So welcome to today's show our really pleased to have with us today.
, Norell Joseph he's with the Antigua and Barbuda, , visitors bureau.
And he's going to share some, , information about, , Antigua
and Barbuda and accessibility.
So Norell, you want to tell us a little bit about your background?
Sure.
Thank you so much, Kenneth.
And it's great to always share information about our twin island,
destination of Antiga and Barbuda.
The way the beach is just the beginning.
As you mentioned, my name is Norell Joseph, and I'm the
sales and marketing manager.
, here in the United States with the Antiqua and Barbuda a tourism authority, , and,
, we're always happy to, , share tidbits and promote our beautiful twin island,
destination of Antigua and Barbuda where the beach is just the beginning.
Okay.
And so let's, , let's start with the, I am visiting you on a cruise.
I travel with a mobility device, either wheelchair, scooter,
Walker, something like that.
And so I'm in town for the length of the time , the port stop would be.
So what are some of the things that are accessible that would be, , on your list
of things to recommend for people St.
John's, , several portions of the city, , is, , accessible, , for those
who, , do need those accommodations.
, especially if you're coming in on a cruise, you're coming right
off, right up into the port of St.
John's Harbor into Heritage key or Reckless key.
, so you can certainly stroll along the boardwalk.
, and visit many of the stores and restaurants that are right along the
boardwalk there, and several, , shopping facilities, , that are also there for you
to, to , certainly get you some of that local art and craft of the destination.
A number of restaurants are also available right within, , the Heritage Key Reckless
Key area, , where your cruise ships dock.
So you can certainly enjoy much of the.
Culinary delights of the destination right at the cruise dock.
Okay.
And so let's say I wanted to get out a little bit farther
and see more of Antigua.
What would be some good options for that?
we certainly, , like to highlight, , we have 365 gorgeous beaches plus that
extra beach 366 for the leap year.
, and certainly, , if you have the time to, we want you to go and enjoy a beach
or two or three, however many you can choose to visit, , there are several
beaches that are within, um, Very close proximity to the , cruise , , docking
area, , and that of course, , go, , and visit our , , heritage and historical
sites, , Shirley Heights and Nelson's dockyard, which is all apart.
Of our UNESCO world heritage site where we've certainly preserved a lot of our,
, artifacts from, , our colonial past.
, so you know, the old Fords, the old cannons, , you can head to Fort James
where there's also beaten or ruins of the fort, which was used to protect St.
John's Harbor as well.
So there's quite a few things that you can do, , in and around that area around St.
John's then of course, on the outskirts of the destination.
A very small island, so it's very easy to get around to us, and to see , several
areas on the island within, uh, especially if you're coming on a cruise and you
only have a few hours, this certainly a few things you can pack into the number
of hours that you're there in port.
Okay.
So how about accessible transport?
How available is that?
So that say I'm traveling with a scooter.
And I would like to go do some sightseeing.
Is that pretty easy to find accessible transport?
, so are there are few, , that are available on island, wheelchair accessible
buses, et cetera, , that are available.
, it would be helpful to make a few of those arrangements in advance, , so
that, , you have that option available to you without delay on your arrival.
, but certainly, , , getting around should not be difficult.
, and of course, , if you wanted to, , have your own personalized tourism and so
forth, that could be arranged as well.
Okay.
All right.
Very nice.
And are any of the beaches accessible?
Many of the beaches, you know, you can certainly stroll right up to the
beach drive right up to the, , high water mark for several of the beaches.
Of course you can go beyond a certain point with the car or bus.
It all depends on, on the experience.
You're really looking for, , if.
It it, I imagine if , you're using a scooter or so it would
be hard for you to actually go into the sand with your scooter.
, if you're for instance, if you were probably to do maybe a day
pass at one of the hotels or so.
, or arrange a private tour with one of the companies, they would certainly be able
to help , in making those arrangements so that you can get up close to the
beach as much as possible and possibly, , they may be one or two, , tours that
may offer you the, beach wheelchairs as well, , to get you right into the water.
You're looking for that experience.
Okay.
All right.
And , what about the Forts?
Are they, have they been updated where they are accessible or are they not.
, so certainly, , you can, , visit the forts they're all accessible, , depending
on which one you're going to, especially if you're going up to Shirley's Heights
and the old block house, as we called it, , where, on the south side of the
island, within that UNESCO world heritage site area, , the, that Fort protected us.
, the Southern part of the island from French invasion, , from neighboring
Guadalupe, which is just to our south.
, , you could certainly , if you're going up to block house, you can certainly
go right up to the cliff top and just look over and see that beautiful water
you can certainly, , make us it's accessible so you could get as close
. To the action as much as possible.
And , if you went over to Shirley's Heights where, , we do our, , sunset
barbecue party every Sunday night, , which gives you that picture
as background backdrop of the.
English Harbor Nelson's dockyard era.
And that's the photograph that you're actually looking at on my screen,
in the bottom left of your screen.
That's the view you get from Shirley Heights, Nelson's, dockyard that is
the UNESCO world heritage area where you see the sailboats, et cetera.
