Luxury Anguilla Beachfront RetreatN°001
Anguilla, Anguilla
Private poolHot tubGarden
From $8,455 per night
Thirty-three beaches and the Caribbean's most polished calm
Anguilla is a low, quiet ribbon of coral limestone in the northern Caribbean, ringed by thirty-three beaches of improbably white sand and water in every register of blue. There are no casinos, no cruise ships and no high-rises, only barefoot elegance, celebrated cooking and villas where the pool ends and the beach begins.
- Shoal Bay East and Meads Bay, regularly ranked among the world's finest beaches
- A dining scene of rare depth, from starched-linen restaurants to roadside barbecue
- Boat days to Sandy Island and Prickly Pear Cays for snorkelling and beach lunches
- Boat racing, Anguilla's national sport, at its height during the Summer Festival
- Beachfront and clifftop villas with private pools, staff and concierge service
Known forPowder-white beaches such as Shoal Bay East and Meads Bay, world-class dining, boat racing, laid-back exclusivity
Best time to visitDecember to April for dry high season; late July to early August for the Summer Festival
Nearest airportClayton J. Lloyd (AXA); or St Maarten (SXM) with a short ferry or boat transfer
Ideal forCouples, families and groups who prize beaches, food and unshowy privacy
4 Bedroom Villa Right on a Secluded BeachN°002
Anguilla, Anguilla
Private poolWaterfront
From $8,450 per night
Ocean View Twelve Bedroom Villa in AnguillaN°003
Anguilla, Anguilla
Private poolSea view
From $1,599 per night
LOVELY CARIBBEAN VILLA WITH BEAUTIFUL VIEWSN°004
Anguilla, Anguilla
Private poolSea view
From $1,144 per night
BEAUTIFUL ESTATE NEAR LONG BAY BEACHN°005
Anguilla, Anguilla
Private poolSea view
From $1,144 per night
GORGEOUS 9BR ESTATE IN BARNES BAYN°006
Anguilla, Anguilla
Private poolSea view
From $1,144 per night
8homes available
1–12bedrooms
up to 24guests
8with a pool
Anguilla in pictures
Events not to miss in Anguilla
- March
Moonsplash Music Festival
Founded by Anguillian reggae artist Bankie Banx, this intimate beachfront festival at Rendezvous Bay draws regional and international acts under the full moon. One of the Caribbean's longest-running independent music festivals.
- Easter weekend
Festival del Mar
Island Harbour, Anguilla's fishing village, celebrates the sea with boat races, fishing competitions, crayfish and conch cook-ups and live music over the Easter weekend.
- Late July to early August
Anguilla Summer Festival
The island's carnival: J'ouvert at dawn, costumed parades, calypso and pageants, and the year's most important boat races, including the August Monday contests off Sandy Ground. Anguilla at its most exuberant.
Anguilla through the seasons
- High season (December – April)
Beach days in perfect light
Dry trade-wind weather, every restaurant open and the sea at its clearest; March adds Moonsplash under the full moon at Rendezvous Bay.
- Late spring (May – June)
Quiet luxury, gentler rates
Warm, calm and uncrowded, with the island still fully awake, this is the connoisseur's window for a villa stay.
- Summer (July – August)
Carnival and boat racing
The Summer Festival fills the island with parades, music and the national passion of sloop racing off Sandy Ground.
- Autumn (September – November)
The island exhales
The quietest months, when many kitchens take their annual break; by November Anguilla reopens refreshed for the season ahead.
The Area and Where to Stay
Anguilla is only twenty-six kilometres tip to tip, flat and scrub-covered, which keeps all the drama at the shoreline. The west end concentrates much of the villa scene: Meads Bay and Long Bay offer long, swimmable crescents backed by fine restaurants, while Rendezvous Bay curves for three kilometres with views across to St Martin. Shoal Bay East, in the northeast, is the celebrated postcard, its sandbar shading from white to aquamarine. The Valley, the small capital at the island's centre, handles practicalities, and Crocus Bay's cliffs to its north hide a calm swimming cove and boat departures for Little Bay. Villas here are genuinely beachfront or perched above the water, with pools, staff and concierge care; nothing on the island is more than about twenty minutes' drive away.
Things to Do
Anguilla's genius is subtraction: days organised around which beach, which lunch, which sunset. Snorkel the reef at Shoal Bay East, take the boat from Crocus Bay to Little Bay's cliff-wrapped cove, or charter out to Sandy Island and Prickly Pear Cays, sandbanks with grills and rum bars in the middle of the sea. Boat racing is the national sport, and watching the wooden sloops duel offshore, especially in festival season, is pure Anguilla. There is a Greg Norman-designed championship golf course above Rendezvous Bay, paddleboarding on the calm western bays, and glass-bottom and fishing charters from Sandy Ground. St Martin and St Barts sit close enough for a day trip by boat. The concierge arranges charters, spa therapists at the villa and the tables everyone wants.
Food and Local Flavour
For its size, Anguilla may be the best-fed island in the Caribbean. Its reputation rests on both ends of the spectrum: elegant beachfront dining rooms led by internationally trained chefs, and beloved roadside grills and beach shacks turning out barbecue chicken, ribs and johnnycakes. Crayfish, the local spiny-tailed speciality, appears grilled with lime and butter; conch, snapper and mahi come straight off the boats at Island Harbour. Rum punches and beach bars anchor the afternoons, and festival season adds fish fries and street food across the island. Villa life fits naturally around it: private chefs cook the morning's catch at home, and the concierge books the season's hardest reservations.
When to Visit
December to April is the dry, breezy high season, when the island's restaurants and beach bars are in full voice and the light is at its sharpest; Christmas and New Year book out furthest ahead. May and June are warm, calm and quieter, superb value with almost everything still open. The Summer Festival, from late July into early August, is Anguilla's carnival and the most exuberant week of the year. September and October are the peak of hurricane season, when many restaurants close for annual holidays and the island all but naps; November wakes it gently for the season ahead. Sea temperatures are welcoming year-round.
Getting There
Anguilla's Clayton J. Lloyd International Airport (AXA) receives regional flights and direct services from Miami, with easy connections through San Juan (SJU) and Antigua (ANU). Many travellers instead fly long-haul into St Maarten (SXM) and cross by public ferry from Marigot or by private boat transfer direct from the airport dock, reaching Anguilla in around twenty-five to thirty minutes. On island, a hire car or driver makes beach-hopping effortless, with nowhere more than about twenty minutes away. The concierge coordinates flights, boat transfers, immigration formalities and villa arrival so the crossing feels seamless.