Eterno Dia PhotographyFarewell To Paradise: Phi Phi To Phuket
Posted on November 17, 2019
Our first week in Thailand was coming to an end with this being our last day on the stunningly beautiful island of Phi Phi as well as the final day of our tour group before heading out on our own to continue our adventures. We got up early to spend every possible moment enjoying the island. While the town was still quiet, we checked out of the hotel, left our bags at the front desk to be gathered with the rest of the tour group and explored some of the more residential area of Phi Phi off of the main tourist streets.
Looking hot and tired. At this point I’m in denial about how sick I am. That soup though…
We walked through some of the shops that were open that catered more to the locals with food staples and services. We watched as workers from small hostels and B&Bs hung laundry and work in their yards. The morning was peaceful and quiet. We got an early lunch at a small restaurant with a stunning view. On the way back to the hotel, we stopped for our first Thai massage. It was expensive, by Thai standards, but it the open air rooms right next to the beach were irresistible. For those that have never had a Thai massage, they are remarkably affordable and they are work- for your massage therapist- and you. There’s a lot of stretching, slapping, tapping and bending, in ways that sometimes you think you may not bend. Either way, I loved the experience and when we were done we headed back to the hotel to spend our remaining time on Koh Phi Phi at the beach.
Even an overpriced Thai massage is still a deal. Especially at the beach.
I’m a beachcomber; I’m fascinated by everything from the ocean and I love to find bits of old coral and interesting shells washed up and imagine what they might have been in life. I was was collecting some souvenir pieces when a hermit crab who’d been well hidden in his shell, objected to me moving him and gave me a bit of a scare when he poked his legs out. I inspected some of the other shells I’d collected, only to discover that a lot of them were in fact, occupied homes. I stood for a moment and scanned the area of the beach where I’d been collecting and suddenly noticed shells moving around all over the place. There were tiny hermit crabs EVERYWHERE. 
I lived my best life for an hour or so, collecting shells, followed hermit crabs, swimming in the sea and sunbathing until it was time to meet the group to catch the ferry and head back to Phuket. The same process of getting ourselves back onto the long-tail boats from two days earlier repeated itself and our luggage made it safely to the pier. 
The ferry ride back to Phuket was calm and peaceful and I spent it out on the sun deck getting last minute advice from our guide for the next two weeks of travel, soaking up some vitamin D in the sun, enjoying the salty sea air and the last moments of being on the ocean.
We arrived back into Phuket at about 5:00 pm. Two vans took us back to the hotel we’d originally started the tour at a week earlier. It felt like a lifetime ago and also like a blink of an eye all at once. We said our farewell to the group and then Shawn and I boarded another van (arranged for us by our amazing tour leader the day before) to take us to our next destination, a hotel stay in the Karon area of Phuket for one night, before heading north to Bangkok. We were relieved to be finished with the group, as I’d found the difference in our ages to be challenging, but Shawn and I were both starting to get anxious about having to go it alone now with no more tour guide to protect or advise us. As daunting as it felt, I knew we’d done enough research that we’d somehow manage. Shawn and I are great partners in many things in life, including travel. Even though we’d already had a week of incredible sights, food and culture shock, it somehow felt like our adventure was only just beginning. For now, we had one more day to enjoy the beach.
We checked into a beautiful and surprisingly affordable Centara Karon Resort and found supper at a charming little restaurant just down the road. First thing in the morning, we had a gourmet breakfast (and found bacon for the first time since arriving in Thailand) and headed to see Karon beach, a short walk from our hotel.
Very, popular but not the cleanest, Karon beach is definitely overcrowded and not the ideal place to stay if you’re looking for paradise, however, it’s a bit more family oriented and you won’t find the frenetic party vibe here that you get in the Patong district of Phuket.
