12 AMAZING Things To Do English Harbour Antigua By A Local
Why Visit English Harbour In Antigua?
We are a fun-loving sailing digital nomad family of four that spend the winters living in English Harbour Town in Antigua. Carl (dad) works on the yachts as a captain and we (the boys and I) join him to soak up the action. We love living here as there’s so much to do!
We’ve made the most of living in English Harbour in Antigua, we’ve done all of the activities and eaten at all of the restaurants. You’ll often see us hiking the Middle Trail and hear our three-year-old calling for the goats to come to him. There’s quite a bit to do in the area so you can choose from beaches, bars, history, snorkelling, paddling, rum making and much much more.
Our Quick Guide To English Harbour
Nearest beaches – Galleon Beach and Pigeon Beach
Best hikes – Shirley Heights (Jones Trail) and Goat (Middle) Trail
A piece of history – Nelson’s Dockyard, Fort Berkley and Shirley Heights
Our Favourite restaurant for locally inspired food – Trappas
Best place for drinks – Lucky Eddi’s, Bar-B’s, Galley Bar & Skullduggery Cafe (Skully’s)
Best Things To Do In English Harbour Antigua
There are lots of very cool things to do in English Harbour in Antigua and we wanted to gather them all in one place. We’ve tried to cover everything that the area has to offer so that there’s something for everyone from families to solo travellers, to yacht crew to sun-seekers.
1. It’s All About The Sailing In English Harbour
You cannot come to English Harbour in Antigua and not see any yacht. Shiny modern megayachts, sit fender to fender with beautiful sailing yachts. And every year thousands of yacht crew and their guests pass through English Harbour onto the way to their sailing adventures.
Sailing is in fact the reason that we’re out in Antigua every winter, so that Carl can work as a yacht captain.
English Harbour hosts some very large and prestigious sailing events each winter which are peak busy times for the town. It’s great fun to be in English Harbour Antigua when the racing is on.
February – The RORC Caribbean 600
March – SuperYacht Challenge*
April – Antigua Classic Yacht Regatta
April – Antigua Sailing Week
* You’ll have to try to spot Carl and Cam on their homepage in the 2023 winning team!
Learning To Sail In English Harbour In Antigua
If you don’t already sail and want to, then this is the perfect place to give it a go. We’ve had quite a few friends take courses at OnDeck, and they’ve all come back with highly positive reviews! They also offer yacht charter as well.
Chartering A Yacht In English Harbour in Antigua
If you can already sail and fancy adventuring around the Caribbean then there are plenty of local charter companies to choose from such as OnDeck. There’s also a Sunsail base in Nelson’s Dockyard.
2. Nelson’s Dockyard In English Harbour Antigua
In 1725 the sugar planters in Antigua offered the harbour and dockyard to the British Crown believing that the British Navy would invest in more buildings and infrastructure, thereby providing the island with a greater military presence. It wasn’t until the 1740s that the Navy, realising the importance of the location, started to construct the Antigua Naval Dockyard.
During his stay at the Antigua Naval Dockyard, a young Horatio Nelson Nelson infamously declared English Harbour to be an “infernal hellhole.”. The Naval Dockyard eventually closed in 1889 and fell into disrepair.
In recent years the dockyard has been renamed after its most famous commander to become Nelson’s Dockyard or “Nelson’s” as locals call it. And in 2016 it finally became a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
The boat Carl works on is usually docked here for part of the winter so we’ve spent a lot of time at Nelson’s.
There’s a lot to see and do as it’s one large open-air museum (with a museum within it). You can stop for a drink on the waterfront and watch the yachts coming and going, listen to the crews gossiping, and chat with locals as they come and go.
Every year Nelson’s is the finish line for the Atlantic rowing challenge that sees boats row 3000 miles from La Gomera in the Canary Islands. If you hear a continuous blast of yacht horns then it’s likely they’re celebrating the rowing boats coming across the finish line. Boats start to arrive from mid-January onwards each year.
