Antigua Vacations,Travel Deals, Antigua Vacation Package Deals
 Antigua (pronounced An-tee'ga) is located in the center of the Leeward Islands in the Eastern Caribbean, roughly 17 degrees north of the equator. Montserrat and Guadeloupe are south and to the north and west are Nevis, St. Kitts, St. Barts, and St. Martin.
No matter what you are looking for, Antigua is a sun lover paradise, with 365 lovely beaches, and amazingly friendly people. Antigua is the biggest of the British Leeward Islands, has pleasant, warm breezes, a intricate coastline of snug harbors, protected by a beautiful of coral reef. Antigua would make a perfect place to hide a fleet. In 1784 the renowned Admiral Horatio Nelson discovered Antigua and built Great Britain's main Caribbean base. He had no idea that 200 years later that Antigua would become one of the Caribbean's finest vacation hot spots.
The Consistent trade winds now provide one of the world's best maritime attractions, Sailing Week. Antigua's winding coastline that made it very frustrating for foreigners to navigate is where today's vacationers find lots of romantic, secluded, powdery soft beaches. Antigua's coral reefs once the curse of marauding pirates, now attracts scuba divers and snorlelers from around the globe.
The nightlife in Antigua includes some of the finest in the caribbean with over 45 exciting restaurants and fun nightclubs to choose from. The De Jam Festival is one of the top events on the island of Antigua. The Festival is simply a celebration of hot DJs from all over the world, playing old and new black music from the genre of reggae, house, garage, soul, R&B, bashment, roots and culture, rare groove, lover´s rock and more.
The Carnival on Antigua is an extraordinary ten-day festival of wild, colorful costumes, beauty shows, talent shows, and great music. The Carnival festivities celebrate the emancipation, are thrilling events ranging from the Panorama steel band competition, the Party Monarch and Calypso Monarch competitions of Calypsonians and the spectacular Parade of Bands to the Caribbean Queen's Competition, and the Miss Antigua Pageant. Also, the other major events, the continuing eleven-day carnival includes many other exciting festivities, including food fairs, parades, local musician's concerts, and cultural shows. The annual Antigua Carnival is the Caribbean's most popular summer festival!
Antigua is the biggest of the British Leeward Islands, and is about 14 miles long and 11 miles wide, encompassing 108 square miles. Boggy Peak (1319 ft.), Antigua's highest point is located in the southwestern corner of the island. The current population for the nation is approximately 71,000 and its capital is St.Johns on Antigua.
Antigua's temperatures range from the mid-seventies in the winter to the mid-eighties in the summer. Annual rainfall averages only 47 inches, and the northeast trade winds are nearly constant, flagging only in September, making it the sunniest of the Eastern Caribbean Islands. There is very little humidity in Antigua.
Antigua 365 beaches are mostly on the inside the calm, protected waters of the island's Caribbean side. All of Antigua's beaches are open to the public, so just pick and choose the one that pleases you the most. Antiguans tend not to disclose their favorite beaches..
Antigua is almost completely surrounded by lush coral reefs with steep walls, and a myriad of shipwrecks. The southern and eastern coasts of Antigua surrounded by shelfs, providing perfect conditions for extraordinary shallow diving and snorkeling. There is very little current in most places in Antigua. The visibility in the waters of Antigua ranges from 65 to 155 feet, and tropical marine plants and animals are diverse and plentiful. Antigua's most popular dive sites, the Cades Reef, is now designated underwater park. The three-masted merchant ship, the Andes sank in 1905 and now sits in thirty feet of water in Deep Bay. Antigua has great dive fshops that have everything you need to enjoy a day of scuba diving. Antigua's southern and eastern coasts of are the best for diving; for more experienced divers, the ledge of Sunken Rock on the south coast is a good dive site.
English Harbour, Antigua's historic district, is located on the fifteen square miles of Nelson's Dockyard National Park. Build as a base for the British Navy in the days of sailing ships, the harbor was headquarters of the British fleet of the Leeward Islands during the turbulent years of the late 18th century.
Antigua's other places of interest overlook the harbor. The Clarence House, a residence built for the future King William IV (1765-1837) when he served under Nelson as captain of the H.M.S. Pegasus. Right above Antigua's harbour, at Shirley Hights, are the partially-restored fortifications of the harbor's colonial observation post; the view from Shirley Heights extends out over the harbour and far across the Caribbean to Montserrat and Guadaloupe. On Sundays there is a barbeque and live music at the bar there (Steel Band music from 3-6 pm & reggae from 6-9). Shirley Heights can be reached via Lookout Trail, a nature walk that rises from the harbor through a forest of trees--it is not a good idea to use the trail after dark.
Observation decks at Dow's Hill provide another fine view of the harbour, as do the ruined fortifications of Fort Berkeley, located on the far side of the bay and reached by a walk around its perimeter. Along Lookout Trail and near Shirley Heights is Dow's Hill Interpretation Center, at which visitors can watch an impressive multimedia presentation of Antigua's history, from its initial settlement to independence. All of these points, as well as the park's convenient beaches, become especially popular spectator positions during Sailing Week.
Antigua is perfect for yachting and cruising, with persistent trade-winds, and many harbors to explore. You could spend a week cruising around this scenic island of the Caribbean.
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