Antigua

Antigua – Beautiful, Vibrant, Global Hot Spot

On the map, Antigua is the main island of the country of Antigua and Barbuda in the Caribbean region in the West Indies. It is the largest of the Leeward Islands, in the Caribbean Sea. The natives call Antigua as Waladli or Wadadli which vaguely means ‘our own’ while ‘Antigua’ in Spanish means ‘ancient’.

The island is about 87 km or 54 miles and has an area of 281 sq. Km or 108 sq. miles with a population of about 80,000. Antigua is the sunniest of all the Eastern Caribbean Islands with temperatures be around mid-70s in the winter and mid-80s in the summer with annual rainfall of 45 inches on an average.

Antigua has some of the best beaches in the Caribbean and enjoy the beach and water sports - sport fishing, windsurfing and kite-surfing. It offers ample opportunities for exploration in the sugar and coffee plantations, traditional handicrafts, ruins, hiking in the rain forests, volcanoes or zip line canopy tours or the Devil’s Bridge.

It has a modern international airport, The V.C. Bird International Airport, completed in 2015 and is served by British Airways, Delta, American and United airlines. Enjoy Antigua’s ten-day carnival held at the end of July to early August. The celebration includes live music, parades and colorful costumes.

You can experience yachting, sailing, and enjoy the Antigua Sailing Week held at the end of April and the beginning of May, at Nelson’s Dockyard besides visiting the Dockyard Museum. The Sailing Week fetches sailing vessels and sailors to the island. Its highest point is Mount Obama, previously known as Boggy Peak was renamed to honor the former United States President Obama.

Over 32,000 people live in its capital city and harbor, St John’s. It is bursting with something for everyone from duty free shops to boutiques, casinos and betting parlors to beaches.