Spirit house on Karon beach
For lunch, we decided on Angus O’Tool’s Irish Pub near the hotel, as I could only stomach something a bit more familiar to my usual cuisine. At this point, I was feeling pretty ill (and if I’m honest, I’d been sick since day four). I was scarfing down anti-diarrhea and anti-nausea meds like candy. I had antibiotics with me, but I wasn’t sure if this was a bug or bacteria, or just my IBS flaring up from a change in diet and routine. In hindsight, taking the antibiotics would have made the next two weeks easier, but you live and you learn… I’d been very open to trying new foods and was loving all the Thai cuisine, but maybe hadn’t been cautious enough. Either way, at that point I was feeling pretty gross and Irish food in form of a plate of fries seemed the most palatable. After lunch we headed to the airport and waited for the next journey to begin. We were leaving the beautiful beaches and heading into the city…. the city songs and movies have been written about. BANGKOK.
Bangkok Bound
As always, thanks for taking the time to read about my travels. Feel free to comment, ask questions and share. Until next time, stay tuned for the next part of the adventure. Safe and happy travels!
-L
Four Islands And A Sunset
Posted on June 9, 2019
Continuing our adventures of our epic trip to Thailand, day five of our trip found us on day two in the beautiful town of Ao Nang in Krabi province. On this day we were booked for the popular “4 islands tour”. Even though Krabi province isn’t an island, it’s surrounded by dozens of tiny islands; some flat, sandy paradises and others tall, limestone megaliths rising out of the water, covered in dense jungle, giving one an ominous sense of being in Jurassic Park. We started out with the tour group taking a van to the boat launch where we boarded a large speed boat. The morning was beautiful and temperate, but a large portion of the group was less than thrilled about the “early” morning due to the late night partying they’d done the night before (present company excluded). Visiting any of these islands costs a “national park fee” which our tour cost covered, however, if you were to book a private tour, the fee is quite reasonable and in line with Thai prices.
Our first “island” was a 20 minute boat ride from the Ao Nang area we were staying in. Phra Nang beach is still part of the Krabi mainland, but further south from Railay beach where we originally stopped on arrival at Krabi. This beach is simply stunning. When our boat arrived on the white, sugar sand beach, the immense limestone cliffs rising into the sky above the island demanded our immediate attention.
Pockmarked and covered in caves and vegetation, they are nothing short of a wonder of nature. The surrounding bay had the most crystal clear water and was so calm we could see tiny fishes swimming in the shallows. We were only given about 50 minutes of time to explore the area so we headed off in the direction of the cliffs, enchanted by their majesty. A short walk later we arrived at Phra Nang cave. Not having done any research about this particular cave, you might imagine my surprise when we found it to be brimming with phalluses. Phra Nang cave, or “Princess” cave is a small cave with a soft, sandy floor. Taking up a large portion of the cave were all manner of penis; big, small, wooden, plastic, carved, painted, and some adorned with ribbons and cloth.
Towards the back of the cave was a spirit house, which is a more usual sight to come across in Thailand. I had a hard time not reacting in some way to the sheer number of (say it with me now…) penises in the cave. In some areas they were placed erect in the sand, in farther corners of the cave, stacked in corners and up to the ceiling. I did my best to be respectful and close my gaping mouth as this cave is a spiritual place to the Thai people, and just because it was shocking to me, didn’t mean it should be treated as a joke.
According to legend, the cave is the home of a mythical sea princess and since ancient times, fisherman have made offerings of the symbolic phalluses. The offerings are believed to bring successful fishing trips and protect people from danger. The phallic offerings in the cave from more recent times are placed here as offerings in hopes of achieving fertility. After exploring the cave and collecting ourselves, we headed a bit farther south down the beach and followed some trails back into the cavernous limestone rocks. We didn’t have time to explore it, but there is a secret lagoon near here (I’ve searched it on maps) and it looks like an absolute paradise, if you have the chance to hike there.
We walked back through the cool, clear water, watched the fishes swim around our feet and collected some shells before heading back to the boat. As we pulled away from the shore, our tour guide pointed out the tiny island slightly south of Phra Nang beach that is literally covered in gold leaf. For the Thailand biennial celebration of 2018, artists were commissioned make an art piece and hammered one kilogram of gold leaf around the base of the tiny island. If you’re planning to visit Thailand and Ao Nang is on your list, definitely visit Phra Nang beach early in the morning as the crowds get very heavy from mid-morning on.
