St Lucia, West Indies

Antigua, West Indies

Note: this page is currently under construction. We will be adding more pictures as they come back from the developer.

We went to the island of Antigua, andi its nearby neighbor Barbuda, in the West Indies, for the weeks before Christmas and New Years 2004. Antigua is located right in the middle of the Caribbean island chain, and we chose it as our destination this year for the quality of the snorkeling.

For complete information on the island demographics, see the CIA factbook on the island.

We stayed at the Jolly Beach Resort, and all inclusive hotel package located on the southeast corner of the island (see the map below). It was a really nice beach, but the bay didn't allow for off-beach snorkeling. This was in part due to the seashell based sand; it's lighter consistancy combined with the small rain showers and somwhat heavy surf caused visability to be somewhat restricted.

Jolly Beach

Here's the Jolly Beach Resort as seen from the sea

Looking south along the Beach

And North.

A lot of watersport equipment was free of charge, including these Hobie cats

We had a nice room, clean and bright. We actually moved rooms to the second floor so we could leave our slider open at night for the ocean air.

Here's the view from the room.

All of these resorts have nice pools, but we didn't travel all that way to not swim in the ocean. The large cabana has a bar below, and a small grill behind.

Sunset

Ah, the classic tropical pose.

Couples get married here, in this wedding cabana. Well we're not going to, but we took pictures there anyway.

"Mandingo" Joe and Kathy joined us, nice smile Joe. Say, is that a chorizo in your pocket or are you just happy to see Kathy?

The resturant area was close to the bar, fortunatley. Here Joe reflects on the fact that he's missing two weeks of hunting season.....

Ms. Karen.

And some other pictures of the Jolly Beach Resort

Due the lack of off-beach snorkeling, we took a number of day trips from the resort.

Day Trippin' #1 (Cades Reef)

Jolly Harbour, the embarkation point for the day.

Mandingo Joe and Cathy quickly set up on the rear of the boat.

Mandingo Joe and Karen at sea. Not too bad for our first day of vacation!

Old English fort in Deep Bay.

The five islands, located right outside of Jolly Harbour.

Looking into 5 islands harbour

Shockingly enough for those of us who were on the Greece trip, Joe got behind the wheel. Ooooofahh.

Joe pretends to know what he's doing.

This was billed as a dive trip, and we did get in the water at Cades Reef.

Cades Reef

Cades Reef

Cades Reef

After snorkeling, we put in on this "deserted" beach for lunch (under the yellow tent)

Here's the catermaran and the lunch site.

After lunch, most folks had to be ferried into the boat via the dingy. Me and Mandingo Joe swam. It's a lot farther than it looks...

Karen and Cathy ride the dingy back to the boat.

As you can imagine, Karen had a heck of a time reboarding the boat due to her high heels.

On the way back to port, they opened the bar and the dancing began!

Day Trippin' #2 (The Island of Barbuda aboard the Excellence)

Day trippin' on the Excellence! This day charter boat is 50x32 feet, packing twin Scania marine desels, and is capable of 22 knots. The catamaran design allows it to pull right up to the beach (as it is here at ours) and load/unload passangers via a staircase in the bow. Cost in US$ when it was built in 2000 -1 million.

They run really nice cruiises; if you're on Antigua and want to day sail, skip the others and pay a few bucks more for this boat. Well worth it!

Yours truly on the bow.

Despite these calm seas, it got a bit rough during the 26 mile open water crossing, and there were a lot of folks puking..

Karen and I survived though, with the singular exception of her hair..

Barbuda is a really pretty place, and according to the locals below sea level. Go figure.

Pelicans in flight

Barbuda Beach.

The boat landed...

and we crossed the narrow sand beach to board some skiffs for our trip to the Frigite bird colony..

aboard the skiffs

Barbuda has the largest Frigite bird colony in the world. Sadly the disposable camera didn't do too good of a job capturing them.

Those aren't red baloons, but instead inflatable neck bladders on the mail birds. They blow them up and wave them around to attract females.

Back on the beach, I felt like a castaway...