3. Beaches Near To English Harbour
Antigua has 365 beaches, yep, that’s one for every day of the year. What’s great is that there are a couple of fantastic beaches that are easily reached from English Harbour. Both are very family friendly for kids of all ages including babies and two of our favourite beaches in Antigua.
Pigeon Point Beach
It’s just a short 10-minute walk from English Harbour in Antigua round to Pigeon Beach by road (slightly longer if you take the Goat Trail). This is one of the best beaches in Antigua and has a beautiful sunset.
From our family perspective, it’s amazing as it’s got a playground, one of the only ones in Antigua, plenty of shade and a great swimming area. It’s a popular beach for kids so if you’re in the area and want to meet other families then this is the place to do it!
You can also pick from two dining options, Catherines which is more Ibizia style, and Bumpkins which is more of a local style joint. Bumpkins do great banana coladas, funnily it has become a bit of a ritual for us that we always have one on our first and last in Antigua!
If you’re on the beach at sunset then you’ll notice it gets a bit busier as the beach has one of the best sunset views on the island.
Galleon Beach
Galleon Beach has got to have some of the best views of any beach in Antigua. At one side of it you’ve got the opening to Nelson’s Dockyard and at one end are the natural rock formations of Pillars of Hercules.
We visit it at least a couple of times a week with the kids. It’s great because the water is calm and there’s lots to keep them entertained. We often launch our paddle board and the kids go off in search of the turtles. You can hire paddle boards and other water sports equipment at the beach.
This is one of the best beaches in Antigua for snorkelling and seeing turtles. At the far end on the left are a couple of wrecks that you can easily explore as they’re only a short swim from the shore. It’s a good place to take kids to learn to snorkel as it has shallow and calm waters.
During the week the beach is pretty quiet, however, come the weekend it can get pretty busy. Loose Cannon Restaurant has live DJs and music from lunchtime onwards on Saturdays and Sundays which draws in quite a crowd. They offer really great locally sourced foods and claim to have the best burger on the island and we couldn’t agree more. You’ll often find a mixture of locals, sun seekers and yachties partying away together.
To get to Galleon Beach, you can either drive around, however, parking can be a pain as there isn’t much about it. Or, you can catch a water taxi from the waterfront outside the Copper and Lumber in Nelson’s Dockyard which will drop you at the beach.
4. Shirley Heights and Its Historical Buildings
We thought we’d start by giving a bit of an overview of Shirley Heights and the buildings surrounding it. Together with Nelson’s Dockyard, Dow’s Hill Interpretive Centre, Clarence House, Shirley Heights is part of the UNESCO Heritage Site known as the Antigua Naval Dockyard and Related Archaeological Sites.
The Shirley Heights Lookout was first used during the War of American Independence (1774-1783) as a signal station and lookout for approaches to English Harbour. The other buildings include the blockhouse which is a combination of a small fort at the headland and garrison complex that was used by British soldiers. Nearby Clarence House, another historic attraction, was once the island’s governor’s mansion and is now a museum.
There’s a fantastic trail up to the Shirley Heights Lookout if you fancy getting some fitness in.
Rum In The Ruins
If you’re into history and the stories behind the building then you should join the Rum in the Ruins tour which happens every Friday at 5 pm.
On the tour, you learn about the unique past of Nelson’s Dockyard National Park and Antigua while sipping on their speciality rum cocktail. Every week brings new stories and new adventures in one of the most picturesque places in the world.
Shirley Heights Lookout Party Night Every Thursday and Sunday
Shirley Heights Lookout Party Night is a must-do activity that combines a stunning sunset, fun steel drum music, delicious rum punch and BBQ food and ends with a local covers band. It happens every Thursday and Friday from Shirley Heights Lookout at around 4:30 pm.
We must have been about 10 times as it’s such a hit with people of all ages and tastes, as it combines so many cool things into one place. It’s US$10 to enter and then you can pay as you go for food and drinks. Both food and drinks are reasonably priced, a main meal is about US$12.50-US$20.
Top tip by a local: Make sure to arrive early to bag yourself a table as there isn’t much seating. Also, after sunset the queue for food really ramps up, so make sure to buy your food tokens early before sunset.
