Antigua is a tropical island in the Caribbean with sandy beaches and beautiful mountainous views. From the pristine coastline to historical forts, there are a lot of things to do in Antigua and Barbuda.
Antigua and Barbuda is part of the Lesser Antilles which is partially along a volcanic arc. The island of Barbuda is also a part of Antigua but is about 37 miles away and only has about 1,600 people living on it. Apart from Barbuda and Montserrat, the other Caribbean islands it’s nearest to is St. Kitts & Nevis and Guadeloupe.
Things to do in Antigua and Barbuda
Antigua is a decent sized island and there are a lot of things to do in Antigua and Barbuda on your visit. A lot of the activities revolve around the beaches and activities to do there but there are several highlights to see and historical points of interest as well.
Visit Some of Antigua’s 365 Beaches
The island boasts that there are 365 beaches in Antigua, one for each day of the year. So depending on where you’re staying, there are likely to be several options nearby, if not a beach that your hotel/resort is directly on.
Beaches in Antigua are all open to the public, though some resorts have built around beaches making it harder to access if you aren’t staying there. If that’s the case, you can usually tell the gate you want to visit the beach (if you have a car) or walk in if they won’t let you park inside.
Some of the more popular beaches are Dickenson Bay Beach and Jolly Beach, both of which have beautiful turquoise water and lots of amenities.
The beaches in Antigua are mostly set up for tourism and you’ll find restaurants and chair rentals at a lot of them. It was a bit harder to find remote beaches here, but there are a lot of options and you can usually find parking very easily.
Visit Devil’s Bridge National Park
On the east side of the island is where you’ll find Devil’s Bridge National Park. It’s a natural bridge situated along the coast that you can walk right up to. The waves crash around the rock bridge and there are several blowholes where the water will shoot up.
There’s no entrance fee to visit and there’s not much else to do here besides peek at a few market stalls near the parking. It’s also quite a ways out from popular areas, so you’ll want to pair it with something else. Long Beach, Halfmoon Bay and Stingray City are all relatively close by.
Go to Shirley Heights Lookout on Sunday
Shirley Heights is a popular lookout spot on the island which gives you a great view of English Harbour and Falmouth Harbour. It’s one of the best views of the island and a popular spot to go for sunset. You can park at the lookout but there’s also a hiking trail you can take to the top.
It’s also known for it’s Sunday bbq at sunset. There’s live music (a steel drum band when I went), bbq and drinks available for purchase. It’s kind of a hangout place–to listen to music while you eat and drink, and to snap a photo.
The view is fantastic but I will say it was crowded when I went. There’s only one spot to buy food and the line went all the way through the place and took quite awhile to get through.
Shirley Heights is a bit far to get to if you’re not staying nearby. Since I was solo, I can’t say it was really worth going all the way over just for the Sunday bbq. I would have paired it with some exploration of nearby beaches and Nelson’s Dockyard if I’d have known.
Shop at Heritage Quay
If you’re coming over to Antigua on a cruise, Heritage Quay is where the cruise ships pull in. It’s a pedestrian only shopping area with brightly colored shops and restaurants. There are high end jewelry stores and souvenir shops to pop into along the waterfront.
Go kayaking/paddle boarding
A lot of the beaches have amenities and activities available if you want to rent a kayak or paddle board. It depends on the beach you go to, but a lot of them were very calm, which is perfect for getting out on the water.
Take a boat to Stingray City
A fun thing to do in the Caribbean is to swim with stingrays. You can do this in a few places. I went swimming with stingrays in Grand Cayman but there’s also a Stingray City in Antigua.
It’s located off the northeast side of the island and you’ll take a 5-minute boat ride out to a sandbank with a floating dock. The water is shallow enough to stand in so you’ll be able to see stingrays all around you. The southern rays are wild but accustomed to boats feeding them so they swim over when the boats arrive.
If you’ve never done it before, it’s definitely a highlight. Each person will have time to interact with a stingray, assisted by a guide, and you’ll get some great pictures.