Send beer here!

We cruised back down the beach and stopped by this resort to do some snorkeling.

Back in the water in Barbuda!

Barbuda

On the way back we got a good view of this rocky outcropping called "Hawksbill".

And even more amusing, when we dropped off the Sandals guests, was that they had a yellow warning flag up at their beach. If you're an avid reader of this site, you know we had problems with the Sandals in St. Lucia closing the beach to what they called "rough" surf. Here there is a warning - and look at that ocean. That's why we didn't go back to a Sandals.

In Deep Bay, the Jolly Roger party boat was out...

the Jolly Roger

And finally karen got into some deckboard dance action before we put in.

Day Trippin' #3 (around the island aboard the Excellence)

Devil's bridge (very hard to see, sorry)

We stopped at Green island, where we ate lunch and snorkled. You can see someone's happy!

Back in the water at Green Island, where the water was the clearest.

Puffer Fish, Green Island.

Green Island.

The next scenic stop was English Harbour.

Protective fort at English Harbour

Protective fort at English Harbour

English Harbour

ProtectiveEnglish fort.

Antigua from the Sea

And once again, Karen can't resist deck dancing on the way back.

Day Trippin' #4 (around the island by land and by sea)

This day trip consited of three parts - a safari ride (read mud running in the swamps, no pictures from that but we got covered, and he broke the driveshaft off the Land Rover), a kayak trip through a Mangrove swamp, and finally a nice long snorkel.

After the mud runnign we stopped at Shirley Heights, a really nice overlook near Eric Clapton's house. The Heights is the site of an old English defensive fort.

Here's a cannon "money" shot.

Shirley Heights

Shirley Heights

Shirley Heights

Shirley Heights

Shirley Heights

Shirley Heights

Karen at Shirley Heights

This is looking down from Shirley Heights. Hard to see in this picture is Eric Clapton's house, it occupies the entire penninsula in the middle.

"money" shot.

"money" shot.

We also walked around English Harbor. Here it is again from the sea.

The Admerials Inn at English Harbor

English Harbor

Old repair dock at English Harbor

The pillars belong to a former sail loft in English Harbour, that's the Admerials Inn straight ahead.

English Harbor

English Harbor

English Harbor

No pictures of the Kayaking, but we did get back in the water for some snorkeling!

Puffer fish

Copyright 2005, Garbo.org/GIAK.com

Jolly Beach
	Here's the Jolly Beach Resort as seen from the sea
	Looking south along the Beach
	And North.
	A lot of watersport equipment was free of charge, including these Hobie cats
	We had a nice room, clean and bright. We actually moved rooms to the second floor so we could leave our slider open at night for the ocean air.
	Here's the view from the room.
	All of these resorts have nice pools, but we didn't travel all that way to not swim in the ocean. The large cabana has a bar below, and a small grill behind.
	Sunset
	Ah, the classic tropical pose.
	Couples get married here, in this wedding cabana. Well we're not going to, but we took pictures there anyway.
	"Mandingo" Joe and Kathy joined us, nice smile Joe. Say, is that a chorizo in your pocket or are you just happy to see Kathy?
	The resturant area was close to the bar, fortunatley. Here Joe reflects on the fact that he's missing two weeks of hunting season.....
	Ms. Karen.
And some other pictures of the Jolly Beach Resort

Day Trippin' #1 (Cades Reef)
	Jolly Harbour, the embarkation point for the day.
	Mandingo Joe and Cathy quickly set up on the rear of the boat.
	Mandingo Joe and Karen at sea. Not too bad for our first day of vacation!

	Old English fort in Deep Bay.
	The five islands, located right outside of Jolly Harbour.
	Looking into 5 islands harbour
	Shockingly enough for those of us who were on the Greece trip, Joe got behind the wheel. Ooooofahh.
	Joe pretends to know what he's doing.
	This was billed as a dive trip, and we did get in the water at Cades Reef.
	Cades Reef
	Cades Reef
	Cades Reef
	After snorkeling, we put in on this "deserted" beach for lunch (under the yellow tent)
	Here's the catermaran and the lunch site.
	After lunch, most folks had to be ferried into the boat via the dingy. Me and Mandingo Joe swam. It's a lot farther than it looks...
	Karen and Cathy ride the dingy back to the boat.
	As you can imagine, Karen had a heck of a time reboarding the boat due to her high heels.
	On the way back to port, they opened the bar and the dancing began!

