There is an actual telephone box beach in Antigua! Whilst I might not have been to all 365 beaches on the island, Dickenson Bay beach is without a doubt one of the best beaches in Antigua.
Hands up who else remembers the days of telephone boxes!? In England these red-painted booths are iconic, and as an almost thirty-year-old I look back with weird fondness to the days of scrabbling around for 20p to make a call before I got the bus home from school. Ah, the good old days, when people didn’t stare at a phone screen for hours on end! Imagine my delight when I learned that one of Antigua’s 365 beautiful beaches is home to a boldly-coloured telephone box. True, you can’t actually make a call from this bad boy, but as a millennial craving the simpler times of dial-up-tones on your internet and telephones that aren’t actually cordless, I was certain that the sight of a bright red box on a beach in Antigua would be a brilliant nostalgic blast from the past.
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Discover some other brilliant beaches near St Johns cruise port.
Dickenson Beach: 1/365
The telephone box beach is actually part of Dickenson Bay beach, one of the best beaches in Antigua. (Although let’s face it, they’re all rather brilliant.) This beautiful area is exactly what would spring to mind the minute that anyone even mentioned the words ‘Caribbean’ and ‘beach’ in the same sentence. Turquoise water, a curved stretch of white sand, and the palm trees swaying ever so slightly in the breeze all combine to make the perfect paradise-inspired location. I don’t think ‘paradisical’ is an actual word, but it should be, and it should be used to describe this very location.
There are resort hotels, bars and restaurants running almost the whole length of the bay, so if you’re after a more isolated beach day you might want to try somewhere further away from the cruise port. And pals, let me get this straight, although the telephone box is really nothing more than a casual and random addition to an already exquisite beach- I appreciated it nonetheless!
What to do in St Johns, Capital of Antigua
How to get from St Johns to Dickenson Bay Beach
It is not possible to walk from St Johns to Dickenson Bay Beach! However, it’s actually the easiest beach to reach from St Johns cruise terminal, because by road it’s so very close. In a taxi, it should take around ten minutes to reach it. (There are always tonnes of taxi drivers waiting at the port, regardless of the time of day.)
If you want to get there by public transport, take bus number 50. There are no bus timetables in Antigua; these little minibuses just leave when they’re full. But they a super affordable, and a super easy, method of transport.
A foodie excursion
Dickenson Bay Beach may well be simple to reach, but the costs of the day can still add up if you want the full beach experience. This extremely popular (and highly rated) tour, includes transport to and from the beach, hire of beach chairs and umbrellas, and a full lobster lunch including all sides and alcoholic beverages from the bar. It’s a great option if you want a local experience for a decent price.
Where to eat at Dickenson Bay Beach
If you’re travelling to Dickenson Bay by taxi, it’s worth asking to be dropped at Coconut Grove, a restaurant and bar right on the beach (and right next to that iconic red phone booth). Not only is it an ideal drop-off point, but the restaurant itself is pretty darn tooting, finger licking good. And don’t even get me started on the drinks.
My pal, her lovely Mum, and I, had a delicious meal at Coconut Grove and became so obsessed with some kind of grapefruit-ting beverage that it was difficult to actually leave.
A short walk up the seafront is Ana’s on the Beach, a slightly fancier-looking place complete with beach-front cabanas and white tablecloths, accented with pops of pink cushions and vases. I never ate here but I’m told it’s another downright delicious location for a meal or two or three.
The Jet-Ski Fiasco
You may or may not know this already pals- but I am something of a proverbial chicken. Not only am I a chicken, but I’m also the type of chicken who forces myself onwards through the fear despite knowing that there’s a high chance I won’t actually enjoy the experience at all.
I once jumped into the Adriatic Sea from a pedalo as I was marginally more fearful of offending the family I was staying with than of the choppy open water. (Bear in mind I only got my 25m swimming badge in year 6 because the swimming instructor trailed a massive pole in the water ahead of me- which I could cling on to every time I convinced myself I was about to drown). I climbed an exceedingly high bell tower with no guard rail on a windy day by myself in Croatia, pushing myself to the top after a ten minute breakdown halfway up, during which I began hyperventilating and was physically unable to move.
So when my pal Tayler-Beth suggested we hire a jet ski as it was such a good deal, I had to jump on the bandwagon, pushing all my life-long fears of ever sitting on one to one side. Seems like a dumb thing to do, but that is classic me.
I sat on the back, clinging on to my fearless friend for dear life and praying that this would turn out to be full on awesome. That’s right guys, I was clinging on for dear life before we’d even started moving.
For the bargain price of around $40 for about half an hour, we were off! Tayler-Beth revved the engine and we both sped off into the distance, warning light blinking throughout our entire journey, and left-turn not really seeming to be working properly. Both of us spent the majority of the ride either screaming or laughing hysterically, and with slightly impaired vision from the amount of salty spray pelleting back at us from the sea.
When we watched the video that Tayler-Beth’s mum had taken of us leaving the beach on our James Bond-esque ride, we were shocked to discover that we can’t have been going faster than about 3.5 miles an hour. It certainly did not feel like that, pals, but I suppose it’s all relative really isn’t it?
Was I terrified? For 85% of the time, yes. Am I glad I did it? Actually, yes I am. Would I do it again? Probs not.
Horses-on-the-beach. Is horse riding at Dickenson Bay beach actually a good idea??
The guys we got our slightly questionable jet-ski from had a whole range of things to hire out to beach-bums like us.
And one of those things, were horses.
Having spent some time chatting to a couple of sad-looking horse-chaps tied to a tree on the sand, I’d already decided that horse-riding in Antigua would not be my thing. I’m no horse-whisperer but these four-legged fellows had the air of Eeyore about them, appearing a little too bony and not even bothering to flick away the flies that landed on them.
A friend of mine from the ship who has horses at home decided to take a ride and instantly regretted it- “the horse could barely breathe under my weight, and I’m not a heavy guy!” It’s true, he’s not a heavy guy, and to sit on a horse that’s huffing and puffing after thirty seconds is a very sad situation, let’s face it. If someone tries to sell you a horse-ride on the beach (or anywhere), it’s worth thinking twice about whether it’s actually going to be a great experience for the horse itself, know what I’m saying!?
Dickenson Bay beach is one of the best beaches in Antigua, visited by locals and vacationers alike, and I fully appreciated spending time there. Don’t get me wrong, I may have only visited a few of Antigua’s 365 beaches, but this one is a downright brilliant start, that’s for sure!
Tips for visiting Dickenson Bay
- The weather in Antigua (and the Caribbean in general) can change in seconds. One second it’s gloriously warm and sunny, then there’ll be a sudden shower that lasts ten minutes- before the sun reappears. Be prepared for fickle rain clouds! (As seen in the pictures above)
- US dollars are widely accepted in Antigua and Barbuda, as well as the East Caribbean Dollar…its definitely a good idea to always carry some cash on you.
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