The Best Barbuda Vacations, Cruises, Luxury Hotels

The Caribbean that remains--and probably will remain for some time--so undeveloped as to seem positively deserted at times. With the exception of the guests of the island's small number of accommodations, the population seems largely to consist of the graceful Fregata magnificens, or frigate bird. As the birds possess a marked preference for the northwest lagoon, Barbuda's seemingly endless white and pink sand beaches are left to the peaceful wanderings of those lucky enough to sojourn here.

Barbuda Hotel and Travel Information

• Barbuda Luxury Hotels And Resorts
• Click here for Barbuda Virtual Tour

Self Booking Options - Book & Pay For Your Trip Now

• Barbuda Travel Packages

Activities on Barbuda are appropriately relaxed, including beachcombing (on the northeastern Atlantic coast), fishing and hunting and, at the island's resorts, golf, tennis, snorkeling, diving, or simply soaking up the sun and the calm. Points of interest include the Frigate Bird Sanctuary, the truly noteworthy pink and white sand beaches, and an abundance of shipwrecks and beautiful reefs. Barbuda can be reached easily from Antigua, either by air (a 20-minute flight, twice daily) or by boat (in three hours). The island is home to the luxurious K-Club, Coco Point Lodge and Hotel Palmetto resorts, as well as to a number of other hotels and comfortable guest houses.

Barbuda's history has been intimately tied to that of Antigua for centuries. The first early attempts to settle Barbuda (by both the British and French) were failures, and it wasn't until 1666 that the British established a colony strong enough to survive the ravages of both nature and the Caribs. In 1680, four years before he began cultivating sugar on Antigua, Christopher Codrington was granted (with his brother John) a lease to land in Barbuda. With subsequent leases that granted them additional rights to the substantial wreckage along Barbuda's reefs, they became the island's preeminent family. For much of the eighteenth century the Codrington land on Barbuda was used to produce food and to supply additional slave labour for the Codrington sugar plantations on Antigua, and so the Barbuda's fortunes rose and fell with those of its larger neighbour. Testament to the influence of the Codringtons remains today, both in the island's place names and in its architectural remains. On Barbuda's highest point (124 feet) are the ruins of the Codrington estate, Highland House, and on the island's south coast still sits the 56-foot high Martello castle and tower, a fortress that was used both for defense and as a vantage from which to spot valuable shipwrecks on the outlying reefs.

Barbuda Tourism

As early as 1775 B.C., this
picturesque island was inhabited by the Ciboney
tribe (also spelled Siboney). In 1493, Christopher Columbus

came to the pristine land of pastel-colored beaches rimming the coastline. Centuries  later, in 1784, English naval hero Admiral Horatio Nelson dropped anchor in the waters offshore.

Barbuda Today

In a more recent winter season the same untouched beaches, with pink-tinged sand, lured Princess Diana, who spent four vacations at Barbuda's K Club. Another much-photographed beauty, supermodel Claudia Schiffer, enjoyed the luxurious simplicity of the Club along with her agent and crew doing a shoot for a Claudia calendar. Along with the perfection of the beaches, the island's seclusion (26 miles north of Antigua) is an added attraction to visitors seeking privacy.

For those who want more activity than just sunning by the sea, the nearly 90 sunken shipwrecks in the crystal-clear waters offer an opportunity for exploration either by snorkeling or scuba diving. Or mount up and ride horseback along the splendid shoreline. If that's too strenuous, the fishing's abundant; marine life includes the famous Barbudian lobster.

 A visit to Caves at Two Foot Bay will afford a look at faded Arawak drawings on the cave walls. Visitors climb down into a circular chamber through a hole in the cave roof. Back at the beachside, the Martello Tower, symbolic of the history of the entire region, is one of the last fortresses of its kind in the Caribbean.

An ecological adventure takes the visitor to Barbuda's Frigate Bird Sanctuary, one of the world's largest. Accessible only by small boat, the sanctuary is on the north end of Codrington Lagoon, where the frigate birds brood their eggs in mangrove bushes, which stretch for miles. Sailors were known to refer to the frigate bird as the "man-o'-war bird" or the "hurricane bird" because of its impressive eight-foot wingspan, which enables it to soar up to 2,000 feet.