That's the Antiga Naval dock out.
And you could really, , roll right up to, the wall and have that
fantastic view and really enjoy a beautiful day on the destination.
Oh, that is so beautiful.
It is amazing.
Yes.
I'm in the white sand.
I was looking at the one by the phone booth, right?
Yeah.
And of course behind you, all of that is, is such a beautiful place.
It is, it is.
And if you're fortunate to get over to our sister Island, or Barbuda, which,
uh, on the right of the screen, you know, has that beautiful pink sand.
Okay.
So how accessible is Barbuda?
,Barbuda is not a lot of developments on the island, very
few resort properties on Barbuda.
It might not be as accessible as Antigua , certainly might have it's limitations.
If you were able to make pre-arrange tours, , I'm sure accommodations
would, , would be, , available to be made in advance of your arrival.
So in a typical port stop.
And for somebody that's, , needs accessible transportation, they
made arrangements in advance.
What kind of timeframe are we talking about to see most of
the attractions on the island?
You said it's a small island.
Yeah, it's a small island.
You can get around it and possibly depending on the number of stops that
you're making, , you can get around it, , uh, in fairly quick time, their
full day towards the half-day towards, depending on what you want to see.
Uh, but if you're going to possibly just maybe do a beach
stop and, um, then perhaps stop at, uh, Shirley Heights, in the.
UNESCO world heritage site era, or go up to to Betty's hope and see I'm
one of the old sugar plantations, the way where we actually still have
the windmill and et cetera there.
, you could certainly do that in, in, in three, four hours certainly add some
additional time for your beach stop.
So it really depends on what you're looking to do on your tour, , that
can be tailored to meet the timeframe that you do have on island.
Okay, so now let me ask you, what are your, I think I already know one of them
would be the UNESCO world heritage site.
Right.
And then what are, give me two more of your top, your favorite places to visit.
Certainly if I'm heading to Antiga that's home for me.
So it's certainly always going home to see, , my family and enjoying
some of mom's home cooking.
So certainly, , not that I'm going to be inviting the world into my
mom's kitchen as sounded like to me.
But as much as she would enjoy.
Cause she absolutely , loves to, uh, prepare food.
, but I'm sure she would love having you.
Uh, but certainly for me, uh, getting home would be, , ideal.
I love, , going to Shirley Heights.
, as you mentioned for that sunset barbecue party, it's absolutely phenomenal.
, where we have the live steel band and the live reggae band and so
forth, , going to some of the favorite spots around the island, some of
the local restaurants, , Dennis's.
Beach bar and restaurant OJ's or share rocks or beach Limas at Fort James,
certainly stopping at one of those local hotspots where you can certainly
get some of that scrumptious cuisine.
, and , if you want to take in a little bit of the history and culture, but.
Destination, , visiting the museum in St.
John's it's really right within a short distance of the cruise dock,
or you can visit , the museum, , at Nelson's dockyard, , as well.
So, , certainly some of those experiences are highly recommended to
really get to know the destination.
, but of course, , you can't be in Antiga and not make some time for the beach.
So any one of our 366 beaches would be ideal , for that as well.
So those are definitely the top options for me.
Okay.
So now let me, I'm going to ask a question a little off
target, because sometimes the.
People that are traveling with challenges may have a family members that are into
the beaches and may have a be looking for water that is at least reasonably calm.
Is there a beach that's closest that fits that bill where it's usually
a, they can get in and swim if they wanted to in play without, I know
sometimes the waves can get up in some of the, , on some sides of the island.
, we're very blessed to have two, , experiences on an
island on the west coast.
, pretty much the north to the west, to the Southwest.
, we have the Caribbean sea, which of course would be the , calmer seas.
And then on the the east and the Southeast.
We have the Atlantic ocean.
, certainly the beaches on the west coast would be considered some of the
calmer , beaches, , but you can find very calm beaches on the east coast of
the destination as well, because, , the beautiful thing about Antiga yes.
A lot, many of our beaches are protected by reefs or are in coves . , some
of the more popular beaches, for instance, long bay on the Eastern
side of the island is on Atlantic side, but it's so calm and swimmable,
, that, kids and families frolic.
There,
, because it's so calm, but certainly, , if you're looking for something that's,
, within close proximity to the, , cruise terminal, so you don't have to venture out
very far, , Fort James Beach, , deep bay.
As well as, , the concern be or runaway beach.
Yep.
Silver beaches, right along the Western Northwestern coast, whichever
within very close proximity to the cruise terminal, that would certainly
be able, , to provide that calm sea for those who do want to indulge.
And you mentioned there were some resorts that have day passes.
. Yes, they certainly do.
, so you know, the Sandals Grand resort, of course, which is for
adults or, , you have, , family friendly resort, such as St.
James's Club or the Veranda resort or Blue Waters Resort . Several of the resorts
on the island do offer, , day passes.
, , but of course, you know, depending on whether it's not all soft.
, families with kids are involved, then you determine which property
would be more suitable for you.
