I am not sure why I picked the gloomiest, rainiest day we have had in awhile to sit down and reminisce about our incredible trip to Anguilla, but hey, makes me fall even more in love with our time spent there! As you may know, Matt, Logan and I headed to Anguilla for our first time in January after hearing about it and the love people have for it over the years.
We wanted somewhere warm, without too long of a flight, for a quick little family getaway. Needless to say, we had the most incredible time and even my husband who truly doesn’t like to go to the same place twice, said we will 110% be back! Before I dive into my Anguilla travel guide, if you missed this post about travel tips with a baby (beach edition), you can find that here!
Looking back, I would sum up Anguilla with these few thoughts: the FRIENDLIEST people I think I have ever met in my entire life. Their love and happiness is contagious and you would have thought Logan was the king of the resort with how much attention he got from everyone that worked there (and honestly the entire island). The beaches are beautiful as well as the resorts, but what Matt and I loved the most was the overall casual island vibe. Perfect for families, but also could be a romantic getaway as well (we ran into a bunch of couples who left their kids behind).
HOW DO YOU GET THERE?
From NYC, it is about a 3.5 – 4 hour flight into St. Marteen. From St. Marteen you have 4 options of getting to Anguilla.
Just an FYI, make sure you tip the van drivers, porters who transfer your luggage and boat crew, as it is expected. There are very limited ATMs, so make sure you have enough cash on you!
WHERE WE STAYED:
I am still dreaming about our time at Malliouhana! From the workers, pools, beaches and resort itself, we quickly fell in love. It is absolutely beautiful and I am pretty certain they said almost every room has a beach front view! We quickly made ourselves right at home and while Logan was the only baby at the time, they spoiled him like crazy. He truly had 1,243,554 girlfriends (who were taking pictures with him by the end of our stay because they didn’t want to say bye haha) and everyone there provided so much entertainment for him and embraced us scattering our belongings literally all over the pool even though we tried hard to keep things together. We ate breakfast over looking the water each morning, which was so delicious and Logan had a blast watching the birds and just being outside.
Another bonus is this resort is walking distance to a few of our favorite spots, making things easy with Logan and also cutting back on taxi cost (it is about $14 one way to get anywhere). The two spots that were a quick walk are Blanchards (beach shack and restaurant) as well as Leon’s. More on those below!
WHERE WE ATE/DRANK:
Blanchards Beach Shack + Restaurant – This establishment has two places you can enjoy their yummy food. Their beach bar is just like what it sounds to be, a low key spot on the beach with the BEST Mahi Mahi BLT ever. We grabbed lunch here one afternoon and stuck around for a bit to enjoy the beach. We also made reservations for their restaurant for dinner one night. Hands down make sure to get their famous cracked coconut for desert…you wont be disappointed! Just keep in mind they are closed on Sundays!
Four Seasons Sunset Lounge – If you are looking for delicious, fresh sushi with a view, this is a must! Matt and I came here with the intension of grabbing a drink before dinner, but after seeing the sushi and remembering how many of you suggested to get it, we forewent our dinner reservations and stayed here.
Leon’s – This is actually part of Malliouhana, but it is a quick walk via a beach path from the hotel (I also think they will drop you off by gold cart). Located right on the beach you can hang out during the day or go at night and enjoy live music and a bite to eat. We came here the first night which was nice with just getting settled. The jerk chicken sandwich was great!
Veya – An open air restaurant with a treehouse feel. I wish our friends who got engaged in Anguilla gave us the heads up about how good the lobster here was ahead of time! We really enjoyed our dinner, but once we got home our friend was raving about the lobster and of course we didn’t get it. Just thought I’d share incase you are a lobster lover like myself! They also have live music most nights!
Sunshine Shack – Such a fun, casual spot nestled right on the beach for some of the best BBQ around! They often have live music as well which is an added bonus. You can’t go to Anguilla without making at least one stop here.
Elvis Beach Bar – Super fun spot across town (we stopped here before dinner at Veya). Outdoor beach bar with tons of games and overall chill atmosphere.
Where we didn’t make it to…this time, but came highly recommended!:
WHAT I PACKED:
Swim:
Outfits:
Accessories:
Logan:
Logan Toys: