Antigua:Island of the month April 2011

 Antigua (and its sister isle Barbuda) is situated in the middle of the Caribbean’s Leeward Islands.

This island boasts of 365 beaches, one for every day of the year and their popular tagline is “the beach is just the beginning.”

What draws us at www.caribbeaninsidersguide.com to Antigua is their continuing capitalization on the superior location in the Caribbean archipelagos coupled with the effective marketing of their world-classed beaches and accommodations.

Antigua offers several arrival and accommodation choices. Being centrally located and having a runway that can facilitate the bigger sized aircrafts, Antigua is a perfect hub for arrivals from all over the world. One can see the likes of Virgin Atlantic, American Airlines, Air Canada, Delta Airlines and Continental to name a few.

The island is also a favorite destination for cruise liners with visitors arriving by the tens of thousands annually.

Visitors remain on the island or transfer to the neighboring islands. Antigua is also the home of LIAT, “the Caribbean airline”. It is made up of a fleet of small to medium sized propeller planes that will scoot you to the islands with relative ease. We have had a concern with LIAT’s timeliness and reliability at times but improvements have been noted.

In Antigua we recommend you take your Caribbean Holidays straight to the beach and visit any of their stunning shores. We like Half-Moon Bay, Dickenson Bay and Darkwood beach in that order but of course we want you to visit all of the above and more!

We encourage you to relax; take a sip of the local brew called Widadli (the name of the island from the original Amerindian inhabitants) and partake in a fresh ocean caught whole snapper in creole sauce. You have now arrived to the Caribbean.

Apart from taking in the local sites in the main town of St. John’s www.caribbeaninsidersguide.com also encourages you to visit the Sticky Wicket restaurant & lounge (just a short walk from the airport) to peer into a Caribbean obsession, the fantastic game of cricket. This establishment has niched itself by honoring some past greats of the Caribbean game and they also make a nice ambiance for a fun night out with their menu. You may even be lucky to see one of the Antiguan greats of the game pop in for a quick social, make sure and tell your bartender to point them out if they come in. Ask them to tell you if Sir Vivian Richards, Richie Richardson or Curtly Ambrose come in. Careful of the rum punch though, it is the proverbial “creeper!”

Antiguans are very hospitable and they know that tourism is their main staple. In most places while on your Caribbean Holidays, you will be treated with utmost respect and courtesy. The main currency of the island is the Eastern Caribbean Dollar (EC$) and is pegged at USD$1 = EC$2.67. Rest assured, you will tend to notice value for your dollar whilst on this island fairly quickly.