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Caribbean Travel RoundupNewsletter - Paul Graveline, Editor |
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May 15, 1999 Elodia's On Shoal Bay Try Sunday afternoon at Elodia's Bar and Grill on Shoal Bay . Right on the sand at the most gentle swimming spot along the beach. And great snorkelling just 50 yards to the right. Good tasting beach food, reasonable prices, and live music and dancing on Sundays. The crowd is nice, a mixture of locals, tourists and expats. Currently performing at a reasonable volume are the High Tension Reggae Band with Tap (and Tap's wife Gwen in the kitchen). Of course Elodia's is open on other days too, but the live music adds a special touch. Easy parking. Telephone: 264-497-3363. Click any of these pictures to see the full-blown original. ELODIA'S BEACH BAR & GRILL May 1999 Prices. SANDWICHES: FISH SANDWICH - 9.50 HAMBURGER - 7.00 CHEESEBURGER - 8.00 GRILLED CHEESE SANDWICH - 6.00 HOT DOGS - 5.00 CHICKEN SANDWICH - 8.00 (All Sandwiches served with fries) DESSERTS: ICE CREAM (Assorted Flavours)- 3.00 CHEESE CAKE - 4.00 COFFEE OR TEA - - 1.50 MEALS: B.B.Q. CHICKEN - 8.00 B.B.Q. SPARERIBS - 10.00 COMBO - 12.00 CHICKEN SALAD - 9.00 GARDEN SALAD - 7.00 GRILLED CRAYFISH - 17.00 GRILLED LOBSTER (1.5lbs) - 25.00 SHRIMP - 15.00 GRILLED FISH OF THE DAY - 13.00 GRILLED STEAK (Sirloin- Rib Eye- Tenderloin) - 12.00 PORK - 10.00 PORK KEBAB - 10.00 All main dishes served with Salad, Cole Slaw, Garlic Bread, and Fries or Rice. All prices quoted in U.S. dollars. Good until about December 1, 1999. Directions: from the airport parking lot, take the only exit and turn left, continue straight past Island Car Rental, the National Bank and through the intersection at Albert Lakes Market. Continue straight for about 2 miles through the villages of Stoney Ground and Little Dix, then take a paved left turn down the hill and into Shoal Bay. At the end of the road, 50 yards before the beach, take a right turn on a dirt road, go 200 yards, through the gate for Elodia's and down to the beach parking lot. Sandals and Such Where can you find an art gallery, beach boutique and souvenir store, all in one? Sandals and Such is located in a restored old Anguillian building. She sells a fine selection of sandals, but that is not all. There are also Caribbean gift cards, Haitan Oil Drum art, model sailing ships of the past, Caribbean handicrafts, prints, original art works, wraps, and Haitan dolls. Sandals and Such is open all year, except for September when they buy the new stock. The manager is Graceland Hawley of Sandy Hill, and the owner is Jan Tarbert, who rescued the building from demolition and had it restored. She started in 93, went through Hurricane Luis with the old cottage, and is still going strong. Telephone: 1-264-497-6009. Directions: from the airport parking lot, take the only exit and turn left, then turn left again and drive past the airport, through the roundabout and west down the main island road. Avoid the right turn at the next roundabout and enter South Hill. Go past the Methodist Church, bear left, then right, and watch for Sandals and Such on the right just before the Blowing Point turnoff. If you reach Connors Rent a Car, you went 50 yards too far. Anguilla Questions? Email the Tourist Board at atbtour@anguillanet.com or the Hotel Association at ahta@anguillanet.com Notice: The Anguilla Local News web site is now on "summer schedule", or "island time". This means that we will publish a new issue "not- possibly-more- often-than" once per month. The Valley Methodist Church has services every Sunday at 9am (up Crocus Hill toward Koal Keel restaurant). However, May has 5 Sundays and the service on the last Sunday will be at 6am. Here are some events scheduled for the next few weeks: Direct from Your Jet to Anguilla Did you know you can have the Link ferry pick you up at St. Maarten's Juliana Airport, if you arrive mid-day? When your long flight finally lands in St. Maarten and you get through baggage, customs and immigration, you can sometimes be pretty tired and hot. Why take a long hot taxi ride to Marigot harbour, just to wait for the ferry to Anguilla? Instead, you could just walk across the airport parking lot to Simpson lagoon and catch Link ferry direct! Read all about it on their airport pickup web page , with pictures of exactly what you will see, a small map and everything you need to make your arrival feel familiar. If your flight arrives earlier or later in the day, you can ask them about chartering the Link to pick you up. Updates and Feedback On Wednesday, May 5, 1999, my husband and I were eating dinner at Oliver's . I was looking up the coast in a Northeast direction (I think) when I saw what appeared to be a very large "ball of fire" , or possibly a meteorite coming out of the low level clouds and into the ocean. As it was after dark, between 8 and 9 pm, I had no perspective on how far away this object was, but it did appear rather large. Has anyone else reported seeing a similar object that night? Please respond with any information you have. Thanks, Valerie Roberts More Info On Tropical Construction The Beachshack Tropical