Anguilla Vacations

Anguilla vacations concentrate on the island's two most important features—its beautiful coastline and magnificent world-famous beaches. One of these beaches, Shoal Bay Beach, routinely appears on definitive lists at the top of the list of best Caribbean beaches. Just about everyone who visits for any length of time will spend a day here, and many Anguilla vacation packages are booked using the hotels and villas located along its shores.

Self-contained villas and vacation rentals far outnumber any other form of accommodation on the island, and a luxury vacation to Anguilla takes advantage of the numerous opulent ones, many of which can only be called mansions. These are available as large as several thousand square feet in area with up to six bedrooms. Many come with resident chef, butler, maid, and other staff. You can find villas that are offered by private owners scattered all over the island. Most are part of commercial complexes like the Covecastles (one villa here is owned by actor Denzel Washington) located next to Maunday's Bay.

Encompassing all of Maunday's Bay is the exquisite Cap Juluca Hotel. Celebrities often spend their luxury vacation to Anguilla at this property, which contains luxurious suites as well as private and secluded pool villas. There are a number of similar world-class beach resorts like this, including the Ku Hotel and Resort on Shoal Bay Beach and the St. Regis Retreat on Long Bay (next to better known Meads Bay Beach). These often have facilities such as spas, tennis courts, and fine gourmet dining spots. The Cap Juluca operates the island's only golf course, and 18-hole championship course designed by golf legend Greg Norman.

Don't panic if you have a more limited budget than a famous movie star. There are plenty of more affordable Anguilla vacations that take advantage of more moderately priced properties. Even these have lovely rooms and villas, many located right on sparkling white beaches. The Carimar Beach Club, offering villa type apartments on Meads Bay, and the Shoal Bay Villas are examples.

One way to save money is to purchase complete Anguilla vacation packages before you leave home. These are offered by travel agents and tour operators and generally include international flights, accommodations, some meals, and perhaps a snorkeling or scuba diving excursion. Anguilla vacations concentrating on these two water sports are extremely popular. Snorkeling is readily accessible to everyone, as virtually every one of the beaches offers great opportunities. Some of the good scuba diving is also easily accessible from shore; other good dive sites require short boat rides. Other packages are romantic, and cater especially to honeymooners.

This little island is only about sixteen miles in length, and is no more than three miles wide at its widest point. It is only a mile or less wide for a good portion of its length. There are few cultural or natural attractions in its interior to draw visitors. These are pretty much limited to the Wallblake House (a former plantation) in the capital of The Valley and the Heritage Museum Collection located in East End Village. Both of these are quite worthwhile, especially the Heritage Museum, which has a fascinating collection of artifacts, documents, and photographs chronicling the island's history. Most visitors who have booked Anguilla vacation packages or are visiting independently will visit these two sites. Additionally, two other historic sites have recently been restored around the Sandy Ground Beach area. The "Manse" is a charming gabled house built in the first decade of the 1900s by an island planter. Today, it houses two art galleries and a boutique where you can go shopping for unique souvenirs of your holidays. Also here is one of the island's many salt ponds that once played an important role in the island's salt industry. Here you can tour the old salt factory and pump house, and the pond is refuge for a wide variety of bird life.

Sandy Ground Beach is the location of the island's main harbor and port. One kind of luxury vacation to Anguilla is aboard Caribbean cruises that dock here. The island is not a port stop for the large ocean liners that carry hundreds and thousands of passengers to mass market destinations like Jamaica and Nassau, and the ships that dock here are generally are generally small luxurious ships carrying only 100 to 150 passengers.