If you enjoy shopping then Antigua can offer a great range of shops and stalls which sells handcrafts and luxury items such as jewellery .If your looking for something exotic to wear then some shops do sell vibrant colored clothes. There is as shop which has been up and running for 27 years and specializes in jewels, it really is worth a look.

Antigua has a lot to offer when it comes to excursions and activities. If you enjoy yachting then you love it here, on the last weekend in April there is a sailing week that starts. There are at least 4 main events that shouldn’t be missed for example in February there is the Valentines Regatta or maybe in July/August there is Antigua Carnival there is always something to do.

If you like experimenting with different foods then you’ll love the restaurants here especially at the English harbor. It offers several different restaurants for example French, English and even Indian ones. Antigua even has its own fruit which is the black pineapple, which must be tried.

Antigua appeals to all ages as it can offer something for everyone!

If your looking to go in the warmest time of the year then April to September are the best months to go as the temperature is just over 30 C, but if your wanting a holiday that’s a bit more cooler then January, February, March, November and December are the better months for you.
Beaches There are 365 beaches on Antigua, one for each day of the year. The great majority rest inside the calm, protected waters of the island's Caribbean isolated locations. Antiguans are understandably reluctant to divulge their own favorites, so here are a number of good starters. Be sure to acquire specific directions before you go.

Northwest Coast:
Dickenson Bay and Runaway Bay, located along the island's developed northwestern coast, are the place to go for those who want the fully-loaded resort beach experience.

The beaches most convenient to St. John's are Fort James, a locally-popular public beach, and Deep Bay. Galley Bay attracts surfers during the winter months and a joggers during the evening. The series of four crescent beaches at Hawksbill are also highly regarded, one of which is nudist.

Southwest and South Coast:
The beaches of the hilly southwest corner of Antigua are generally less developed than those around St. John's further north. On the road that winds along this coast are Fryes Bay, Darkwood Beach, and the beaches around Johnsons Point. Rendezvous Bay and especially Doigs Beach, both located on the central southern coast at Rendezvous Bay, are especially quiet beaches worth the rough travel necessary to reach them. Pigeon Point, near English Harbour Town, is a convenient balm after a day at Nelson's Dockyard.

East Coast:
On the southeast corner of the island is Half Moon Bay, now a National Park and a good choice for a family outing. Long Bay, on the easternmost point of the island, is another good choice for families, as it is completely protected by its reef.

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Exploring
Shirley Heights

This rambling array of gun emplacements and military buildings is best known today for the absolutely breathtaking prospect that it offers. From the Heights one can look far out over English Harbour, and on Sunday afternoons the view is accompanied by barbecue, rum punch, and the plangent strains of steel band and reggae music. The site is named for General Shirley, Governor of the Leeward Islands when the area was fortified in the late eighteenth century. Close by is the cemetery, in which stands an obelisk erected in honour of the soldiers of the 54th regiment.

Sea View Farm Village

Antiguan folk pottery dates back at least to the early 18th century, when slaves fashioned cooking vessels from local clay. Today, folk pottery is fashioned in a number of places around Antigua, but the center of this cottage industry is Sea View Farm Village. The clay is collected from pits located nearby, and the wares are fired in an open fire under layers of green grass in the yards of the potters' houses. Folk pottery can be purchased at outlets in the village as well as at a number of stores around the island. Buyers should be aware that Antiguan folk pottery breaks rather easily in cold environments.

Harmony Hall Art Gallery

Harmony Hall, in Brown's Bay at Nonsuch Bay, is the center of the Antiguan arts community. Exhibits change throughout the year, but the annual highlights are the Antigua Artist's Exhibition and the Craft Fair, both in November. The sugar mill tower around which Harmony Hall is built has been converted to a bar and provides its patrons with one of the island's best panoramic views, including a fine prospect of Nonsuch Bay.

Museum of Antigua and Barbuda

This charming museum tells the story of Antigua and Barbuda from its geological birth through the present day. A cool oasis in the middle of St. John's, the museum contains a wide variety of fascinating objects and exhibits, ranging from a life-size replica of an Arawak dwelling to the bat of Viv Richards, one of the greatest cricket players of all time.

Visit their website at: www.antiguamuseums.org


Activities on Antigua include:

Cricket Boating Day Cruises
Hiking and bird watching Diving
and Snorkeling Antigua Adventures
Eli's Eco Tours
Tennis Antigua
Scuba Center Tropical Adventures
Golfing Fishing Antigua Seafaris
Hunting Kayaking South Coast Horizon
Eco-Fantasies
Riding Swim with the Rays Sailing Cruises
Bike Plus Island Speedboats Caribbean Helicopters
Seasports Ltd. Prickly Pear Island Excursion
Capt. Nash
Sailing Cruises Estate Safari Tour
or Classic Jeep Tour
Windsurfing Exotic Destination Day Charters
Jabberwocky Yacht Charter
"Overdraft" Deep Sea Fishing Charter
Deep Sea Fishing


Hints & Tips

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Tipping/Gratuities:
Same as in the US; 10-15% depending on the service. Some restaurants & hotels will automatically add a 10% gratuity. If in doubt, just ask. Give porters and bellhops 50 cents per bag, taxi drivers 10-15% of the fare.