Construction web site has been updated with 30 new pictures and notes, covering construction activities since Christmas. Read about bathroom finishing, faux tiles, decorating the porch, air conditioning, Insteel panels, the search for bandwidth, and the uninterruptible solar power at the new Beachtech Technology Center . Then read the other 19 construction reports and visit the tropical building bookstore. Just Pop To It Several people have asked how they can access their email when in Anguilla, or the converse, how to get Anguillanet email when off island? Dave Thomas has written a short explanation: You need to have access to an ISP that operates in your local area. In Anguilla this is Cable and Wireless (1-264-497-3100). Click here for more details on connecting to Cable and Wireless. Many people who travel a lot use IBM.Net, AT&T, Compuserve or AOL, since these providers have access in almost every major city (at least in the USA). In your favorite email softare, such as Microsoft Outlook or Eudora, there is an option to set your POP3, and SMTP mail addresses. You don't need to know what these mean, you just need to know that POP3 is for picking up email and SMTP is for sendng email. Normally these are both set to point at your local provider. In order to send email when you are away from home, you need to change the SMTP address (you will also have to figure out how to logon to the foreign ISP, see link above for Anguilla). 1. The SMTP address needs to be set to the address of the local provider that you logon to... in Anguilla this is mail.anguillanet.com 2. The POP3 address needs to be set to where your email gets picked up. When you are accessing a POP3 "server" from another ISP, you will be asked for your password. Note, it is the password you would use on your home ISP login. Don't forget to change your SMTP address when you return home. There is another approach which avoids changing your software. Use a free email account such as Yahoo. Using Yahoo mail, there is an option to check your external email which will requires you supply the same pop3 information and password as in 2. above. Yahoo remembers this, so each time you want to access your mail you can ask it to check "external" and it will get your email. With this approach you can check your email from any browser, even the one at the library. One last point to watch out for; when you are away, it is suggested that you set the option for deleting your email off. That way when you return home no email will be lost, although you will have to wade through it again. Hope this helps, Dave Thomas
June 13,1999 For the most relaxing vacation of your life, stay at one of our homes, Over the Rainbow or Beyond the Sea. See them on the Web at http://www.woolyknits.com/vi.htm. ** Coral Bay embroidery business soars It's not "so so" business for Marla and Dan McClung's Coral Bay Caribbean Custom Clothing Business. "We've been spending some pretty horrendous hours here," Marla told the Daily News. Buying the business a year ago, they have expanded their working space and added a second embroidery machine to keep up with the demand for customized hats, polo shirts and T-shirts. The designs are generated on a computer, at their shop. The McClungs worked their way to St. John from South Dakota, about seven years ago. ** Animal Care Center looks for land The Animal Care Center is looking for land on which to build a shelter, preferably a site convenient to town but far enough from residential neighborhoods that animal sounds would not disturb neighbors, according to the Internet-based St. John Source. The land would need to be a large enough plot to provide outdoor fenced exercise space, a drop-off area for unwanted animals, and space for a full-time caretaker of the animals and grounds, the report added. VI Web sites: * Caribbean-On-Line: http://www.usvi-on-line.com/barnako/barnako.html * St. John map: http://www.usvi-on-line.com/sj/sjm.shtml * St. John Tradewinds: http://www.tradewinds.vi * St. John Source: http://www.onepaper.com/stjohnvi/?v=d&i=&s=Community%3AServices&p=1324 * Team Virgin Islands America's Cup: http://www.amcup.vi * US Virgin Islands: http://www.usvi.net * Virgin Islands National ParK: www.nps.gov/viis * Virgin Islands Weather: http://www.weather.com/weather/int/cities/VI_St_Thomas.html * WSTA Radio://www.wsta.com * WIVI Radio: http://www.wivi.com Source: http://www.stjohntradewindsnews.com/
