United Kingdom – Anguilla March 20, 2022
The MSC cruise ended on March 20 at Sint Maarten. I was up early, showered, had breakfast, said goodbye to Leon and walked into Phillipsburg 40 minutes to get a share taxi to Marigot in Saint Martin. The ferry to Anguilla ($5 departure tax + $30) is next door to the ferry to St. Barts. It left at 09:40 and returned at 11:45 ($11 departure tax + $30 ferry).
Anguilla is a British overseas territory in the Caribbean. It is one of the most northerly of the Leeward Islands in the Lesser Antilles, lying east of Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands and directly north of Saint Martin. The territory consists of the main island of Anguilla, approximately 26 kms long by 5 km wide at its widest point, together with a number of much smaller islands and cays with no permanent population. The territory’s capital is The Valley. The total land area of the territory is 35 square miles (91 km2), with a population of approximately 14,731
There is little to see or do if one is not interested in beaches. I walked around the ferry terminal for an hour and caught the ferry back to Saint Marten.
Heritage Collection Museum. History, Culture, East End: National and City Museums
Koal Keel Plantation House. House and Biographical Museums.
Shoal Bay Beach. $26 return.
Scrub Island. XL
History. Anguilla was first settled by Indigenous Amerindian peoples who migrated from South America with the earliest artifacts dating to 1300 BC. There are two known petroglyph sites in Anguilla: Big Spring and Fountain Cavern. The rock ledges of Big Spring contain over 100 petroglyphs (dating back to AD 600-1200).
It was first seen in 1564. The Dutch West India Company established a fort on the island in 1631. It was first colonised by English settlers from Saint Kitts in 1650. The early European settlers brought enslaved Africans with them. The slaves were forced to work on the sugar plantations which had begun to replace tobacco as Anguilla’s main crop. The African slave trade was terminated in 1807, and slavery outlawed completely in 1834. Many planters subsequently sold up or left the island.
Economic stagnation, and the severe effects of several droughts in the 1890s and later the Great Depression of the 1930s led many Anguillans to emigrate for better prospects elsewhere. It became part of the associated state of Saint Kitts-Nevis-Anguilla with full internal autonomy in 1967. In 1980, it became a
Geography and geology. Anguilla is a flat, low-lying island of coral and limestone with the highest point of 240 feet. Anguilla is noted for its ecologically important coral reefs and beaches.
Anguilla has a volcanic origin and has been submerged repeatedly from climate change.
Climate. Northeastern trade winds keep this tropical island relatively cool and dry. Average annual temperature is 80 °F and rainfall averages 35 inches annually. The island is subject to both sudden tropical storms and hurricanes, which occur in the period from July to November.
Demographics. 90.08% are black.
Economy. Anguilla’s thin arid soil being largely unsuitable for agriculture, the island has few land-based natural resources. Its main industries are tourism, offshore incorporation and management, offshore banking, captive insurance and fishing.
Anguilla’s currency is the East Caribbean dollar
Get In
Air. Regional scheduled passenger services connect to various other Caribbean islands via local airlines.
Boat. There are regular ferries from Saint Martin to Anguilla. It is a 20-minute crossing from Marigot, St. Martin to Blowing Point, Anguilla.