Antigua: Nelson's Dockyard, English Harbour & an Island of 365 Beaches

Antigua sells itself on a single, almost implausible promise: 365 beaches, one for every day of the year. It is an independent nation, Antigua and Barbuda, independent since 1981 after three centuries of British rule, and it sits at the north of the Leeward Islands, a place defined by its harbor and its history. The coastline is scalloped with bays and coves, the water is a reliable Caribbean blue, and the trade winds that made the island a naval station two hundred years ago still keep the air moving today, which is why Antigua remains the sailing capital of the Caribbean.

Nelson's Dockyard

The heart of the island is English Harbour, and the heart of English Harbour is Nelson's Dockyard, a restored Georgian-era British Royal Navy dockyard and the only one of its kind still in working order. The young Horatio Nelson served here as captain of the frigate Boreas from 1784 to 1787, and he famously disliked the place; the dockyard that now bears his name was the base from which the Royal Navy projected power across the Caribbean for a century. In 2016 it was inscribed by UNESCO as part of the Antigua Naval Dockyard and Related Archaeological Sites, Antigua's first World Heritage Site. Today the stone buildings house restaurants, boutiques, and charter-yacht offices, and the harbor is full of masts.

Shirley Heights and Sailing Week

Above the harbor, Shirley Heights is the old military lookout, and on Sunday evenings it hosts the most famous sunset party in the Caribbean, a barbecue of chicken and ribs, a steel band, and a view down over English Harbour that is worth the crowd. The other great gathering is Antigua Sailing Week, held each late April and early May, one of the top five regattas in the world, when the harbor fills with racing yachts and the beach bars fill with their crews. For the other 360 days, the beaches, Dickenson Bay on the north coast, Half Moon Bay on the east, Darkwood and Turners on the south, are there for the taking.

Getting There

V. C. Bird International Airport (ANU) is served by direct flights from New York, Miami, Atlanta, Charlotte, Toronto, and London on American, Delta, JetBlue, British Airways, and Virgin Atlantic.

Reference Links:

- Visit Antigua & Barbuda (official): visitantiguabarbuda.com

- Antigua Naval Dockyard (UNESCO): whc.unesco.org/en/list/1499

- Nelson's Dockyard National Park: nationalparksantigua.com

- Nelson's Dockyard (Wikipedia): en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nelson%27s_Dockyard