Trip April 1999 Anguilla - Cap Juluca, beaches and places to eat Our Flight out from St. Lucia to Anguilla was via Antigua with LIAT. The flight was on time and without any problems. Upon leaving customs we were met at the airport by the Cap Juluca representative who had a taxi waiting for us. Upon arrival at the hotel we were greeted by guest relations and handed rum punches to enjoy during check in. Our Villa was a 1BR Suite with a huge Bedroom that opened to the beach and a large beautiful bathroom - separate shower that led to a private sun bathing area, huge double tub - enclosed toilet and bidet area and dual sinks. We had lunch at their George's Restaurant and it was good $40.00 for 2. Continental Breakfast was served every morning on time on our patio. The Hotel is Great and the service was excellent. Rented a car from Thrifty nice 4WD Jeep type with electric windows etc. @ $ 54/day. Drive on the LEFT. We ate at the following restaurants: Note: lobsters on the Island are not running to well Ripples - Great Coconut Shrimp and Lobster Pasta. Good red house wine. Jackie owns this restaurant. Service was ok. Cost for 2 $ 70.00 Straw Hut - old Smugglers - Great Food and Service. Tuna was great & Crayfish was excellent - Rated top 50 in the world by Conde Nest or Carib Travel. Cost for 2 $ 115.00 Trattoria - old Paradise Cove in Shoal Bay West - Great Northern Italian Food. Had lunch here cost $ 52.00 for 2. Service was Great. Barrel Stay - Food and service was good. Lobster was so, so see note above. Beaches - Shoal Bay be prepared to rent a chair $ 3 to $ 4 each Great Beach. The hotels beach is also one of the nicest plus they serve drinks, cold towels & afternoon sherbet. Scuba Diving - I tried to contact Shoal Bay divers but they never answered any of my e-mails and when I called them they told me their new dive boat was out of the water. Anguillian Divers - Meads Bay - 264-497-4750 Anne was the divemaster for our two tank dive $ 70. each. Wreck first dive with a reef second. Great Diving and friendly people. Stephanie works the office and does weekend dives. Christopher also came along on a dive. They are French buts speak Great English and are very friendly. Manta Ray swam right under us and let us pet her/him. This Island has great, very friendly people and they are all very helpful with answering a question. The beaches and restaurants are great.
Trip 4/99 The Almost Complete Guide to Antigua: Easter 1999 Since we began planning for our spring family trip later than normal, our choices were rather limited. We wanted someplace new, but nice; exotic, yet not too third world. Antigua seemed like a logical choice. The official name of the country is Antigua and Barbuda. While Barbuda certainly has its charms, about 99% of the country's visitors never leave the bigger island of Antigua (pronounced An-TEEG- ah). Charter Air Travel: somewhere between coach class and a cattle truck We booked a package with Apple Vacations, flying out of Chicago on Ryan Airlines. We have generally had good luck with Apple, but this trip started off a little shaky. After a long delay on the ground in Chicago, we arrived about an hour late in St. Thomas to drop off some folks going to the Virgin Islands. As we deplaned to stretch our legs, we were informed there would be a four -hour delay while the crew rested before taking us to Antigua. To help improve our spirits, they gave us a free lunch and soft drinks at the Emerald Beach resort, a few minutes from the airport. We arrived in Antigua about 10PM—five hours late! Antigua customs was interminable. Why can't people use passports instead of fumbling through birth certificates and drivers licenses when they travel? The cab ride was uneventful except for the driver listening to an Easter Sunday service on the radio. We never knew "Now Let the Vaults of Heaven Resound" had 25 verses. It was three times longer than "Hey Jude." Rex Halcyon Cove: it's seen better days We stayed at the Rex Halcyon Cove resort on Dickinson Bay, which is located on the northwest corner of the island, between the airport and the city of St. John's. The Halcyon is an older facility, but still in reasonably good shape, featuring late 60's architecture in most of the sprawling layout. Time-share units are more modern than the standard rooms. We reserved adjoining pool view rooms, but were given two adjacent beachfront units. We're still not sure if this was an upgrade or downgrade. The views were great and we were literally 10 steps from the sand. But the rooms were small and Spartan with very old bathrooms. It took four days to replace our dead telephone. Both rooms had trouble with the sliding doors coming off the tracks. Our toilet chain broke several times before it was replaced. Our boys saw a rat in their room. On the plus side, we had functioning air conditioning, plenty of hot water and satellite TV. The Halcyon is located at the north end of Dickinson Bay. It's the last property in a long string of resorts and condominiums. The beach is blocked on the north by a high cliff overlooking the hotel. Sandals is the immediate neighbor to the south. Between the Halcyon and Sandals are a number of water sports operations, including Wave Runners, Sunfish sailboats, sea kayaks, parasailing and water skiing. Dive Antigua operates from a small building between the cliff and last unit of the Halcyon. The beach was rather narrow, but nicely maintained. The Halcyon crew kept it cleaner than the one at Sandals. Huge piles of seaweed had to b e removed each morning. The swimming area is rather small since there is so much boat traffic. Snorkeling from the beach is poor due to the sand bottom and heavy traffic. We did not choose the all-inclusive plan. I'd rather not travel thousands of miles to a new country and eat every meal in the same place. We opted for a $100 per person meal/drink credit, which covered about half of our breakfast, snack and drink tab. We ate all but