Antigua

Advantages: Beaches are georgous; plenty to do; friendly locals
Disadvantages: Avoid hurricane season, sand flies and mosquitos

...Apparently Antigua has a beach for every day of the year - somehow I onoly got round to using the two at our resort - Allegro Pineapple. Allegro is on the west side of the island and is within walking distance of Devils Bridge - a natural phenoninom but play safe and keep away from the edge of the water. The locals were polite and friendly and the beach hawkers took no for an answer if you were not interested in what they were selling. Antigua has a warm tropical climate and our main bugbear (pardon the pun) was with the sand flies and mosquitos - a good insect repellant will do well - the bottoms of the ankles seemed their favourite place to bite. There is plenty of things to do in Antigua and to spend your holiday sitting on the beach all day is a waste. Here are a few activities that you can get up to : Nelsons...

haze1smith 17.09.2004 · Read review
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Review of General: Antigua & Barbuda

Stingray City, Antigua - in hot water but no Marina and Troy

Advantages: A new experience, bragging rights, conversation stopper down the local
Disadvantages: I don't like seeing animals 'caged' really

...Stingray City ? quite a name, huh? Could it be an Arizona hot-spot for Corvette haters? Well perhaps, but it?s not. Could it be a town in Queensland, Australia, perhaps conveniently located between Porpoise Spit and Dolphin Promontory? Well again, yes it could, but it isn?t. Stingray City is the place just off the north coast of the Caribbean island of Antigua where you can swim with real, live stingrays. A 30-minute coach ride from the capital of St John, over to the north coast of the island, the Stingray City operation at Seaton?s Village sits right on a section of coast in-between two headlands. They have some outdoor space and picnic tables for you to sit at whilst you?re waiting and facilities for you to change into swimming gear if you want ? some people put on wet suits and so on, too ? the snorkeling is good. Once...

andyk910 15.03.2009 · Read review
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Review of Antigua Stingray Swim

Antigua Paradise Island

Advantages: a truly awesome experience
Disadvantages: can I have some money for the diamond shops please

...?You will be bored in Antigua ? it?s only for beach lovers?, quoted a colleague. HOW WRONG THEY WERE! I was very fortunate this year to find myself preparing and looking forward to my second holiday this year headed for two weeks of bliss in Antigua, Caribbean, West Indies. As my regular readers will know, I?m a keen fan of travelling, this trip for me was the furthest I?ve travelled yet (watch this space!) - apart from a New York shopping trip in the eighties, that is. I took a direct scheduled flight from Gatwick which I found to be comfortable, good food, leg room not too bad compared to the usual short haul destinations, plus a wide selection of movies and radio channels to fiddle with during the 8 and a half hour flight. I did read a couple of negative reviews on my chosen accommodation prior to take off, the Jolly...

hogwash 28.05.2003 · Read review
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Review of General: Antigua & Barbuda

Sandals Antigua - Paradise Found

Advantages: Location, Food, Drink
Disadvantages: Price

...If you are looking for a caribbean holiday on a perfect beach in fine accomodation then look no further. I spent a week in Sandals Antigua for my honeymoon last year and was highly impressed. The hotels location could not be better, situated directly on one of the islands best beaches, with the restaurants overlooking the sea. Sandals is a fairly large, all-inclusive hotel. A variety of rooms are available, ranging from the simply luxurious, to the super luxurious suites. Our room fell somewhere between these two extremes and offered air-conditioning (essential), TV, and best of all a terrace which led directly to a small pool which few other guests seemed to know about. The sea was just beyond this pool giving us a great sea view, and the convenience of the pool. There are around 5 restaurants to choose between, all were excellent. All...

SteveP 24.06.2000 · Read review
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Review of General: Antigua & Barbuda

St James club Antigua

Advantages: escapism & peace & tranquility
Disadvantages: Very Quiet not suited for kids

...My childhood dream was to get married on the sunny Caribbean Island of Antigua & boy did it come true.. On arrival at the airport we were all greated by the rather humid temperature..boy was it hot! After a rather slow checkin we were led to queue up outside for our taxi to the hotel which was approx 30 mins from the airport, and was it a ride to remember... We were all sandwiched in to what was described as an Antiguans answer to a Sooty mobile.There were 12 of us altogether all squashed up like sardines complete with luggage & pushchair, the lady driver would of made Schumaker look slow, we were tossed, turned & literally bounced up & down in our seats! We were driven through the roads at great speed finding it very hard to take in the scenery, the houses lived in are like tin shacks & at times we wondered whether or not we had...

