Paradise around the corner

Three hundred and sixty five beaches, one for each day of the year. That's Antigua's boast - a geographical luck of the draw that has been cleverly used to distinguish this tropical paradise from the other Caribbean islands.

While some may be tempted and have succumbed to temptation to explore this claim, it's more advisable to make the most of one's time by finding the beach that best suits one's needs. And without a doubt, there is a beach to suit almost every preference.

Feeling the urge to marvel at the amazing underwater life? Fryes beach, Green Island, Long Bay beach and the popular Pigeon Point beach are among the tops for snorkelling.

For those coveting a golden brown tan, Turner's Beach comes highly recommended. To simply frolic in the surf, the mile long white sand Jabberwock beach is a hot favourite while the Half Moon Bay beach with its pink sand, is a wonderful choice for family excursions.

Even if you shun the conservatism of the island and prefer to let it all hang out the way nature made you, the third of the four crescent beaches that comprise Hawksbill Beach caters to the nudists.

With the abundance of glittering blue water framing the islands, Antigua and Barbuda has emerged as a clear choice for those wanting to engage in water activities of various types.

There are cruises - day cruises which circumnavigate the island and provide tours of scenic spots with calypso and soca to heighten the mood, and night cruises, where the emphasis is on partying under the stars, with the cool Caribbean breeze to cool you down.

There is kayaking, swimming with stingrays, deep sea fishing and scuba diving. One of Antigua's best-known offshore sites is Cades Reef, now partly contained in a designated underwater park. Another popular destination is the wreck of the Andes, a three-masted merchant ship that sank in 1905 and now rests in less than thirty feet of water in Deep Bay.

The most famous of all the activities however is sailing, epitomized at the Antigua Sailing Week, which is considered among the top three sailing regattas in the world.

A competition which attracts hundreds of sailors from around the world, the sailing week is a festive event which culminates with the Lord Nelson Ball, a formal affair held at Nelson's Dockyard. Located in the historic English Harbour, which served as the headquarters of the British Navy fleet of the Leeward Islands in the late 19th century, Nelson's Dockyard is in the centre of Antigua's capital St. John's.

Now a national park, the Dockyard, named after Admiral Horatio Nelson who led the fleet, also houses many points of interest, such as Clarence House, a residence built for the future king William IV when he served as captain of the H.M.S Pegasus.

Shirley Heights, partially restored fortifications of the harbour's colonial observation post, lies above the harbour and offers a clear view of neighbouring Monsterrat and the French isle of Guadeloupe. On Sundays, the pleasurable experience is further enhanced by a sizzling barbeque, steelband music and an array of tourist merchandise on sale. The Dockyard also houses a museum which traces the history of the harbour which is widely believed to have been first used as a hurricane shelter in 1671.

St. John's is not only home to remnants of history but also to the rich, who flaunt their wealth through expensive, world-class yachts, which are, themselves, tourist attractions.

Keith Richards of Rolling Stone fame is among the celebrities known to have moored in English Harbour. It may be 14 miles long and 11 miles wide but Antigua has many attractions for those who love to sightsee. Likened as a natural supermarket, Antigua has an extensive archipelago of cays and islets and the natural environment is rich in marine life, flora, and fauna.

This makes for intriguing sites, among them my personal favourite, Devil's Bridge, a natural bridge-like land formation created through erosion. Located in the Indian Town Point area, Devil's Bridge, a national park since the 1950's, is a dreamer's nirvana and on a sunny day with a Crayola blue sky, white marshmallow clouds and foamy waves crashing against the rock formation, there is truly a feeling of oneness with nature.

Speaking of nature, bird watching may be the nature lover's activity du jour but in Antigua bat watching is even more fascinating. One could catch the nocturnal creatures on the grounds of the former NASA tracking station which is now a medical school. Thousands of common bats reside in the large cavern, situated in the St. Paul's parish.

If you want proof that Antigua is a Caribbean Eden, the number of celebrities choosing to make it their home away from home should be telling. Fashion designer Giorgio Armani, musician Eric Clapton and Virgin Atlantic Richard Branson, are among those who all own a piece of Antigua's real estate.

What's the pull factor? Maybe, as the Antiguan-born Jamaica Kincaid wrote in ASmall Place it's because, "Antigua is beautiful. Antigua is too beautiful.

Sometimes the beauty of it seems unreal…as it were stage sets for a play".

Barbuda - Not to be forgotten

In 1967, the island of Barbuda became a dependency of Antigua but though it is smaller, the island complements Antigua's natural beauty well. Touted as one of the best beach destinations in the world, Barbuda is particularly known for its diving. The island contains almost two hundred wrecks which makes diving a very attractive activity.

One of the main draws on the island is the Frigate Bird Sanctuary, which is situated in the Codrington Lagoon. The Sanctuary is home to 2000 birds but during the mating season, from September to April, the star is the locally named Man'o'war, a rare bird that does not walk or swim but flies high in the sky and live solely on fish stolen from other birds. In the mating season, this bird displays a huge red breast to attract a female mate and lay one egg on a nest perched high in the mangrove.