one evening meal outside the hotel. The breakfast buffet at the main dining room was OK, but not great—plenty of food, but not much variety. Service was excellent though. If we stayed at the hotel for the afternoon, we usually had a sandwich and salad from the beach side grill. Again, it was OK, but not great or much of a value. The one hotel dinner we chose was Caribbean Night. They served local dishes such as "fungi", "pepperpot" and salt cod. I was hoping for lobster, conch and fresh fish, but most of the food was good. A steel band entertained us as we dined under the stars. Overall, a pleasant evening. The other restaurant associated with the Halcyon is the Warri Pier, a long narrow building at the end of a very long, covered pier. We checked this place out several times and it seemed nearly deserted. However, other guests said the food and service were good. When we visited, there were only two other tables occupied. The food was good, but the wait staff was a little stuffy—the only Antiguans we met who were not friendly. Eating Out: fine dining for a price Be prepared to spend about 50% more than at a comparable restaurant in the States. However, being able to dine under the stars while you listen to a steel drum band has to be worth something extra. The following restaurants were very good, and I'd recommend them for the great food and friendly service. For a family of four, with one alcoholic drink per adult/one soft drink per child and no desserts or appetizers, the dinners ranged from $110 to $130 US. This includes the 7% Antigua tax, but not the tip. Home—a cozy, yet elegant restaurant in an old house on a quiet side street in St. John's. The best food we had on the island. Impeccable service. Coconut Grove—a few hundred yards south of Sandals, right on the beach. Wonderful food and lovely view of the sunset. Warri Pier—a low, narrow restaurant located at the end of a long, covered dock at the Rex Halcyon Cove resort. Great views of the ocean all around. Good food and competent wait staff, although they seemed a little stuffier than other restaurants. Miller's -by-the-Sea—located at the end of a long winding road at Fort James, between St. John's and Dickinson Bay. Huge outdoor eating area. The band area seemed miles away from our table. Food and service both excellent. Spinnakers—located on the beach between Sandals and Coconut Grove. The quality of service depends on when the manager is working. The live entertainment promised the evening we dined did not arrive. We had a barbecue buffet, which was pretty good. Nice view of the ocean. Le Bistro --a charming French country atmosphere with a patio-like dining room. The menu is extensive and everything is wonderful. Highly recommended. Shopping: not ready for prime time Don't expect the variety or bargains you'd find in St. Thomas. The two main shopping areas are Heritage Quay and Redcliffe Quay. The latter is a charming reconstruction of the old harbor where slave ships docked. A new three-story vendor mall is being constructed in Heritage Quay, which should greatly increase the shopping opportunities. In addition to the usual T-shirts (the same five basic designs can be found in over 300 shops and stands), you might find a few bargains in the jewelry stores. For example, Citizen watches were 45% cheaper than US retail prices. St. John's Cathedral: heavenly views inside and out The most prominent landmark in St. John's is a 19th century Anglican cathedral. This beautiful old church dominates the hillside south of the tourist area and provides a great view of the town. The inside is finished in dark pine, from the pews to the vaulted ceilings. Outside the cathedral, early English settlers rest in the church cemetery. Some graves date back to the 17th century. Damaged by earthquakes, hurricanes and old age, the cathedral is in need of major repairs. If you visit, please leave a donation for the restoration effort. Museum: relive 500 years in 30 minutes As long as you're in town, take a few minutes to check out the Museum of Antigua and Barbuda. It only takes about 30 minutes to get a good overview of island history from the Arawak Indians through slavery and colonial times to the modern era. Even our jaded teenage sons found this interesting. Cruise Ships: if it's crowded, it must be Thursday Antigua has become a popular port of call. Most the ships arrive on Thursday so if you want to avoid crowded shops, try another day. Another note of warning: we noticed that our hotel beach and pool were especially crowded one day. Every chair was taken. By evening, the crowd was gone. It seems our hotel was a day trip destination for the cruise ship folks. If your hotel has a similar arrangement, find out when the cruisers will arrive and plan your island tour or sailing trip for that day. Casinos: not a good bet Las Vegas has nothing to worry about. In fact, the casinos in Antigua are slightly less luxurious than the Denny's in Boulder City, Nevada. Slots are very tight. In the States, they could be used as parking meters. I wagered all the money I had left in the airport casino as we waited for the flight home. I lost it all. It's amazing how fast you can go