If you’re anything like me, the first thing you’ll want to do shortly after arriving at Antigua’s VC Bird International Airport, is nip across the road to the Sticky Wicket and enjoy a tall, cold glass of beer whilst gazing out across the cricket ground. Horror stories of arriving at the airport only to be stuck in a two hour queue at immigration are commonplace. Thankfully, if you’re arriving on a short, teeth rattling flight from nearby St Kitts, as I was, bypassing immigration is a breeze. Those flying long haul, however, should be aware that a certain amount of patience is needed at many airports in the Caribbean. Knowing that across the road is one of the finest airport bars across the world, should make things a little easier to deal with.

Castaway
But I wasn’t just in Antigua solely to slurp glasses of beer and stare at cricket grounds, no, like most of the visitors I was there for the beaches, all 365 of them. Reportedly, there’s a beach for every day of the year, and although I didn’t quite make it to all of them, the ones I did see were outrageously pretty and completely clichéd; swaying palms, golden sands, and clear turquoise water. This, though, is the type of cliché you could lap up everyday and it really does feel like you’ve been washed up on a desert island, washed up in a very pleasant fashion indeed.

Of course there’s towns to visit – St John’s being the most populace and ragged – and plenty of sites of historical interest that provide a fascinating insight into the brutal slave trade that existed here until the early part if the 19th century. But, and as culturally important as such areas are, such sightseeing often doesn’t take more than a couple of days, leaving the rest of the time to do what most other visitors to Antigua do; flop around on beaches, play some golf of golf, be overawed by nature, and enjoy the type of food and drink that can bring a smile to your face just by telling a waiter what you would like; “I’ll have the wahoo fish please.”

Like nearby St Kitts & Nevis, Antigua has firmly shifted its focus away from the sugar industry and onto tourism. As such, the economy is very much at the mercy of what is happening worldwide. The phenomenal growth witnessed between 2003 and 2008 has now plateaued, though fortunately the development seen in Antigua had not been as rampant as elsewhere and it looks a good bet to weather the financial storm. A view perhaps solidified by some of the people who have chosen to buy a place there over the last few years; Eric Clapton, Giorgio Armani, Richard Branson and Roman Abramovich are all rumoured to have homes in Antigua, though in Abramovich’s case, there’s few places in the world where he isn’t rumoured to be living. It’s also tremendously popular among luxury yacht owners who purr about the wide bays and ample moorings.
For those who aren’t rock stars or oil oligarchs, expats are best off looking for property in English Harbour and Falmouth towards the south east of the island; at the brilliantly named Jolly Harbour in the south west; Half Moon bay and Browns Bay in the east; and in the north at Hodges Bay and Cedar Valley. Just off the coast, Jumby Bay has been described as ‘Antigua’s Mustique’, and this exclusive slice of Caribbean paradise witnessed growth of 60 to 80 percent between 2006-2008.

Property hunting
This being the Caribbean, not everything is straightforward. For a start, development is curtailed due to a rocky terrain throughout much of the island and there’s not a huge amount of beachfront property available. Arguably such a lack of development is a good thing but it makes buying property quite expensive. For those who do buy in Antigua, it’s likely to be a new-build or from an American or European, and it’s likely to be pricey. You can also pretty much forget about buying on Barbuda, splendid for spotting Frigate birds or lounging around in hotels, but there’s no chance of success if property hunting. Then, there’s the dreaded red tape and bureaucracy. Opening up a bank account or getting a phone line can be tricky enough, so the house buying process can be nerve-jangling. It’s also worth mentioning that there’s a flat tax rate of 25 percent on rental income.

Sadly, crime is an on-going and much publicised problem. Those from the bright lights of a big city will surely have experienced the roughly side of the coin and visitors will likely never feel at all threatened, but in certain areas it’s good to take heed of the well worn precautions. Avoid wandering around areas at night that feel dodgy, don’t go flashing your Rolex, and watch your valuables on the beach, in your car, at your villa and so forth. Not that this should put you off, the vast majority of residents and visitors will encounter little more worrying than a spot of sunstroke, a niggling hangover after one cocktail too many and sore cheeks from grinning too much at everything this splendid, gorgeous little island has to offer.