Traveling to Barbuda was definitely on my list of things to do, for my trip to Antigua and Barbuda. Since I was going to be exploring most of Antigua, I thought it was only right to get a dose of Barbuda and see what it was all about. Before going to Barbuda I did research, like I usually do on destinations I plan on visiting. But even though I thought I was prepared for my day trip from Antigua to Barbuda, I wasn’t as prepared as I thought.

Barbuda island is much different than Antigua island

Even though Antigua and Barbuda are one country, the islands are very different. Antigua has beautiful beaches, restaurants, large resorts, a cruise port, airport, and is well developed.

Barbuda also has beautiful beaches, it actually has one of the most popular pink sand beaches. It’s mostly made up of wild bush where deer, donkeys, boars, horses, land turtles and more live. It’s an undeveloped island, which makes it pretty intriguing. Barbuda also has a population of around 1,670, which is significantly lower than the population of Antigua. My tour guide told me that Barbuda has one gas station, and it closes at a certain time everyday.

Book a tour before getting on the ferry to Barbuda

Getting on the ferry from Antigua to Barbuda was pretty easy. I paid for my ticket by credit card and then boarded the ferry. The ride was realxing and took about 90 minutes to get to Barbuda. Everything was fine until I disembarked. Once on the dock, I realized that everyone exiting the ferry immediately walked to cars, so I decided to do the same thing. The first car asked if I booked a tour and I said no, so I was told that everyone in their vehicle had already booked a tour with them. I tried another car and was told the same thing. I was also told that all of the vehicles waiting on the dock are for tours that were already booked. Ugh, why didn’t I know this before???

I was lucky to be able to get into a vehicle, actually the last vehicle that was on the dock. The driver was able to take a few of us, that didn’t book tours beforehand. Even though I was lucky, I highly recommed booking a tour before boarding the ferry to Barbuda, so at least you’ll have a definite ride from the dock and around the island. You also have the option to rent a car and tour the island on your own.