through $2. Scuba Diving: a nice diversion, not a destination There are several scuba diving operations on the island. We chose Dive Antigua since it was a 50-yard walk from our hotel room. They have two rather ancient dive boats, but they are equipped with radio and GPS. Dive master "Big John" Birk offers 30 years of experience and jokes that are even older. He does an excellent job of guiding groups and can make the most insignificant looking sea creature seem interesting. We dove Cade's Reef, a nine-mile long coral reef, off the southwest coast of the island. Compared to Cayman and Cozumel wall dives, there's no structure to speak of—mostly a rolling sand-covered seabed with a few small reef fish. Vis was about 50-60 feet. The first dive was 50 feet; the second was 40. A pleasant, but far from spectacular dive site. Catamaran Cruise: go for the sun and sailing, forget the snorkeling We could chose from three catamarans—Kokomo, Wadadli and Treasure Island. We chose the Treasure Island Caribbean Queen for a cruise to Bird Island. Since we were the last pickup, we boarded about two hours after the first passengers. Finding a space to sit, let alone stretching out, was not easy. A steel band played for most of voyage. The "William Tell Overture" was the crowd favorite. We cruised along the north shore of Antigua, past Long Island and Jumby Bay Resort. We also spotted Robin Leach's private getaway. The package included a picnic lunch on Great Bird Island and snorkeling off the beach. The food was OK and there was plenty of Wadadli beer and rum punch. We climbed a rocky hill and were greeted by a great view of the small islands around Bird Island on the Caribbean side and the dark blue Atlantic on the other side. Spectacular! When we returned from our nature hike, we found a few of the "larger" ladies on the beach had removed their tops, which raised the questions--why here, why now and why you? Snorkeling was a huge disappointment here. Almost all the coral had died off. The seabed was littered with dead white fragments. It was easy to see why. Even after warnings not to touch the coral, several people were using the few remaining brain coral heads as stepping- stones. With most of the coral dead, we didn't see many fish: just a few small barracuda, some tiny basslets, a few sergeant majors. A good part of the snorkeling area was very shallow and covered with turtle grass. The water was quite murky and the current was strong swimming back to the beach. I trust there are better snorkeling spots around Antigua. Due to lack of wind, we motored back. Too bad we couldn't unfurl the spinnaker. The rum and beer flowed freely and the group was much looser. A limbo contest and dancing in the cabin livened up the crowd even more, making the ride back much shorter. Nelson's Dockyard/English Harbour: a quick trip back to the 18th century Antigua was homeport for Admiral Horratio Nelson's fleet in the 1700s. Many of the original buildings of Nelson's Dockyard have been restored. It's still a working boatyard, and being next to busy English Harbour, it's quite an active place. The $5 admission fee is being used to continue restoration and repair damage from the Hurricane Georges in 1998. Keep your receipt. You'll need it if you visit Shirley Heights. Shirley Heights: high times and gorgeous views The long winding road to the top of Shirley Heights takes you past the ruins of the British Navy buildings. They weren't quite ruined until Hurricane Georges finished the job. It will be years before they can raise the funds to restore these historical buildings. There are two main viewpoints on Shirley Heights. Our first stop overlooked St. James Club as well as Eric Clapton's three large houses and sailboat. The other vantage point is from the restaurant, which overlooks English Harbour and Nelson's Dockyard. Arguably, this is the most photographed scene in the Caribbean. Although the clouds hung low, it was a spectacular sight. Each Sunday and Thursday, the restaurant is host to a huge party. It begins with a steel band early in the evening and gets hotter with a local reggae band that jams into the night. It's a great way to toast the sunset and catch a case of "island fever." Since the rum punches can really sneak up on you, it's recommended you take a cab to avoid a long, very dark, winding trek down the hill after the party. Jolly Roger Cruise: break out the rum! Speaking of parties, the other big gig on the island is a floating festival called the Jolly Roger cruise. Like the pirate ships of old, the grog flows freely and the crew is rowdy. Several people told us, this cruise is not recommended for children. Since my teenage boys are sensitive to the "do-as-I-say-not-as-I-do" attitudes of adults, we thought we'd skip the debauchery. Saturday night is especially popular with the local people, who we were told, can show the tourists a thing or two about having fun. Cricket: the Empire strikes back Mention cricket and I think of two things: that annoying bug in Pinocchio and Connie Stevens on "Hawaiian Eye." But to anyone in the British Commonwealth, cricket is Major League Baseball, the NFL and NBA rolled into one national passion. The