On Wednesday of our week long voyage from San Juan, Puerto Rico, we reached the gorgeous island of Antigua. Our excursion through the day was booked through the ship as it provided a guided bus tour across the length of the the island to Shirley Heights Lookout, then down to Nelsons Dockyard, and lastly to Turners Beach on the southwest tip of the island. Formerly a British colony, Antigua is known for many things; a haven for celebrities like Oprah, Eric Clapton, Armani to name a few, two medical schools, banking, online gambling, and above all else, their 365 beaches, one for every day of the year.

Our bus ride through the island up to Shirley Heights Lookout was a very relaxing countryside drive. After leaving the busy city of St. John’s, we left the traffic behind and drove through the winding country roads and rolling green hills. The island has several parishes each with small communities along the way. There are numerous churches and colorful buildings. Unlike the crowded city of Castries, St. Lucia, Antigua seems like a much more laid back country where people are easy going and live a simpler life. The houses have doors and windows open and it feels like a very safe place.

After Shirley Heights, we drove down into Nelsons Dockyard for a tour of the colonial dockyard and drink, courtesy of the tour. It’s an old colonial British port and is now home to many yachts and impressive sailboats. From there we drove back north towards the center of the island then east to Turners Beach. On the way there, the guide talked some more about the local economy and some of the native fruits on the island.

Antigua is well known for it’s “black pineapple,” said to be the sweetest on earth. The outside is slightly darker, but it looks like any other pineapple on the inside. Unfortunately, I didn’t get to try any, but I definitely will make it a point next time! This last leg of our trip took us through the Fig Tree Drive. They’re not actually figs but rather bananas. On Antigua, they use the two fruit names interchangeably.

The last and most relaxing stop for the day was Turners Beach. The water was cool and very refreshing. The beach was quite busy, but we managed to find some shade under a cabana which we shared with a German couple from our ship on holiday for Christmas. The water wasn’t very clear and there was not any coral to be seen so snorkeling didn’t yield much in the way of fish.

Back to the port of St. John’s, Antigua, we walked around the shops. There was festive Christmas music playing and the port was quite busy with several large ships in town. I was surprised how modern the island is compared with the previous day of St. Lucia. There were some high end shops, plenty of familiar western brands, wifi cafes, electronic and camera stores, and lots of small casinos. The island is full of life, color, and interesting British history as an early settlement.

Sunset back aboard the Summit was beautiful as we departed from the island of Antigua.

Our second island stop brought us to the island of St. Lucia and the capital port city of Castries. We started the morning a bit late and was surprised to wake up in the port. The city is larger and much more developed in the sense that there are more buildings and roads in the city. In walking through the city, it wasn’t as clean or maintained as well as Barbados.

Out of all the islands we had visited during this trip, it was probably the poorest this was probably the most indigent. That’s not to say the island doesn’t have some expensive resorts (such as Beaches, which you see advertised on TV all the time). There’s a visibly large economic gap on many parts of the island. As the island depends on tourism, they really welcome the ships that stop each day. So much so, that you will be bombarded by tour operators and vendors as you exit the terminal.
Our excursion for the day was in the afternoon so we spent the morning walking to the nearby Vigie Beach. It’s the closest beach to the cruise terminal, well within walking distance (about 20-30 minutes). It would be much closer were it not for an airport situated parallel to the beach that you have to walk all the way around. The walk takes you through the city, along the terminals where the ships dock, and past the airport. Not all the sidewalks are well paved, so watch your step.

Vigie Beach may be the closest, but it’s probably not worth going to unless you’re short on time. The only thing to be found on the beach is the Rendezvous couples resort (which goes for $800+ a night) and a cemetery. Walking along the beach and accidentally through the beach in front of the resort, we were shooed off by an unfriendly security guard. I suppose the beach is swimmable, but it’s quite rough as it faces north, towards the open water. There’s not much sand to enjoy either. On the opposite end of the resort sits the cemetery. There were locals cleaning the cemetery and sweeping the beach. They did a great job of keeping it clean and free of litter, leaves, and seaweed. One gentleman waved us welcome into the cemetery with his large machete as he saw us looking. We politely declined and kept walking, a bit faster than we had before.

