Antigua

No wonder why so many celebrities have homes here in Antigua.  It’s freakin picturesque with pristine beaches.  AND…there are awesome steel drum bands always parked on the pier next to our ship.  I don’t know about you but when they play a Rhianna song on a steel drum it’s a WIN for me.

The first beach I visited was called Coconut Grove.  A narrow but long strip of quiet, secluded beach with only one hotel/restaurant which in our minds means minimal people.  You could however walk in the other direction down to where all of resorts were to see the fancy shmancy people on vacation.  We will get to that later. It was pretty overcast and down poured on us but if you are in the water and it’s warm out who cares anyways? So I dumped out my bag of colored pencils in the sand and stretched out under beautiful coconut trees.

Hello??

If you do want to be all fancy I found out it’s $100 entry fee per day at places like Sandals…good thing Aleida had an in!  An old chef friend from India on a previous ship contract now worked there and got her two complimentary all-inclusive day passes.  Um…Yes, I will clear my schedule for the day and help you drink free tropical blended beverages at a five star pool.  A true friend I tell ya.

Another amazing beach beverage would be the coconut.  And if you have a pair they will ask you if you want rum in yours.  My friends Karleigh and Richie and I hit up Valley Church beach.  All over the Caribbean someone will cut you off the top of a coconut and hand it to you with a straw.  This guy took one look at my coconuts, grabbed his machete, stabbed the biggest one out of the cooler, opened it and told me to take a sip so he can put some rum in there for me.  Sure thing boss.  Then you bring the coconut back to them and they whack it in half and scoop out the meat.  It’s all covered in bark and they just put it in your hands to deal with.  It’s pretty straight up from their dirty hands to yours and you need to figure out how to clean it off.  My mother and grandmother would cringe so hard.  I on the other hand embrace it!  

One of the more notable attractions of Antigua is a eco-tourism company that offers swimming with stingrays.  At first I went as an escort of the cruise ship.  But it was so awesome the first time that I brought Karsten when he came to visit, as well as other friends of mine.  They conveniently give a crew discount. 

The stingrays were so graceful, playful and soft.  I have never touched a dolphin, but I would imagine they feel the same way.  What I truly liked about this interaction, was that the stingrays are not confined at all.  No ropes.  No confinement.  We leave for a decent boat ride from shore to a nice floating dock on a sand bar.  The rays hear the boats coming and know that they will get pet and receive delicious squid treats.  So they are basically sea puppies!!  You can feed them and it feels like you are putting food in front of a vacuum; the suction is that amazing.  They were so wonderful to swim with and hold.  The guides said that in their 14 years of business no one has ever been stung.  So that should answer your question is it safe?

All in one pieces post stingrays.

One other tour that I went on with the ship was a kayak and snorkel tour.  Really beautiful and around the same small, uninhabited islands near the rays.  We saw a lot of cool orange starfish, sea cucumbers and jellyfish just from our kayaks.  Then we hopped on the boat and went to a snorkel spot.  Not bad eh?