Antigua on your own?

[lbt43]

Has anyone done this? What did you do and how did you do it?

[Domino D]

Has anyone done this? What did you do and how did you do it?

 

We did a beach day at an all inclusive resort. Coconut Beach Club resort.

 

It included use of chairs and pallapas

2 kayaks

Their pool

Lunch

Drinks

Wifi

Covered patios

 

It was $45 per person (I think it may be $50). Cab ride was $15 each way. Maybe 20 minute ride.

 

I posted contact information in this thread.

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2114088

 

Have a good cruise.

[Traveling Library]

Walked around St. John. Visited the grounds of the closed church/cathedral. When to the Museum of Antigua and Barbuda, a very nice, small, local history museum. http://www.antiguamuseums.net/

[onyx007]

Walked around St. John. Visited the grounds of the closed church/cathedral. When to the Museum of Antigua and Barbuda, a very nice, small, local history museum. http://www.antiguamuseums.net/

 

Yeah, did that in the afternoon, after lunch on my ship;

in the morning I went with public bus 17 to "Nelson's Dockyard",

very easy and really cheap. As Nelson's Dockyard is the terminal stop of this bus. Just look into this branch, there are lots of information about

Nelson's.

[Andee]

We rented a car with another couple we "met" on cruise critic, took a scenic drive to Nelson's Dockyard, Betty's Hope, had a picnic lunch, saw some other historical sites that I can't remember (it was 2006). Great day.

[Fletcher]

Rent a car and drive the island. Roads are empty. We drove out to the island's best beach Half Moon Bay (our first ever Caribbean resort which is now in ruins), looked at villages and churches, went up to the look-out above English Harbour, dropped in at Nelson's Dockyard (naff tourist trap) and swam from the public beach at Curtain Bluff. A great day out. We did this in 2013 and will be doing it again in a month's time.

Edited October 29, 2014 by Fletcher

[carolynne15]

Is it easy to walk into market street from the port :)

[Lard Greystoke]

Is it easy to walk into market street from the port :)

 

A hundred yards maybe. Easy.

[lbt43]

Rent a car and drive the island. Roads are empty. We drove out to the island's best beach Half Moon Bay (our first ever Caribbean resort which is now in ruins), looked at villages and churches, went up to the look-out above English Harbour, dropped in at Nelson's Dockyard (naff tourist trap) and swam from the public beach at Curtain Bluff. A great day out. We did this in 2013 and will be doing it again in a month's time.

 

How long did it take to rent the car? How much? Where is the car rental place?

[Fletcher]

lbt43 - Sunrise . . . is Truman still there?

 

I booked the car about a month in advance from either Avis or Hertz. It was about $70 for a small automatic. Their office is at the airport so there was just a young woman waiting for us beyond the St John's cruise terminal. She had all the documents ready, so it was an easy transaction and we were on the road within 15 minutes. We were her only clients that day, I think.

 

Bear in mind that one-day rentals from cruise passengers often gets you a rather poor car. Ours was an old Toyota Corolla with enough mileage for a trip to Jupiter and back. The power steering had packed up but the aircon worked, so did the brakes, and it got us around the island OK. Most of the better cars are reserved for longer rentals from people at resort hotels. This applies to all Caribbean islands in our experience with the sole exception of Martinique where we got a brand-new Opel Insignia which was as good as a Jaguar XF.

 

We do this on most islands as we hate going round in tour buses!

Edited November 1, 2014 by Fletcher

[lbt43]

Fletch, sounds like a good idea. I may try that. I am not sure what Truman is. What do you mean? I hate going around on busses as well.

[delalove]

Seems like a fairly easy island to drive on if renting a car. Hired a taxi "for the day" & visited Nelson's Dockyard & the lookout point, then snorkeled on an amazing shipwreck off Galleon Beach (no one there!). Wanted to do lunch near any beach nearby or on the way back, but were told it was "out of our zone" (I had only mentioned these two destinations, but said wanted to hire taxi for the day). Also the man I thought was to be our driver pulled a "bait & switch," & put us in the taxi with "his son" while disappearing. Strange experience, but would do again, just with better clarity. Seems like drivers must remain in certain zones (each driver assigned different zones), may look into this if wanting flexibility/variety & for sure be good with the details.

 

 

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[leaningtower]

Yeah, did that in the afternoon, after lunch on my ship;

in the morning I went with public bus 17 to "Nelson's Dockyard",

very easy and really cheap. As Nelson's Dockyard is the terminal stop of this bus. Just look into this branch, there are lots of information about

Nelson's.