 Other species, attracted by Barbuda's dry climate, include pelicans, warblers, snipes, ibis, herons, kingfishers, tropical mockingbirds, oyster catchers and cormorants.

Additional wildlife include white-tailed deer, boar, donkeys and red-footed tortoises. With no paved roads, guests may roam as freely as the animals.

ISLAND FACTS

Location: Like its sister island of Antigua, Barbuda is in the eastern Caribbean at the southern end of the Leeward Islands, about 250 miles southeast of Puerto Rico.

Topography: Barbuda is a coral-limestone foundation island and is very flat.

Capital City: Codrington.

Language: English is the official language of Barbuda.

Government: As head of the British Commonwealth, Queen Elizabeth II is represented by a governor-general who acts on the advice of the Prime Minister and the Cabinet. With its sister island, Antigua, Barbuda has a bicameral legislature. The Prime Minister and the Cabinet are responsible to the Parliament. The island's legal system is based on English law and the Eastern Caribbean Court of Appeal has exclusive, original jurisdiction and an appellate jurisdiction, consisting of a Chief Justice and five justices.

Currency: The Eastern Caribbean Dollar (EC $). Current rate of exchange is EC $2.70 to US $1.

Climate: With little variation between winter and summer, the average temperature is 75°. This is a tropical and humid environment.

 Time Zone: Barbuda operates on Eastern Standard Time, plus one hour - Greenwich Mean Time less four hours.

Phone: Dial the regional code (268), plus the local number.

usiness Hours: Commercial business hours are from 8 am-noon and 1-4 pm, Monday-Saturday; closed on Thursday afternoons.

Communications: In addition to newspapers Antigua has three radio stations and a television station; cellular service is also provided.

 Entry Requirements: A valid passport is required by all visitors with the exception of nationals of the US, Canada and the UK, who need proof of identity. Visas are not required by short-stay visitors who are nationals of the US, Canada, the UK and Commonwealth, Germany, France, Japan and certain other countries.

Departure Tax: US citizens pay a departure tax of $20 (EC $45) per person. Antiguan citizens pay EC $20.

Hideaway

K Club

K is for Krizia, also known as Mariuccia Mandelli, the Milanese fashion mogul who chose Barbuda as her personal Eden. On this slender island she created a personalized retreat of square, white bungalows with louvered windows and characteristic spired roofs. Designed by architect Gianni Gamondi on over 200 acres, the cottages reflect Krizia's design taste right down to the doorknobs. Wooden cathedral ceilings, 14 feet high, and white ceramic tile floors add to the sense of spaciousness in the rooms. Though all meals are included in the rate, suites have a white-on-white al fresco kitchenette - good to have a refrigerator so close at hand. Anyone wanting to swim a few laps in the heated seawater pool will notice the Krizia logo fashioned in tiles at the pool's bottom. Basking on the mile-long stretch of beach, tennis (two courts with lights), jacuzzi, snorkeling, waterskiing, sailing, boat trips and golf are all recreational options.

What isn't an option is crowded beaches, streets with boutiques, shopping centers and movie theaters. Anyone wanting to get up and go somewhere on the island can make a visit to the Frigate Bird Sanctuary. A short island hop away to Antigua in the summer brings the visitor to that season's most popular event. The annual carnival in the capital city of St. John's is a time of music and pageantry filled with rich colors and sounds of the island. Back at the K Club, days pass in elegant simplicity. Guests have the pleasure of perusing a well-stocked library, the splendor of dazzling sunsets, the serenity of lounging on the terrace, watching the play of light on the water. No doubt the Club's cotton lounging robe, the yukata (offered to all guests and designed by Krizia), was appealing to Princess Diana. Little wonder that twice in one winter Princess Di visited K Club on this gem of an island with its pink, powdery sand."

The Barbuda Vacations and Barbuda Luxury Travel Packages Guide