Our first sailing trip in Antigua was the ‘Island Fever’ one, organised by St James’s Club on their Catamaran, and we actually preferred it to our trip to Barbuda! C and I both had so much fun on the Island Fever trip, and think it’s well worth the money (also it’s way cheaper than a lot of the boat trips in Antigua). We set off around 1pm in the afternoon from the jetty at St James’s, and before we knew it we were in the Atlantic Ocean rocking about in the waves, drinking cans of ginger ale to make sure we didn’t get seasick.
We sailed out into the ocean and then tacked back around towards the island so we didn’t enter into the ‘no-go zone’. Basically we couldn’t sail straight up the coast because of the wind direction, otherwise the catamaran would literally be stuck and wouldn’t go anywhere, so sailing out then tacking back around and sailing back diagonally was the only way to go. I bet you didn’t know that I used to sail when I was at school in Australia 😉 haha! Three times a week throughout my last year of high school!
Next we sailed up to the Pillars of Hercules for snorkelling. The Pillars of Hercules were pretty amazing, but to be honest the snorkelling wasn’t great, nowhere near as good as Rottnest Island or the Tobago Cays (mainly because there were no turtles haha), we just saw a few fish. Also we had to wear these awful float things for health and safety reasons (tch), and I had the most awks moment ever when I dived down and my entire bikini top came down…and C caught it all on camera. Fml. That’ll serve me right for wearing a strapless bikini when snorkelling…
We then sailed over to Freeman’s Bay, and swam from the boat to the shore and back again. By the time we got back one of the boat guys was holding a sea urchin! C and I both had a hold, and it was SO weird – it felt all tickly as it moved around. I was a wee bit scared and asked if it would poison me, but thankfully as long as you hold it gently it’s fine. I then placed it gently back into the water, and it was time for a late lunch!
 |
| Please ignore the sunburn – I was so angry, on the first day we used Soltan suncream and despite reapplying every 30mins because I’m so paranoid about sunburn, we STILL got burnt! WTF!? |
Lunch was e p i c. We had such a great selection of different food – including the most incredible banana cake ever – and we filled up before sailing back to the hotel. On the way back the guys got a tuna, I was a bit surprised at how small it was though as I thought tunas were huge, so I go ‘Why is it so small?!’ and everyone laughed at me. Also we saw dolphins!!! I didn’t get a photo unfortunately, but I did get a video of them jumping at the front of the boat – I’m going to do one big video/vlog from our trip, so it will be live in a few weeks time.
We got back to the hotel just for an incredible sunset, and then wandered back to our room to get changed ready for…you guessed it…more food!
Catherine Lux is a veteran travel blogger by night and the Head of Content Marketing at Amazon by day. Originally from Surrey, she spent four years living in Australia (2007-2009, and 2016-2018), and now lives in London. An ex-party girl sometimes prone to relapses, she loves nothing more than sharing her fine dining and luxury travel experiences with her loyal readers.
Sounds dreamy! I thought tuna was huge too!
I didn't know that ginger beer could help with seasickness. Looking forward to seeing your dolphin vlog, sounds amazing!
Looks lush – fab way to see the island. And tuna normally are HUGE!