5. Hiking Around English Harbour in Antigua
As a family we love to hike, it’s a fantastic way to see a new area and it keeps us fit. Sara hikes every other morning, and you might spot her and one of the boys at either of the below trails. There’s lots on each walk to keep the boys entertained, and the trails are family-friendly too.
Middle (Goat) Trail
This trail connected Nelson’s Dockyard with Pigeon Point Beach. On the way, you can stop at Fort Berkeley which has an incredible view of Galleon Beach and English Harbour. Plus there are other fortifications along the way.
You will need to wear trainers as it’s not the sort of trail that you can do in flip flops as part of the terrain is pretty rough and there is a little bit of scrambling at the top. It’s an easy route to follow as there white dots painted on the rocks.
We love to look out for the goats that are often hanging around on the trail. The way I get the boys out is to play the game of who sees who sees the goats first. You’ll also see hermit crabs rolling down the slopes and scrambling away.
Shirley Heights Trails
There are several routes up to Shirley Heights, we usually take the Carpenters Trail route towards the mermaid pools, and then from there head up to Shirley Heights Lookout for a break. We then take the Lookout Trail route down as it starts from the garden of the lookout. You can alternatively take the Jones Valley trail which takes you through the old graveyard and past the old cistern system..
The route starts and finishes on Galleon Beach. This walk is super fun as the mermaid pool on the way makes a great photo opportunity for adults and a wonderful talking point for kids. We’ve still not yet seen a mermaid……..yet!
At the top of this walk is the most amazing view at Shirley Heights Lookout which you’ll see in lots of photos on the internet. It’s also the place everyone heads to on Thursdays and Sundays for their party nights.
We tend to finish off with a swim at Galleon Beach to cool off.
6. Learn To Sail
Carl does a lot of sailing out of English Harbour taking guests around Antigua or further afield and we’ve done some sailing as a family too. English Harbour is one of the best places in Antigua to learn to sail from as there are several marinas and many companies to choose from. Plus the wind out of the harbour is pretty consistent.
You can choose from either yacht or dinghy sailing and there are lots of different options of schools to learn from.
Learn To Dinghy Sail From English Harbour In Antigua
We’re members of the National Sailing Academy and we’re currently teaching our eldest son to sail, as the water is lovely and warm and it’s always sunny. They’re just in the process of a major overhaul of their site as they’re getting bigger and we can’t wait to see it completed in a few years time.
You can also learn to dinghy sail at the Antigua Yacht Club, and it runs some fantastic kids courses when they’re over 5 years old.
Learn To Yacht Sail From English Harbour In Antigua
There are a variety of ways to learn to sail a yacht sail, you can join a charter and see if you like sailing. Or you can do it in a more formal way by taking a course.
Once you really get into sailing and want to start to race then there are opportunities to join some boats as a race crew. As a beginner, you might be expected to pay for a space to cover costs.
English Harbour in Antigua is also one of the main places the yacht workers go to in order to find work. Quite a few of them are based there doing day work on yachts such as fixing and cleaning them. It really is the centre of the Caribbean yachting scene.
7. Rum Masterclass
A fun way to spend an afternoon is to join the Rum Masterclass workshop that happens over at Galleon Beach.
It starts with a rum tasting, and then once you’ve decided which rums you like you’ll get to the fun part of blending your own rum. You use a pot still so that you can distil your rum in the traditional West Indian way. At the end of the class you bottle and label your rum and finish it with a beautiful wax seal.
By the time you leave, you’ll have a stunning 750ml bottle of your own spectacular bespoke rum.
8. Swimming Pool & Resort Day Passes
We love taking our kids on day passes to a resort with swimming pools. It’s a fun day out as a family as we don’t have a pool at our accommodation.
Most of the day passes will include food and drinks as well as the use of their facilities, the two main local ones to English Harbour in Antigua are:
Boom – this is one of the restaurants at Admiral’s Inn at Nelson’s Dockyard that has a pool. This beautiful pool has stunning views over Nelson’s Dockyard so you can enjoy a swim after your meal. It’s good fun!
