What Is Antigua? A Guide to the Island of Beaches and Harbours
Its place in Antigua and Barbuda, the main coasts, English Harbour’s heritage and what a trip involves.
Antigua
An English-speaking Caribbean island known for its many beaches, a UNESCO-listed naval dockyard and some of the region’s best sailing.
Antigua is the larger of the two main islands of Antigua and Barbuda, an English-speaking nation in the eastern Caribbean. It is known for its long list of beaches, for English Harbour and Nelson’s Dockyard, a UNESCO World Heritage site on the south coast, and for a sailing tradition that fills the harbours every spring.
The island is easy to reach by international flights, and most of it is within a short drive of the airport. The main decision is the kind of stay you want: a resort on the busy northwest coast, the historic south around English Harbour, the reef-protected east, or a private island such as Jumby Bay just offshore. Our guides start there.
Start here
How Antigua fits together, from the resort coast to English Harbour and the private islands offshore.
Quick facts
- Country
- Antigua and Barbuda, independent since 1981
- Size
- About 281 km²
- Capital
- St John’s
- Airport
- V. C. Bird International (ANU)
- Driving
- On the left
- Beaches
- Marketed as 365, one for every day of the year
- UNESCO
- Antigua Naval Dockyard and Related Archaeological Sites, inscribed 2016
- Sailing
- Antigua Sailing Week, usually late April into early May
Plan your trip
Where to Stay in Antigua: Resort Coast, Harbour or Jumby Bay?
Compare the northwest resort coast, the southwest beaches, English Harbour, the east and Jumby Bay Island.
Jumby Bay Island, Antigua: What to Know About the Private Island
How guests arrive, what the car-free island is like, and how resort and private villa stays differ.
Getting to Antigua: Flights, Arrival and Getting Around
Flights into V. C. Bird International, arrival tips and how to get around by taxi, car or transfer.
Best Time to Visit Antigua: Seasons, Sailing Week, Hurricanes
How the high season, holiday weeks, Sailing Week and hurricane season shape the right dates.
The Beaches of Antigua: How to Choose by Coast
How the northwest, southwest, south and east coasts differ, and which beaches suit which kind of day.
Staying in a private villa
See Antigua villas with RM Oceanfront Rentals (opens in a new tab)
Private beachfront villas and estates on Jumby Bay Island, off Antigua’s coast. Confirm services and inclusions for the specific home. The publisher has an ownership interest in this rental business.
All Antigua guides
- Best Time to Visit Antigua: Seasons, Sailing Week, Hurricanes
- Getting to Antigua: Flights, Arrival and Getting Around
- Jumby Bay Island, Antigua: What to Know About the Private Island
- The Beaches of Antigua: How to Choose by Coast
- What Is Antigua? A Guide to the Island of Beaches and Harbours
- Where to Stay in Antigua: Resort Coast, Harbour or Jumby Bay?