It lies just a speedboat ride away from
brash St Maarten, with its “gleaming
white mega-yachts”, but the little
Caribbean island of Anguilla is a far
quieter, more sophisticated place where
“A-listers hide in plain sight”. Its chief
appeal lies in its “icing sugar” beaches,
fine hotels and authentic local bars. But
while most visitors come in search of
indolence, it is now gaining popularity
with more active types, too, says Matt
Carroll in The Daily Telegraph:
particularly lovers of kitesurfing,
paddleboarding and sailing, for which
the local conditions – warm breezes and
calm seas – are ideal. The last two are
great ways to explore the island’s
coastline, where the 30-odd palmfringed
beaches are often more or less deserted; while kitesurfing
is a thrill even for complete beginners.
Dating back to the late 1970s, but popularised only in the last
couple of decades, this involves strapping your feet to a board,
and your torso to a large kite which propels you, “Supermanstyle
across the water. The kite is
controlled using a bar, and the secret is
to handle this with the utmost delicacy,
using small movements of your thumb
and one finger. The learning process
can be lengthy and exhausting – which
makes it fortunate that there isn’t too
much else to do on the island, with just
one (admittedly fascinating) small
museum. Located beside East End Pond
(a shallow lake that’s a treat for
birders), this documents the days of
colonial rule, before the island became
a British Overseas Territory, in 1980.
Among the island’s most luxurious
hotels are the Four Seasons, the Zemi
(which has a 300-year-old stilted
wooden spa building imported from
Thailand), and the Malliouhana, which feels more authentically
Anguillan. But there are more affordable places to stay, including
the laid-back Anguilla Great House and Lloyd’s b&b. Anguilla
Watersports (+1 264 584 1204, www.anguillawatersports.com)
offers private kitesurfing lessons from $150 per hour per person.