Visit Nelson’s Dockyard
Nelson’s Dockyard is a section of historic British maritime buildings alongside the harbor. It’s located in English Harbour on the south side of the island. The entrance fee is about $14 USD and lets you explore several of the restored dockyard buildings from the 18th and 19th centuries.
There are a few restaurants/pubs here, as well as a historic hotel you can stay at and a museum to walk through. You can also hike to another historic military fort from the dockyard: Fort Berkeley.
It’s an interesting area to walk around, though I have to say, I walked through in about 20 minutes. There was hardly anyone there when I went. They do however have a Friday fish fry here that might be worth checking out.
Rent a jet ski
Jet ski rentals are super popular around the island and you can find rentals on some of the busier beaches. A lot of beaches have nice, calm coves so you can race around the water easily. It’s also a great way to check out some of the other beaches if you don’t have a car rental and don’t want to take a taxi.
See some of the forts on the island
There are several historic forts around the island of Antigua that you can visit. Fort Barrington is located on Five Islands and is a fun hike (scramble) up rocks to the fort and overlooks Deep Bay Beach.
You’ll also find Fort James at the end of Fort James Beach. The ruins are free to look around and you’ll find several canons lining the coast.
There are other forts sprinkled around the island as well that might require a bit of hiking to get to.
Take a cruise around the island
A great way to see other beaches and the island from the water is to take a boat trip for the afternoon or day. There were two boats/companies that I saw: Mystic Cruises and Wadadli Cats. They’re big catamarans that will take you around to beaches, play music and serve rum punch.
I have a bit of a love/hate relationship with boats like these. If you’re on them, they can be a lot of fun and a boat day is always a good day in my opinion.
But the version of me who wants a nice quiet, remote beach to sit in the sand and read does not like these boats. They drop off a lot of people onto the beach and usually pull up playing loud music, so it’s a vibe, just not a vibe if you aren’t on it haha.
See the pigs on the beach at Pig’s Paradise
If you’ve ever wanted to see pigs on the beach, there’s an area in Antigua that has just that! The beach is along the west side of the island and is a bit secluded and hard to reach. You’ll either need to hire a taxi that will navigate the trail or have a 4×4 yourself that can handle the road.
The tours here are informative and allow you to interact with the pigs and feed the piglets. You’ll definitely need to reserve this tour ahead of time as you can’t just show up on the beach. You’ll also need to make sure you have a way there as they don’t do pickups.
Take a Hike
Because of Antigua’s mountainous landscape, there are several hikes around the island that take you to some coastal viewpoints. There’s a short hike up to Fort James that is a fun adventure and gives you a fantastic view of Deep Bay Beach. You’ll have to scale up some rocks and scramble a little bit but definitely worth it!
You can also hike up to Fort Berkeley via Pigeon Point Beach or Nelson’s Dockyard. There’s also several trails in between along the mainland.
Boggy Peak, being the highest point of the Shekerley Mountains, offers numerous trails in the area. There’s also some great options that take you along the coast and have some good views of the beaches. You can download a great hiking trail guide here.
Snorkel the Pillars of Hercules
Just around the corner from Galleon beach are the Pillars of Hercules, a series of rock columns that have been eroded from the sea and weather. It’s a popular snorkeling spot for boat tours which is probably the best way to see this (that or by drone ha).
While you can hike here from the beach, you’ll want to make sure you have good hiking/water proof shoes as you’ll be scrambling over rocks along the sea.
Visit Betty’s Hope
Betty’s Hope is a historic sugar plantation that you can visit to walk around the ruins of the sugar mill. It dates back to 1651 and is one of the earliest sugar plantations. There’s signage around the property to learn about the history of the plantation.
The entrance fee is $2 and it’s only open until 3pm on Mon-Thurs and 1:30pm on Fridays. It’s closed over the weekend and on public holidays.
