English Harbour, Antigua

Photo: South Point Antigua

There’s one spot you always go on Antigua. It’s Nelson’s Dockyard National Park. It doesn’t matter where you are on the island. It doesn’t matter at which resort you’re staying either. You always head to the UNESCO World Heritage Site, specifically Shirley Heights’ party, on Sunday night. The view of English Harbour, steel-drum bands, barbecue food, and rum punches make it the perfect spot to watch the sunset.

It’s quite a trek sometimes. The journey there—when you’re giddy with excitement—isn’t bad. But the dark trip back to your resort is never fun. So, for the first time, you’re staying within walking distance of the restored military lookout and gun battery. English Harbour is your new home.

English Harbour lies on the southern coast of Antigua. The deepwater harbor is one of the Caribbean’s most popular boating centers. Luxurious yachts, about which you’ll surely dream, dock here all winter. Beautiful beaches—Antigua is known for having 365 of them—line the water. While the green Shekerley Mountains stand guard to the west. It’s a stunning spot.

Photo: South Point Antigua

It’s a great location for a hotel, too. South Point sits on Falmouth Harbour, a horseshoe-shaped bay on the eastern edge of English Harbour. Its colonial-style buildings, which are no more than three stories tall, are tucked among palm trees on the bay’s southern shore. A private jetty and a white-sand beach line the water. The former leads to a freshwater pool, while the latter is littered with sunbeds and lounge areas.

Maia is also along the water. The sleek restaurant occupies a pier over the sea. Tables, chairs, and hurricane lanterns are scattered across its wooden deck. Add local ingredients (sorrel and soursop), freshly caught seafood (Barbudan spiny lobster), and an uninterrupted sunset view for one of the most romantic spots on the island.

So the hotel’s grounds were obviously well-conceived. Can the same be said for the interior? There are only 23 rooms at South Point. Each of them is an industrial-chic suite with either one or two bedrooms. They feature full kitchens (stainless-steel appliances and Italian fixtures), massive bathrooms (huge walk-in showers and closets), and patios or balconies with ocean views. Thoughtful extras (citronella candles and flashlights) accompany beauty (Malin+Goetz products) and tech (Bose speakers) amenities. While Nelson’s Dockyard and Shirley Heights—the spots that drew you to the south shore in the first place—are just a short walk away.  You already know that you’ll be back.

Advertisement

One thought on “English Harbour, Antigua

Leave a Reply

Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in:

WordPress.com Logo

You are commenting using your WordPress.com account. Log Out /  Change )

Facebook photo

You are commenting using your Facebook account. Log Out /  Change )

Connecting to %s

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.