Anguilla is a British Overseas Territory located just a short distance north of the island of Saint Martin. The island is long, narrow and extremely flat and is lined with white sand beaches. It is also quite sparsely populated with only about 15,000 people estimated to live on the island.

I loved Anguilla! Everything is incredibly peaceful with so few locals and way less tourists than any other island that I had been to. The beaches were fabulous and while its common in the Caribbean for everyone to be friendly, the locals on Anguilla were in a league of their own. This is top of the list for a beach holiday in the future.

Basic Travel Information

  • Location: Leeward Islands
  • Country: British Overseas Territory
  • Languages: English
  • Currency: East Caribbean Dollar, US dollar widely accepted
  • Route there: Ferry from St Martin / Sint Maarten
  • Recommended: Absolutely, it had some of the most peaceful and beautiful of any beaches in the Caribbean

My Story

I visited Anguilla as a day trip from Saint Martin as the two are connected by one of the most reliable and regular ferry services I found between any Caribbean islands. The boats run regularly throughout the day from both the main airport and from Marigot. Immigration was extremely straightforward and I set off along the coast towards one of the larger beaches.

The island is stunning! The beaches are huge, perfect and largely empty. The views across the ocean and over to Saint Martin are great as well and everything is incredibly peaceful.

You can really tell that it is less populated than most, that the tourism is well spread out and the fact that it does not have a port for cruise ships makes a gigantic difference. I wandered along the deserted beach, with lizards scampering out of the way at every footstep, searching for a cafe, shade and lunch.

Shoal Bay beach at the east end of the island is probably the most recommended place but I loved Rendezvous Bay and would highly recommend it for people on a day trip. Its close to the ferry port, huge, quiet and has a couple of amazing places to eat and drink. Sunshine shack was particularly fun with amazing food, music and reasonably cheap drinks.

I didn’t spend long in Anguilla but would highly recommend it and it is now top of my personal list of “Beach holiday” destinations. I will definitely be back.

Brief History

I was completely unaware of any of the history of the Caribbean Islands when I visited. While travelling around and writing these articles I became curious and decided to include a brief history of each. I hope you find it interesting.

The island was inhabited by the Arawak people before being discovered by Europeans some time in the 15th or 16th century. It was colonised by British settlers from St Kitts in 1650 and came under frequent attack by the French over the following two centuries. During the 20th Century Anguilla was briefly part of several federations aiming for independence from the British, the West Indies Federation and the associated state of Saint Kitts-Nevis-Anguilla but neither union was successful and Anguilla returned to being a British Crown colony, later overseas territory in 1980.

Anguilla has few natural resources and its land is not widely suitable for agriculture. Its economy is primarily based on tourism and offshore banking.

Logistics

Anguilla has a small airport with limited flight routes but most people arrive via Sint Maarten which has much more extensive air connections to the USA and Europe.

There are good ferry connections with Sint Maarten:

  • Sint Maarten – multiple boats per day to both the airport at simpsons bay and Marigot ferry terminal. $20 each way plus departure tax ($5 out of St Martin, $8 out of Anguilla)

Places Nearby & Trip Planning

Anguilla is likely to be so beautiful and relaxing that you don’t feel the need to leave. But if you do then while you are there it is definitely worth including trips to the nearby islands:

Also see my main article: Travelling in the Caribbean

When to Visit

Anguilla can be heavily affected by the hurricanes that hit the Caribbean between July and November

High season is December – March and Anguilla would be busier and more expensive in this period. However it is not affected as badly as other islands due to being generally quieter and not being a cruise island.

The best time to visit is between April and June

Further Information

These websites were my favourite sources of general information for this location:

Wikitravel

Last Updated: May 2020

Alistair Roweth
Alistair RowethTraveller & Tutor
I've spent more than 2 years travelling around the world. I hope you enjoy my attempt to write down and pass on some of the information that I have learned along the way.

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