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Antigua & Barbuda (map)are located at the central region of the Little Antilles, between
St. Barths and Nevis, Montserrat and Guadeloupe. Antigua & Barbuda form alongside Redonda (a deserted island), an independent state, within the British Commonwealth.
Antigua (map)
Barbuda (map)
Antigua is dry and plain, its highest point is Boggy Peak, a 405 m high mountain, Barbuda is a coral island, even more plain (its highest point is at 63m over sea level), with 161 sq. km. of surface. However, Barbuda, conserves a good part of its forests, which Antigua doesn’t. In fact, the major part of the island is a forest and birds reserve. The total population of these islands is of 70,000 people, of which only 1,300 live in Barbuda.
Official Holidays
January 1st New Year
January 2nd Last Carnival Party
March/April Good Friday
Holy Week Easter Monday
May (1st Monday) Labor Day / Holy Pentecost Thursday
June (2nd Saturday) Queen’s Birthday
August (1st Monday and Tuesday) Carnival
October (1st Monday) Trade Day
November 1st Independence Day
December 25th Christmas Day
December 26th Christmas Box Day
Events Calendar
January: Tennis week for male players. (professionals and amateurs)
April: Tennis week for female players (professionals and amateurs)
Antigua Sailing Week, a regatta celebrated at the end of April, and with competitors of all around the world.
International cricket
July/August: Carnival; celebrations take place during the week previous to the first Monday of August. It ends at the first Monday and Tuesday of August, commemorating abolition of slavery.
October: Jazz festival
November: Independence week.
At the end of November there is a marathon.
Language
English is the official language. In the inner lands a very peculiar variation of English is spoken.
PLANNING THE TRIP
Banks and Exchange
The official currency is the Eastern Caribbean dollar (EC$), though American dollars are accepted. Most of the hotels, restaurants and shops accept most known credit cards. The most important banks are at High Street, St. John’s. Bank schedules are different, though generally they open at 8:00 to 14:00 hours from Monday to Thursday and from 8:000 to 16:00 hours on Fridays. The Bank of Antigua opens Saturdays between 8:00 and 12:00 hours. Many banks have ATMs, 24 hours a day. There are others at the Woods Commercial Center in St. John’s, and at the Royal Bank of Canada, in Market Street and High Street of St. John’s. There’s a branch of the Antigua Commercial Bank in Codrington, Barbuda, and one from the American Express in Antours, Long Street, St. John’s.
Departure tax: 30 dollars (ec$)
Tourist Information Abroad
Please contact;
Antigua & Barbuda Tourist Offices
Antigua House, Thayer St. 15
London W1M5LD
Phone no. 0171 4867073
PRACTICAL TIPS
News
There’s only one radio station in Antigua, though you can listen some other island’s broadcasts. Almost all the big hotels have satellite TV.
Post services
The main post office of St. John’s is at Long Street. There’s also a small office at the international airport, and another at Codrington, Barbuda.
Phone, Fax and Internet
The area code is 268. You can make international and local calls, 24 hours a day, from most of the phones or from the Cable and Wireless phone company offices, where you can also buy phone cards, besides there are also fax and internet services. Likewise, there’s a Wireless office, 24 hours a day, near Clare Hill, north of Antigua.
Tourist Information Local Offices
Antigua: PO Box 363, Thames Street,
St. John’s.
Phone no. 462 0480
Open from 8:30 to 16:00 hours from Monday to Friday, and from 8:30 to 12:00 hours on Saturdays. At the airport’s arrival station you’ll find also a small tourist information office.
Medical assistance
Antigua has the Holbertson Hospital, Holbertson Road, St. John’s
Phone no. 462 0251
There’s also an hospital in Barbuda, and clinics in both islands.
Pharmacies: Woods Center and St Mary’s Street,
St. John’s. Phone no. 462 1363
Emergency numbers
Emergencies: 999/991 Police: 462 0215 Fire station: 462 0044 Ambulance: 462 0215
Nightlife
Almost all resorts offer to their guests steel pan and reggae concerts, apart from limbo dancers shows. One of the casinos is the King’s Casino, Heritage Quay (phone no. 462 1727). The restaurant Shirley Heights Lookout organizes all Sundays, a barbecue with music from a metallic drums band, performing between 15:00 to 18:00 hours, followed by a reggae band from 18:00 to 21:00 hours.
Antigua’s carnival is the second most important in the Little Antilles, only after that of Trinidad.
Shopping
The duty free shops and the street markets in Heritage Quay and Redcliffe Quay in St. John’s, attract lots of passengers from the cruisers arriving to Antigua. There’s an art gallery exhibiting works from Caribbean artists in Harmony Hall, Brown’s Bay, very near to Freetown (phone 462 27870).
If you want to buy island’s products, go around the St. John’s market. The black pineapple is famed for being the sweetest in the world.
Voltage: 220 volts 60 cycles and 110 volts
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