Antigua Itinerary

[tkwhalen]

I am looking for itinerary suggestions for a 4 day 3 night (yes it is short) charter in Antigua. Leaving Jolly Harbor Saturday Morning and returning Tuesday noon.

[YOGAO]

There are a couple of options depending on what type of charter you want to have.

Option 1 - Sailing and calm anchorages:

Leave Jolly Harbour and sail to Barbuda after provisioning at the excellent supermarket in Jolly Harbour. Spend the night (watch the incredible star show) and tour the Magnificent Frigate Bird Sanctuary the next day. Sail back to Antigua slipping into the north end of the island. Anchor near Long Island or go further east and anchor near Bird Island. Spend the night (another star show looking north and east) and snorkel/island explore before lunch. Sail to Deep Bay after lunch, swim/snorkel if you have enough light and/or pack a basket and climb up to the fort for appetizers and drinks. Spend the night in Deep Bay. Snorkel the wreck of the "Andes" in the morning and then head back the short distance to Jolly Harbour.

Option 2 - Sailing and night life:

Provision in Jolly Harbour and head out towards the south and Falmouth/English Habours. Anchor in Falmouth and take the short walk over to English and Nelson's Dockyard. Check out the restaurants/bars etc, or go for hikes along the trails passing by the fort that protects English Harbour. Spend Saturday and Sunday nights in Falmouth. On Sunday, get a taxi to Shirley Heights and the steel band/barbecue evening event - awesome views of English Harbour. Monday get a group together and take another taxi ride to the "swim with the rays" on the NE side of the island.
Sail to the SE corner of Antigua for Monday night at anchor. Get up early and maybe do a quick snorkel, then sail back to Jolly.

Relax, have fun!

Fair Winds,
Mike

[Hud3]

I think Mike's outlined a couple of really good options for you. We favor the "quiet anchorages" end of the spectrum.

If you do decide to go to Barbuda and the anchorages in the north of Antigua, make sure you have good charts and some good, experienced coral-spotting eyeballs aboard. And make sure you time your sailing so that you're traversing the corally areas when the sun is high enough to avoid glare making it difficult to see your way through. Doyle's Leeward Islands guide is a great resource, with good sailing instructions and sketch charts.

Barbuda is unique, and not many cruisers or charterers take the time to sail up there. The water is the most intense turquoise we've ever seen. The beach on the western side is 11 miles of pale pink sand, and totally uninhabited as far as we could tell.

[tkwhalen]

We want to stay around Antigua rather than sail up to Barbuda since the charter is so short. I suspect we will stay in Falmouth or English Harbor one night but would like to see other areas. I'd like to hear opinions on Nonsuch Bay / Green Island, Dickenson Bay, The North Sound, Mamora Bay, Carisle Bay Deep Bay and or Five Island Harbour. We like to snorkel, nice beaches, uncrowed anchorages and eating Dinner ashore (don't need a big party scene)

[YOGAO]

I can't remember what is available in Nonsuch for eating out (I think there are some good options - we ate on board), but Green Island is just ideal for anchoring behind the reef and getting some good snorkeling in. Also if you are into or would like a lesson on kite-boarding, that's the place.

Paying mind to getting there in time to be able to see your way in (great point, Hud3!), you could go to Falmouth for the first night, Green Island for the second and maybe Carlisle or Morris Bays for the third night, giving you a short hop to Jolly on Tuesday. Also remember that heading East you will be tacking (takes longer), while all other headings will be faster.

If you get to the SW corner of Antigua early enough on Monday, you might be able to dinghy over to the shallow reef just offshore for some nice snorkeling.

Five Islands is right around the corner from Jolly and it has never appealed to me.

Dickenson Bay has the Sandals Resort (plus a couple of others) and a pretty beach (along with good, free WiFi from the boat, so you can check in with your CF buds ).

Fair Winds,
Mike

[goincruisin]

There is great snorkeling at Green Island but dinner ashore...

if you want dinner ashore, etc go with YOGAO's option #2. You can, of course spend one night in Falmouth harbour and one in English Harbour. From English Harbour you can walk right up to Shirley Heights.

We spent three weeks on the hook between Falmouth and English harbours last winter for repairs with no regrets. We spent a further two weeks checking out the rest of the island.

Otherwise Antigua has more gunkholes for cruising than any other island.