 

The bus leaves from the West bus station

[cruiseathon]

Had a great day. Took public bus over to Nelson's Dockyard, looked around the historic sights, then wandered via the Goat track over the hill to Pigeon beach, relaxed and swum at the beach, then walked back by the road to Nelson's Dockyard and picked up the bus back to St Johns. Here a some photos to give you a flavor of the day ;)

 

 

Edited November 20, 2014 by cruiseathon

[cruisinwhizz]

Hi cruiseathon, sounds like a plan! How long was the walk from Nelson's Dockyard to Pigeon Beach?

 

 

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[Single_dreamer]

There is free wi-fi at the Naval Dockyard!

[exercisemama]

This was the only port that we did not have a planned excursion. We took a cab to a beautiful beach from the pier. Spent the whole day there and then took a cab back to the ship! It was great!

[Grego]

Great ideas.

[IndyCapt]

Has anyone done this? What did you do and how did you do it?

 

We took the public bus to Valley Church Beach. The bus terminal is a few blocks beyond the pier/market area. The bus ride with the locals was interesting/fun...everyone we encountered was friendly and helpful. The ride took about 15-20 minutes and cost about $2 per person each way. Valley Church Beach was beautiful and not very crowded. There is a beach bar/restaurant and clean restrooms also. We caught the bus back into town when we were ready to leave. Very easy and enjoyable day.

[cruiseathon]

Cruisinwhizz - to answer your question - the walk from Nelson's Dockyard to Pigeon beach via the Goat Trail (also called Middle Ground trail) took about 40 minutes over a small hill at a very gentle pace, in all only a distance of a mile or so. Note that there's a big sign between Nelson's Dockyard and Fort Berkeley announcing the start of the trail. There was lots to look at on the way - some interesting ruins of old gun emplacements and lookouts, colorful cactii, and some wild goats ;)

[carolynne15]

Can you catch the local bus to jolly beach from town i believe the bus station is in market street is that right ?

[Wayfairers]

We took the public bus to Valley Church Beach. The bus terminal is a few blocks beyond the pier/market area. The bus ride with the locals was interesting/fun...everyone we encountered was friendly and helpful. The ride took about 15-20 minutes and cost about $2 per person each way. Valley Church Beach was beautiful and not very crowded. There is a beach bar/restaurant and clean restrooms also. We caught the bus back into town when we were ready to leave. Very easy and enjoyable day.

 

 

Sounds like a wonderful day. Do you remember which way you walked to get to the bus station? Was the beach sandy? Any rocks?

[merrilyanne]

You walk down the pier to a touristy square right at the end of the pier, and then wind your way to the right for about 10 minutes on uneven and narrow sidewalks, to where the local fruit and vegetable market is, and the bus station is right across from the market. It is a main street you will be walking down. There will be lots of buses sitting there but not really a terminal or station. Just keep asking the locals, they are very quiet but very friendly and helpful. The bus lets you out at the road and you have to walk down a pathway/road but it is not far. Coming back, just stand by the side of the road and wave at any vans coming along that look like locals and that will be the bus you take back. I think the fare is now $3. WELL WORTH THE effort to see this beach. VALLEY CHURCH BEACH is the best kept secret in the Caribbean, if not the world. The colour of the water is so beautiful and changes constantly with the sun. I have been to over 160 countries and this is my favourite beach in the world. I stay at a condo sometimes in Antigua on Dickenson's Bay, just so I can keep going down to Valley Church beach. I am going on a cruise next week that will stop there and plan to take the local bus to the beach again. So unspoiled. I gather people together off the ship and take them there and they go crazy when we drive up to it and they see the colour of the water. No rocks or stones. very long sandy beach - white sand and hardly anybody there. Sometimes a sneaky wave will try to knock you over as you get out of the water, as there is a slight incline right at the waters edge, like many beaches have. The taxi drivers will take you further down to Darkenwood beach and try to tell you it is Valley Church beach, but it isn't.

 

Email me and I will send you photos and you can see exactly what it looks like. merrilyanne "at" hotmail and then a "dot" and com.

 

Marilyn

[merrilyanne]

You can get the local bus to the main road to Jolly Beach but depending on where you are going in Jolly Beach, it can be a very long walk. People use golf carts to get around because it is such a big area. Where the bus lets you off is not really close to the water. I wanted to go and check out the Jolly Beach compound, but everyone said it would be too much to walk in there from the road. Not sure your purpose in going there, but it is not one of the best beaches on the island and is more of an older development on an inland bay.

 

Marilyn

[wassup4565]

Cruiseathon, hope I'm not too late to thank you for this great suggestion! We've taken the public bus twice to Nelson's and really enjoyed the journey as much as the destination. This will be our third trip to Antigua, and I don't need to see Nelson's again. But we now have another reason to take this great bus trip, and explore a little of the natural side of Antigua.

 

Thank you very much!