colonial days are long over, however the Antiguans retained two of the most enduring traditions of English culture: cricket and civility. Fortunately, they chose not to carry on British dental hygiene and cuisine. We were fortunate to visit during the local cricket world's most exiting time of the last four years: a five-day test match between Australia and West Indies. The whole island was abuzz. Every cab driver, bartender, and waiter was tuned in to round- the-clock radio coverage. Every TV was set to live reports, previews and recaps. Our hotel was host to both teams and we could talk to several players. Since my cricket knowledge is limited to "wicket, bat and ball," I couldn't offer much except "good luck today." A very large tour group of Aussies also stayed at the hotel. They were even more enthusiastic about cricket. They played cricket on the beach, talked cricket at dinner and celebrated like Bronco fans after the Super Bowl when their beloved team kept the coveted Frank Worrel trophy. I overhead an Antiguan talking about a guy who "scored three maidens and did a good job of protecting his wicket." I thought he was describing Bill Clinton, but it was cricket lingo. He tried to explain the basics of the game. Like baseball, a pitcher, called a "bowler", heaves the ball (a wicked one hopper) to knock a "bail" off the top of three upright sticks called a "wicket." A batsman tries to smack the ball before it hits the wicket. If he misses and the ball knocks the bail off, he is out. So far so good. The rest of the game 's finer points such as "overs" and "silly mid-ons" were lost on me. However, I learned you can trail by 100 runs and still have a chance to win. A Test Match takes five days. A single player can score 1000 runs in a Match. Maybe this astronomical scoring system is designed to compensate for all those boring 0-0 soccer games. I did some further research and found that, at least in Antigua, your ticket to the match also covers entertainment by a steel band, a comedian who continually taunts the other team, and best of all, unlimited supplies of beer. Now I'm starting to get it. It's Mardi Gras, Christmas and the Super Bowl combined into one event. Before you dismiss cricket as another silly English affectation, think about our sports. Could you explain the infield fly rule to a foreigner? Or describe why the prevent defense neither prevents nor defends? At least with cricket, the players looked like regular humans, not 7' 5" circus freaks or 350-lb. steroid-crazed junkies. Driving: not for the faint of heart To visitors, driving in Antigua seems like the Long Beach Grand Prix on a two-way street. If you'd rather not dodge potholes, goats, construction trucks and maniac cabbies--while trying to remember to drive on the right side of the road--you might consider taking a cab. Once you are outside of St. John's, driving is much less congested, but can be more confusing since there are no road signs. Be sure to use a detailed map and don't be afraid to ask directions. (Guys, better let your wife drive if you want to get anywhere.) Cabs: see the island through the eyes of a local driver One of the best ways to see the island is to hire a cab for the day. Although tour companies will quote a fixed rate, the fee is very negotiable. Our favorite driver, named "Business", had a new comfortable air-conditioned mini bus. Because he picked up a couple more passengers for a short ride, he knocked about $20 bucks off our fee. As a lifetime Antigua resident, Business provided a lot of interesting information on the island and its history. It seemed he knew everyone on the island and greeted each one with beep of the horn. I'm sure his horn button will wear out long before his tires. My wife asked him, "Since you're so well known, maybe you should run for office." I loved his reply, "Why ruin my reputation?" People of Antigua: the island's real treasure We found the people of Antigua to be generally friendly and helpful. Almost everyone asked how we liked their island and if we would come back. True, we only talked to people connected to tourism, but they seemed genuinely cordial. Some people on other islands, which are equally dependent on tourists, were not as warm as the Antiguans. Even the beach vendors are polite and quietly go away if there's no interest. The hotel staff was courteous, responsive and usually cheerful (especially when the West Indies cricket team was winning). Overall view: do it again but differently We saw and did a lot, but only scratched the surface. I would go back to Antigua, but I would probably do some things differently. I might stay at a different resort on a less crowded beach. I would rent a car or jeep and check out some of the 365 beaches around the island. I would spend more time on and under the water than shopping and sightseeing. Antigua is not a lush tropical island like Jamaica or St. Lucia. The snorkeling and scuba diving are not as good as Grand Cayman or Cozumel. And the shopping is not even close to St. Thomas or Cancun. However, it you want a little bit of everything, including friendly people, nice beaches and a little colonial history, Antigua is a great choice.
