Scuba Diving and Snorkeling in Antigua

Antigua and its sister island Barbuda are both surrounded by a large number of well-preserved coral reefs. Diving or snorkeling in the warm and crystal clear waters of Antigua and adoring the underwater wild life and beauty of a lot of different corals and shipwrecks are a real treat. Swimming with yellow snappers and impressive stingrays or discovering lobster, nurse sharks and colorful parrot fish in a water temperature that averages 80 F or 25 C is simply heaven. Tropical marine plants and animals are diverse and plentiful and there are numerous reefs that invite you to snorkel and dive. Antigua has lots of diving schools and facilities spread around the island that are easily accessible. Just check with Douglas and he will show you the best diving locations or snorkeling spots on island, and how to get there from Yepton Estate Cottages. A great way to combine a self catering vacation with a great diving and snorkeling experience in the Caribbean.

Vacation during the Antigua Cricket Season

This blog post was written by author Donna Goring, a native Canadian. She and her husband Brian, and avid cricket fan, have visited Antigua 23 times and are good friends of Gabriela and Douglas Luery, the owners of Yepton Estate Cottages. Donna and Brian even lived in Antigua for a year during which time Donna finalized her bossok “Dancing in the Dining Room, Antigua West Indies” – a portrayal of their experiences in Antigua, warts and all. The book can be obtained at Yepton Estate Cottages or can be purchased on line. Check out her website www.dancinginthediningroom.com  

Rally Round the West Indies

Although Antigua may be small, when it comes to cricket, it’s huge. Cricket season lasts from January to July and can be played in any local schoolyard, field, beach or the Antigua Recreational Grounds which is the International Test Cricket Venue.

Every spring “The Windies” as they are affectionately known, host one touring team from various countries around the world; e.g. England , Australia , New Zealand , South Africa , Pakistan  or India .  The West Indies team is comprised of the best players from all the Caribbean Islands . The teams will travel to several islands, including Antigua, throughout the Caribbean over a period of several months playing world class cricket matches. Many visitors plan their annual vacation around these very special events.

Antigua boasts of having the best venue for cricket in the West Indies . Every match is a party event and fun for the whole family. Even if you’re not a cricket fan you will enjoy a day at the stands. Mix with the local supporters who are devoted to the game or take up with the visiting team, it really won’t matter the music will make you want to jump up and cheer. It’s exciting and a day you’ll always remember.

You can bring your own lunch or buy from the vendors on site. Tasty BBQ chicken, Rastafarian “Ital” or a legendary hamburger, it’s all there to be enjoyed and washed down with a cold “Wadadli”, Antigua ‘s own beer.

If you are already a cricket fan you’ll recognize the famous players that call Antigua home. To name a few, Andy Roberts, Richie Richardson, Curtley Ambrose and the legendary greatest cricketer of all time, The Master Blaster, Sir Vivian Richards. It’s not unusual to meet  these players at the test match or having a fun game of  beach cricket amongst themselves, where you’ll likely be invited to join in.

During your visit to our island be sure to stop by The Sticky Wicket, West Indies, Cricket Hall of Fame located just outside the V.C. Bird Airport.

Sailing trips during your Antigua Holiday

Sailing from Yepton Estate Cottages – a different kind of wing.

By Rick the Skip – Captain Richard Gormley

Truly the “sailors paradise”, Antigua benefits from warm, clear waters. The prevailing winds are steady. Tides and currents are benign and you need never be far from fellow sailors and a friendly wave. Any and every sailing experience you may require is easily arranged by Yepton Estate Cottages, from easy “taster” day sails, through tuition, luxury or bareboat charter, to world class racing and cruising. Antigua is unsurpassed as a cruising base for inter-continental voyages, island hopping or just staying with Antigua’s own wealth of marinas, harbours and delightful anchorages.
Deep Bay – an easy walk from Yepton Estate Cottages – is one of the most sheltered anchorages on the island, popular for overnight and lunch stops by local yachts, and visitors from other islands.
Less than an hour’s sailing time from the Cottages, St John’s Harbour is wide and deep, and a delightful home-from-home for the world’s biggest and best cruise liners. A large dock within a few meters of Antigua’s main shopping area is available to yachts.