St James Club – this one is perfect for us as it’s got lots to keep active kids busy. You can use the pools, the sailing boats and lots of paddling options as well
9. Pillars of Hercules
These are surreal geological pillar formations that rise out of the sea at the far end of Galleon Beach. The constant wind, rain and crashing waves has carved them out, and they’re extremely impressive to see.
There are two ways that you can get to them. Most people take a boat tour out to them, which is what we did the first time we saw them. The other way to see them is to walk to them.
We think that they are best viewed from the sea where you can take in their impressive shape. Most of the boat tours that circumnavigate the island will stop off at some point to see them. When we saw them we took a snorkelling and scuba diving tour with Soul Immersions which took us out to them and then we headed to the coral farm located nearby to go on the look for rays and turtles.
If you like hiking and want to walk to them then we’d suggest heading there early in the morning before it gets too hot. To hike there you walk along Galleon Beach to the far end and then keep hugging the coastline and beach. You’ll suddenly turn a corner and realise you’re there!
10. Snorkelling & Diving
There are some great snorkelling spots at both Pigeon Point and Galleon beaches and you can access them from the beach. We often take our paddle board to these beaches and do a paddle and snorkel session.
If you get to Galleon Beach early in the morning or at the end of the day when there are fewer people there then you’re highly likely to see some turtles. There’s one that lives off of Pillars of Hercules called Stoner (a super relaxed turtle). On the far left of the beach is a shipwreck which is about 50m off of the beach.
At Pigeon Point you can swim to the left and get to some rocks off of the bottom of Winward Estate – we’ve seen rays here a few times!
For diving, you can take some fun tours that start at English Harbour in Antigua. We’ve done one with Soul Immersions before where one of us scuba dived and the other one snorkelled with Cam.
11. Play Areas for Kids
We’ve noticed that there tend to be quite a few sailing families that pass through English Harbour in Antigua, and so we wanted to make a point of letting you know where the play areas are. Antigua might be great for a lot of things, but playgrounds really aren’t on the list.
Pigeon Point Beach – they have a great wooden pirate ship which has a mini climbing wall. Plus some swings and a tyre swing. It’s also the meeting place where you’ll find lots of other families either in the play area itself or relaxing in the shade of the trees in front of the plat area. You might even spot some kids hiding in the trees.
Sweet T’s – it’s the local ice cream parlour and also happens to have a small play area at the back of it. It’s a playhouse with a twisting slide at one end, plus a giant-size Connect 4. The ice cream is really tasty. If you’re looking for something more substantial then they do great meals too.
2Six8 Brewery – yes, we did put a brewery on the list. Incredibly the brewery opens their bar Thursday-Saturday from 4:30 pm each evening, they also have food trucks serving good quality local dishes. They have a playhouse, swings, slides and lots of other toys.
If you go on a Friday around 4:30 pm then it’s a hive of activity as the families head there after work to let their kids run around. It’s pretty wild as the kids burn off their energy and have lots of fun. You’ll likely see us there if we’re in Antigua.
12. Party And Then Party Some More
English Harbour in Antigua has a bit of a reputation as a party town in the winter months of December to April when the yachts are in town and their crew head out to let their hair down!
As a family, we also like to go out, and it’s not unusual to see children out in the evenings in certain restaurants and bars. We’ve taken our boys quite a few times to Shirley Heights, and we’ll often go out for parties with the boat yacht crew after they’ve been racing. So if you are a family, then please do feel free to explore some of the evening entertainment that English Harbour has to offer.
Best places to go for nightlife in English Harbour:
268 Brewery – Thursday-Saturday 4:30 pm onwards. They often have live bands on, and every Friday lots of us go there for after-work drinks and let the kids run wild in the play area!
Lucky Eddi’s – Friday and Saturday nights they have some great bands playing from around 9:30 pm.
Abracadabra’s – Friday and Saturday nights they have a DJ on that starts once the restaurant shuts. Most people tend to head there after they’ve been to Lucky Eddi’s.
