Is Antigua & Barbuda Expensive? Budget Travel Guide

Antigua & Barbuda often gets labelled as one of the expensive Caribbean islands. With luxury all-inclusive resorts, yachts and being very touristy, I could see why. But, if you know where to stay and what to do, you can enjoy all the luxuries of Antigua for a very affordable price.

In this guide I’ll show you how I stayed in an All inclusive resort, rented a car, visited Barbuda on a ferry and many other activities, all while keeping it cheap. Antigua is one of the best places for a mid range budget trip where you can still experience all the luxuries you get from a typical Caribbean vacation. If after reading this article you really want to visit Antigua even more. My Antigua and Barbuda travel guide should answer any questions you might have.

Here’s a list of free or cheap activities to do in Antigua:

• Beach Hopping at Half Moon Bay: This beach is considered to be one of the best in the world. It’s kind of far away and you’ll definitely want your rental car to get here.
• The Pillars of Hercules: Hike from Galleon Beach to see these massive natural limestone pillars carved by the ocean. It costs nothing but a bit of sweat to get there.
• Devil’s Bridge: A really movie-like, natural limestone arch where the ocean crashes into the rocks. One of the best places to take pictures.
• Shirley Heights Lookout (Daytime): If you come here for the famous Sunday party, you only have to pay a small cover charge, visiting during the day (before 3:30 PM) is included in your National Park entry ($15 USD), which also covers Nelson’s Dockyard.
• Hiking Mount Obama: You can hike to the highest point on the island for free if you go solo. The trailhead is near the Christian Valley Agricultural Station.
• Fort James and Fort Barrington: Explore the ruins of these 18th-century forts overlooking the harbor and the ocean. You can get a nice hike from Fort Barrington and both these forts have beaches right next to them. There is Deep bay in Fort Barrington and St James beach in Fort James.

Here’s a list of activities that are worth spending your money on. You can get more information on these activities visit Antigua:

• Stingray City ($70 – $100 USD): This is one of the most popular things to experience in Antigua. You’ll take a boat to a shallow sandbar to swim with and feed southern stingrays. It’s well-managed and incredibly memorable.
• Sunday Sunset Party at Shirley Heights ($10 USD entry + food/drinks): Between the steel pan band, the BBQ, and the sunset views over English Harbour, it’s a great and compact way to get a lot of Caribbean cultural immersion.
• Circumnavigation Catamaran Cruise ($120 – $160 USD): A full-day boat tour that takes you all the way around the island. Most include lunch (often lobster), an open bar, and stops at secluded spots like Green Island. Sometimes you can go snorkeling as well.
• Antigua Rainforest Zipline ($100+ USD): If you need a break from the water, this is a top-tier adventure through the lush canopy of Fig Tree Drive.
• Eco-Kayak & Snorkel Tour ($70 – $90 USD): For adventure lovers this activity is top tier. These tours usually take you through the mangroves of the North Sound, which is a side of the island most tourists never see.

Transport

Rent a Car

I always recommend to everyone traveling. If you can drive and driving is easy in that country, rent a car. It will greatly improve your ability to move around freely and do more activities. When you’re in a new country, you are not simply going from point A to point B. You are exploring and seeing interesting things that you’ll want to stop and do.

In terms of balancing cost and convenience, renting a car is the best option. Because you still have to spend money to move around, either with a taxi, a car, a bus or uber. It will definitely turn out cheaper if you were to hire taxis all the time to every place you need to go to. You don’t need to rent an expensive car either. I rented a Toyota Corolla for 4 days and it cost $92 USD total. Antigua is so small and easy to drive in that you won’t need much gas either.

You can rent a car from the airport from one of the car rental desks on a separate building just outside the airport exit. If you arrive too early there might not be any people working there though. No need to get a 4×4, any car will work.

It is cheaper to hop on buses and stuff like that, but imagine you’re a family of 4 or a group of friends. You are carrying items and luggage. You have to stand at the side of the road, buses would only drop you off at specific bus stops. It’s just too inconvenient and it makes no sense if you’re on vacation and want to use your time as best as possible and be as safe as possible.

How to take the bus in Antigua

Buses in Antigua are sort of erratic and are all hail and ride. Meaning, you signal them down with your arms and they stop and you hop on. The bus station is located opposite the fruit market in St. John’s. The buses will only leave when they are full. This means there is no fixed schedule when the bus is obligated to leave. But, they operate all day.

There is a board at the bus station that tells you all the routes and buses that are for that route. You should take a picture of the bus with your phone so you can see where it goes all the time. You can take the #22 bus along the west coast that goes to Jolly, Valley Church, Darkwood and Turners beaches. It costs $1.50 one way for these bus rides.

Traveling like this is cheap and friendly. Just put out your arm and they’ll stop where you are standing and when you want to come off just shout bus stop.

I personally think it’s kind of hectic and unreliable. It also prevents you from seeing and exploring most of the island because it only passes on certain routes, just like any typical bus anywhere in the world. Renting a car is still best. But, if you’re really focusing on your Antigua travel budget, then taking the bus isn’t too bad.

Do tours on your own

There are always hundreds of tours being offered. People will hand you flyers at beaches and at the airport, promoting their tours operations. This is well and good if you want the easiest and most expensive trip. When locals see a tourist, they just see someone they could get money from. The goal is to do as many activities on your own as you can do.