Longer sailing trips around Antigua take in Great Bird Island and Long Island to the north, and Rendezvous Bay, English Harbour, Willoughby Bay and the famous Green Island anchorage to the south. Water born, and air born wild life abound. Quiet and comfortable, the deck or cockpit of a sailing boat provides excellent opportunities for observation.

The racing scene can be customised to your level of experience and commitment. Weekly club races from Antigua Yacht Club in Falmouth Harbour, and Jolly Harbour Yacht Club attract local characters and visiting racers. Larger events are held regularly, including the Round Island race at the end of January, Valentine Regatta and of course the world famous Antigua Classic Week and Antigua Sailing Week at the end of April.

All types and sizes of boats, with or without captain and crew, are available to guests at Yepton Estate Cottages, ranging from older yachts of thirty feet length overall, available for a hundred dollars (US) per day, through a forty-footer available at an hourly rate of $40 per hour including her captain, to a choice of nearly new yachts of all sizes up to around fifty feet, for day or week charter, at prices ranging from $2000 to $5000 per week. Motorboats of all sizes are also available, and if you really want to “push the boat out” there are several large, luxury yachts with crew, cook and stewardess immediately available on the island.

Sail Antigua – Yepton Estate Cottages are a perfect shore base

1. Natural Sailing Paradise:
Sailors can count on the Trade Winds for a good steady breeze, and clear water with almost no tide to keep passages easy and enjoyable. Antigua offers many large natural harbours – more than most of the other islands – with ample space at dockside pontoons and on buoys. There is a huge choice of anchorages, including popular, protected bays and many quiet, deserted spots.

Around Antigua’s coast, you are never far from a refuge, and in VHF and cell phone contact with marinas and other boaters.

2. Boating Facilities:
Jolly Harbour, near Yepton Estate Cottages, offers some of the best marina services in the Caribbean, with extensive lift-out and storage facilities, marine engineering and repair shops for fibreglass and wooden boats, and a large chandlery. Together with other yards, such as the Slipway at English Harbour, Antigua offers a choice of specialists in rigging, sail making and repair, electronic and electrical and all the other services and skills required to keep yachts seaworthy.

3. Cruising Around Antigua:
Antigua and Barbuda provide waters enough for weeks of cruising pleasure. Harbours and anchorages are well charted and include a full variety of destinations, from sophisticated, full service harbours and marinas, through popular bays suitable for overnight stays to deserted beaches and coves where you can anchor in peace and tranquillity. Passages around Antigua can also be chosen to suit your mood – from proper seaways in the Atlantic, to relatively flat water, often inside reefs on the Caribbean side of the island.

4. Down Island Cruises:
The neighbouring islands of Montserrat, Nevis, St Bart’s and St Martin and sometimes even Guadeloupe are usually within sight. The flavour of local island hopping cruises for Antiguan sailors is apparent from the following account of a recent return trip from Guadeloupe:

It was an exhilarating sail. With sustained winds above 25knots, we covered 70 miles in eight hours, seeing flying fish and turtles on the way and sailing slowly through the Jacques Cousteau marine park at Pigeon Island. Initially there was hardly a breath of wind, but the sea began to get lumpy around the northwest corner of the island. The wind built steadily, and we were glad we had reefed right down. Approaching Antigua, we rolled in more headsail and were still doing over eight knots. The final approach outside of Antigua’s Cades Reef was great fun. The boat flew in towards OJ’s beach bar at ten knots, with French patisserie still frozen in the ice box.

5. Local Races:
Jolly Harbour Yacht Club and Antigua Yacht Club hold weekly races and regular regattas, and all shapes and sizes of boat are welcome to join in, as are visitors looking for crewing experiences. The following extracts are an account of a race recently completed by Elethea, a local boat which regularly races in Cruising Class.

