Antigua and Barbuda lives by the slogan “a beach for every day of the year”, and that is not pure advertising: they really have counted 365 beaches on the island. On one side the calm Caribbean, on the other the surf of the Atlantic, and in between the harbour that yachtsmen love most in the Caribbean. For a citizen of Azerbaijan the country is visa-free for 180 days, so there is no paperwork question, but getting there is one of the longest and most tangled routes in the Caribbean. In this article I have gathered the journey and the difference between the two islands in one place. Transport, food, the season and the budget are in there too.
Antigua and Barbuda in brief
| Capital | St John’s, on the island of Antigua |
| Language | English |
| Currency | East Caribbean dollar; US dollars accepted everywhere |
| Visa | 180 days visa-free for citizens of Azerbaijan |
| Best time | December–April; June–November hurricane season |
| Flight | Via London; from Baku the whole journey is 18–22 hours |
| Daily budget | 200–250 dollars at a mid-range level |
Antigua and Barbuda: two islands, two characters
Antigua is the main island and almost all the tourism is here. St John’s is a half-day town with its cruise harbour, its colourful colonial houses and its market; on a day a ship comes in it fills with people, and when the ship leaves it empties. In the south of the island are English Harbour and Nelson’s Dockyard, the restored base of the eighteenth-century British navy, on the UNESCO list. On Sunday evening go up Shirley Heights: the whole island gathers for the sunset, there is live music, and that is Antigua’s best evening.
Choosing a beach really means choosing a side. Dickenson Bay and Jolly Bay are the calm west coast where the hotels cluster, and the water there is like a swimming pool. Half Moon Bay, on the other hand, is on the surf-beaten east coast, wild and empty, and it is the island’s most beautiful beach.
Barbuda lies forty kilometres to the north and is all but empty. It has a seventeen-kilometre pink sand beach, a colony of frigatebirds and a few small hotels, and that is all. From Antigua the ferry takes ninety minutes and the small plane twenty, which is enough for a day trip, and it is worth it.
How to reach Antigua and Barbuda from Baku
This is the hardest part of the trip. The only European flights into St John’s V. C. Bird airport are from London, where British Airways and Virgin Atlantic fly every day, 8.5 hours. So your route can go two ways. The first option is Baku, Istanbul, London, Antigua. In the second you skip Istanbul and fly straight to London. As long as you do not leave Heathrow’s transit zone, no British visa is needed. But there is a catch: when you fly on two separate tickets you have to check the bag in again, and that means leaving the transit zone, so either buy a single ticket or ask the airline whether the bag goes all the way through. There are plenty of flights via the USA, three hours from Miami, but the USA demands a visa even for transit. The ticket is the biggest part of the total cost, and ticket prices to the Caribbean islands change a great deal if you shift the London leg by a day or two.
Transport on the island
Antigua is small: an hour by car from one end to the other. Taxis have no meter, the price is set by an official table, so agree before you get in; from the airport to St John’s they charge 15–20 dollars. Local minibuses run for 1–2 dollars but have no timetable and stop in the evening. Car rental is 50–70 dollars a day and a local temporary driving permit is issued for 20 dollars — just remember that traffic drives on the left and the first half-hour feels strange. For those arriving on a cruise ship, one day on the island is enough.
Caribbean food: what to eat
The national dish is called fungee and pepperpot: a soft dumpling of maize flour and a meat and vegetable stew. It looks simple at first sight, but it is very good. Ducana is a sweet potato dessert, while at the beach restaurants the menu consists of grilled lobster and mahi-mahi. And then there is the pineapple: the country counts as the home of the best black pineapple in the Caribbean, and they remind you of it everywhere. Lunch at a restaurant is 20–30 dollars, dinner at a resort restaurant starts at 50, while at the small local cafés they call “rum shops” you eat home cooking for 10–15 dollars. Halal food is limited, but there are plenty of fish and vegetable options.
Read next: Do you need an Antigua and Barbuda visa? The rules for staying 180 days visa-free in the Caribbean
When to go to Antigua and Barbuda
The weather is 26–30 degrees all year and the water 27, so it is hard to get this wrong. December to April is the dry season and at the same time the most expensive one, and at the end of April one of the world’s biggest yacht races, Antigua Sailing Week, is held. May, June and November are quiet and good value, and those are the months I recommend. June to November is the hurricane season, September is the riskiest month and many hotels close. When you buy insurance, read whether cancellation because of a hurricane is covered. The events calendar and the beach map are on the Visit Antigua & Barbuda portal.
The Antigua and Barbuda budget
Antigua is not a cheap island, and you should accept that in advance. A mid-range hotel is 200–350 dollars, while all-inclusive resorts start at 400. Small guesthouses come down to 100–150 dollars, and when you compare the two options the difference reaches a thousand dollars over a week. An island tour by catamaran is 100–130 dollars and a day trip to Barbuda 150. The boats going to the pink sand beach are small, and if you do not book your place in advance you wait for the next day. Leaving out the flight, a week’s trip fits into 3000–4000 dollars for two. Cards work everywhere and cash US dollars are enough for small expenses. The cheaper route is to come as one stop of a Caribbean cruise; in Caribbean tour programmes Antigua is usually on the same itinerary as Barbados and Saint Lucia, and all three are visa-free for citizens of Azerbaijan.
Frequently asked questions about Antigua and Barbuda
Is Antigua and Barbuda safe?
The tourist areas are quiet. Do not walk around the outlying neighbourhoods of St John’s at night and do not leave your things unattended on the beach; that is all.
How many days do you need?
Because the journey is long, at least seven days; in ten, Barbuda and several different beaches fit in as well.
Do you need insurance?
Absolutely. There is one hospital on the island, and in serious cases the patient is taken to the USA or Barbados, and that evacuation costs tens of thousands of dollars.
In closing
Antigua and Barbuda is visa-free, safe and, in terms of beaches, the richest country in the Caribbean; the main work is building the transit properly via London and staying clear of the hurricane season. The entry rules are gathered on the Antigua and Barbuda page, and to build the multi-leg route together fill in the application form.
Note: the prices and flight schedules here are as of the publication date and can change with the season.
