Not to miss

Island Harbour

Island Harbour is a working fishing village, not a resort area, and its beach is lined with brightly coloured fishing boats, rather than chaises lounges. There's a few cafes and places to bed down in, and travellers in search of a more unvarnished day-to-day atmosphere often make their base here.

Island Harbour's main historic site is Big Spring, a partially collapsed cave containing Amerindian petroglyphs and an underwater spring that was once the village water source. Now under the jurisdiction of the National Trust, there are plans to clean it up and make it accessible to visitors.

Scilly Cay

Just off Island Harbour, in the centre of the bay, is the tiny private island of Scilly Cay, fringed with a beach of bone-white sands and equipped with an open-air restaurant and bar. It can make for a loungey afternoon of food, music and swimming.

Prickly Pear Cays

For the best diving on Anguilla, head out to this underwater cavern, where nurse sharks and barracuda swim through rock formations not far from several sunken shipwrecks. Snorkelling, diving and day trip tour operators leave out of Sandy Ground.

Scrub Island

This 2.5mi (4km) long island is covered in scrubby vegetation and inhabited by herds of scruffy goats. It has a beach on its western side, an abandoned airstrip (rumoured to have once been used by cocaine runners) and some good snorkelling spots. There are no facilities, so bring your own picnic.

The short boat ride to Scrub Island can be arranged at Island Harbour.

Shoal Bay East

You know that beach you picture in your mind's eye? The one where gentle trade winds waft your cares away and waves lap gently against your feet as you stroll the nearly deserted stretch of white sand? This is it.

Shoal Bay East (not to be confused with the far less spectacular alter ego Shoal Bay West) is still miraculously blight-free. There are just a handful of small resorts and villas and a beach bar, but it is surprisingly quiet, even in high season. Bring your snorkelling gear, as the glassy turquoise waters boast thoughtfully placed reefs perfect for jumping in for a quick snorkel.