8 Fun Antigua & Barbuda Adventures

Antigua & Barbuda Adventures include snorkeling & diving, fishing and awesome water-sports. On land there's cycling & really good hiking too! Plan a trip today

Awesome Activities Include Snorkeling, Sailing, Caving & More…

Antigua and Barbuda are a Caribbean nation in the eastern Caribbean sea (Leeward Islands), just north of Guadeloupe and east of St. Kitts. Known as the sailing capital of the English Caribbean, Antigua is famous for it’s 365 white sand beaches and excellent cuisine. That said, there are plenty of adventures to make you feel alive, both on land as well as in & on the water!

While vacationing in the Caribbean, it’s always great fun to get off the resort and really explore the island. Antigua and Barbuda adventures are waiting…

Surrounded by protective reefs and outer islands, Antigua & Barbuda offers some really good Caribbean snorkeling, diving, sailing, fishing and water sports. It’s also good to know that there’s plenty of action on the islands themselves as well. Here’s our recommendations for experiencing Caribbean adventures in Antigua and Barbuda…

Snorkel Antigua’s Coral Reefs

Antigua & Barbuda Adventures include snorkeling & diving, fishing and awesome water-sports. On land there's cycling & really good hiking too! Plan a trip today

Practically surrounded by vibrant coral reefs, Antigua is a great place for Caribbean snorkeling. Explore Antigua’s clear multi-hued blue waters full of diverse sea-life, including colourful fish, coral and sponges! Discover an alien world that you just can’t experience on land…

Slip into the warm Caribbean Sea and snorkel right off the beach on the island’s west side at places like Hawksbill Bay and Darkwood Beach. There are also some sheltered bays on the east coast that are good for beach-goers to snorkel from.


Antigua’s well known and perhaps best snorkeling site, Cades Reef is just a short boat ride from the south-west coast – This 2 mile (3km) long barrier reef has snorkeling locations like Coral Gardens, School House, Passage and Aquarium. There are also good snorkeling locations in the popular English Harbour area – Here you’ll enjoy snorkeling in the shadow of the Pillars of Hercules, or perhaps over a shipwreck in the protection of Freeman’s Bay. There’s also a 3 mast shipwreck in the shallow waters of Deep Bay near St. John’s. Good snorkeling can also be found via a short boat ride to a few of the off-shore islands near the north-east coast of Antigua.

Antigua & Barbuda Adventures include snorkeling & diving, fishing and awesome water-sports. On land there's cycling & really good hiking too! Plan a trip today


Of course, no trip to Antigua is complete without visiting Stingray City. While you can snorkel there, the main attraction is having Southern Stingrays swim around your legs. If you’re brave enough, you can even hold one of the gentle creatures – kind of a once in a lifetime experience! Antigua’s Stingray City is located about a mile (2km) from the coast, yet the man-made dock floats just 3 to 4 feet (1m) above the sandy ocean floor. The large 5 feet (1.5m) wide females are very sociable as they swim slowly around, while the smaller males dart swiftly around and through the crowd.

For more information on Antigua’s snorkeling sites, plus a listing of tour/boat operators, click on our Antigua & Barbuda Snorkeling page

Want to see more? Check out our Snorkel Antigua’s Great Bird Island, and Snorkel Antigua’s Long Bay videos on YouTube!

For a more colourful and detailed story on Stingray City, check out our personal experience by reading our Stingray City Antigua blog post.

Sail Around Antigua & Barbuda

Antigua & Barbuda Adventures include snorkeling & diving, fishing and awesome water-sports. On land there's cycling & really good hiking too! Plan a trip today

Antigua has a long and storied sailing history that dates back way before Horatio Nelson’s famed stay on the island. Today, Antigua’s annual ‘Sailing Week’ attracts dozens of yachts and hundreds of visitors from around the world to Nelson’s Dockyard for the Caribbean’s top Regatta.

For visitors to the Caribbean islands, an Antigua & Barbuda sailing adventure provides an opportunity to experience the islands from a unique perspective. Cruise quietly along the coasts of Antigua & Barbuda with a refreshing cool wind at your back and delightful sights just glide by… See the mountainous south-west of Antigua, as well as the island’s many forts, bays and off-shore islands, across a stretch of gorgeous multi-hued blue waters!

Sailing excursions also provide plenty of opportunities to snorkel and dive along the way. If you’re up to the challenge, you can even join a crew for some races in English Harbour! Of course, watching the sun set from sea with someone special also has it’s charms.

