ANTIGUA - FUN THINGS TO SEE AND DO

Sunny Antigua, with its turquoise seas, is a welcome sight for winter-weary visitors seeking a change from white and grey landscapes. Relaxing on a sandy beach, pina colada in hand, is a top priority on arrival, for most visitors. After a while, however, even the most dedicated sunbather develops an urge for other diversions.

Since Antigua is only 25 kilometres wide, you never have to travel far to see the sights. But how do you decide what to see and do? For starters, review this checklist for activities that match your interests.

People watch crashing surf at Devil's bridge. Antigua.

Photo © Barb & Ron Kroll

Sightseeing

Watch the surf crash as high as a palm tree at Devil's Bridge, a natural limestone arch on the east coast.
Play the African board game of warri, brought to Antigua by the slaves who were imported to work in the sugar plantations. You'll find it (and learn how to play it) at the hands-on Museum of Antigua and Barbuda. Housed in the Old Court House, it's St. John's oldest building, dating from 1747.
Visit the double Cathedral of St. John's. It's a wooden cathedral, inside a stone cathedral, built on the top of a dormant volcano.
Observe the hang-gliders over Sugar Loaf Mountain.
Take a sunset bicycle ride to Darkwood Beach.
Stroll through Nelson's Dockyard, named after the British naval hero who arrived in Antigua in 1784. Examine the capstans that were used to pull ships out of the water in the 18th century. Workers removed the barnacles and used tar and copper to repair the hulls. (Look for the iron cauldrons once used for melting tar.)
Walk through bustling St. John's Public Market on Saturday morning. Admire the stacks of fresh papayas, mangoes and other tropical fruits. Look for people cooking in traditional pottery coal pots.

Capstan and sign in Nelson's Dockyard. St. John's, Antigua.

Photo © Barb & Ron Kroll

Watch male frigate birds puff up their red chests to attract female frigates in Barbuda, Antigua's sister island.
Take pictures of the friendly Antiguan school children, dressed in their colorful uniforms.
Follow Fig Tree Drive through Antigua's rainforest. Banana plantations line both sides of the road. (Antiguans call bananas figs.)
Do an island circumnavigation on the Kokomo Cat.
Visit Betty's Hope, a reconstructed 17th-century sugar mill, on the sight of Antigua's first plantation. It's the only fully-operational wind-powered sugar mill in the Caribbean.
Learn about Antigua's history from the multimedia presentation at Dow's Hill Interpretation Centre, near English Harbour.

Beaches and watersports

Sunbathe on some of Antigua's 365 beaches. (Antigua has a beach for every day of the year. All are public.)
Take a day-trip to the island of Barbuda, where you'll find the pinkest beaches in the world. (Yes, even pinker than those in Bermuda.) Bring home a handful of tiny cameo-coloured shells. They're strewn like pink snow drifts across the beaches.
Take windsurfing lessons at one of the island’s resorts.
Go snorkeling at Prickly Pear Island.
Learn to scuba by signing up for a diving course at one of the island’s dive shops.
If you dare, visit the clothes-optional beach at Hawksbill Beach Resort.

Food and drink

To sample Antiguan cooking and refreshing tamarind drinks and ginger beer. Specialties include pumpkin soup, pepperpot (a spicy meat and vegetable stew) and ling fish with duccana (delicious sweet potato and coconut dumplings).
Order an Antiguan Smile (a delectable punch made from rum, crème de banana and pineapple juice).
Visit the street vendor at the corner of St. Mary's and Market Streets in St. John's for ultra-sweet Antiguan Black pineapple. He'll cut it in chunks and put it in a plastic bag, so you can quench your thirst and appetite while strolling around.
Cool off with a Wadadli beer.
Spice up your life with Susie's Hot Sauce made from local scotch bonnet peppers. (You'll find it for sale at shops in Redcliffe Quay and at the airport.)
Snack on peanut ice cream from The Nook in St. John's.

Entertainment

Play golf at Jolly Harbour or Cedar Harbour.
Drive up to Shirley Heights on Sunday evening. Watch the sun set over English Harbour, while dancing to steelband and reggae music and dining on barbecue chicken and ribs.

Chef serves barbecued chicken. Shirley Heights, Antigua.

Photo © Barb & Ron Kroll

Visit King's Casino to try your luck at the Caribbean's biggest slot machine.
Listen to reggae and calypso music under the stars at Millers-by-the-Sea.
Swim with the dolphins at Marina Bay.
Play tennis at one of Antigua's hotels.
Practice the Antiguan art of chilling out or lyming (doing nothing at all).
Enjoy Antigua's national sport at a cricket match.
Celebrate with the Antiguans at one of their festivals such as Sailing Week in April/May and Carnival in July/August.

Shopping

Shop for duty-free Gucci purses, French perfumes and Colombian emeralds at Heritage Quay, a pedestrian mall.

Gucci shop and sign for Heritage Quay Duty Free. St. John's, Antigua.

Buy local paintings, pottery and woodwork at Harmony Hall, an art gallery in a plantation house, dating from 1843.
Board the free shuttle bus from the West Bus Station in St. John's to Wood's Centre, a modern mall featuring one-stop shopping. Check out the Epicurean for gourmet specialties from around the world.
Buy Antiguan Cavalier rum at one-third the price you'd pay at home.
Stock up on guava jelly and pineapple jam for souvenir gifts.

TRAVEL INFORMATION

Antigua and Barbuda Department of Tourism: www.antigua-barbuda.org

More things to see and do in Barbuda:

Barbuda Beckons with Beaches, Birds, Lobsters and Caves