Gimme an empty beach, endless ocean, and rum cake.
Having grown up in Australia, we have very high standards when it comes to beaches. The sand must be super fine, and the ocean water must be crystalline. So you can imagine our horror when we first visited NYC’s Rockaway Beach and a number of others lining Long Island, or the countless Mediterranean “beaches” on our European summer holidays. *Face palm*. In our humble opinion, they ought to be renamed pebble or rock garden, rather than a “beach.” 😦 In our search for more memorable beaches within close proximity to NYC, we have visited St Lucia for some glorious snorkelling and an incredible chocolate plantation (see here for previous review here). We also recommend Antigua for some of the most pristine beaches ever.
The three best must-do sights in Antigua
1. The beaches
Antigua is the real-life manifestation of the phrase, “Life is a beach.” There are 365 beaches in Antigua, which means that you could potentially take a year off and spend each day of the year at a different beach. Even if you are only in Antigua for a short time, we recommend staying in at least two different hotels, so that you can experience different beaches from sunrise to sunset. However, do note that all beaches on the island are free to access too! We stayed at Siboney Beach Club, which provides seafront access to Dickenson Bay and is close to the island’s capital of St John. It takes about an hour to walk the length of Dickenson Bay’s stunning white sand beach.
We also stayed at a very intimate all-inclusive establishment perched on a hill, Cocos Hotel. It afforded the most stunning sunsets and a rare sense of seclusion and serenity that we only truly last experienced in Kyoto many years ago. We highly recommend the cottages with a private pool, but do note that Cocos may not be for everyone. It is populated with honeymooners and mosquitoes, may require a little hike to your cottage, and it is very expensive. Staying at Cocos Hotel provides access to two beaches – one being the more local Valley Church Beach, and the other being the sunset-facing Jolly Beach.
2. Shirley Heights Lookout
Long-time readers of this dessert travel blog will know that on any holiday we go, we always make it a point to take in the views from above. Having a ground-level perspective is a different experience from a birds-eye viewpoint. The most iconic view of Antigua that graces travel magazines, blogs, IGs etc is the view from Shirley Heights. You could visit on Sunday evenings for the famed BBQ experience, but not being drinkers or one for crowds, we visited during the day instead and had the whole place to ourselves. 🙂
3. Other historical sights
Once you are done with being a sun potato, consider taking a tour of the island. You can do inland by car or jeep, or even circumnavigate the island by speedboat. We stopped by sugar plantations, glanced at the historic Nelson’s Dockyard that now houses a museum and restaurant, contemplated the hardships suffered by slaves who threw themselves into the stormy sea from the Devil’s Bridge, and we also drove along the Fig Tree Drive bordered by small villages that gave way to patches of rainforests.
The best must-eat dessert in Antigua
For some reason, many of the desserts that we came across in Antigua seemed to be clones of desserts that we would find in the US or UK. This is probably where having a local food guide would have come in handy. But, one of the more “local” dessert that we discovered and loved is Antigua’s rum cake. Below is one version we found, but we also spotted many other varieties as well. Shaped as a bundt cake, the typical rum cake is very dense. The cake we sampled was also inflected with coconut tones that acted as a slightly sweet counterpoint to the stronger rum essence. You can purchase a rum cake at various spots in town, or also at the airport before you say goodbye to the island of 365 beaches.
Dessert adventure checklist
- ☑ Dessert destination: Antigua, Caribbean (not Antigua, Guatemala).
- ☑ Budget: $-$$$. Note that like many Caribbean islands, the cost of food, tours and transport in Antigua were, oddly, comparable to New York prices. 😦
- ☑ Sweet irresistibles: Rum cake.
- ☑ Travel notes:
- How long? We recommend a long weekend in Antigua. There isn’t, in our opinion, much to see, other than the beach. This is by contrast to St Lucia, for example.
- When to vist? We visited in late May, which we typically feel to be the most ideal month to visit the Caribbean. This month is when most of the giant American cruise ship crowds have disappeared, and before the hurricane season begins in late June through to November. It was warm, with no rain, close to 30 degrees Celsius.
- How to get there? We flew direct from NYC to Antigua. Prebook your airport transfer with the hotel.
- Where to stay? As mentioned above, we stayed at two different boutique hotels. Siboney Beach Club has a more casual family-friendly vibe, by contrast to the more exclusive, all-inclusive Cocos Hotel.
Dessert Correspondents 