pagandawn 02.11.2004 · Read review
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Review of General: Antigua & Barbuda

Trouble In Paradise - Tourisms Hidden Impact

Advantages: Beautiful place, brings jobs to the region
Disadvantages: Most of the money you spend leaves the region

...This is a bit of rant so apologies up front to those who may see this as a bit bleeding heart story. However this trip really opened my eyes to the impact of our holidays on others and encouraged me to change the way I choose where and how I travel. I'm not preaching here and ultimately if we all stopped going to Antigua the island would totally collapse anyway. Just in the spirit of Ciao thought some information would help! Antigua?s traditional external image is one of sun-kissed Caribbean perfection. One half of Antigua and Barbuda, this island of roughly 80,000 people has enjoyed, in recent years, the influx of tourists from all over the world and the foreign exchange that these visitors bring. On the back of the growth of its tourist receipts this small nation has built a strong economy and with it a decent standard of living...

tallpaul1983 01.08.2009 · Read review
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Review of General: Antigua & Barbuda

Adrenaline fun!

Advantages: Fun, different and great for adrenaline junkies
Disadvantages: Cost can soon mount up

...The Antigua canopy tour is relatively new to Antigua but not a new concept to the Caribbean. Whilst on a work trip to Jamaica a while back now we were lucky enough to experience the canopy tour there although it was different and in my opinion you get more for your money on the one in Antigua! Now if I hadn't of experienced it before I would have found out the prices for this and then not bothered but knowing what it involved made it justifiable to pay out for. So what exactly is it? Well the 'tour' is actually a load of zip wires - think krypton factor on the last part of the assault! However unlike them where they went to the ground, these wires zip right across the canopy of the trees, hence it being called the canopy tour! The tour includes 8 wires that go horizontally across the rainforest - the longest is about 300 metres...

frankiecesca 09.01.2009 · Read review
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Review of Antigua Rainforest Canopy Tour

change your attitudes and enjoy

Advantages: Beautiful Country
Disadvantages: Electricity can be a bit temperamental

...Fortunately for me, my mother in law lives in Antigua, in a village called Cedar Grove, which is about 1/2 hours drive from VC Bird Airport and St Johns. I have been to Antigua twice, on one occasion i stayed for 6 months! Whilst i know that the island is dependant on tourism as one of its main sources of income, i am often dismayed by the tendency for tourists to stay in large hotels, often in resorts that claim to provide all inclusive activities, and recommend therefore that you do not leave the resort. I also am saddened when tour reps advise travellers not to go to certain areas of the island, and to be weary when out and about. From the advice these reps give, you would easily be mistaken for thinking that Antigua can be a dangerous place, full of Muggers and ruffians!! I can surely say that this is not the norm...

mbmb11 04.07.2001 · Read review
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Review of General: Antigua & Barbuda

Party people!

Advantages: Atmosphere, people, sunset
Disadvantages: None

...On a recent trip to Antigua we took a trip to Shirley Heights. We had been planning to go to this place as soon as we knew we would be going to Antigua as it is probably one of the biggest tourist attractions on the island that is very well known. I don't think a trip to Antigua would be complete if you didn't visit here! So what is it? For those who aren't familiar with it, I will just explain what this place is. Shirley Heights is a party place high up in the hills overlooking English Harbour where every Thursday and Sunday night they have a steel band on with food, drinks available. It is all out in the open and is literally on top of a hill where the views are spectacular. Later on in the evening the band change and they then have singers on too. The area near to the band gets quite busy and so a lot of people go and sit...

frankiecesca 28.02.2008 (26.02.2008) · Read review
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Review of Shirley Heights, Antigua and Barbuda, Caribbean

Is it possible to be charming and stunning?

Advantages: The people and rich culture
Disadvantages: You need at least 1-2 weeks for the experience and clubs are only open till 1am

...So I feel I should write a review of the the mighty they call Antigua of Guatemala, after living there for nearly 4 months I relised why it is considered to be one of the jewels of Central America. So lets be honest I could write volumes for this but I will try to avoid covering standard issues which you will find in travel guides. On first glance Antigua can seem like a beautiful but sleepy location as this is the impression I got on my initial visit passing through for just 1 day, but you see Antigua is the type of place you need a little more time to appreciate the fruits which it has to offer, and so my 1 day experience was not really a good indication of what Antigua has to offer the traveller/tourist/culture vultures! But on my more extended visit a few weeks later I saw that with a little time, research and 'getting to know...

sanj77 14.03.2008 · Read review
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Review of Antigua Guatemala (Guatemala)