Carlisle Bay Resort, Antigua and Barbuda

With plenty of shallow, sheltered sites, Antigua and Barbuda are the ultimate easy diving destination. Divers descending below the water can expect warm waters, and a variety of Caribbean marine life, including parrotfish, batfish, and barracuda, as well as turtles, stingrays and eagle rays. Reef sharks and nurse sharks can even be spotted at some sites.

Diving in Antigua

Antigua is home to more identified dive sites than Barbuda, which are scattered all around the island. In the north, divers can explore a steam powered freighter from the 1800s, known as the Jettias Wreck, while the Andes Wreck is a three-masted merchant ship that rests in Deep Bay, close to St John’s.

However, Antigua’s southern coast is considered to offer the best underwater experiences. Cades Reef is one of the island’s most popular offshore dive destinations, with clear waters and plenty of corals. This barrier reef extends for several kilometres and has sites suitable to all levels, including Monk’s Head and Bluff Cut. The Chimney is a more advanced site, allowing divers to follow a ledged slope down to around 25-metres and peer into a chimney-like cave. Likewise, Snapper’s Ledge is a favourite among experienced divers, featuring terraced walls which rise from the seabed like an amphitheatre. Yellow tail and mahogany snapper can often be seen in schools here, while reef sharks and nurse sharks hide amongst the shadows. 

Pillars of Hercules is another renowned dive site in Antigua and lies a little further west, near the entrance to English Harbour. Named after a series of naturally-carved pillars which appear to hold up the nearby cliff, this site offers a tapestry of multi-hued soft corals which contrast with the shadowy silhouettes of passing black durgons. A small swim-through is also beautifully decorated with feather stars and Christmas tree worms.

Diving in Barbuda

There are no proper dive centres on the island of Barbuda, but tanks are available to hire or fill from the fisheries building and other local outlets. Located on the island’s south coast, Palmetto Point has colonies of staghorn and brain corals with the odd stingray or eagle ray passing by. Another popular dive is Plasterer Point, which lies on a barrier reef off the island’s eastern coast.