 Once we made it to the end of the beach, we were very underwhelmed and caught a taxi from the airport back towards the city. We got off at the Basilica of the Immaculate Conception. It’s the largest church in the entire Caribbean and the second highest ranked attraction on TripAdvisor. It’s a beautiful cathedral decked out in all sorts of wood. Unlike all the churches in Europe, this one has no stone or granite, just elaborate rich wood decorations.

As we were leaving the cathedral, it started to rain, so we hurried back to the ship to find something to eat for lunch before we had to meet our tour. By the time we got back to the ship, it had started pouring. The skies had opened up. You couldn’t even see the city anymore through the dense rain. About twenty minutes later, the rain stopped and the skies slowly parted as sunlight peered through the clouds.

It was very difficult to find something to eat from about 11:30 AM to 12:15 when we were supposed to be downstairs to meet. It’s the time on the ship that they are transitioning from breakfast to lunch and nothing seemed to be open. The burger grill had a line of hungry passengers and they were slowly setting up all the meats, toppings, and firing up the grills. We relented and got in line for whatever they had. As we were eating, real food slowly appeared at the buffet and I managed another few plates to complete my meal.

The tour we chose was snorkeling under the Pitons at Pitons Bay, home of the two famous volcanic formations in St. Lucia. They are volcanic plugs; lava has filled and sealed the vents. The each rise about 2300 feet (700ish meters). It was really neat to swim in a marine reserve directly between the two pitons. The rocky beach is very secluded and roped off to protect the marine life. There were finally plenty of fish and coral to enjoy. They aren’t the most colorful and the water isn’t the clearest, but there are some unique coral formations fish to be seen.

On the half hour boat trip to and from the Pitons, it must have rained on and off four or five times. Luckily when we got to beach, it didn’t rain a drop.

All in all, an adventurous fun day in the water, sun, rain, beach, and everything in between!

After leaving Puerto Rico Saturday evening, I couldn’t think of a better way to spend my Monday morning than reaching dry land in Barbados! It was nice to get out, stretch our legs, and go for our first swim on the beach of our first island destination.

I was stunned by how green the water of the port was. The early morning sun really made the clear water glow brilliantly. As the only ship in the port for the day, the Celebrity Summit, looked so majestic. I was proud to call it home for the week.

Before going to beautiful Barbados, the only thing I knew about it was it is the home of Rihanna. As our first stop aboard the Celebrity Summit, I know now that they are also home to some of the most unreal turquoise clear blue water I have ever seen. The capital city of Bridgetown seems to be a cute quiet port town with its primary industry being tourism, like all of the other Caribbean islands.

Carlisle Bay’s beach is just a couple of miles away from the port, just a short walk ( actually less than 1.5 miles) down the coastline, past the downtown city area, and just across a bridge. The city of Bridgetown gets its name the bridge that the British found, one of the only structures, on the abandoned city back in the 1600s. According to Wikipedia, it’s also the only city outside the United States that George Washington visited!

The walk takes about 20-30 minutes depending on your pace and how often you stop to take pictures and see the local sites. The cab ride to the beach started at $5 per person (one way) at the port and dropped to a mere $3 on the street just outside the port. Since it was a beautiful day, we decided to walk along the water and through the city on the way back (since the buildings provided some shade). One thing I noticed along the trip were just how many different and international banks each of the islands seemed to have.

The beach itself is a gorgeous stretch of white sand and an underwater treasure trove of marine life (famous for sea turtles) and underwater sights (shipwrecks). As our ship was the only one at port, the beach was not crowded and there was plenty of beach to enjoy.

When you get to the beach, there are several locals who will introduce themselves and offer to sell you chairs, drinks, boat tours, and trips back to the ship, just kindly say no thanks and keep walking further down the beach; it gets much cheaper! We decided to settle at Harbour Lights (one of many restaurants on the beach that will gladly sell you an umbrella, chairs, drinks, and food). They had the best price for beach chairs and an umbrella at $15 for the day and some of our dinner compadres had also arrived, so it made for the perfect day at the beach!

In terms of snorkeling, and it could have been the day, we did not see any coral, fish, or turtles. I was a bit disappointed because I really wanted to see their famous turtles. The sea turtles are usually found just off the beach and many times you don’t even need to hire a boat to take you out to see them because they are that close. When we talked with other people who took boats out, they only managed to see a handful of turtles and not much else. So, it’s definitely a hit or miss.