Gold leaf commissioned as an art installation on the tiny island in the left of the photo.
Island number two on the tour was an actual island (finally). Koh Tup, attached to Koh Mor, is a tiny, flat island. By the time we arrived here it was nearing noon and the sun was so bright on the soft, snow white sand that the glare and heat were nearly unbearable. While Tup is absolutely paradise to behold, there was little shade and it was oppressively hot.
We re-applied sunscreen, and tried to find some shade and stay hydrated, but the island was extremely crowded by this point in the day. We walked entirely around the island and over the tiny land bridge to Koh Mor in the 45 minutes we were able to spend here. There was a tiny, crowded snack bar, but we spent most of our time beach combing and being entertained by nervous crabs skittering around the rocky shore. This island would definitely be a gem if not so inundated with tourists. Again, if you want to book this privately, go early in the morning to avoid crowds and the hottest part of the day.
A very anxious crab
Island three: The tour guide admitted that the limestone rock formation that creates the “head” of Chicken Island, looks much more like a turkey, but explained that they don’t have turkeys in Thailand, hence Chicken Island.
Chicken Island
We didn’t actually step foot on Chicken but we had a brief snorkel here. I say brief, as we were given 45 minutes to snorkel, but Shawn and I were called back to the boat after about 15. Worried that something had gone wrong, we rushed back only to be told that nearly everyone on our boat wasn’t feeling well and didn’t want to snorkel. The majority of the tour group were insanely hung over from the previous night’s festivities and I won’t lie, even with the less than stellar snorkeling conditions at this location (the water was quite cloudy and deep here), I was really upset to have had the time cut short; this was our vacation too. We’d traveled 17 hours by plane, over 11,000 kilometers and saved up for nearly two years to get here so I was pretty angry that some hungover 20-somethings were taking away from our experience.
Sargent Major
Sargent Major and wrasse
Butterfly fish and coral
By the time we got to our last island, Koh Poda, I was fit to be tied. We stopped here and begrudgingly joined our group for a quaint lunch provided by the day tour group. We had two hours to spend here, and I was pretty done with the group at this point and had a hard time actually relaxing. Shawn and I wandered around through the unique feathery trees of the island, grateful at least for some shade as a respite from the heat. I floated in the ocean, watched a far off storm brewing and collected a few more shells while waiting for our ride back to the mainland.
Koh Poda
Some nice shady trees on Koh Poda
spirit house on the beach on Koh Poda
That evening, back in Ao Nang and still being annoyed with the tour group, Shawn and I headed out alone and found ourselves at Ao Nang beach to explore the town and find dinner. The beach was certainly not the stellar white sand found at some of the other beaches in the area; more of a yellow-ish sand and certainly not the cleanest beach I’ve ever been at, but the view was stunning as we watched the sunset over the ocean and a lightning storm off in the distance.
Ao Nang Beach
We found an ocean-side seafood restaurant for dinner and slowly explored the main street area afterwards. We lounged at a rooftop patio bar, did a bit of shopping, found the highly recommended “rolled ice cream” I’d been anticipating and enjoyed the lighter crowds.
Sailfish statue at Ao Nang Beach
Sunset at Ao Nang beach
An amazing seafood supper at a beach side restaurant
Despite the quieter and more laid back essence of Ao Nang, I was disheartened by the amount of garbage we walked by on the sidewalks, literally spilling out of over-full garbage cans. Thailand is an insanely beautiful country with amazing culture but it has a long way to go in reigning in tourists when it comes to littering and looking at solutions for copious amounts of waste and eliminating single use plastics.
Despite the difficulties of the day, I still found Krabi and Ao Nang to be a gorgeous, laid back respite from the culture shock of Thailand and it gave me a real sense of finally being on vacation in a tropical paradise. I was sad to leave Krabi the next morning, but I was told the best was yet to come…. Ko Phi Phi!
Thanks for stopping by to read. Feel free to ask questions, share or comment. Until next time, safe and happy travels!