Visit the Southernmost Point
If you want to visit the southernmost point of the island, it’s near Shirley Heights, the popular lookout spot. The vantage point gives you a different view of the coastline and can be reached via a hiking trail called Carpenter’s Trail.
Take a Day Trip to Barbuda
The island of Barbuda is located about 90 minutes from Antigua by ferry. The ferries leave at certain times of the day and week, and you’ll want to book this ahead of time. (And also be prepared for rough seas along the way.) Or if you prefer, there are flights to Barbuda available.
Barbuda is home to beautiful beaches, one being the Princess Diana Beach and another popular spot: the Pink Sand Beach. There’s also the Frigate Bird Sanctuary and the Two Foot Bay Cave. There are tours around Barbuda you can take for the day, or you can rent a car.
I really wanted to do this day trip but I had a few things working against me. I ended up getting sick and was knocked out for about 4 days. By the time I recovered, there were no car rentals available and limited ferries, which didn’t quite work with my schedule. But I think this would be an awesome day trip to do while here!
Take a Day Trip to Montserrat
Another day trip you can consider is a trip to the island of Montserrat. It’s about the same distance from Antigua, taking about 90 minutes via ferry or a 20-minute flight.
Montserrat is an interesting island as the whole south part of it is actually an exclusion zone due to a volcanic eruption that buried the former capital city. You can take a buried city tour, visit black sand beaches and hike up to vantage points. If you’re coming over on a day trip, I’d recommend booking a tour so you can maximize your time and get information of the island’s history as well.
Getting Around
There are lots of resorts around Antigua if you are wanting an all-inclusive and I met a lot of people who were staying at one and just getting a taxi when they wanted to visit another area on the island. Your resort can arrange airport transfers and taxis.
The layout of the island itself is not great for getting around. A lot of roads lead to and from St. Johns and there’s no way around when wanting to visit different parts of the island. Because of that, it can easily take 25-45 minutes to get across the island depending on where you’re heading.
Driving in Antigua
If you want a bit more freedom, you’ll want to rent a car, but driving here is a bit of a white-knuckled adventure at times. For starters, they drive on the left hand side of the road and most steering wheels will be on the right side (opposite from the US).
The roads are ridden with potholes and sometimes have a grassy shoulder, but sometimes have a drop off and no shoulder at all. And then there are just gaping cement trenches through the capital you certainly don’t want to drive into but there are no barriers around them.
Another obstacle is the drivers themselves as they’ll often just stop in the road to pick up or drop something off, leaving their car behind and the lane blocked. Or they’ll be parked along one side of the road so you’ll take turns weaving in and out of the road to let the other side pass as well.
You’ll also need to keep an eye out for people walking along the road, stray dogs, and I was driving along the pitch black road to my cottage when a horse appeared in the middle of the road. So you’ll need to watch for those too.
Renting a Car
You can rent from a recognizable rental company and they’ll pick you up from the airport. Or you can just as easily rent from a local agency too (which will probably be cheaper). Buzz car rentals will pick you up and organize the International driver’s license for you ahead of time so you can be on your way.
I ended up renting from the cottage I was staying at. They arranged a pickup for $50 which included a stop getting the driver’s license and a stop at the grocery store.
International Driver’s License
You’ll need an International Driver’s License to drive in Antigua. You can either have your car rental agency arrange this for you ahead of time, or you’ll need to pick one up when you arrive.
You can get a license at the police station for $20 USD and you’ll just need to show them your license. They’ll hand you a paper license for driving here.
Things to Know
- Tipping – Tipping in Antigua is similar to the US in terms of percentages, but make sure you take notice of your bill because sometimes they will automatically include a 10% tip.
- Currency – The currency in Antigua is the East Caribbean Dollar, but USD is widely used and often preferred. While a lot of places do accept card, this is the first island where I’ve felt like I needed some cash on hand.
- Bugs – Mosquitos are very prevalent here. I had dozens of mosquito bites on my legs and arms within the first couple of days so make sure you bring bug spray!
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