*Day Trippin' #2 (The Island of Barbuda aboard the Excellence)*
	Day trippin' on the Excellence! This day charter boat is 50x32 feet, packing twin Scania marine desels, and is capable of 22 knots. The catamaran design allows it to pull right up to the beach (as it is here at ours) and load/unload passangers via a staircase in the bow. Cost in US$ when it was built in 2000 -1 million. They run really nice cruiises; if you're on Antigua and want to day sail, skip the others and pay a few bucks more for this boat. Well worth it!
	Yours truly on the bow.

	Despite these calm seas, it got a bit rough during the 26 mile open water crossing, and there were a lot of folks puking..
	Karen and I survived though, with the singular exception of her hair..
	Barbuda is a really pretty place, and according to the locals below sea level. Go figure.

	Pelicans in flight
	Barbuda Beach.
	The boat landed...
	and we crossed the narrow sand beach to board some skiffs for our trip to the Frigite bird colony..
	aboard the skiffs
	Barbuda has the largest Frigite bird colony in the world. Sadly the disposable camera didn't do too good of a job capturing them.
	Those aren't red baloons, but instead inflatable neck bladders on the mail birds. They blow them up and wave them around to attract females.
	Back on the beach, I felt like a castaway...
	Send beer here!
	We cruised back down the beach and stopped by this resort to do some snorkeling.
	Back in the water in Barbuda!
	Barbuda
	On the way back we got a good view of this rocky outcropping called "Hawksbill".
	And even more amusing, when we dropped off the Sandals guests, was that they had a yellow warning flag up at their beach. If you're an avid reader of this site, you know we had problems with the Sandals in St. Lucia closing the beach to what they called "rough" surf. Here there is a warning - and look at that ocean. That's why we didn't go back to a Sandals.
	*In Deep Bay, the Jolly Roger* party boat was out...**
	the Jolly Roger
	And finally karen got into some deckboard dance action before we put in.

*Day Trippin' #3 (around the island aboard the Excellence)*
	Devil's bridge (very hard to see, sorry)
	We stopped at Green island, where we ate lunch and snorkled. You can see someone's happy!
	Back in the water at Green Island, where the water was the clearest.
	Puffer Fish, Green Island.
	Green Island.
	The next scenic stop was English Harbour.
	Protective fort at English Harbour
	Protective fort at English Harbour
	English Harbour
	ProtectiveEnglish fort.
	Antigua from the Sea
	And once again, Karen can't resist deck dancing on the way back.

Day Trippin' #4 (around the island by land and by sea)
	This day trip consited of three parts - a safari ride (read mud running in the swamps, no pictures from that but we got covered, and he broke the driveshaft off the Land Rover), a kayak trip through a Mangrove swamp, and finally a nice long snorkel.
	After the mud runnign we stopped at Shirley Heights, a really nice overlook near Eric Clapton's house. The Heights is the site of an old English defensive fort. Here's a cannon "money" shot.
	Shirley Heights
	Shirley Heights
	Shirley Heights
	Shirley Heights
	Shirley Heights
	Shirley Heights
	Karen at Shirley Heights
	This is looking down from Shirley Heights. Hard to see in this picture is Eric Clapton's house, it occupies the entire penninsula in the middle.
	"money" shot.
	"money" shot.
	We also walked around English Harbor. Here it is again from the sea.

	The Admerials Inn at English Harbor
	English Harbor
	Old repair dock at English Harbor
	The pillars belong to a former sail loft in English Harbour, that's the Admerials Inn straight ahead.
	English Harbor
	English Harbor
	English Harbor
	No pictures of the Kayaking, but we did get back in the water for some snorkeling!

	Puffer fish