-L
Diving Into Thailand
Posted on April 1, 2019
I am not an experienced diver. I’m not certified. I only started to learn to swim 3 years ago; I took adult swim lessons at my local city pool when I turned 35. I love the water but I’m new at this. I’ve done a few “Discover Scuba” classes in the pool and my husband and I had a successful dive in Antigua about 3 years ago.
When planning our trip to Thailand, I knew we had to book a dive. While there are certainly other dive Meccas throughout the world, I know Thailand is pretty high up on the list. I booked our two-dive day months before the trip to make sure we would get the chance, as we had a pretty tight itinerary for our 21 days in Thailand. After some debate, we actually booked it for the first full day we were in Thailand. We knew we’d be exhausted from the 17 hours of flying, jet lag and culture shock, but I was confident I’d at least be healthy at the start of our trip, and I didn’t want to run out of time if our first week on the 7-day tour of the island area of Thailand ended up being too busy.
Even though we’d done a refresher discover scuba pool dive at home a few weeks beforehand, I was still really nervous; the ocean is a big place compared to a pool. We’d booked Aussie Divers in advance and it went perfectly from the moment the driver picked us up at our hotel to take us to the pier where we met our dive team of two and our other two fellow divers. We boarded a fairly large boat at the pier with about three other small dive groups. They supplied us with motion sickness tablets (if we needed them), served us a great Thai breakfast and our group went over the basics of hand signals and safety and gave us a general idea of what the day would look like. Afterwards, we had about an hour before reaching the Racha Yai dive site. I didn’t want to sunburn out on the top sundeck knowing I’d be in the water all day so I decided to take a few moments to myself for some relaxation and to calm my anxious nerves. The ocean is my favorite place to be, so what better place to work on myself and practice some mindfulness than during my short time at sea. I put my feet up, leaned against the wall of the booth on the boat and just took in the sounds and sensations around me:
A hint of diesel smell in the air
The dampness of the humidity on my skin
The noisy, chugging boat engine
The choppy waves
The rotating ceiling fan blowing air around the room
The blue of the sky out of the window
The vibration of the boat motor against my skull where I was leaning
The creaking noise of the boat with each wave
I began to feel the boat move with the ocean. I could feel the panels of the boat swell with each wave. I became suddenly aware it felt as if the boat was breathing with the rhythmic waves. I realized I was breathing with it. I closed my eyes and felt the boat and the ocean breathe around me. I felt so peaceful and present.
My session came to an end as we reached our first dive site and Shawn came to see if I was alright because I was alone in the cabin and not mingling on the deck. For a few moments, I had truly been alright. I hadn’t worried about the dive or heatstroke or sea sickness or any of my life worries. I just breathed. Peace.
The dives were amazing. Shawn and I each had a few moments of panic at different times, but the instructors, Darren and Craig, were both professional and helped us work through our issues. The fish were spectacular, the coral was far better than I’d been warned about due to recent storms and climate change. I’m really glad I didn’t know much about triggerfish until later… I’ll let the photos speak for themselves with only one final thought: Be kind to the ocean. Don’t litter, use biodegradable sunscreen and don’t harass the wildlife; it’s their home and we’re privileged to get to see from this view. Be kind to the Earth. We only have one home.
Fun fact: it took me weeks and weeks to research and figure out the names for all the fish we saw that day. Thanks as usual for taking the time to read and look at my photos. This was a really special day for us and I can’t thank Aussie Divers enough for an amazing trip. Stay tuned for more Thailand ramblings. Until next time, safe and happy travels!
Breathing Under Water: Scuba Diving In Antigua
Posted on February 13, 2018
So I’m currently trying to convince you all to go to Antigua. You can find my first article about this incredible paradise here. But now, I’m just going to give further evidence on why Antigua should be very high on your bucket list.
