Once you get off the plane on Anguilla it’s almost like someone whispered in your ear to relax. The island is not crowded: no cruise ships, no casinos, nothing of the sort. It’s a nice place to come and relax. Even if the island is pretty busy you can go to a beach and you’re the only one there.
Anguilla has great cuisine from barbecue to the high-end restaurants, but what really makes Anguilla special is its people. When you come to any area you feel like you’re part of the culture. I think that’s what’s really unique about Anguilla. You’re welcomed into local events, you’re welcomed into everything.
Everybody kind of does things together around here. People hang out at the dune quite often with friends. Soon you’ll miss the island sunrise, it’s not an island like in any country. It is very funky, very maritime, and always traditional. The way the skies look is how the Caribbean used to be thirty years ago.
Scilly Cay is a fantastic place to come and spend the day. You have lunch all around, with fruit punches which they are famous for. There is live music on Wednesdays. You can go swimming, snorkeling, you can just about do anything.
To get there, you take a free ferry that will pick you up in the island’s harbor. You get on the pier and wave your hands like an idiot. The crew will see you and send a boat over to get you.
Scilly Cay is real laid-back. There is fantastic food that you can that you can enjoy all day long while you are there.
Anguilla is such a peaceful island, where it’s going to be an easy transition to have someone come in here and really relax. The local Venus spa has some very unique treatments: they have a piña colada pedicure, aqua massage therapy, and they also have a cucumber aloe wrap. It’s for people who have been over exposed to the sun. The locals just like to make people feel better once they leave, and they do!
The Sunset Lounge at the Viceroy Anguilla bar, is the hub of the resort. It’s where people spend most of their time when they’re at the island. The cocktails are famous across the island. Sunset Lounge it is the place that the resort guests go to to capture the sunset. The location looking out over bonds Bay is second to none.
When Johnno’s started, Sandy ground had little or no restaurants at all. Nowadays, Sandy Ground is filled with restaurants. Johnno’s is the oldest one on the beach. They are well-known for steamed fish and fungee. The fungee is made from cornmeal and okras, is the big hit there.
At the Straw Hat restaurant, people will be pretty blown away by the view. It is right on one of the most spectacular beaches, so it’s pretty magical when you step into the place. When you go to a place like Straw Hat, you’ll be so close to the water. The food is precious and they try to cater to everybody and bring everybody in. They have a club sandwich but we also have fresh snapper. They are an unpretentious restaurant on an island that does cater a lot of the time to the rich and famous.
At the Veya restaurant, they try to do food that is inspired by warmer parts of the world with as much local stuff as they can get. Mahi-mahi, snapper, and of course lobster, and occassionally, crayfish when it is available. Most people think of it as an Indonesian treehouse. It kind of feels that way: there’s a 360-degree wraparound veranda and then there’s a central room. That’s where the bar and the lounge is located. Light music is set up there. They have done an awesome job of fusing some of Anguilla’s: culture the music and the food together.
At the Little Bay beach, it’s like a little cove with lots of bird-watching, cliff jumping, snorkeling. It’s everything in one secluded little place. The boat service starts from 9 o’clock in the morning. You can find me the crew under the tree at Coco’s Bay. When you get there, you will be shown the snorkeling areas along the shoreline, and where to find the starfishes. Sometimes you might find sea turtles. This is probably the best beach for swimming on a sunny day. What could be better than taking a private dip with not a lot of people around.
This is paradise, and there’s no place like it.