Trip May 11-18, 1999 We just returned from Paradise Island where we spent 7 days at the Atlantis Coral Towers. The Atlantis was spectacular! The waterscape and The Dig was a sight to see! We were treated exceptionally well at the Atlantis and had no trouble with overbooking as I was afraid of after seeing some post on the internet. After considerable thought and research I had decided not to go with the meal plan. For my wife and I this turned out to be a good choice as the meal plan I was considering was $75 per person per day and we never spent $150 eating. If you would like to try all the restaurants at the Atlantis the meal plan may be good for you and others have posted good comments about this. We did eat at the Atlantis a few time and enjoyed Seagrapes and their buffet. We also enjoyed burgers at Sharkbites around the pools and the Atlas Bar and Grill located just off the Casino. We drank and danced at Dragons in the Casino and enjoyed a great group, The Baha- Men. We also found Fathoms to be nice with a great view of the marine life to be found in The Dig which can be entered from outside or from Fathoms itself. Fathoms is expensive but the food was good. We also ate at The Poop Deck and the prices were not unreasonable and well worth every penny! A taxi from the Atlantis for 4 cost us $3 apiece each way and the toll was added on the return trip. In Nassau we really enjoyed a nice lunch at The Iguana (I think? sorry) which is upstairs about mid ways on Bay Street. The best place we found was Anthony's Caribbean Grill across the street from the Coral Towers and very comfortable walking distance. The prices were very reasonable and the we found the food to be very good. Burgers were about $8 and were huge and came with waffle fries and plenty of them. The other couple with us really enjoyed the baby back ribs and after the first time they just split one order (two good size racks with one order) and ordered a side potato for the second person. My wife and I had lobster the last night and it was $27 apiece and was really good. We could eat at Anthony's for less than $50 for two generally. The highlight of this trip was the Flying Cloud Catamaran cruise to Rose Island and snorkeling. This was my first time snorkeling and I am now addicted! We took some underwater cameras and if the photos turn out good I will post them on the net for others to see. We also went on the Barefoot Sailing Cruise to Rose Island where we snorkeled and had lunch. It was okay but was not the Flying Cloud. The Flying Cloud was a lot of fun to boot, the crew is wonderful and we danced on the boat all the way back to the harbour. We strolled over to Paradise Beach just north of the Atlantis and found the MTV crew filming there. A security guard told me that they were there for 6 months shooting music videos and they have mics set up along the beach. We were also somewhat surprised to find nude sunbathers on Paradise Beach. Overall the trip was wonderful as expected just too short, of course. I also read that a high speed ferry would start service to Eleuthra on July 5 and the trip would take 1 1/2 hours and this should be a nice trip to take. It also goes to Exuma and Governors Harbour I think. If someone tries this please let us know how it was. All for now and will add as I think of something, and will be glad to answer questions if I can. This was our 2nd trip and looking forward to the 3rd!
My husband and I set out for our fifth visit to Club Med Paradise Island in June 1999. Our last visit was in November 1997. This trip report will just note my random thoughts and impressions in no particular order. This is not a formal trip report, but more of an update on changes to the village. The Continental Connection Nightmare We flew the Chicago/Fort Lauderdale leg first class on United-no problems or delays. We elected to fly from Fort Lauderdale directly onto Paradise Island, rather than Nassau. We wanted to reduce the driving time and the time spent standing in line for customs. Our only option was Continental Connection, which is Gulfstream managed by Continental. Without getting into every agonizing detail, let me just say our inbound flight was delayed 1-½ hours due to mechanical problems. Interestingly, the Continental representatives continued to announce we would be boarding in "10 minutes" although there was no plane in sight. Our outbound flight was delayed 3-½ hours and we would have missed our connecting flight so we opted to stay an extra night at Club Med rather than sitting at the airport for an entire afternoon and overnighting in Fort Lauderdale anyway. We had to have Continental rebook our United flight for the following day. And of course, Continental screwed that up and the reservation never went through to United and they had no record of us being rebooked on another flight. The Paradise Island airport was chaotic and passengers were extremely frustrated. Think twice before making plans to fly into the Paradise Island airport on Continental Connection! The Atlantis Monstrosity So we leave the Paradise Island airport and begin the five-minute drive to Club Med. We had last been to Paradise just as Atlantis was beginning its expansion. I was horrified at the result. They ripped down all the trees and put up a concrete underpass and a hideous pink monstrosity that belongs in Las Vegas and not on a small Bahamian island. I cannot tell you how stunned we were to see how Atlantis ruined the island. Right then, I vowed not to spend one dime on their property. Fortunately, Atlantis has not really affected the Club Med village in any way. The only real change is when you walk out to the tennis courts you see all concrete and parking lots when you used to hear birds and see a forest. The Club Med beach is still uncrowded and quiet, thankfully. Clientele We knew there was trouble when we drove up to Club Med and saw a table for "MTV auditions". Then we pull into the village and there were gaggles of 16 and 17-year old girls running around in Birkenstocks. Yes, you guessed it, MTV had invaded Paradise and our village was overrun with American high school kids. I purposefully scheduled our visit to ensure we did not hit any Spring Breakers and this was what I got instead. Although, honestly, the situation could have been a lot worse. The kids were well behaved and not completely wasted as you might expect. Worse were