We arrived in Falmouth before 2.00pm, past Bishop’s Shoal, and berthed bows-to the Antigua Yacht Club dock, which is free to racers. The French arrived in mid-afternoon – Six boats from Guadeloupe – and commenced their campaign with an hour or two of good food and wine.
The following day the racing started in earnest and there were a dozen racing boats, and nine in our class – cruisers and live-aboards. Elethea was too early at the start line, and tried a 360 degree turn to waste time. Usually she goes round easily with everything sheeted in, but this she didn’t want to go round, and almost stopped. The wind died at the crucial moment and a competitor bore down on us, shouting “Starboard”. We stumbled over the start line and trimmed on a fine reach. Out of embarrassment, we slanted offshore and luckily picked up some wind. Soon we are ahead and drawing further off, wind building steadily. A half hour later there are just three of us together, out front. We are up with Girls for Sail on Arc Angle and the beautiful old Swan, Thistle

“Hang on a minute. This is easy!”

 

 

Use your Antigua vacation for some amazing Bird Watching

Bird Life at Yepton

Blog post by Dr. David Gibbons, guest at Yetpon Estate Cottages and
Head of Conservation Science, Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB), Cambridge, U.K.

I have made several visits to Yepton over the last few years, and one of its greatest attractions for me has been the variety of its bird life. The reason for this variety is the range of habitats encompassed within this relatively small bay.

Surrounding the coastal road, which runs more or less parallel to, but set back from the coast is an extensive area of goat-grazed scrub, typical of much of Antigua .

This blends into the well-manicured lawns of the coastal hotels and houses, with scattered trees and bushes, many of them flowering and attractive to the ever-energetic hummingbirds and their close relatives, the caribs.

This leads onto the palm-fringed beach, from which can be seen an array of common Caribbean seabirds; in fact most of these can be seen without even venturing down to the beach.

Most importantly, however, and what sets Yepton aside from other sites, is the small brackish lagoon just inland from the beach.

Though the number of species to be seen here will undoubtedly vary from season to season, particularly as migrating birds pass through in spring and fall, there is always something interesting to see.

Most obvious, perhaps, are the herons, ducks, waders, gulls and terns, and I have even seen a pair of rare West Indian whistling ducks here in May (2004), though I was unable to discover whether or not they were breeding.

I am told that a flock of 60 of these birds was spotted in June of 2005 at the salt pond where Yepton Estate Cottages are located.

The Best Destination For Your Retirement Trip

Everybody excitedly talks about what they are planning to do during their much awaited retirement. At this stage of your life you have full control of what you want to do with your precious time. Do you have your list of what you will do during retirement? Here are some of the perfect retirement trip ideas that you might want to consider.

Explore The Caribbean

The Caribbean is one of the most popular destinations for retirees and vacation goers just like you! Kick back and relax with its beautiful sand beaches and tropical weather. You can throw all your burden and worries in life doing snorkeling, fishing, biking, bird watching and more! What is more, you can actually immerse yourself to a wonderful Caribbean community to learn and appreciate their unique culture. Taste what Caribbean cuisine has to offer! You can even catch and cook your own seafood! There are unlimited ways of how you can make your retirement trip so memorable at this earthly paradise. So if you are looking for a retirement trip idea, going and spending your vacation at the Caribbean is perfect for you!

Where To Spend A Retirement Vacation At The Caribbean Islands?

So you searched the Internet for the word “Caribbean vacation” and you are overwhelmed with the search result. The Caribbean is composed of more than 700 islands! So the question is: Where in the Caribbean can you spend your ultimate retirement vacation?

Backpackers all around the world agree that Antigua is one of the best when it comes to a wonderful retirement vacation. This paradise island is the summary of all the fun and adventure than the whole Caribbean region has to offer. Antigua is widely known for its superb sugary beaches, its waters overwhelming with marine life and its tropical climate and culture that will keep you asking for more!

Options are available for you to make your stay at Antigua hassle free. You can rent your own self-catering accommodation here and everything you want like snorkeling, paddle boarding, fly-fishing and bird watching just outside your beach cottage! Be relaxed while the locals let you taste their cuisine and experience the reggae culture that you usually only see at your television.