Scuba diving in Antigua with a Blue Chromis
When we were planning this trip, I was in the middle of taking swimming lessons. You can read that blog here. Adult swimming lessons. Long story short, I never learned to swim as a kid. I tried but the fear was way too much for me to overcome at the time. Fast forward to my adulthood and ironically it turned out that I LOVE the ocean. I love the beach, palm trees, sand between my toes, the salty smell of the ocean breeze; everything about it. I love being on the water, and in the water, and I love sea creatures. What a horrible dichotomy to love something so much but to be so scared that the thing you love may kill you. I’d been snorkeling and boating on previous vacations, but there was always so much fear that really took away a lot the joy of the experience. Days of anxiety before a snorkel trip, holding onto the rails on boats extra hard knowing that if I went overboard, it wouldn’t be good. Even with a life jacket on, the fear was still almost too much. When I was 35 I finally had enough of the fear and decided to take control. I took adult swim lessons at a local rec center for 2 years. I pushed through the panic, I went even when I would have rather done literally ANYTHING else; I learned how to float, how to blow bubbles, and a bunch of different strokes. I learned that I’m way more buoyant than I thought and I learned how to acknowledge my panic but not let it take over my mind and body. When we booked our trip to Antigua I told my husband that I really wanted to keep pushing myself in the water and that I wanted a challenge. I don’t think he was expecting me to say I wanted to try scuba diving. And I don’t think he was really all that excited at the time.
Swimming lessons
I knew I wouldn’t be comfortable jumping in the ocean never having tried diving, so I booked an introduction to SCUBA class through a local dive shop. It was a three hour evening class that let you experience the basics of scuba; the feeling of breathing through a regulator, the weight of the tank and belts, and went through basic safety and hand signal. It’s the same course you would take as a first time diver on vacation, but in the safety of a local swimming pool. It wasn’t a pass/fail class, but I failed. Hard. I was hyperventilating, flailing and panicking. I was so discouraged. 
So you know what I did? I signed up and took the class again. And guess what? It went way better! I stayed much calmer, I could breathe with the regulator. I controlled my buoyancy, learned how to retrieve my emergency regulator, practiced buddy breathing, clearing my mask and hand signals.
As soon we arrived in Antigua and settled in at the hotel we booked our dive. I was anxious on the day, but also really excited. I knew there was potential for me to panic, but I also knew I wanted to see what was under all that turquoise water. I wanted to see the fish, corals, stingrays, and whatever else was down there, intimately and close up. I wanted to be in their world. The morning of the dive was spent in the pool, doing the same things we learned in the intro class I’d taken at home; breathing, learning how to regulate buoyancy, emergency procedures and communications. I did pretty well and was starting to get more excited than scared. Then, we headed out on the boat. Looking at the vast, choppy ocean, the reality that this was not the safety of a pool was starting to sink in. This was real life. We geared up and I was starting to wonder if I should do this; if I could do this… I was shaking, my heart was racing.
Heading out to dive
I think the worst was that we had to sit on the edge of the boat and fall backwards into the ocean. During swimming lessons we’d done flips into the pool as practice for a disoriented fall; how to right yourself and not panic if you accidentally fall into water. I knew it was going to suck. And it did. I was instantly panicky when I hit the water. The instructor could tell and she came to help me. She reassured me that I could breathe and I had to take a few moments bobbing at the surface of the rough water, telling myself to just breathe: in – out – in – out – in – out. My breathing felt forced. It felt like I had to think of each breath to make sure it would happen. I was consciously having to convince myself that I was fine. Once I felt slightly calmer, we began the descent, which was also terrifying. We had to follow a rope down to the ocean floor and every foot I descended was more terrifying than the last, but if I could just get down…. breathe: in – out – in – out – in – out….
Descent
Suddenly, on the bottom, I started to become aware of things besides my terror. The water was calmer; not choppy like the surface. I noticed the ripples on the sand that I was standing on. I noticed the slight pressure in my ears, one they told me to expect and how to clear. I saw that slightly ahead of us was a pile of rocks… a reef! The instructor checked that we were OK and ready to proceed and then motioned us to follow her. As we swam towards the reef, it was almost like a curtain was slowly pulled back and I started to notice more: bits of seaweed, a branch of coral.
