Valley Church Beach bus service

[mnfun2bme]

Have you taken the bus out to Valley Church Beach? I need a better understanding of:

 

 

 

 

1. How far do you walk from the cruise terminal to the bus station?

 

2. How far is it from the drop off point at Valley Church beach to the actual beach?

 

3. Is there a bus stop that we will be sitting at to wait for the bus to take us back to the ship?

 

4. Busses seem like an incredibly cheap option compared to what I am reading about taxis. We are a family of four who would rather save the money to spend at the beach bar for food and chairs, etc.

 

5. Approximate time frame to get from ship to beach.

 

6. Any other information that might be pertinent to our journey to Valley Church Beach.

 

 

 

 

Thanks!!

[sarah000]

1. How far do you walk from the cruise terminal to the bus station?

We just did this exact thing on Thursday. When you get off the boat you will walk straight ahead through hordes of taxi drivers (they will laugh at you if you say you're taking the bus, but keep walking) until you get to Market Street. From there you take a right and keep walking about 5 minutes at a steady pace until you see the bus terminal on your right - you can't miss it. There is a small shed at the entrance with a woman inside. Tell her where you are going and she will tell you what bus to get on. We waited on the bus for about 15 minutes to allow others on before we left.

 

2. How far is it from the drop off point at Valley Church beach to the actual beach?

 

It was about a 15-20 minute drive and we stopped to pick people up on the way. You will see gorgeous countryside such as this on your way.

 

 

 

The driver will drop you off at a dirt road/path and you will see a sign for Nest beach bar. The road is about a 5 minute stroll to the beach bar area. You will see the beach and a park area along the way.

 

 

3. Is there a bus stop that we will be sitting at to wait for the bus to take us back to the ship?

 

When you are done at the beach, just walk back up the path to the main road. There is no place to sit or shade. Just wait on the side until you see a bus coming and flag it down. We waited no more than a few minutes for one.

 

4. Busses seem like an incredibly cheap option compared to what I am reading about taxis. We are a family of four who would rather save the money to spend at the beach bar for food and chairs, etc.

 

They are! I can't remember the exact amount but it was either 75 cents or $1.50 US each way. Save your money on the Taxi and get yourselves one of these! She charged us $10 each for 15 minutes of heaven.

 

 

5. Approximate time frame to get from ship to beach.

 

About 15-20 minutes with stops.

 

6. Any other information that might be pertinent to our journey to Valley Church Beach.

 

The Nest restaurant was wonderful. BEST coconut shrimp I've ever had. You also might be harassed a little by Jet Ski vendors and women selling jewelry, but that is to be expected. Just tell them you're there to relax or you've already bought some if you aren't interested and they'll leave you alone. Most of all just have fun and enoy! It is paradise.

 

 

[debbiewp]

Sarah,

 

Thanks for all that great info. But I have several family members who are always concerned with the restroom facilities...are there accessible bathrooms somewhere near Valley Church Beach???

 

Thanks...Debbie

[sarah000]

Sarah,

 

Thanks for all that great info. But I have several family members who are always concerned with the restroom facilities...are there accessible bathrooms somewhere near Valley Church Beach???

 

Thanks...Debbie

 

Yes the restaurant has an outhouse for lack of a better term. It is a small building 10 yards or so away with two toilets with doors for each and a sink. There was no mirror or anything above the sink. It is not the type of bathroom you'd be use to, but is clean and completely usable for its purpose.

[sarah000]

Sorry I don't have a better pic, but look right above where I labeled it and you can barely see the rooftop of the building behind that person.

 

[sarah000]

Ok let me try again, pic didn't show up

 

[mnfun2bme]

Sarah! You are wonderful! Thanks for everything... including the pictures!

I feel much more confident now in doing this on our own!

[sarah000]

You're welcome! I had reservations about doing it ourselves, but so glad we did. You're gonna have a great time

[April2986]

Sarah,

You have given us great information about Valley Church Beach. We will be going in February. Do you know what the cost is to rent chairs and umbrellas?

 

Thanks,

Mary

[zazou]

thank you so much Sarah! now I feel so much more confident doing this.

[SantanaTto]

Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Loved the pictures! We are stopping in Antigua in January and since it is our first time there, we weren't sure what beach to go to.... You have absolutely sold us on Valley Church and now I can't wait to go!!

[sarah000]

Sarah,

You have given us great information about Valley Church Beach. We will be going in February. Do you know what the cost is to rent chairs and umbrellas?

 

Thanks,

Mary

 

 

Yes when we went the chairs were $10 per person and the guys will put your chairs where ever you want. If you get there early you can grab a spot under one of those wooden palm shades like we did!

[sandian]

1. How far do you walk from the cruise terminal to the bus station?

We just did this exact thing on Thursday. When you get off the boat you will walk straight ahead through hordes of taxi drivers (they will laugh at you if you say you're taking the bus, but keep walking) until you get to Market Street. From there you take a right and keep walking about 5 minutes at a steady pace until you see the bus terminal on your right - you can't miss it. There is a small shed at the entrance with a woman inside. Tell her where you are going and she will tell you what bus to get on. We waited on the bus for about 15 minutes to allow others on before we left.

 

2. How far is it from the drop off point at Valley Church beach to the actual beach?

 

It was about a 15-20 minute drive and we stopped to pick people up on the way. You will see gorgeous countryside such as this on your way.

 

 

 

The driver will drop you off at a dirt road/path and you will see a sign for Nest beach bar. The road is about a 5 minute stroll to the beach bar area. You will see the beach and a park area along the way.