Want to spend your retiree vacation with the Caribbeans and their culture? Book your retirement trip to Antigua! We at Yepton Estate Cottages are so excited to give you an unforgettable Antigua retirement trip you will never trade for anything your entire life. We offer high-class cottages and vacation houses that are made just to give you a home away from home experience. Book to us your dream retirement vacation and taste what the Caribbean life has to offer!

 

Relaxing Retirement Holidays In The Caribbean Antigua

Are you longing for a relaxing and exciting vacation this summer and still don’t know where to spend your retirement trip? Are you still looking for the rigth place so you can just leave all your worries at home and have some fun adventure? Well, I do have a place for you that you won’t regret spending your retirement holidays.

Antigua is one of the most popular islands in the Caribbean where many people who are in their retirement choose to go. It is located in the center of the Caribbean and famous for its tropical climate, beautiful sceneries and sugar-like beaches and genuine culture. Once three, you will immediately want to explore more in this lovely paradise island.

Yepton Estate Cottages offer self-catering vacation in Antigua, in the Caribbean, nearby the beach. There are so many retirement vacation ideas you can come up in the island for it offers different water sports you want to enjoy by the beach like surfing, snorkeling, water skiing, wind sailing, bird watching and scuba diving. And by the end of the day the place lets you experience the deluxe Caribbean cuisine and freshly caught sea foods that are served everyday with their finest wines and patented champagne with their well-known made drinks that will suite the very delicate taste of every guests in the island.

Among the breath-taking sights in Antigua you find eye-catching ruins that attract many visitors every year. You will be fascinated by the immense side of the island that was destroyed many years ago by an earthquake. And to add some spice in your list, there was this five star hotel that was a prehistoric convent before and today it has an art gallery with two amazing museums open for the public view visited by so many people who loves the world of art.

Be accommodated at the self-catering rentals at Antigua in the Caribbean and have some pleasurable retirement holidays that will surely make your retirement unforgettable. So, what are you waiting for? Just spend your retiree vacation at one of the most recommended self-catering rentals in the Caribbean and reserve a cottage for your retirement trip in Antigua. At Yepton Estate Cottages we will make sure you enjoy every minute that you spend at your memorable retiree vacation. Experience a wonderful vacation in Antigua with us and hurry up, book now for your awaited retirement trip and experience the Caribbean life you have ever dream of.

 

Why Caribbean Antigua Is Great For A Retirement Trip

If you haven’t been able to be in Antigua, then you’re in for a treat. Antigua is the best place to go if you are planning for a retirement trip for Antigua is perfect for relaxation and fun. This paradise island is found in the eastern part of the Caribbean. The weather in Antigua Island is unbelievably good and for you to experience it; you must really visit this wondrous island. The weather is humid so you can enjoy a fine weather throughout the year! Antigua may be small compared to its neighboring islands, but it is considered as one of the world’s most wonderful places to visit. That alone, you are assured that Antigua should be on the top of your retirement trip destination.

Not only the location and weather is good, but also the opulent culture, fun-filled activities, breath-taking views (specially the sunset) and unlimited activities during day and night are only a few of the many reasons why you should go and spend your vacation in Antigua. All of these will surely I give you a lot of memories to treasure and always remember.

Antigua Island is composed of 365 beaches and a lot more places to go to, and few of the famous places to visit in the island is the Shirley Heights (if you want a challenging and adventurous activity), rainforest trail passing through Betty’s Hope and Fig Tree Drive (if you wanted to be one with the nature) and if you wanted to absorb and know more about the rich history of the island, Safari companies will surely grant your wish and will tour you in the old villages and historical remains to know more about the starting point of the island.

After experiencing all those countless fun activities, you would surely want a comfy place to stay in and sleep, right? That’s where the Yepton Estate Cottage comes in. Due to the surrounding green trees and views of colorful gardens, you will never regret and you will surely remember your stay. Yepton Estate Cottages offer a self-catering vacation in Antigua, in the caribbean, nearby the beach, thus giving you a great “homey” feeling. And to top it all off, their hospitality and the kind welcome will surely make you feel like you are a very important person.