Reef with coral
A FISH! A school of fish! More schools of fish! A coral that looked like a brain! More fish! Yellow! A stripped one! A red one! Suddenly, I realized I was breathing, and not having to focus on every breath in and out. I was breathing UNDER WATER! As the dive continued from there, anxiety and fear began to melt away and was replaced with pure exhilaration and wonder. I could see into caves and nooks. I could see fish and lobsters schooling and darting around and going about their aquatic lives. I noticed corals swaying in the current. A landscape was laying out before me like nothing I’d ever seen. And the colors! Brilliant. Red, orange, purple, blue; a rainbow of life, hidden from view save for those of us brave enough to dive.
Reef with French Grunt
Incredibly colored corals with a sergeant major fish in the back right corner
There are plenty of places in the world that are renowned for diving; Cozumel, Belize, Thailand, and Hawaii, just to name a few. Antigua, while amazing in so many ways, is not sought out for its diving. Because I’d never been diving before, I had nothing to compare to, so I wasn’t really concerned, and I’d kind of set myself up to be less than impressed knowing that it wasn’t a diving haven. That being said, the things I saw in the waters off the coast of Antigua were the most amazing things I’ve ever seen. If you’ve ever wanted to try diving before, there is no reason to not do it while you’re here. The water is relatively shallow in the good dive spots and there is just so much to see.
Coral reef
Longspine Squirrelfish school and Blackbar Soldierfish
When I was helped out of the water and nearly collapsed back onto the boat at the end of the dive, I was wasted. My adrenaline had used up all my reserves. I was overcome by pure exhaustion but also a thrilling exhilaration. I met my fear head on, succeeded, and was rewarded with some of the most amazing sights I’d ever seen. I did what I would have thought impossible only a few years earlier. And I did it in one of the most beautiful places I’ve ever been to. For the rest of the day I was filled with the most euphoric feeling. I’m so pleased that I pushed myself to do this and as it turns out, my husband also loved it.
Black Bar Soldierfish
A wrasse of some sort in the center of a coral. Perhaps a clown wrasse or a slippery dick wrasse
A Southern Stingray glided past us and then disappeared into the blue
“Everything is fine”
My scuba photos aren’t the highest quality, as my underwater camera isn’t a professional camera, and most of the photos are screen captures from the videos I took. That doesn’t matter. The photos captured moments of a truly incredible day. The reason I named my site Eterno Dia: Eternal Day; a day that I will remember for many, many years to come. Please enjoy the photos of one of the most epic days of our life and consider Antigua’s insane beauty for your next vacation.
Scuba selfie
School of blue chromis fish
Safely back on the water
Accomplishment
Don’t think I’m done trying to convince you all either. There will be more. As usual, feel free to share, comment or ask questions. Until next time, happy travels!
FYI: We booked our scuba trip with Indigo Divers Antigua. While the trip was a few years ago, I would highly recommend them. They get a 4.5 star review on TripAdvisor currently and you can find them here: https://indigo-divers.com/
Winter Blues: Experience The Teal, Azure, Turquoise and Indigo of Antigua
Posted on February 4, 2018
View from the water at the Jolly Beach Resort
When I think about Antigua, I think of the color blue. The shallow water surrounding the island is a florescent turquoise like nothing else I’ve ever seen before. It’s so blue that even the seagull’s bellies look turquoise from underneath as they soar over the water. The teal of the slightly deeper waters where we saw starfish below the surface and swam with stingrays was everything you’ve imagined seeing in a travel brochure to paradise.
Jolly Beach Resort
The deep, choppy, indigo waters on the Atlantic side of the island are mysterious and exhilarating. I was recently chatting with a co-worker and fellow travel enthusiast about a trip to Antigua we took a few years back. While bragging, I went to show her some of the photos I have online and realized that I’ve hardly posted any photos of my trip, which is a real injustice to Antigua and all of you. So its time for me to tell you why you need to go here and experience the rainbow of blues you’ll find in Antigua.