For more information about sailing in Antigua, including boat operators and yacht charters (with or without a crew), click on our Antigua & Barbuda Sailing page

Explore Amazing Caves in Barbuda

Antigua & Barbuda Adventures include snorkeling & diving, fishing and awesome water-sports. On land there's cycling & really good hiking too! Plan a trip today

Escape the ever-present sun by journeying underground to a world of natural subterranean limestone caverns and sea caves. It can be a bewildering experience venturing into sub-terrain grottoes to witness eerie stalagmites, stalactites and flow-stones up-close and personal. There may be bats in the caves, or even petroglyph paintings on the walls to examine!

Two Foot Bay Cave is a short walk from Barbuda’s pink sand beaches and is home to bats, crabs, iguanas and birds. Ancient petroglyphs can be seen on the cave walls – Amazing!

Journey out from Burbuda’s main town of Codrington to see the astonishing Darby Cave, a massive sinkhole with it’s own forest and plenty of long stalactites. You’ll be in awe.

Hike a couple of miles (3km) farther out and you’ll encounter an amazingly bizarre grotto called Dark Cave. It’s filled with water and you’re sure to see bats and maybe even some of the resident blind shrimp.

For more information about Antigua and Barbuda caves, plus tours operators to get you there, check out our Antigua & Barbuda Caving page

Dive Antigua’s Coral Reefs

Antigua and its neighbouring islands boast over 40 dive sites, some in relatively shallow water and others in the deeper more complex underwater terrain south of Antigua. If you’ve always wanted to try scuba diving, Antigua is a great place to get started – there is a dive school on the island along with several Dive Centres offering PADI certification.

Antigua & Barbuda Adventures include snorkeling & diving, fishing and awesome water-sports. On land there's cycling & really good hiking too! Plan a trip today

Antigua diving provides opportunities to view a diverse collection of coral, sponges, sea fans and other interesting marine life. The island’s reefs are also home to schools of colourful fish as well as eels, lobsters and crabs. Antigua’s south-west coast offers some good coral covered ledges and deep plunging walls to explore along with crystal-clear dive sites in and around the popular Cades Reef area. The English Harbour area has plenty of sunken boulders, rocks and wrecks providing more diverse and exciting places to examine.

For more information on the islands’ dive sites, along with a listing of dive centres and boat operators, click on our Antigua & Barbuda Diving page

Fish the Turquoise Waters of Antigua & Barbuda

Head out from Antigua for some serious Atlantic Ocean ‘deep sea’ fishing to bring in some big game sport fish like Marlin, Wahoo, Mahi Mahi, Tuna, Kingfish and Sailfish. For the competitor fisherman in you, you can join the annual Antigua & Barbuda Sport Fishing Tournament.

Antigua & Barbuda Adventures include snorkeling & diving, fishing and awesome water-sports. On land there's cycling & really good hiking too! Plan a trip today

Barbuda has some more great fishing options closer to shore.  Fish in the shallows for good eating fish like Bass, Grouper and Snapper. If fly-fishing is more your thing, settle down near Barbuda’s Codrington Lagoon and bring in some Bone fish, Tarpon, Snook and Barracuda.

For more Antigua & Barbuda fishing information, including a list of boat operators to get you out there, click on our Antigua & Barbuda Fishing page

Hike Under the Sun in Antigua

Antigua & Barbuda Adventures include snorkeling & diving, fishing and awesome water-sports. On land there's cycling & really good hiking too! Plan a trip today

A great way to experience the natural beauty of Antigua is by hiking one of it’s surprisingly enjoyable trails. The island offers some easy coastal sight-seeing walking trails as well as some more challenging hilly trails. The best thing is… Most Antigua hiking trails offer rewarding picturesque views of the island and Caribbean Sea from hill-tops or coastal vantage points.

There are several popular Antigua hiking trails located near Nelson’s Dockyard National Park, most of which lead to Shirley Heights, one of the best places in Antigua for taking pictures of iconic English Harbour. They include the Carpenters Rock Trail, which passes the remains of Fort Charlotte, as well as the steeper Lookout Trail.

Antigua & Barbuda Adventures include snorkeling & diving, fishing and awesome water-sports. On land there's cycling & really good hiking too! Plan a trip today

Monks Hill Trail, with its spectacular view of Falmouth Harbour, as well as Middle Ground Trail which crosses the small peninsula between English and Falmouth Harbours ending at historic Fort Berkeley, are also in the area.

