nelson’s Dockyard
The only continuously working Georgian era naval dockyard on earth, and Shirley Heights tells the rest of the story from the hill above it.
Nature
Barbuda and Half Moon Bay
Barbuda’s frigatebird colony is the largest in the Western Hemisphere, and Half Moon Bay’s crescent of pink tinted sand is the kind of beach people build a whole trip around.
Culture
Carnival in St John’s
Carnival each summer brings steel pan, calypso and a costume parade that shuts down St John’s for a day, the biggest party on the calendar.
Something unexpected
Only in Antigua
Read before you go
A Small Place
Jamaica Kincaid grew up in St. John’s, and her 1988 essay is still the sharpest, most honest thing written about what tourism looks like from the other side of the resort gate.
Photo via Unsplash.
Watch before you go
Antigua Sailing Week
Every April since 1968, English Harbour fills with yachts sailing in from around the world. Time it right and the harbor becomes impossible to look away from.
Photo via Unsplash.
From here
The Antigua black pineapple
Grown in a small area near Cades Bay and prized for being unusually sweet with almost no fibrous core, it is the one souvenir people actually eat before they leave.
Photo via Unsplash.
Only in Antigua and Barbuda
Barbuda’s frigatebird sanctuary
Codrington Lagoon, reachable only by boat, holds the largest colony of magnificent frigatebirds anywhere in the Western Hemisphere, males included with their inflated red pouches.
Photo via Unsplash.Pair it up
Islands That Pair Well With Antigua
St Lucia
The green opposite. St Lucia has the mountains and the rainforest, Antigua has the beaches and the sun. A week of each is one of the better eastern Caribbean pairings.
Read the guide
Barbados
Both give you a beach plus somewhere to go. Barbados has the town and the food scene, Antigua has the coastline and the sailing history. Antigua is the quieter of the two.
Read the guide
Plan Antigua and Barbuda with Nicole
Tell me who is coming, and when.
Antigua works as a long weekend anchored in English Harbour, a full week that adds a Barbuda day trip and real beach rotation, or a stop on an Eastern Caribbean cruise. Which one makes sense comes down to what the trip is for, the beaches or the sailing history. Send me the ages, the dates, and what you are hoping this trip feels like. I will come back with what is really available.
Nicole Damiano, ASTA Verified Travel Advisor with FG Luxury Travel.
Antigua and Barbuda, Answered
Do we need to rent a car in Antigua? You do not have to. Minibuses run out of St John’s for a couple of dollars and taxis have fixed government rates. But if you want the whole island and not just your resort, a hire car opens it up. Get the small four wheel drive, not the saloon. Potholes are real.
What is the best time to go to Antigua with kids? My pick is late May into June. The dry season is still holding, the Sailing Week crowds have gone home, and rates drop noticeably. December through April is the safest weather bet but it is also peak crowds and peak prices.
Is Antigua all inclusive friendly for families? Yes. Antigua has a real supply of all inclusive resorts at every level, several set up with kids clubs and family suites. For a family of five that is usually the cheapest way to control the total, and it solves the expensive restaurant problem in one decision.
What currency do we need in Antigua? The East Caribbean dollar, pegged at 2.7 to the US dollar. US dollars are widely accepted too. Just check which currency a price is quoted in before you agree to it, especially with taxis.
Do you need a special permit to drive in Antigua? Yes, a local driving permit, bought right at the car rental desk with your home license for a small fee. It takes five minutes but it catches people off guard who expect to just grab the keys.
Which beaches in Antigua work best with young kids? Pigeon Point and Galleon Beach near English Harbour are sheltered, shallow and calm, with somewhere to eat close by. Good for pairing a beach morning with a visit to the dockyard after.
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