Anguilla

Bounty beaches

16 November 2015

Anguilla 2015

Timo and I stayed on St. Martin for a week.
For a short day trip from St. Martin we took a 25 minute ferry ride to Anguilla. With those 2 islands so close to each other could there be a lot of difference? Soon Timo and I would figure it out!

We first had to deliver our rental car at Herz before we headed to Marigot on St. Martin to take the ferry. It took a while before it was settled, so we left a bit late. Lucky we could find a shuttle bus in Philipsburg quickly so we were on our way.
In Marigot we had to walk about 5 minutes to the ferry. Here we bought a ticket and payed our departure tax. Because Anguilla is another country you have to take your passport and they stamp it. This was fairly easy so on our way!

Bye bye St. Martin!

The ride made me a bit nausea as I'm quickly seasick. So I decided to skip my planned trip to St. Barths right away. That ferry ride would be about 1.5 hours. I guess not worth for me to go there.

Immigration at Anguilla was again straight forward.

When we walked outside, we didn't found out what was the best idea for us. Renting a car, going on a tour, just do a drop of at a beach. Since we probably gonna be only one time on Anguilla, we tried the option of a tour. The price seemed really steep, but renting a car wasn't easy. They drive left here, and we never have done that, plus you need a permit, which cost money, so the price in total would be expensive either.

We were discussing in Dutch, when a lady came to us. In Dutch she asked us if she could be of any help. We explained what we wanted, a tour, but also some beach time. She told us she can give it, for half the price the tour company is asking. Great deal!

Our new guide Chelsea was a really fun and easygoing lady. She explained how our tour would look like and what we could expect to see. Since it was a bit later than we thought it would be, we didn't have too much time to explore the island. Chelsea was gonna show us the highlights.

Our first stop was Rendez vous beach hotel. Here we could take some pics and walk in the really soft, white sand. The hotel was gorgeous! Here I could stay when I was going to overnight at the island!

Next stop is Sandy bay, a beautiful viewpoint!

We drove around on the island, with Chelsea telling all about it. The name of the island is coming from the french word anguille (eel). The shape of the island is long and narrow.
There is one city with some supermarkets and shops. Everything has to be imported, there is no agriculture here. That’s why living on this island is expensive.

We found out Chelsea is from Curacao, but she lives on Anguilla since she got married to a man from Anguilla. She and her husband giving tours around the island for living.

The last stop is Shoal beach. Here we could relax for the rest of the afternoon. Chelsea would pick us up at a certain time to catch the ferry.

After a great lunch, we relaxed on the beach. The beach has soft, white sand and the sea is really aqua blue! Along the 'strip' with some restaurants and accommodations they are building some more hotels. So this can give a little noise.

Snorkeling is great! You have to swim a bit, to get to the coral reef. But there are many fishes and corals to see. The coral is more colorful at St. Martin. So it is worth to take snorkeling gear.

Anguilla

Was it expensive?
We only stayed one day, and that is what I really regret. This island deserves a few nights, so you can really explore the 33 beaches on the island. It is more quiet than St. Martin, more relaxed and I enjoyed snorkeling a bit more, since the coral is more colorful. We paid about 85 dollars per person. The ferry was 40 dollar return, the tour was 25 dollars and the food we paid about 8 dollars. Then on both sides you pay tax, on St. Martin we paid 3 Euros and on Anguilla we paid 8 dollars. I think it was worth the money, but rather stayed longer.

From St. martin you can book a catamaran tour to Anguilla. You'll spend most of your time on the catamaran. The boat will stop at several points of interest like beautiful beaches, snorkeling places. I was really considering this tour from St. Martin to Anguilla, which is about 100 Euros per person. I didn't want to spend too long on a boat, since I'm really motion sick.

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