Loose Cannon – Saturday and Sunday they have their day sessions that start at lunchtime and carry on until into the evening.
Club Sushi – Wednesday 7 pm is quiz night which is usually good fun. We take out boys there and they happily eat dinner whilst we do the quiz with friends.
Where Is English Harbour in Antigua
English Harbour in Antigua is located in the southernmost part of Antigua. It’s known for many things. As the sailing capital of the Caribbean, as the original stomping ground of Horatio Nelson as well as being a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Did you know that there are two harbours within English Harbour the town, English Harbour itself and Falmouth Harbour? Both of these are deepwater harbours and offer fantastic protection for yachts of all sizes.
As soon as you enter English Harbour Town you’ll feel the yachting vibe. It’s a melting pot of yacht crews, locals and sun-seeking tourists. There’s never a dull moment, and it has an incredibly friendly and positive energy.
Where To Stay In English Harbour?
What’s great about English Harbour in Antigua is that there is a variety of accommodations for all budgets and preferences to choose from. You can choose from multi-million dollar villas on AirBnB (yep, we’ve stayed at one of these too!) to waterfront hostels to hotels to all-inclusive resorts. We’ve stayed at all of the places that we’ve recommended:
Best Budget Accommodation In English Harbour Antigua
Pineapple House – it’s very similar to a hostel and is one of the places that yacht crew like to stay before they arrive. With a friendly open living vibe, it’s the perfect place to visit solo and meet new people. It can sometimes be a bit party-central (Carl may have partied there once or twice pre-kids, haha!).
Waterfront Inn – this also has hostel vibes about it, and you’ll also meet new people here as well. However, it’s a bit further away from the action of the bars and is generally a bit quieter.
Best Hotels In English Harbour Antigua
Antigua Yacht Club Resort – a perfect option for a hotel-style resort right in the heart of the town by the yacht club. It’s got some great facilities including a gym, lovely rooms and a welcoming atmosphere.
Best All-Inclusive Resorts in English Harbour Antigua
St James Club – it’s a 10-minute drive outside of English Harbour Antigua and is the nearest all-inclusive resort in the area. It’s got 5 swimming pools, two beaches, water sports, pickleball courts, a gym and a spa to keep you busy. We’ve been for days passes before and loved the variety of activities and great selection of dining options.
FAQ’s
Where can I get a SIM card in English Harbour Antigua?
By the gas station on the main route into town you’ll find a small mobile phone shop called Can I Talk Mobile. The man there will be able to advise on the best sim card deals and help you set your sim card up. Local tip – the network providers often do deals once you have your sim that includes 5x your credit, so keep an eye on these coming through on SMS.
Is English Harbour worth visiting?
Yes, English Harbour is the centre of sailing in the Caribbean. It’s very worth visiting as it’s beautiful and has some fantastic beaches, great nightlife, lots of history and a fantastic friendly vibe.
What is the history of the English Harbour in Antigua?
The history of English Harbour dates back to 1704 when Fort Berkeley was built at the entrance of the harbour. Then in 1725, the sugar planters of Antigua gave the dock in English Harbour to the British Navy in the hope that they would develop it further. It wasn’t until 1740 that the dockyard was expanded.
What harbour was once a Royal Navy base in Antigua?
Nelson’s Dockyard is the current name of the Royal Navy base in English Harbour in Antigua. The unique naval history commenced in 1725 when the sugar planters gave the dock to the British Navy.
Is there a gym in English Harbour Antigua?
Yes, there’s a great gym and yoga studio near the centre of town called Energie.
Final Thoughts On Visiting English Harbour in Antigua
We absolutely love living in English Harbour in Antigua as there is so much to see, do and explore. You’ve got history at Nelson’s Dockyard and Shirley Heights. There are two beautiful beaches to explore and snorkel at Pigeon Point Beach and Galleon Beach. As well as countless activities such as sailing, snorkelling and hiking!
You can visit for days and still find new and interesting things to see and do.
