Antigua y Barbuda Frequently Asked Questions

We recommend a week. Seven days is enough to circle Antigua at an unhurried pace — the south coast and Nelson's Dockyard, the Cades Reef snorkel, the quiet west-coast bays, the North Sound, and the reef-protected east coast at Green Island and Nonsuch Bay — without ever making a long passage. A week is also the minimum for the two marquee extensions. Adding Barbuda's pink sand and frigate sanctuary (a ~30-nautical-mile crossing north) or Montserrat's volcano and buried capital (a ~30-mile crossing southwest) each fits inside seven days, but only one at a time — they lie in opposite directions. Guests who want both, or a more relaxed pace around either, are better on a ten-day charter. Five-day trips work in shoulder season for a focused south-and-east loop. We walk through the right pacing with you before booking.

Included: a professional crew (typically captain and chef, with a stewardess on larger yachts), all meals and a standard bar (beer, wine, and spirits), water sports equipment (paddleboards, snorkel gear, kayaks; some yachts add e-foils, jet skis, or scuba), fuel for normal cruising, linens, and towels. Caribbean crewed catamarans and sailing yachts charter all-inclusive — the base weekly rate covers the boat and the week. Not included: crew gratuity (customary at 15-20% of the base rate, paid to the captain at the end of the week), any marina or dockage fees beyond customary stops, onshore dining (Shirley Heights, Catherine's Café, the dockyard restaurants), the small Antigua departure sea tax, and — on a charter that adds Montserrat — the foreign clearance and the guided volcano-observatory tour. Some larger motor yachts run plus-expenses (APA) instead of all-inclusive; we tell you which model a given yacht uses before you book.

Antigua sails. Where the BVI is a series of short, line-of-sight hops in protected water, Antigua mixes calm anchorages with genuine open-water reaches in steady 15-25 knot trades — it's the Caribbean's sailing capital, home to Antigua Sailing Week and the Classic Yacht Regatta. If you want the week to feel like real sailing, this is the island. It also has history the BVI can't match: Nelson's Dockyard at English Harbour is the only continuously working Georgian naval dockyard left in the world, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. And it's easier to reach — V.C. Bird International takes nonstop flights from New York, Miami, Atlanta, and Newark, where the BVI requires a connection through San Juan or St. Thomas. The trade-off is that Antigua rewards a little more comfort under sail; for a first charter that wants only flat-water, line-of-sight days, the BVI is gentler.

Yes — one of them. Barbuda is the natural extension: a ~30-nautical-mile crossing north to a fifteen-mile beach of empty pink sand and the Codrington Lagoon Frigate Bird Sanctuary, one of the largest frigate colonies in the world. Because Antigua and Barbuda are a single country, there's no foreign clearance — it's the easiest marquee day a 7-day charter can add. Montserrat is the other direction — a ~30-mile crossing southwest to an active volcano and the capital, Plymouth, which it buried in ash in 1997. You sail past the exclusion zone and take a guided tour to the volcano observatory; it's extraordinary, but it's weather-dependent (the anchorage is exposed), a separate British clearance, and not a beach stop. Barbuda lies north and Montserrat southwest, so a single week realistically does one. Guests who want both should plan ten days. Your captain commits to either crossing only in the right weather window.

December through April is the season. Trade winds run a dependable 15-25 knots, daytime highs sit in the low-to-mid 80s, and rain is rare. Christmas and New Year book first. The calendar climaxes in mid-to-late April with two of the great events in world sailing: the Antigua Classic Yacht Regatta (classic schooners, ketches, and J-Class yachts) and Antigua Sailing Week, when English and Falmouth Harbours fill with the largest gathering of yachts in the eastern Caribbean. It's a spectacular time to be on the water, but charter inventory for those weeks goes 9 to 12 months ahead — book early. Early May, June, and the back half of November are the value windows: slightly softer trades, fewer boats, and rates 15-25% below peak, with Barbuda's beaches at their emptiest.

V.C. Bird International Airport (ANU) is the gateway, and it's one of Antigua's quiet advantages. Year-round nonstop flights operate from New York (JFK), Miami, Atlanta, and Newark, with seasonal service from Charlotte and from London and Toronto — US East Coast flights run about four hours. You step off one plane and onto the boat the same afternoon, which the BVI can't offer. Most crewed charters embark at Nelson's Dockyard or Falmouth Harbour on the south coast (about a 40-45 minute transfer from ANU) or at Jolly Harbour on the west coast (about 30 minutes, the closest base to the airport). The yacht meets you wherever suits your itinerary and flights, and your captain handles all customs and immigration paperwork — guests just need a valid passport. We arrange the private transfer in advance.