When I was at travel agency school one of the few things I couldn’t fail to learn was that “Antigua has 365 beaches, one for every day of the year.” So when I visited Antigua recently, I was half expecting to land at the airport and be confronted with one giant sand pit. I thought I would have to hire a dune buggy rather than a rental car and that my body would be leaking sand from every area for weeks to come. In just five days, however, I managed to experience so much more than just fantastic Antiguan beaches.  I did everything from feeding huge sea creatures to heading straight at an active volcano....

Day 1 – Kayaking at “Paddles” Kayaking
I thought I would start my trip with a nice couple of hours splashing around in Antigua’s mangroves.  I met Conrad at Paddles Kayaking, who took us on a gorgeous kayak tour around the south Antiguan coast. For the uninitiated, Conrad is an eco-warrior (albeit a very friendly one) who goes to great lengths to educate visitors on how important the mangroves are to Antigua. He explained for example how they produce the fantastic clear waters around Antigua and how they shelter the shoreline during hurricane season. They also provide shelter for the smaller sea creatures. It was really interesting stuff.

Our morning kayaking was very relaxing right up until the point where Conrad challenged the rest of the group to try and beat me back to the pontoon. I felt like Sir Francis Drake being chased by the Spanish Armada as I paddled furiously towards the shore! They say that history is written by the winners. Well in this case it wasn’t as I was pipped to the post! I am still waiting for Conrad to send me results of the photo finish.

In the afternoon we visited Great Bird Island and its wonderful secluded beach. A bit of sunbathing and some snorkelling finished off the day well. We were obviously tired after all our relaxing (hmm!) and so it was for medicinal purposes only that I accepted rum punch and banana cake lovingly made by Conrad’s wife. A great way to finish a great day.

***Charles Duncombe, is an Antigua holidays director at UK travel company www.holidaysplease.co.uk  He recently visited Antigua and soon found how much more the island has to offer than just great beaches. This is part one of a 6-part series about his many excursions on the island. See you next week as Charles goes ziplining!