Barbuda is the sister island of the more frequented, Antigua. It is known for gorgeous white and pink sand beaches and for being a bird sanctuary to frigates (among other birds). Within the sailing community, we have often heard it being compared to the Bahamas. Unfortunately, it falls short of the Bahamas to us, but is still a serene place to visit.
Whale watching
The one good thing about having a rolly night at anchor is that you don’t mind so much waking up early before sunrise – you’re probably already awake anyways! At least that’s the case for me. Today we want to get an early start since we have 70 miles to travel and we want to make sure we enter our destination anchorage during daylight hours. We’re headed to Barbuda! Thus – we’re up before the sun and waiting on the first signs of light to pull up the hook.
The best part about waking up before the sun is – of course – catching sunrise! It is extra vibrant today helping get our morning off to a pleasant start. Monster is less than impressed, but being the sailing dog she is, sucks it up and joins us at the helm as we wave goodbye to St. Barths.
Once we enter deeper water, Matt gets his fishing poles set up for trawling. Apparently dawn is a good time to catch fish. Unfortunately, the fish don’t seem to know this. We have zero bites as the sun continues to rise on the horizon. Who cares about fish, though, when I spot a humpback whale in the distance! I hurriedly call out to Matt who is working inside and try to locate my phone to take a video. During this time, I spot a whale tail splash and then a smaller whale head breaking straight up through the water’s surface. Amazing!! Matt sees neither nor does my camera – oh, well.
Initially the whales are going in the same direction as us, but then they seem to slow down and circle. They get quite close to the boat, so we put our engines in neutral. After a few more surfacing of their fins (no more tail flips sadly), we are able to confirm it is definitely a mother humpback and a calf. The calf is so small (in comparison) and cute. They are just resting at the surface, their fins almost constantly moving just below and then back up past the surface of the water. This is our first whale spotting from our own boat, and we couldn’t be more excited. Matt really wants to jump in the water, but the whales seem to stay just far enough away it wouldn’t be worth it. We enjoy watching them for about 20 minutes before deciding that we really need to put our engines back on and get back on course towards our destination. Photos never do justice, but here they are anyways.
That was easier than expected
We’re feeling pretty energized at this point. It’s just past 9am, we’ve experienced a gorgeous sunrise and a visit by humpback whales. The winds are light and there is only a slow moving swell rolling across our beam. I’m keeping a sharp lookout now for more whales – or dolphins. It’s the perfect day to spot sea life since there are no white caps or choppy waves. Unfortunately, we don’t have the pleasure of spotting anything else during the rest of our journey. We also don’t catch any fish, but we’re not complaining about this trip!
We approach Barbuda and are a bit surprised to see it is so flat. All the islands around here are volcanic and very tall. Obviously, we didn’t do much research before heading over. It is very pretty though, and we can see that sand beaches line the entire western side of the island. Essentially the entire western side could be an anchorage, and that’s where we’re headed. The marked anchorage is Low Bay, and reviews say that it can be a tricky entrance as there is reef and lots of unmarked rocks. This is the main reason we wanted to make sure we arrived in daylight so we can visually navigate to avoid any hazards.
I head up front keeping a keen eye out for reef and rocks while Matt drives us in. We closely follow directions from other cruisers and a suggested route from our map. We do spot a few patches of reef where waves are breaking, but these are very easy to avoid and far apart. I spot exactly zero rocks worth caring about and we never see less than 12 feet under our hull. What in the world are people talking about? This seems to happen often to us, where we get extra cautious based on numerous (not just one) review from fellow cruisers of something being tricky or difficult. Then we do it and seriously have zero idea what they are talking about. Great example – Current Cut in the Bahamas – very happy we didn’t wait until the perfect slack tide and waste tons of time as other suggested. I digress.
We find a nice spot far enough away from the other handful of boats to drop our anchor. It’s a pure sand bottom which makes for great holding, so we are not surprised when we get a strong set right away. Unfortunately, we’ve still got some roll from the waves crashing over the outer reefs. All our anchorages lately are so rolly – maybe I’m just a wimp.
Barbuda is not the Bahamas
We just arrived, but we can immediately see that Barbuda is very pretty. We can also see some resemblance to the Bahamas with the long sand beaches and flat terrain. We’ve been told that Barbuda is the Bahamas of the Eastern Caribbean – some have even dared to say it’s the Exumas of the Eastern Caribbean. That is a large expectation to live up to, so we’re excited to check it out.
So far this year, our travels have definitely placed us doing more land exploration and less snorkeling/diving. Which is fine – we’re excited to see all these different islands, but we’re definitely missing our underwater time. Barbuda has been raved about by sailors we follow on Instagram, plus the Active Captain reviews. We’ve seen some people spend weeks in Barbuda. Considering there are only 3 anchorages – it must be really, really great.
