A few miles north of St John's, a series of attractive white-sand beaches runs around the island's northwest coast. Most of the tourist development is concentrated along Runaway Bay and Dickenson Bay, where the gleaming beaches slope gently down into the turquoise sea, offering calm swimming and, at the northern end of Dickenson Bay, a host of water sports. Runaway Bay is the quieter of the two and, because there are fewer hotels to tidy up their "patch", is strewn with more seaweed and rocks. It's still a great place to wander in the gentle surf, despite the northern end's erosion by heavy swells.

Trapped between two imposing sandstone bluffs, Dickenson Bay is fringed by another wide, white-sand beach, which stretches for almost a mile between Corbison Point and the more thickly vegetated woodland of Weatherill's Hill at its northern end. It's a lovely bay, shelving gently into the sea and with a protected swimming zone dividing swimmers from the jet skiers, windsurfers, water-skiers and parasailers offshore. The northern half of the beach fronts some of the largest of Antigua's hotels, thus the area can get pretty busy, with a string of bars, hair braiders and T-shirt sellers doing a brisk trade, but it's still an easy-going place, with minimal hassle.

Antigua travel guide

Antigua
Where to go
When to go
Getting there
Money and costs
Getting around
Food and drink
Phones and post
Best of Antigua
Holidays and festivals
Tours
Diving & snorkeling
Dive operators
Boats &
     catamarans
Boat operators
Economy, natural hazards

Exploring Antigua
- Barbuda:
  Getting there
  Beyond Cordrington
  Great Fort George
  Falmouth Harbour
  River Fort
  Cordrington

- Falmouth and
  English Harbour
  Eating, drinking,   
  nightlife
  Falmouth
  Heights, Pigeon
       Beach

  From Runaway Bay
  to Half Moon Bay
  Eating, drinking,
      nightlife
  Betty's Hope to Long  
  Bay
  Half Moon Bay
  Runaway &
  Dickenson Bay

 St. John's
  St John’s
  Getting around
  Eating & drinking
  Nightlife, casino,
  karaoke
  Airlines, embassies

Exploring St. John's
  Fort Bay
  Fort James
  Long Street
  National Museum
  Redcliffe Quay
  St. John's Cathedral
 

West coast

Antigua brief
    history

Cruises

Airfares
United Airlines
Hotwire
Ted
United - Escapes
American Airlines
Condor
Excel Airway
Continental Airlines
Expedia
Delta Airlines

Caribbean information
guide, hotels, airfares

Google maps