Okay.
All right.
Very nice.
Now let's say that I had some time to spend, let's say I fly in
and I've got four or five days.
So now , how would you structure those four or five days?
Well, that's the ideal experience actually, , while we do welcome cruise
as to the destination, , I really like to tell folks, you can't really experience
us in just a few hours, , but still, , hopefully you would have visited us for
a few hours and it would have enticed you to want to come back and spend four
or five nights or even longer with us.
And for instance, if you do happen to come and spend, , a few days
with us, you know, certainly.
, you're they arrive.
You want to probably just take that time to relax the next day, , and
certainly get to the beach.
, certainly be, make that your first stop.
, typically the flights get into us just around, , two,
three, four in the afternoon.
, by the time you arrive on island, it's just in time for you to have
that first cocktail right on the beach and enjoy that first beautiful
sunset depending on your resort.
, you can certainly have great views of a beautiful sunset.
, then of course, The next day, you want to go out and do some tours and
excursions and possibly, maybe even try a different beach separate from
the one, the way your resort is at.
, and I always like to encourage folks to, at least try a local
restaurant on the next day.
, so even if you're on an all inclusive resort, uh, you want to get out and
have some of that local cuisine and try some of that local culinary delight.
, which you'll find at any number of the beach bars and
restaurants in and around St.
John's or, , on the outskirts of the villages and neighborhoods around Antiqua.
, if you happen to be there.
On a Thursday or Sunday night, then certainly head up to Shirley's Heights
for, that sunset barbecue party, , where you can certainly, , see the
sights and sounds of the destination, uh, and that steel band and all of
the great music that takes place.
And you can certainly be entertained by, , throughout that period.
And then of course, you know, on the final days, it can continue
to just relax and enjoy the beach.
And if you'd still going a couple of tours and excursions as well.
So there's quite a lot to do.
We have over a hundred different activities that you can participate in.
You can swim with the sting rays and so forth.
If , you're open to that type of, to that type of activity.
There are quite a few things you could do, , to choose from it
all just depends on the type of experience that you're looking for.
Okay.
And if you don't know the answer to this, that's, I apologize for the
question, but what about in the Harbor or any, are there any of the boats that
operate tours around, , water-based tours that are accessible, that you know of.
, yes.
Yes.
Some of the, we have several catamarans that offer, , they tours or island tours.
, you can do a full 360 degree tool, which takes you around
the entire island by boat.
, so you really get to see the destination, , extensively.
And of course, They do offer you lunch , and, , drink service as well, , on
the boat, if you're so inclined to, to enjoy that, , of course, , there are
the catamaran that will take you out and just tours of, some of the reef for,
, probably just go out for a stroll, , at sunset, maybe something nice and romantic.
If you're looking for that as well.
So yes, there's certainly quite a few options.
Right, there.
Um, and several of these.
, several of them will pick you up on your resort, , beach, , particularly if
you're on the west coast, the Northwest, , and then of course, you'll go into St.
John's the same area where you come in for the cruise ships.
They'll set sail from, , from St.
John's right there.
Okay.
Very nice.
Now you've mentioned Barbuda.
And so if I wanted , to go to Barbuda, you said there are resorts on the island.
, yes.
So there are two main properties on the island, currently the Bobbi
Rebell, , which is a small boutique property, just six bungalows.
, then you also have the Barbuda cottages, , which is another boutique property, just
about five or five bungalows as well.
, and then you have, , a number of guests, houses and cottages
that you could choose from.
, you can also even go glamping.
On Bob Buda at the frangipani, which also offers you that, , exclusive beach
camping type experience, , some very upscale as well, , type of glamping.
I mentioned, various guest houses and cottages to choose from, uh, getting
to Bob at you do so by at the ferry, uh, the three ferriesthat head over to
Barbuda, or that the Barbuda express the Island Escape . And the Lady
Caroline, or if you choose, you could fly a fly over to Barbuda, , either on
the aircraft or, , on the helicopter.
, which takes 15 minutes by playing, , 90 minutes an hour and a half by boat.
Okay.
All right.
Well, very nice.
And that sounds like a, it sounds like an amazing place to visit.
Hopefully I'll get a chance , to get there.
One of these days, I'm busy working on thinking about places I want to go cause
doing this just makes me want to leave.
Yeah.
After a year cooped up, I'm ready to go see some more like a beautiful,
like a Antigua and Barbuda.
Absolutely.
We like to say, you know, you could have that James Bond type of vacation
where you have breakfast in Antiga lunch, Barbuda , and then you're
back in Antigua for dinner . Yeah.
Yeah.
Very good.
And you want your martini shaken?
Not stirred.
That's right.
Okay.
Well, , for those of you that are watching, if you haven't subscribed,
I always appreciate it when people do.
I want to say thanks to, , Norrell Joseph's for staying with us and sharing
his beautiful, beautiful Homeland.
, like I said, , it's accessible and it's gorgeous.
So it might be the place you want to put on your list.
We'll see everybody next time.
Thank you so much.