Since we got in nice and early, we still have enough sun to head to the beach – so we grab Monster and launch the dinghy. A couple minutes later, I’m jumping in the water trying to drag the dinghy ashore while Matt raises the outboard and fights the splashing waves pouring water over the stern. Monster gracefully jumps off the bow in mostly dry sand. Two stars. Now we’re using all our strength to drag it up the steep beach and away from the waves. Barbuda may be flat, but like the other islands around – beach landings are not easy.
Monster is excited to have so much beach to run, and we are enjoying how soft the sand is. We also notice that this is actually a pink sand beach, though less “pink” than some we’ve seen – still gorgeous. We spot some large dog paw prints and know they must belong to the large dogs that stay at (and guard) an abandoned resort down the beach. We’ve heard they generally don’t bother people as long as you don’t get too close, so we keep an eye out but continue walking. We’re about to turn around (don’t want to get all the way to the abandoned resort), when we see and hear someone running down the beach yelling at us. Turns out it is just a nice neighbor who is concerned we don’t know about the large dogs. We chat for a while and inquire about his recent trip into the main (and only) town. He says it’s great and we should go, but upon further inquiry, he admits there’s nothing really to do and the only restaurant is at the art cafe. We thank him and quietly decide we will probably skip the trip to town. Plus, we’re being pirates again as we haven’t actually checked into the country yet (shh…).
Once back in the dinghy, we decide to check out some of the said “reef” around the area to see if anything is worth snorkeling. It’s definitely not up to our standards, so we decide to pass. I know others have talked about “great” snorkeling in Barbuda, but even in their Instagram photos, the reef looks patchy and dead. There are some creatures, but let’s be honest you can spot sting rays anywhere. Overall, it’s a very pleasant place. It just doesn’t live up to the expectations others have created for it. And it is most definitely NOT the Exumas. We do enjoy a nice sunset at anchor and only a modestly rolly night.
Always so many logistics
In the morning, we decide to go ahead and sail to neighboring Antigua where we can check in to customs and immigration. Antigua and Barbuda are the same country, with a third island of Rhonda – though it is uninhabited and doesn’t appear to have a reasonable anchorage even. Based on other cruisers reviews (yes, we still keep relying on them), we decide to enter Antigua at Jolly Harbor. It is said to have some of the easier check-in procedures, lower fees, and an acceptable port of entry with a dog.
As we arrive at Jolly Harbor, we are disappointed – but not surprised – to see a silly number of boats anchored. We find a reasonable space to drop our hook and join them. I launch the dinghy and head towards shore to tackle the check-in procedures. I’ll save you the boring details. Short story – I was accidentally not the “most truthful” on a form I previously completed online. Because of this, no one asked if I had a dog on-board, and we always follow the “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy. Later I was filling out our cruising permit and it says “Name and description of animals on-board.” Not wanting to lie, I fill it out. Eventually – some very kind person took pity on my ignorance of the whole process and just let me go once I pulled out Monster’s giant folder of vet paperwork. For the record – I did have all requirements satisfied and up-to-date. We spent three days running around Puerto Rico and many hours in waiting rooms to get the correct vet certificate and USDA endorsement stamp before taking out.
To summarize – we are successfully checked into Antigua and Barbuda! I also walked to a Budget Marine near the customs office and was able to purchase a replacement fishing pole holder (because the metal somehow sheared in half yesterday??) and an Antigua courtesy flag. We are ready to go.
Tangent: Upon arriving in a new country, you are supposed to fly a yellow flag, known as the quarantine flag. This signals to authorities that you have just arrived and you are not cleared with customs and immigration to actually enter the country. At that point, the rules vary for each location, but generally one person – the captain – should go ashore to the correct buildings to check in everyone on the boat. The captain takes all necessary paperwork and passports for all crew/passengers. Once completing necessary steps and paying necessary fees – also normally visiting a third office for Port Authority – hopefully the captain walks away with documentation that each person has legally checked-in and a cruising permit for the vessel. Cruising permits are often issued for one month, although sometimes as short as one week or as long as a year – depends on the country and the nationality of the captain/visitors.
Once back on the boat, I decide to paddle board Monster to the small beach nearby. It’s a nice enough beach, and even better since we’re the only ones on it! As we are leaving, we spot a couple with a dog approaching in their dinghy. After a double take, I recognize them as one of our Instagram friends. We never run into other young cruising couples, so I’m pretty excited to chat with them for a while! They even invite us to happy hour this evening with a few others. We plan to take out this afternoon, though, as we want to get around to the east side of the island to explore before another front comes in. Ultimately, after discussing with Matt we decide exploring other areas is most important to us. We take out, but bid our new friends farewell promising to meet up again.
