Where to Stay in Anguilla: Choosing Your Area

Where to stay in Anguilla comes down to one decision: the West End bays if you want resorts, restaurants and calm water within a short drive of the ferry, or Shoal Bay East and the east end if you want a longer beach, a quieter setting and generally lower prices. Sandy Ground, Rendezvous Bay and The Valley fill specific niches. Below we compare each area, what it suits and the drawback you accept by choosing it.

How the island is laid out

Anguilla is long and narrow, with the ferry terminal at Blowing Point on the south coast, the airport beside The Valley in the centre, and the tourism-heavy West End at the south-western tip. The tourist board describes the West End as the heart of the island’s tourism industry, and it holds most of the full-service resorts. The east end, past The Valley, is where Shoal Bay East and the fishing village of Island Harbour sit.

Distances are short. A West End resort quotes 15 to 20 minutes by car from Blowing Point and 20 minutes from the airport, and a crossing to Shoal Bay East takes about the same from the other direction. Nowhere is far, but with no public transport beyond fixed-rate taxis, most bases outside a resort assume you will hire a car. See getting to Anguilla for the arrival side of the equation.

Meads Bay: resorts, restaurants and the classic choice

Meads Bay is a long, west-facing beach on the West End with a run of resorts and independent restaurants on the sand, including long-established dining rooms and a casual beach shack. It is the base for visitors who want to walk to dinner and back along the beach, and for those without a car.

Its disadvantages are price and, in high season, a busier beach than the east end. The sea can also carry a shore break in winter swells, which matters for families with small children. If you are weighing this beach against Shoal Bay East, our dedicated Meads Bay versus Shoal Bay East comparison goes into the detail.

Maundays Bay, Barnes Bay and the resort West End

West of Meads Bay, the coast breaks into a series of smaller bays, each dominated by a single large property: Maundays Bay with its crescent of low white buildings, Barnes Bay with a large resort set between two bays, and Cove Bay and Long Bay further round. These are the most enclosed bases on the island.

• Suits: couples and families who want full service, on-site restaurants and water sports, and who will happily spend most days at one beach.
• Drawbacks: the highest prices on the island, a resort-only feel with little village life, and a car still needed to explore beaches elsewhere.

Rendezvous Bay: long beach, few buildings

Rendezvous Bay is a long south-facing curve looking across the channel to St Martin. It has a handful of resorts and villas rather than a strip, and it is known locally for the Moonsplash music festival held there each spring. The sand is wide and the water usually calm.

It suits visitors who want a quiet beach with St Martin’s hills as the view, and it sits close to Blowing Point for short transfers. The disadvantage is limited dining within walking distance and, on windy days, more exposure than the sheltered West End coves.

Shoal Bay East and the east end

Shoal Bay East is the island’s best-known beach outside the West End: a long, reef-protected strand on the north-east coast with several small hotels, guesthouses and beach bars, and one larger resort. The tourist board describes the eastern end as a developing tourism area, and it still feels more local than the West End. Villas dot the hillside behind.

• Suits: beach purists, families who want shallow water with shade, visitors on a longer stay who value quiet and lower nightly rates.
• Drawbacks: further from Blowing Point and the West End restaurants, fewer high-end dining choices, and a car is essential.

Island Harbour, further east, is a working fishing village with a wharf, a couple of restaurants and the Easter Festival del Mar. It suits independent travellers who want boat access to Scilly Cay and the eastern cays, but it has very little accommodation and the beach is a harbour rather than a swimming bay.

Sandy Ground: the village base

Sandy Ground is the island’s main port, a curved beach at Road Bay with a salt pond behind it and the highest concentration of beach bars and live music on the island. Yachts clear customs here, day boats to Sandy Island and Prickly Pear leave from the beach, and the village has a handful of small guesthouses and villas on the hill above.

It suits visitors who want evenings with music, easy boat trips and a non-resort atmosphere. The disadvantages are noise on music nights, a narrower beach than Meads or Shoal, and commercial traffic in the bay. Our guide to Anguilla’s beaches explains how Sandy Ground compares as a beach day rather than a base.

The Valley and the interior

The Valley is the capital, home to the airport, government offices, banks and the main supermarkets. It has almost no visitor accommodation and no beach, so it is not a base in the usual sense. Guesthouses and villas in the interior villages around it can be markedly cheaper, and they put every beach within a 15 minute drive. The trade-off is that you drive to everything, including the sea.

Where to stay in Anguilla by trip type

• First visit, no car, short stay: Meads Bay or one of the West End resort bays.
• Family with a car, week or longer: Shoal Bay East, or a villa on the West End with calm-water access.
• Couples wanting quiet and a view of St Martin: Rendezvous Bay.
• Boat trips, live music and a village feel: Sandy Ground.
• Budget-conscious and mobile: interior villages near The Valley or the east end.

In short, where to stay in Anguilla depends on whether you prioritise resort convenience on the West End or the space and value of Shoal Bay East, with Sandy Ground and Rendezvous Bay as strong alternatives for specific tastes. Decide on your transport first; everything else follows from it.