Not to be missed, there are a number of remote trails amid the rolling hills and volcanic features of the rain-forest area called the “Green Corridor” – This quiet area includes the Wallings Nature Reserve, Christian Valley, as well as the ultimate Antigua hiking trail, Mount Obama – The island’s highest peak at 1,330 feet (405m) above sea level.


For more detailed descriptions of our favourite Antigua Hiking Trails, click on our Antigua’s Best Hiking blog post.

For a more complete list of Antigua & Barbuda hiking trails, as well as a listing of hiking guides, check out our Antigua & Barbuda Hiking page

Get On the Waters of Antigua & Barbuda

With plenty of healthy mangroves and numerous beaches, bays and inlets along 100 miles (160km) of coastline, Antigua & Barbuda are ideal for enjoying Caribbean Water Sports. All in the comfortable warmth of the Caribbean sun!

Antigua & Barbuda Adventures include snorkeling & diving, fishing and awesome water-sports. On land there's cycling & really good hiking too! Plan a trip today

There’s some great kayaking available in Antigua’s North Sound Marine Park and the mangrove forests of the nearby off-shore islands. There’s more mangroves to explore by kayak on the south-west coast of the island as well. Probing the island’s tranquil mangrove inlets and lagoons is the perfect speed for sightseeing wildlife and enjoying nature in shallow calm waters. A local guide can show you some native marine life, including sea-grasses, mysterious sea cucumbers, jellyfish and spectacular starfish.

If you have a need for more speed…  Antigua’s east coast trade-winds are ideal for surfing, windsurfing and kite-surfing. Same thing holds for Barbuda’s remote crowd-less beaches. You can partake in the action yourself, or just hang around and check out “the scene”.

For a more colourful story about our personal water sports experience, check out our Antigua kayaking-snorkelling-hiking blog

For more information on the islands’ water-sports options, including a list of tours, lessons and equipment rentals, click on our Antigua & Barbuda Water Sports page

Get to Know Antigua by Bike

Antigua & Barbuda Adventures include snorkeling & diving, fishing and awesome water-sports. On land there's cycling & really good hiking too! Plan a trip today

Get some fresh air and exercise while getting to know Antigua better.  Antigua cycling provides great views of the Caribbean Sea and on a clear day, even some neighbouring islands. Ride on Antigua’s scenic coastal roads or cross-country routes, some of which even include some nice hilly terrain. Take an excursion with a local cycling tour operator who knows the island well or even rent a bike and venture out on your own.

Popular regions to cycle on Antigua include areas near the capital St. John’s as well as less busy areas like Devil’s Bridge & Long Bay, Half Moon Bay, Falmouth Harbour, Rendezvous Bay, Darkwood Beach and Jolly Harbour. There’s also the hilly road to Shirley Heights as well as more challenging routes to Mount Obama, Fort George and McNish Mountain.

For more Antigua cycling information, including a list of cycling tours and bike rentals, click on our Antigua & Barbuda Cycling page

Have fun out there!

ACT Staff

Once you’ve had your fill of action and want to slow-it-down a bit, check out our recommended Things To Do in Antigua & Barbuda

For an overview of the “land of sun and sea”, take a look at our Antigua & Barbuda Vacations page

The Adventures of Cayman Brac and Little Cayman

Cayman Brac & Little Cayman are home to great Caribbean adventures, including the Caribbean's best Diving & Rock Climbing, plus great Caving, hiking & cycling.

Amazing Diving and Climbing / Caving, Hiking and Cycling too!

A British Territory in the Western Caribbean, Grand Cayman, Little Cayman and Cayman Brac are peaks of the massive underwater Cayman Ridge. The Cayman Islands are located south of Cuba, between Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula and Jamaica. Little Cayman and Cayman Brac are situated east and slightly north of Grand Cayman.

If you’re wondering how to get to these remote islands, don’t worry – There are daily island hopper flights from Grand Cayman that can get you over quickly and easily. Local Grand Cayman boat operators can also cover the 80 miles (130km) or so of ocean.

There’s plenty of outdoor adventures to experience in the Cayman Islands and that includes the rarely visited Cayman Brac, affectionately known as ‘the Brac’, as well as Little Cayman. Here’s our favourites that we would recommend…

Join an Exclusive Club of Scuba Divers

It’s not just a cliché, the Cayman Islands are truly a Diver’s Paradise! The islands are well known in diving circles for pristine sea water with amazing visibility, as well healthy coral reefs alive with marine life. When it comes to Cayman Brac and Little Cayman, their remoteness translates into relatively few visitors and almost guarantees uncrowded diving at relatively untouched dive sites!

