Anguilla 2 Day Itinerary (No Tourist Traps)
Two days on Anguilla is not a rushed preview of a longer trip, it is the right amount of time to do three beaches and one proper beach-bar meal well: Shoal Bay East, Meads Bay, and Rendezvous Bay. Anguilla is a British Overseas Territory, not a district of neighboring St Martin, even though every visitor arrives through Sint Maarten’s Princess Juliana Airport (SXM) and crosses by ferry. That contrast, a quiet British island next to a livelier French-Dutch one, is worth understanding before you land. Our 3-day itinerary adds the first offshore cay day; 4-day through 7-day add Scilly Cay, a full island loop by rental car, and a St Martin day trip of your own.
Book these before you go:
- A Meads Bay or Shoal Bay East hotel search : this stretch of coast runs upscale and books out ahead of the December-April dry season, Anguilla’s peak
- A guided snorkel trip off Shoal Bay East’s reef : the reef sits right off the sand, so a short guided session beats renting gear blind
- American Airlines’ Miami-Anguilla nonstop : the only direct long-haul option into Anguilla’s own Clayton J. Lloyd airport, confirm the current weekly frequency before you build a schedule around it
| Day | Focus | Travel time | Rough daily cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Arrival via SXM + ferry, settle in, Shoal Bay East | Ferry roughly 20-25 min Blowing Point-Marigot; onward taxi 15-20 min | roughly $150-250 (ferry, taxis, dinner) |
| 2 | Meads Bay morning, Rendezvous Bay evening, beach-bar dinner | Taxi hops of 15-25 min around the West End | roughly $150-350+ (splurge dinner optional) |
Day 1: the ferry, the reef, and Shoal Bay East
Most visitors reach Anguilla by ferry, not by air. The public boat runs Blowing Point to Marigot on eight scheduled crossings a day, takes 20 to 25 minutes, and costs roughly $30 for an adult one way plus a separate departure tax that genuinely varies by source, so confirm the exact figure at gov.ai before you travel. A private charter from the Dutch side, nearer SXM airport, skips the Marigot taxi transfer for around $65 and up. If you time a flight into Clayton J. Lloyd instead, that is where the American Airlines link above matters.
Clear customs, grab a taxi, and remember driving here is on the left, a British-territory rule that catches people off guard given right-hand-drive St Martin sits a short ferry ride away. Renting a car requires a temporary local permit, roughly $25 for three months or $15 for a short stay, bought through the rental company itself. Settle into a base on the West End near Meads Bay or in Sandy Ground, then spend the afternoon at Shoal Bay East: a two-mile run of pale sand on the north coast with reef right off the shore and a line of beachfront bar shacks for lunch. Close the day with dinner at one of those shacks rather than driving back out. Anguilla rewards staying put once you have found a good stretch of sand.
Day 2: Meads Bay, Rendezvous Bay, and picking your beach bar
Spend the morning at Meads Bay, the glossiest strip on the island and home to Blanchards, whose casual Beach Shack arm runs 11:30am to 8pm and skips Sunday; the main restaurant wants a reservation, the Shack does not. By early afternoon, move to Rendezvous Bay on the south-west coast, a long quiet beach with a clear sightline across the channel to St Martin and two genuine destination bars of its own, Sunshine Shack and the Dune Preserve, the latter owned by reggae musician Bankie Banx and home to the annual Moonsplash festival. Either one works for a late lunch or an early dinner; if your visit lands on a Sunday, several beach bars island-wide run a weekly “jump-up,” a live-music beach party worth chasing down rather than treating as a scheduled stop.
Skip the offshore cays this trip. A Sandy Island or Prickly Pear day is genuinely worth doing on a longer stay, but on two days it is a straight trade against beach time, not a free add, and the three beaches above already earn the time.
Is Anguilla part of St Martin?
No. Anguilla is its own British Overseas Territory, separate from both the French and Dutch sides of St Martin/Sint Maarten and from independent St Kitts and Nevis, despite a shared colonial history and the fact that almost every visitor transits through Sint Maarten’s airport to get here. The two islands’ governments, currencies in practice, and identities stay entirely distinct.
Is 2 days actually enough for Anguilla?
Yes, and treating it as a warm-up undersells it. Anguilla is a genuine slow-down island with no interior sights, no mountains, and a roughly 45-minute end-to-end drive; three headline beaches and one real beach-bar meal make a complete short trip on their own. A longer stay buys pace and cay-day variety, not a longer checklist Anguilla simply does not have.
Is Anguilla safe to visit right now?
Mostly yes, with one caveat worth stating plainly rather than hiding. The UK Foreign Office’s current advisory flags a documented 2025 uptick in gang-related gun crime and robbery alongside its otherwise routine guidance, so check the current advisory before you go and keep ordinary city-level caution. It does not change the practical picture for a beach-and-cay visitor much: strong sun, rip currents on the windier north coast, and cost are the more likely everyday issues.
Before you go
The East Caribbean dollar (EC$/XCD) is the official currency, pegged at $1 to EC$2.70 since 1976, but US dollars are accepted everywhere and most tourist prices are quoted in USD directly, so you rarely need to think in EC$ at all. What you do need to think about is cost: Anguilla runs no cruise ships, no casinos, and no high-rise hotels by deliberate policy, and that keeps it upscale and genuinely expensive rather than a budget Caribbean stop. Check ivisitanguilla.com for current beach access and cay-transfer details before you lock the schedule in, and book that Shoal Bay East reef session for the afternoon you actually have free rather than leaving it to chance.