Pack your bags, ready your tickets and experience the best retirement trip you will ever have!

 

How To Find Great Retirement Vacation Rentals?

Many retirees find it difficult to spend their time of retirement around their home just relaxing without doing anything. If you are a retiree, you might even feel the need of being active again, being involve in different social activities. A wonderful retirement rental sure is a great idea! A literal ‘home away from home’ while enjoying your vacation in a new location. But you might ask: How can I find a great retirement vacation rental? Read below to find out what works for you.

Ask Your Friends About Retirement Vacation Ideas

Chances are your friends know someone who is renting out a house from time to time, either for a few days or for the whole season. Besides asking others, you can always post notices to a community bulletin for available retirement vacation rentals. You can also do this by posting at social media pages or websites.

Search retirement vacation ideas online

The good news for you is that there are hundreds if not thousands of website which specialize in retirement vacation rental. These sites are famous with their strengths and weaknesses when it comes to their clients review.

What if I tell you that you can have your retirement vacation in a Caribbean paradise?

If you are on this page right now, you are probably looking for an affordable retirement vacation rentals. Yepton Estate Cottages offers amazing retirement vacation rentals and is dedicated to bring you the comfort and luxury of your own house while you are busy exploring the beauty of your new place, the Caribbean! Enjoy the comfort of our vacation houses situated at the paradise island of Antigua, a community that you can have yourself busy again and enjoy your time. We are your true friends here in Antigua. We will make sure that your visit and stay at your vacation house will make you come back for more.

If you are planning to have a vacation and thinking about getting a retirement vacation rental, please do not hesitate to call and see what we can offer. We will be very delighted to assist!

 

Yepton Estate Cottages among the best reviewed in The Expedia Insiders

Yepton Estate Cottages in Antigua Named Among Best Reviewed Hotels on The Expedia Insiders’ Select® 2014 List Proprietary Rankings Powered by Nearly 2 Million Annual Guest Reviews; Property Ranks among 650 Properties Worldwide.

Yepton Expedia WinnerYepton Estate Cottages today announced that it has been named to the Expedia Insiders’ Select list for 2014, an annual ranking of the best reviewed hotels as determined by one of the world’s largest full-service online travel site. Pulling from nearly two million annual verified guest reviews, the Insiders’ Select list recognizes the top ranked hotels available worldwide on Expedia.

The 2014 list names only 650 hotels as Insiders’ Select hotels from among the more than 290,000 bookable properties available on Expedia, Inc. websites worldwide. Consumers can rely on Expedia’s unmatched traveler insight and local market destination expertise to help them make confident booking decisions.

“We’re very pleased to again be included in this year’s Insiders’ Select ranking,” said Gabriela and Douglas Luery, owners of YEPTON ESTATE COTTAGES. “Our goal has always been to deliver the best possible overall experience to our guests, and it is rewarding to see our commitment to superior customer service and guest satisfaction recognized in this way. This is our third Expedia award but being ranked 16th in the world and 1st in the Caribbean and Antigua in 2014 truly exceeds all our expectations. We are very grateful to our wonderful guests who took the time to write a review; to our exceptional staff and we are very appreciative of the excellent products and services provided by our local partners who have contributed greatly in making our guests’ overall experience in Antigua an extraordinary one.”

“The hotels included in the Insiders’ Select list represent the best of the best in the eyes of Expedia travelers,” said John Morrey, Vice President and General Manager, Expedia.com. “This list recognizes the hotels around the world that have worked to provide outstanding value and customer service, as well as regularly exceed guest expectations. Expedia strives to empower travelers with the best possible accommodation on any budget, and the Insiders’ Select list is another tool they can use to make more informed travel decisions.”

Visitors to Expedia® sites can also find Insiders’ Select-designated properties by sorting via the Hotel Preferences amenity drop-down menu. For more information on Insiders’ Select, visit Expedia Insidersselect.