the MTV employees staying at the village. Imagine 40-year- old New Yorkers trying to act like 21-year-olds and you get the picture. The G.O.'s hated them and we heard one story about them checking in and screaming so much at the welcoming G.O. that she burst into tears. But even more ominous was the presence of lots of babies and kids. I mean lots, where you go into dinner and there are strollers lined up outside. Where the nightclub at midnight is filled with toddlers running around the dance floor. We spoke with many repeat guests who said they are not returning to Paradise due to the large number of kids there now. NOTE TO CLUB MED: you had better remedy this situation now or this will be your downfall! Ban children from certain villages and clarify your marketing strategy for each village. In addition, a minimum age of 18 would be nice to eliminate the unchaperoned high school kids. So between screeching toddlers and high school kids in packs of 20 we were hard pressed to find unencumbered adults to talk to at meals. Cutbacks at Club Med Club Med has cut back a lot to reduce costs and paint a rosier financial picture for its stockholders. The number of G.O.'s has been drastically reduced. This is not necessarily a bad thing, but it is kind of weird. No dining room hostesses anymore, although the Bahamian dining room staff will seat you if they see you looking lost. The Harborside restaurant was closed permanently so Club Med did not have to staff it. Many of the repeat guests were very upset about this. Harborside was a beautiful place to have dinner and the food was always great there. Club Med has also shut down the Grayleath "Ernest" Bar during the day so if you want a drink on the beach you have to walk 15 minutes to the main bar. They have also ended late breakfast at Grayleath. Moreover, the quality and variety of food at Grayleath has greatly reduced since our last visit in 1997. On our last visit, they had six or seven menu items, and one was always lobster. Now they have three (and one was spaghetti!). The menu said they had lobster available for a $25 surcharge, but when I ordered it my server said you had to pre-order it ahead of time. When?? So I ordered the grouper and was served salmon instead (although salmon was not even on the menu). The buffets in the main dining room have been scaled way back from the old days. I always found something to eat, but the limited selection was kind of a shock. One thing Club Med has added is the availability of fresh seafood. We had crab legs on a few occasions and they also served fresh marlin, grouper, etc. Many repeat guests were griping about the changes to the restaurants and food. Interestingly, Club Med makes cutbacks in its guest services, but elects not to cut back the inane shows, costumes, and sets. NOTE TO CLUB MED: upgrade the dining and bar service and raise the nightly rate instead! Hey, I am not a Harvard MBA, but if 16 year olds can afford to go, maybe you ought to rethink the pricing. Bar Coupon Foolishness In 1997, the village was using the bar bead system. However, you could also use a village credit card to sign drinks to your room. Now they have eliminated the bar beads and have switched to coupons. But they have also eliminated the use of the credit cards so you are forced to use coupons. Club Med had a better audit trail using the credit card system, so I am not sure why the village eliminated this payment option. Maybe they did not want to pay a G.O. to reconcile the accounts. But interestingly, you can buy a coupon book at Grayleath using the credit card and then pay for the drinks using the coupons. Is this complete idiocy or what? NOTE TO CLUB MED: reinstate the credit card system. You are not fooling us with the funny money-we know drinks are over $5. ATP Tennis Program Club Med has added an intensive tennis program for additional cost called the ATP program. This program is three hours per day and costs $150 for three days. The program is offered under the auspices of the ATP tour, and they have two levels-one for advanced payers and one for intermediates. The Club Med representative on the 800 number told us that the program was offered in 1-½ hour increments in the morning and afternoon. Wrong! The program was three hours straight through from 8- 11 a.m. This was brutal, and scared many the guests off. Our advanced group consisted of three people working with one pro, and then there was an ATP (read: non-G.O.) supervisor floating between the two courts giving advice. This worked out great, since all the advanced players in the group were truly advanced, and we got a lot of individual attention. Our G.O. mentioned that in previous weeks the self-described "advanced" players could not even hit the ball over the net. The tennis G.O.'s were terrific during our stay. They worked hard and genuinely wanted to see us improve. I got a lot out of the ATP program, but the regular drills were fun as well. I also took a couple private lessons from the ATP pro ($40 for 45 minutes). The changes Club Med has made to the tennis program at Paradise have been great and, again, I would rather pay more and get a better level of service and instruction. Club Med Rumor Mill I heard that Atlantis is still making overtures to buy the Club Med property. I also heard that Club Med will be opening five new villages in 2000: one in Hawaii, one in Canada (for skiing and mountain biking), one in Japan, and two more in places I cannot recall. Dining Out We went out for dinner to The Poop Deck at the Nassau Marina. The open-air restaurant is on the second floor and overlooks the boats. Service was excellent, seafood was fresh, and portions were plentiful. I ordered lobster tail and my husband had cracked conch. I think we spent just over $100 U.S. including wine, soup, coffee drinks, and dessert. Summary Since I have been to the Paradise Island village five times, obviously I am a fan. I will not be returning to this resort if Club Med continues to encourage families to take over the village. It really detracts from the atmosphere of the resort, which used to consist of adults: serious tennis players, golfers, and honeymooners. Now it is a weird, uncomfortable mix. The only thing that would make me return is the ATP tennis program, but even so I would likely only go for the three days and then leave.
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