Bowled over
Anil Dawar enjoys the laid-back charm of cricket-crazy Antigua
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To say I was laid back barely covered it as I strolled out of my chalet at the Verandah Resort and Spa for a massage.
This was the final day of my stay in Antigua, and the Caribbean sun was warming my back as I passed the banana trees and great white egrets that lined the route.
I wondered just how much more relaxed I could get.
The answer emerged a few minutes later, as I softened further under the expert manipulations of the masseuse’s hands. Lying face down on the bench as the therapist’s thumbs found all the spaces between my vertebrae I thought back over my first trip to the West Indies and tried to pick the highlight of the stay.
It was hard. I had kayaked through mangroves, cycled around a UNESCO world heritage site, gone angling in the Caribbean and watched cricket alongside a legend of the sport.
I flew in on a British Airways flight from Gatwick a few days earlier, arriving in a cricket-loving nation which was about to host the first Test match of England’s tour of the West Indies at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium.
Because of the global pandemic, everyone involved in the tour would be going into protective bubbles in hotels and resorts.
The Verandah where I was staying was one which would host commentators such as Sir Ian Botham and the West Indian and
Antiguan batting legend and match referee Sir Richie Richardson – who still lives on the island.
If someone had said I was not allowed to leave the all-inclusive resort for a week, it would not have bothered me.
The Verandah Resort and Spa, has 200 cottages dotted along little streets lined by banana plants and palms. Golf buggies transport guests around the 30-acre site.
There are four restaurants ranging from bar snacks to fine dining, four bars, two beaches, tennis courts, pools, mini-golf, table tennis as well as the spa, gym and kids’ clubs. It even has a
LONG HAUL
Antigua from £1,599pp: Fly from Gatwick with British Airways on September 15 for a week’s five-star all-inclusive at the Sandals Grande Antigua Resort & Spa in Dickenson Bay with transfers. sandals.co.uk
Mexico from £1,149pp: Save 43% on a week’s all-inclusive at the five-star Dreams Villamagna Nuevo Vallarta on the Pacific coast, with transfers and $200 resort coupons per room. Fly from Manchester or Gatwick on selected dates in June, November and December. Book by March 31. bluebaytravel.co.uk
Costa Rica from £1,025pp: Fly from Gatwick on May 11 for a seven-night all-inclusive break at the five-star Playa Matapalo hotel on the Pacific coast. With transfers, includes £200 saving with code HOLIDAY. tui.co.uk
SHORT HAUL
Majorca from £499pp: A week’s all-inclusive at the four-star+ Dreams Calvia Resort & Spa in Calvia is for travel from Gatwick on selected dates in May, with 23kg baggage. Book by March 28. britishairways.com/mallorca
Ibiza from £369pp: Fly from Newcastle on April 21 for a seven-night B&B stay at the four-star Hotel Tres Torres in Santa Eulalia. Comes with 22kg baggage and transfers. jet2holidays.com
CRUISE
Join Sky Princess in Southampton for a
12-night round trip to Lisbon, Gran Canaria, Tenerife, Lanzarote, Madeira and Vigo, Spain. Go all-inclusive plus wi-fi from £999pp. princess.com
Northern Europe from £387pp: P&O’S Iona sails a seven-night round trip from Southampton on April 2, calling at Zeebrugge, Rotterdam (overnight) and Le Havre. Choose from free onboard spend, port parking or UK coach transfers. iglucruise.com
STAYCATION
Guernsey from £182pp: Sail from Poole with Condor Ferries until March 31 for a three-night getaway at the threestar Peninsula Hotel in Vale. Includes breakfast and return foot passenger travel. prestonholidays.co.uk
STAR BUY
A four-night selfcatering staycation at Haven’s Devon Cliffs holiday park near Exmouth is based on a family of four sharing Bronze accommodation and arriving on March 28. haven.com
*Prices correct at time of publication and based
on two sharing unless stated otherwise cinema. At the resort’s two beaches there are plenty of watersports on offer, or you can just grab a lounger, lay down in the shade of a coconut tree and enjoy a cocktail from the beach bar.
It is perched high on a cliff with spectacular sea views and guests stay in elegant one-storey wooden cottages painted a very pale green.
I was in a “waterview” cottage set back from the waterfront. Each cottage is divided into two apartments with a joint verandah at the front and separated balconies at the back with sliding glass patio doors. All rooms have an open-plan space with separate bathroom and sleep up to four.
Drawn to the sea like a new-born turtle, I walked down the soft white sand and straight into the water.
After a while splashing around, I emerged and hit a lounger under a thatched umbrella-style shade with a glass of fresh pineapple juice.
The night before had been a fantastic introduction to the resort. Dinner from the Sunday roast buffet at the Seabreeze restaurant was followed by some poolside rum punches.
Breakfast was a plate of sausage, bacon, scrambled eggs, beans and fresh coffee which set me up nicely for a morning of watersports.
Frigatebirds, huge prehistoric looking creatures, glided overhead while a pelican swooped down to catch a fish then settled on the water to digest it.
Antigua is one of the world’s more accessible paradise islands with daily nine-hour flights from the UK. A lush verdant interior, scattered with colourful villages, gives way to 365 pristine sandy beaches – one for each day of the year – and startling blue sea.
It was named by Christopher Columbus in 1493 and colonised by English settlers in 1632 who added the nearby island of Barbuda to the nation.
Antigua is only 108 square miles, has a population of less than 100,000 and takes about 45 minutes by car to travel either north to south or east to west.
Even though tourism is by far the island’s biggest industry, there are no hawkers to harass you on the beach or in the streets.
As well as its fly-and-flop attractions, there are also a few interesting sights to see, including the ruins of Antigua’s first sugar plantation, Betty’s Hope, built in the 1650s and Nelson’s Dockyard which served as a naval repair dock throughout the 18th century and is now restored as a museum and harbour for some very expensive looking yachts.
I took an e-bike tour around the north-west of the island to visit Fort James, which dates from 1706. Ten huge rusting cannons remain on the top of the cliff as a reminder of when the British had to keep French forces at bay.
The island is not very hilly, so the ride was gentle, allowing us to take in the wildlife our guide pointed out as we pedalled along the sandy tracks past lakes and woods.
Just a couple of hours earlier, we had been in a completely different