Two very different islands in one trip — lively harbours and trade winds on Antigua, empty beaches on Barbuda, 30 nautical miles north.
Sailing conditions
Antigua’s trade winds are consistent and well suited to sailing, with Falmouth and English Harbour on the south coast serving as the main hub for yachts. The crossing to Barbuda is more open water than island-hopping in Antigua itself, so it’s usually planned as a dedicated passage with an eye on the weather window, rather than a quick hop between anchorages.
On the water and on shore
Barbuda’s flat waters and steady wind make it a good spot for kitesurfing, and its Codrington Lagoon — a national park and one of the Caribbean’s largest frigate bird sanctuaries — is worth the visit for the wildlife rather than the diving. For that, Cades Reef off Antigua’s west coast is the one to build a stop around — a protected reef and the island’s best spot for snorkelling and diving. North Sound and Green Island on the east coast are worth the detour too, for their own scatter of small islands and a popular anchorage. Jolly Harbour has a beach and marina worth building into a day, and English Harbour — home to the historic Nelson’s Dockyard — is the natural place to end the day with a drink and watch the sunset.
Chartering Antigua and Barbuda with LV
We plan itineraries around the two islands’ very different characters — Antigua’s harbours and nightlife against Barbuda’s isolation — and around the realities of the crossing between them, so the route, yacht and crew all match what you actually want from the trip.