You want to hike to a waterfall? Do some research and hike it yourself. Excited to try many different local street foods? Do some research, put all the different places into Google maps and drive there yourself. Also walk around the capital and you will find easy cheaper food. If you want to go beach hopping, just turn it into a road trip activity. Research the best beaches in Antigua, put it into Google Maps and just drive to each one. Visiting Shirley Heights? Ignore all the tour offers. It’s easy to drive to and you do not need a guided tour.

If you move around like this and try to do as much as possible without an expensive tour, you’ll save a lot of money and still experience it the same way. Obviously there will be some activities that will require using things from tour operators like, parasailing, kayaking, snorkeling and stuff like that. You’ll need to pay a fee for the equipment and stuff like that. Save your money for those things.

Cheap Resorts in Antigua

Jolly Beach Resort

If you want to experience the luxury, chill and pampered vibe of an all-inclusive resort and still not break the bank, then Jolly Beach Resort is what I recommend. Jolly Beach Resort looked like it should be an extremely expensive place to stay. The food is great, there are constant drinks by the swimming pool and on the beach, there is one of the best beaches in the country, Jolly Beach. The resort sits right on that beach with chairs and umbrellas lining it. The water is turquoise blue and warm and the sand is white. Everything you want right here.

• 📍 Location: Jolly Harbour
• 🔭 Nearby: Jolly Beach, Jolly Harbour, Valley Church Beach
• 💵 Average Price: US$ 219 per night for 2 people
• ⭐ Rating: 8.6 / 10 by recent guests
• 🛎️ Amenities: Swimming pools, Tennis, Paddle Boarding, Beach Volleyball, Beachfront, Kayaking, games room, spa, Restaurants, in pool bars

Antigua Village Beach Resort

This is like a group of many different apartments belonging to the same resort with tiny streets, forming a little touristy beach front village. This isn’t all-inclusive and isn’t as luxurious as a typical resort, but it’s affordable and is right on one of the best beaches in Antigua.

If you want to go on tours and excursions, there are many offered by this resort. Jet ski rentals, catamaran boat rides, sting ray city tours, rainforest zipline, bike riding and a Barbuda ferry tour. Most of these you can do on your own to save money.

• 📍 Location: Dickenson’s Bay, St. John’s
• 🔭 Nearby: Dickenson’s Beach, St John’s capital. Cedar Valley Golf Club, Halcyon Cove Tennis Club, Coconut Grove restaurant
• 💵 Average Price: US$ 262 per night for 2 people
• ⭐ Rating: 8.3 / 10 by recent guests
• 🛎️ Amenities: Swimming pools, Halcyon Cove Tennis Club, Paddle Boarding, Beachfront, Kayaking, Restaurants, Jet Ski

Cheap Accommodations

If you want even cheaper stays in Antigua, don’t stay at an all-inclusive resort. The nicest areas to stay in Antigua are Jolly Harbour and English Harbour. You can find many reasonably priced Airbnbs here. Most of the places are small and can only hold about 5 people max. These apartments have many amenities in their community, like a golf course, gym, nice restaurants, groceries, swimming pools. All for a fraction of the cost of staying in an all-inclusive resort. Just go on Airbnb and look for stays in Antigua, you’ll see them.

Heritage Hotel in Saint John’s

Heritage hotel is a much cheaper option than the resorts above. It costs only $118 USD per night and it’s located in the St. Johns. It’s not beachfront and is surrounded by regular city life. Choose this option if you really just want a place to store your bags and sleep for the night, while you go adventuring the country of Antigua all day. This is my recommended budget option to save you lots of money.

• 📍 Location: St. John’s
• 🔭 Nearby: Dickenson’s Beach, St John’s capital
• 💵 Average Price: US$ 118 per night for 2 people
• ⭐ Rating: 7.0 / 10 by recent guests
• 🛎️ Amenities: Restaurant, bar, terrace

Food

One of the best things to do in the Caribbean is to try all the local street food. The Caribbean is famous for very seasoned, tasty and cheap food. In Antigua the food is a little bit more expensive than most other Caribbean islands I’ve been to. This is because it’s more of a tourist hot spot. But, there are places where you can have the best food for cheap.

Visit Public Market in St. Johns. If you’re cooking for your own food and need to buy produce, then here is the place shop. Public market is a huge market with everything available. There are even vendors selling already cooked local traditional cuisine. Things like pepperpot and fungee, Ackee with salt fish and dumplings, goat water and johnny cakes and many other delicious foods to try. You don’t need to eat in a fancy restaurant to have the best food in Antigua.

Roti King in St. John’s. One of the best meals I had in Antigua was a roti from Roti King in St. John at 10 pm. Roti King is a famous food shop in St John that sells East Indian influenced food like roti and doubles. You can get different kinds of roti, conch, pork, beef, chicken, goat, lobster. The food here is amazing and way cheaper than any restaurant or hotel food. Roti here are between $7-$9 USD.

If you’re still wondering; is Antigua & Barbuda expensive, then just think about exactly what type of trip you want to experience and plan it accordingly. Antigua can be a paradise for a fraction of the cost of a typical Caribbean luxury trip.