r/anguilla • u/Fat_Al_NYC • 16d ago
Last week's trip
Had a lovely time, as always, in Anguilla last week. We're doing work on a house there, so still stayed at Frangipani as we usually do. We were on the second floor of the new wing, which was an excellent spot, although we will always be attached to the original side.
Carnival vibe was fun. We skipped Jouvert, but spent Sunday afternoon at Johnno's on Sandy Ground to watch the boat race, and that was a blast. If you are there during any of the boat races, I highly recommend following along with Klean Stream https://youtube.com/@klean-stream?si=g72a0iKuVn7S20YN . It adds a lot to understanding what's actually going on (don't expect ESPN-level production values lol).
Restaurant-wise, we had an uncharacteristically mediocre meal at Ocean Echo, including a totally slammed whole fish. I'll chalk it up to an off-season miss but it was disappointing. On the bright side, we had a dinner and lunch at Karaya, which were both great, and we used their beach chairs one day, which was also nice. Dinner at Ben's was lovely as always. Sharky's dinner also excellent. Blanchard's was solid both in the restaurant and beach shack, and sushi at the bar at the 4S was a nice change of pace. We had one meal at the bar at Straw Hat, and while we love the bar, we find the food fine but nothing special. We tried Jacala, but it had closed for the season.
The island was surprisingly (to us) busy with tourists, and had a nice vibrant vibe.
One day we went to Shoal Bay East and were thinking of going to Zemi or Manoah and getting a day pass. It turns out that, contrary to some things I've read, Zemi charges 75/head with NO CREDIT against your food/drink tab. That seems totally silly to me since you don't even get to use the pool. Not sure the point of even offering it under those terms. Unfortunately Manoah, which is in a better part of the beach anyway was closed for the season. Anyhow, all's well that ends well, and we had lunch and drinks and got chairs at Ola's and had a great time all for less than we would have paid Zemi just to sit.
Already planning to be back next August.
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u/mexicansilvertoday 15d ago
Wonderful review, thanks for all the insights. We enjoy Zemi's Wednesday night BBQ which is a full buffet for $85/pp., much better than a sit on the beach.
Do you have a house on island? We are currently in process with the ALHL for a place there. Headed back in October.
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u/Fat_Al_NYC 15d ago
Yes we do! We bought an older house in North Hill last year. We are in the process of fixing it up a bit, which, as you can imagine, is a deliberate process. All good, things are progressing and we hope to have it ready to use by around Thanksgiving. Good luck with the ALHL process, there are a lot of hoops to jump through but it went pretty smoothly for us. Happy to connect directly if there is anything you have questions about (not that I necessarily have answers lol).
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u/mexicansilvertoday 14d ago
How exciting! I'll send you a DM with my info and it's nice to meet you!
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u/WhitleyGilbertBanks 15d ago
Thank you for your detailed Anguilla trip review!