 

 

3. Is there a bus stop that we will be sitting at to wait for the bus to take us back to the ship?

 

When you are done at the beach, just walk back up the path to the main road. There is no place to sit or shade. Just wait on the side until you see a bus coming and flag it down. We waited no more than a few minutes for one.

 

4. Busses seem like an incredibly cheap option compared to what I am reading about taxis. We are a family of four who would rather save the money to spend at the beach bar for food and chairs, etc.

 

They are! I can't remember the exact amount but it was either 75 cents or $1.50 US each way. Save your money on the Taxi and get yourselves one of these! She charged us $10 each for 15 minutes of heaven.

 

 

5. Approximate time frame to get from ship to beach.

 

About 15-20 minutes with stops.

 

6. Any other information that might be pertinent to our journey to Valley Church Beach.

 

The Nest restaurant was wonderful. BEST coconut shrimp I've ever had. You also might be harassed a little by Jet Ski vendors and women selling jewelry, but that is to be expected. Just tell them you're there to relax or you've already bought some if you aren't interested and they'll leave you alone. Most of all just have fun and enoy! It is paradise.

 

 

Thanks for all the info and pics, was thinking of going there in March. Can you tell me if this beach is close to the dockyard?

 

Thanks

 

Sandian

[cc cruiser]

SarahOOO, Your pictures are lovely. I am re-thinking my plans of a high action snorkeling adventure.

 

Did you snorkel? Do you know if snorkeling equipment is available for rent?

[westcoastguy]

thanx for the info. we will be going in feb 2010 on the Caribbean Princess.

 

I did Dickenson beach next to Sandals. Hated, they harrass you like crazy,, the worse of all islands. The water was discouloured and very hazy. did enjoy walking thru Sandals, but founded for the Price, it had nothing what a all inclusive should be on the beach.

 

 

I'm totaly in for Valley Church Beach!

[tjschwalm]

West Coast guy , That bug is sick , you just had me poking at my monitor LOL

[LkMichigan beach bum]

:)That bug drove me CRAZY! Thought it was on my monitor! Has anyone been there recently? Is it safe for your things left on the beach while you swim. Any snorkeling there???

[sarah000]

SarahOOO, Your pictures are lovely. I am re-thinking my plans of a high action snorkeling adventure.

 

Did you snorkel? Do you know if snorkeling equipment is available for rent?

 

Well we went there with the intention of snorkeling - even had our own gear. MUCH to our disappointment when we asked a couple vendors where a good place would be (maybe that was our mistake) they laughed and said there is no good snorkeling at that beach and tried to get us to rent a jet ski instead. He said it was also unsafe because of the jet skis. While there weren't a lot, a couple would zoom by every now and then.

 

What he did offer was to take us out to a reef for $150, umm pass!

[sarah000]

:)That bug drove me CRAZY! Thought it was on my monitor! Has anyone been there recently? Is it safe for your things left on the beach while you swim. Any snorkeling there???

 

Yes we felt pretty secure leaving our things on the beach, but we didn't venture so far out that we couldn't yell at someone if they got into our bag. The water gets deep enough to swim close to shore.

[SeanSD]

Sarah, thank you so much for the info and pics, you helped plan our day!!

 

Now if only I can kill that bug on my screen...

[travelangel7]

We just got back from our cruise and ended up taking the bus to Valley Church beach! We loved it!! When we got there in the morning there was only 6 people there including us.

The water was the prettiest colour I have ever seen!! A tour did end up coming around lunch time so it did get a bit crowded. I still think it was awesome and would recommend it to anyone.

 

The coconut shrimp were awesome like everyone said!!!! (although it was $16 for 4 shrimp).

[cruzwpj]

Did you follow the directions that were given on this thread? Did you feel safe walking from the ship to the bus stop? I plan to get off the ship asap to get there early and enjoy most of the day. Thanks

[fourships]

Has anyone brought their own refreshments in a cooler? Don't mind buying a drink or two but if we are there for a long day, I'd rather buy some food and bring drinks.

[travelangel7]

Did you follow the directions that were given on this thread? Did you feel safe walking from the ship to the bus stop? I plan to get off the ship asap to get there early and enjoy most of the day. Thanks

 

 

Yes I followed directions from this thread. And it was raining and muddy and I got my white dress all dirty! Yes I felt safe (but I was also with my husband). We did take a cab on the way back with a few other people because it started really pouring rain later

[goodtoglow]

We went to Valley Church Beach last week with the intention of cabbing there ($6pp per way) and busing back - however we decided to take a taxi back as well after driving through the down, even though we are in our mid 20's with 3 big guys in our group, we felt a bit uncomfortable (I may even dare to say unsafe).

 

No one was really impressed with the beach.... I didn't end up trying the coconut shrimp because the others in my group did and said they were NOT worth the money. The beach had tons of painful burls you could step on (youch!) and lots of litter scattered around. I didn't expect the beach to be immaculate but from what I had read on here previous, I was expecting more. It was quite busy as well. We had to walk far down the beach for privacy, so far that the guys renting the chairs and umbrellas didn't want to drag it down there (but they did - $5 per chair and $10 for the umbrella, which didn't stand for more than 15 minutes before falling over! We gave up on it and moved under a tree for shade because the wind kept knocking it down).

 

The water was gorgeous and from a distance the beach is stunning. The guys rented 3 jet skis for 1 hour for $80 each - they had fun but said that they were a little weak power-wise.

 

All in all, it was a relaxing day, but I would definitely not return if I end up in Antigua again. I would try and find a more private, cleaner beach (the con of cruise critic is that it makes quiet beaches popular! :P )