Seagulls at the beach
Sunset at the Shirley Heights lookout point party
Husband and I were looking for something a bit more special when we booked this one. We’d been to Mexico a few times. Cuba and Jamaica were beautiful representations of the Caribbean, but for this trip, we wanted something a bit more unique; a bit less popular. We had it narrowed down to Barbados and Antigua. Antigua came up for a few reasons. It’s not that hard to get to. Lots of smaller, less popular destinations have poor connections and require lots of additional transfers to get to. Antigua has direct flights from Toronto at just over 4.5 hours long. While Antigua is tropical, its in a weird zone in the West Indies that makes it a bit less humid and more dry than a lot of other islands in the Caribbean. It opens up travel dates a bit more with less of a rainy season. For that reason, its also a bit different geographically and definitely has a dry season where things look desert-like and brown. Antigua boasts a slogan of “365 beaches; one for each day of the year”. That combined with a glass of wine and searching photos of the sunsets and husband and I had our minds made up.
Looking west: Endless sky
The mysterious indigo of the Atlantic side of the island
Antigua did not disappoint and I’m ashamed I have not shared more photos of this truly special island. The Caribbean has a certain charm that is unlike anywhere else. It really is a thing; time moves slower, interactions are more friendly, life seems to be lived more fully and authentically. Here, in Antigua, it was still something more than that; the people were so warm and relaxed, the geography was so interesting, the wildlife was abundant and beautiful, and the ocean and beaches; simply stunning.
Swimming with stingrays
We went in June, which is during Antigua’s low tourist season. That only meant that tours ran on a less frequent schedule, were smaller and more intimate and the resort was slightly less busy. Antigua isn’t bustling though no matter when you go, not the same way as Cancun, Puerto Vallarta or Havana. It’s less touristy and more simple. Some very picky people might say it’s a bit run down in spots, but that’s the true Caribbean; chipped paint from the salty, humid air, and a more relaxed way of living.
Exploring caves on Barbuda
We were worried upon booking Antigua that we wouldn’t have enough to do during our week there. We love the beach but we also love to explore when we’re visiting a new place. Antigua is one of two very small islands in the nation of Antigua and Barbuda. I wrote about Barbuda (the smaller of the two islands) previously due to the direct hit the island took by hurricane Irma during the summer storm season of 2017. You can find that article here. Barbuda has a population of about 2000 people and will likely take years to rebuild after the damage caused by Irma. Besides the hurricane, Barbuda previously made news because the late Princess Diana used to vacation here with Harry and Will. Antigua, the bigger of the two, is also a tiny island. With an area of only 281 kilometers and a population of 80,000, it’s just quaint. However, Antigua has so much to do; it’s steeped in history.
As a former British colony, there is history galore, both good and bad, from a political view. Shirley Heights, an old British military lookout is where the tall sailing ships of the late 1700s and early 1800s used to dock. You can actually picture them floating there in the harbor in your mind’s eye. The capital of St. Johns is a livelier place than a lot of the other spots on the island and is where the cruise ships dock. There is just so much to do here: shopping, snorkeling at one of the countless reefs, relaxing on one of the numerous white sand beaches, swimming with sting rays, speedboat tours of the island, and these are only just a handful of the adventure you can find here. Tours that we went on all included lots of information about the history of the islands.
SCUBA diving
The food is as fresh as you can get; seafood, fruit, root vegetables, and there are so many places to eat, the trouble is deciding were to go. Antigua is a paradise, a natural wonder and one of the most special places you might ever visit. The wildlife is stunning: just the sheer variety of birds alone is remarkable, but then when you get in the ocean, there is still more to see; stingrays, fish, jellyfish, nurse sharks, and turtles. This is a wildlife paradise.
snorkeling near Nelson’s Dockyard
The Pillars of Hercules
I’ll break down my Antigua trip into a few different blog posts over the next few weeks as it wouldn’t be fair to anyone to just do one post. There is just so much beauty on these two little islands. Please check back to see more. If you have questions or comments, feel free to get in touch. If you are considering curing your winter blues with a trip south this winter, I highly recommend Antigua and Barbuda to you.
Jumby Bay
An secluded beach on Barbuda
Paradise
Eterno Dia Photography 