, Cayman Brac & Little Cayman are home to great Caribbean adventures, including the Caribbean's best Diving & Rock Climbing, plus great Caving, hiking & cycling.

There are over 60 Cayman Brac dive sites that offer an incredible oasis for divers! There’s easy to access shore diving, shallow reefs brimming with marine life, as well as deep walls and amazing swim-throughs that never get old. There’s also plenty of shipwrecks to explore, including the 330 foot Tibbets (Russian built Navy Ship) with some of it’s guns still in place.

Little Cayman has 60 dive sites of its own, including the world-famous Bloody Bay wall… A steep wall that descends several thousand feet that is home to colourful corals, sponges and sea fans. There’s plenty of rays, barracudas, sharks and large fish to see as well – Little Cayman diving is truly a fantastic experience for experienced and beginner divers alike!

For more information on Cayman Brac and Little Cayman dive sites, as well as a listing of boat operators to get you outfitted, click on our Cayman Islands Diving page

Cave and Climb the Bluffs of Cayman Brac

The Brac is well known for it’s amazing caves! There are a number of accessible and impressive caves on the island to explore including Bat Cave, Peter’s Cave, Rebecca’s Cave, Skull Cave, Great Cave and Halfway Ground Cave.

Cayman Brac & Little Cayman are home to great Caribbean adventures, including the Caribbean's best Diving & Rock Climbing, plus great Caving, hiking & cycling.


Prefer to stay on the outside of Cayman Brac’s rocky cliffs, then maybe rock climbing is more your speed. The cliffs at the eastern end of the island seem to be made for Cayman Island rock climbing. There are dozens of routes for expert climbers to explore. With names like Dixon Wall, Neptune’s Lair, North Wall, Love Shack Wall and Tsunami Wall, its a must do for avid rock climbers!

For more information on Cayman Brac and Little Cayman caves and rock climbing, including tour guides to show you “the ropes”, check out our Cayman Islands Caving & Climbing page

Hike Pristine Caribbean Wilderness

It may be hard to believe, but there are more than a dozen short trails on Cayman Brac. While they’re all relatively easy, some of the more challenging ones include the following:

Cayman Brac & Little Cayman are home to great Caribbean adventures, including the Caribbean's best Diving & Rock Climbing, plus great Caving, hiking & cycling.

The 4 mile (6km) long Lighthouse Footpath (AKA The Bluff Trail) pretty much follows the rugged north-east coastline to the lighthouse on the east end of the island. More of a tower than a lighthouse, it stands on the 140 foot (43m) high bluff that is the highest point of the Caymans – Take in the amazing views of the sea towards Cuba.

The mile (2km) long National Trust Parrot Reserve Nature Trail is a short hike that provides the opportunity to potentially see a rare Cayman Brac Parrot. The loop trail goes through a small section of the protected reserve land covering grassed-over farmland, thickets as well as forests where you’ll pass mango trees, cactus and orchids.

The best Little Cayman hiking trails include the Salt Rock Nature Trail which is a 3 mile (5km) round trip requiring a couple of hours to complete. There’s also a good hike between Blossom Village and the north coast where you’ll likely encounter plenty of birds, butterflies, iguanas and orchids.

For more information on Cayman Brac and Little Cayman hiking trails, including guides to help you out, click on our Cayman Islands Hiking page

Cycle Around the Islands, Literally

Cayman Brac’s quiet coastal roads offer amazing sea views and the opportunity to get some really fresh air and exercise! The island’s north and south coastal roads are each approximately 9.5 miles (15 km) long… Plenty of road for you to work up a good sweat.

Cayman Brac & Little Cayman are home to great Caribbean adventures, including the Caribbean's best Diving & Rock Climbing, plus great Caving, hiking & cycling.

Little Cayman has a quiet around-the-island road resulting in a nearly 10 mile (16 km) long circuit with few vehicles and un-ending views of the Caribbean Sea! Not sure if it gets any better than that…

For more information on Cayman Brac and Little Cayman cycling, including bike rental locations, check out our Cayman Islands Cycling page

Have fun out there!

ACT Staff

Once you’ve had your fill of action and want to slow-it-down a bit, check out our recommended Things To Do in Cayman Brac and Little Cayman blog

For an overview of the beautiful and diverse islands that make up the Caymans, click on our Cayman Islands Vacations page