Taxes:
Antigua & Barbuda has a US$20.00 airport departure tax, a room tax of 8.5% and service charge of 10% (in lieu of tipping).

Appropriate Attire:
Informal, but conservative. Beach attire is appropriate for the beach but not town, shops or restaurants. Some hotels and restaurants stipulate jacket and tie for men and dresses for women in the evening.

Currency/Money:
Official currency is the Eastern Caribbean dollar which is fixed to the US dollar. Recent exchange rate was US$1.00 = EC$2.65. US currency, travelers checks and major credit cards are welcome everywhere.

Banks:
Antigua and Barbuda Development Bank, Antigua and Barbuda Investment, Bank Antigua Commercial Bank, Bank of Antigua, Bank of Nova Scotia, Barclays Bank PLC, Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce, Caribbean Corporation Bank, Royal Bank of Canada, Swiss American National Bank of Antigua. Banking hours are Monday through Thursday from 8:00am to 1:00pm and again from 3:00pm to 5:00pm; Friday from 8:00am to 12:00pm, and 3:00pm to 5:00pm.

Medical Facilities:
There are several general practitioners and specialists on the island, a hospital and a private clinic. No vaccinations are required unless the visitor is arriving from an endemic area. Recompression chambers are available by air ambulance at nearby Saba and in St. Thomas. Pharmaceutical services are widely available.

Passports & Immigration:
U.S. , Canadian and U.K. nationals require proof of citizenship--a valid passport, original or certified birth certificate. U.S. residents and others should contact the nearest tourist office for entry requirements.
Click here for Visa Information.

Shopping Hours:
Monday thru Saturday 8:00am to noon and 1:00pm-5:00pm.

Personal Safety:
Antigua & Barbuda are relatively crime free, but exercise normal precautions; i.e. don't leave valuables unattended in rental cars or on the beach.

History & Culture

It would be difficult to overestimate the impact on Antigua's history of the arrival, one fateful day in 1684, of Sir Christopher Codrington. An enterprising man, Codrington had come to Antigua to find out if the island would support the sort of large-scale sugar cultivation that already flourished elsewhere in the Caribbean. His initial efforts proved to be quite successful, and over the next fifty years sugar cultivation on Antigua exploded. By the middle of the 18th century the island was dotted with more than 150 cane-processing windmills--each the focal point of a sizeable plantation. Today almost 100 of these picturesque stone towers remain, although they now serve as houses, bars, restaurants and shops. At Betty's Hope, Codrington's original sugar estate, visitors can see a fully-restored sugar mill.

Most Antiguans are of African lineage, descendants of slaves brought to the island centuries ago to labor in the sugarcane fields. However, Antigua's history of habitation extends as far back as two and a half millenia before Christ. The first settlements, dating from about 2400 B.C., were those of the Siboney (an Arawak word meaning "stone-people"), peripatetic Meso-Indians whose beautifully crafted shell and stone tools have been found at dozens of sites around the island. Long after the Siboney had moved on, Antigua was settled by the pastoral, agricultural Arawaks (35-1100 A.D.), who were then displaced by the Caribs--an aggressive people who ranged all over the Caribbean. The earliest European contact with the island was made by Christopher Columbus during his second Caribbean voyage (1493), who sighted the island in passing and named it after Santa Maria la Antigua, the miracle-working saint of Seville. European settlement, however, didn't occur for over a century, largely because of Antigua's dearth of fresh water and abundance of determined Carib resistance. Finally, in 1632, a group of Englishmen from St. Kitts established a successful settlement, and in 1684, with Codrington's arrival, the island entered the sugar era.

By the end of the eighteenth century Antigua had become an important strategic port as well as a valuable commercial colony. Known as the "gateway to the Caribbean," it was situated in a position that offered control over the major sailing routes to and from the region's rich island colonies. Most of the island's historical sites, from its many ruined fortifications to the impeccably-restored architecture of English Harbourtown, are reminders of colonial efforts to ensure its safety from invasion.

Horatio Nelson arrived in 1784 at the head of the Squadron of the Leeward Islands to develop the British naval facilities at English Harbour and to enforce stringent commercial shipping laws. The first of these two tasks resulted in construction of Nelson's Dockyard, one of Antigua's finest physical assets; the second resulted in a rather hostile attitude toward the young captain. Nelson spent almost all of his time in the cramped quarters of his ship, declaring the island to be a "vile place" and a "dreadful hole." Serving under Nelson at the time was the future King William IV, for whom the altogether more pleasant accommodation of Clarence House was built.

It was during William's reign, in 1834, that Britain abolished slavery in the empire. Alone among the British Caribbean colonies, Antigua instituted immediate full emancipation rather than a four-year 'apprenticeship,' or waiting period; today, Antigua's Carnival festivities commemorate the earliest abolition of slavery in the British Caribbean.

Emancipation actually improved the island's economy, but the sugar industry of the British islands was already beginning to wane. Until the development of tourism in the past few decades, Antiguans struggled for prosperity. The rise of a strong labour movement in the 1940s, under the leadership of V.C. Bird, provided the impetus for independence. In 1967, with Barbuda and the tiny island of Redonda as dependencies, Antigua became an associated state of the Commonwealth, and in 1981 it achieved full independent status. V.C. Bird is now deceased; his son, Lester B. Bird,

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