Need general overview and feel of Antigua...

[MamaParrotHead]

Trying to decide between two cruises, one of which stops at Antigua. Looking to get a feel for what Antigua offers and what excursions are popular. Two of us, in our mid-30's, and our kids who will be 8 and 12. Any help is greatly appreciated!

[Antiguan]

look and feel? this is an extremely vague question to me, but i will try to give my opinion. The island at the moment is extremely dry as is most of the Caribbean, but we are one of the islands with the least amount of rainfall. There isn't much green here at the moment, but the chances of your day being ruined by rain is far less than in those islands with propper rainforests and rivers. Of course it does get green and with the type of rain we do get when we get it.. sometimes it can take only a week and we are back to being green.

Of course one doesn't come here for the rainforrest or rivers or waterfalls. That would be silly. People come here for the balance mix of development and undeveloped areas, for the huge variety of beaches, for the unique history which manifests itself in the original buildings and working Georgian Period dockyard. With so many bays coves and inlets we have more coastline than most islands of similar size and there is no island in the Caribbean that has as many off shore islands surrounding it. For example, The North Sound here in Antigua has about 20 islands! Antigua and Barbuda is an independant country which was one of the first in the region to become involved in tourism and to leave behind agriculture. It is said by many people who spend time in each of the nearby island that the people are more friendly, but i think it's more to do with our people seeing nothing unusual about tourists being on the island. Long after the last bit of sugar cane had been cut most of the island nearby hadn't opened a hotel. The US government built a huge Army Base here before they joined World War 2 and then turned it into US Air and US Navy bases. They built the first air strip in the 40s which has been getting huge jets since the 70s.

With the economy being better here than in most of the other british speaking islands we had a huge influx of immigrants during the 80s and 90s and these days Antiguans born in the country only make up about 50% of the population. The look and feel has changed slightly recently with the influence from other islands, but we are still a unique island. In my opinion the most interesting side of the country is to be found along it's coastline, but for those who don't like boats, the beach or undisturbed islands you can always get a land tour of the island with one of the huge variety of interesting taxi or jeep tours. Hope this is what you were after...kinda.

(sorry i didn't spell check by the way)

[MamaParrotHead]

Wow, that's just great. I really appreciate your taking the time to write such a comprehensive and descriptive tale of your home. I didn't know it at the time, but that is just what I was looking for. Thanks much. :)

[Antiguan]

hey! I'm glad i got it right then ;)

 

Hope you enjoy your time here. You can also go to http://www.antiguanice.com for more specific info or even the Tourist office's forum @ http://www.antiguaforums.com if you need more. regards, A.

[04cruises]

We just returned from there and I agree with Antiguan.The port area is not very friendly or a place you would want to hang out.But if you go to the shipyard or the beaches, you will have a great time.It is a tour stop.