Antigua & Barbuda

Antigua claims 365 beaches — one for every day of the year — and while the number may be generous, the quality is not in question. The island has some of the finest beaches in the Eastern Caribbean, a sailing tradition of international renown and a colonial history that left behind the remarkable Nelson's Dockyard, the only remaining Georgian dockyard in the world still in use.

Antigua's coastline is extraordinary — deeply indented with natural harbors, bays and coves that give it the highest ratio of coastline to land area in the Caribbean. English Harbour, the historic naval base where Horatio Nelson once served, is now a UNESCO World Heritage site and the center of one of the Caribbean's most prestigious sailing communities. The Antigua Sailing Week regatta each April draws competitors from across the world.

Barbuda, the sister island 40 kilometers to the north, offers something completely different — a flat coral island with a pink sand beach 17 miles long, a frigate bird sanctuary of extraordinary size and a population of around 1,800 people living at a pace that the modern world has largely passed by. Barbuda was devastated by Hurricane Irma in 2017 and is slowly rebuilding.