Hi all,<BR><BR>I have a few questions for you. I have not travelled extensively in the Caribbean; I have only been to the Bahamas (Freeport) and Provo, Turks and Caicos. Needless to say, Provo's Grace Bay was the most beautiful. After visiting there last year, I decided I didn't need to search for my paradise anymore; Provo was it. Hubby loved it also, but would like to try a different island. The beach is the absolute most important thing to us. Food, nightlife, shopping, etc come second. If an island has a fabulous, clean, turqoiuse beach and the food is so-so, I would go for the beach.<BR><BR>Here are my questions:<BR>1) Which beach is better in Anguilla: Rendezvous Bay, Meads Bay or Little Harbour Beach? My definition of a fabulous beach is clean (NO SEAWEED!), calm, clear and pristine waters. Do the above beaches meet this criteria?<BR><BR>2) How would you compare the beaches in Turks and Caicos to the beaches in Anguilla? <BR><BR>3) Is it doable to go to Anguilla on a budget? What are the meal costs here?<BR><BR>Last question (for now!!):<BR><BR>What other island should we look at for a gorgeous beach? Again, my ideal beach is clear, clean water with no seaweed, calm water, and of course the beautiful blue/aqua/crystal clear color of the ocean.<BR><BR>PLease help me with this one!!!<BR><BR>Thanks guys.<BR><BR>Grace

Le Meridien in St martin (Anse Marcel) is a cove and has clear, turquoise water in a gorgeous setting.

Hi Grace. I have been to both Provo and Anguilla so perhaps I can answer some of your questions.<BR><BR>The beaches in Anguilla are not like Grace Bay in that there is no really long beach. The sand, with the exception of the beach in front of the Sonesta, is mostly white and powdery and I don't recall ever seeing seaweed anywhere we've been in the Caribbean. Many people think Meads Bay is one of the best beaches in Anguilla. We spent most of our time at Shoal Bay East for the ambience, snorkeling (not great but okay) and Uncle Ernie's beach restaurant, where for lunch you can get decent barbequed chicken or really good ribs for about $10.<BR><BR>Anguilla is not generally known as a bargain spot, and certainly Provo is more affordable, but there are some not so expensive restaurants. We found that wine tended to have a very high mark-up so if you don't have wine with dinner than you can probably eat fairly reasonably. Tasty's, Johnno's and the Pumphouse all offer somewhat inexpensive menus. <BR><BR>Anguilla is known mostly for its beautiful beaches and I believe most of them meet your criteria for clean, calm, no seaweed and clear turquoise water. If you are looking for that long, long stretch of beautiful white sand you might want to look at 7-Mile Beach in Grand Cayman. Just be aware that Grand Cayman might be a bit more expensive than Anguilla.<BR><BR>A closing aside: to garner more responses you might want to be a little more specific in your post, e.g. Provo vs. Anguilla beaches. Many people won't bother to look at a very general question.

Meads Bay &amp; Rendezvous are both about a mile long, turquoise &amp; gorgeous. Meads is actually on the Atlantic &amp; can get rough if there's a hurricane churning out in the Atlantic. Rendezvous is on the Caribbean &amp; is usually as calm as a pond but can kick up a little in January/February. Neither has seaweed (I dropped my sunglasses off the isde of a boat off Meads Bay in 9 feet of water -- no problem getting them as the water was crystal clear). Little Harbor is not much of a beach &amp; can be a little mucky on the bottom. There are some great pics of Anguilla beaches at http://beaches.ai.<BR><BR>It's easy to eat reasonably in Anguilla: a number of beach bars with great food (amazing fresh grilled snapper on a baguette with fabulous fries for $8 at Johnno's, for example; lots of local places with great food &amp; great prices (English Rose, E's Oven).<BR><BR>BTW, Anguilla has 33 beaches &amp; they are spectacular. We get a car ($215/week) &amp; go to a different one each day. Heaven on earth!!

Yes, Anguilla does have some of the prettiest beaches I have ever seen. I visited Anguilla for 2 days last year, and probably hit 15 of the 33 beaches, not including Sandy Island, Scrub Island and Scilly Cay. My vote is Meads Bay number 1. It narrowly beat out other like Rendezvous Bay, Maundays Bay, Shoal Bay East and Shoal Bay West. Anguilla has other fabulous beaches rearly ever mentioned, like Cove Bay, Crocus Bay, Little Bay and Barnes Bay, that are better than anything most other islands can offer.<BR><BR>Also, most aficiandoes/experts rates Shoal Bay East as the best. The reason I didn't is the dark spots (reefs) too close to shore. However the sand and water was incredible. Check out the pictures that Mary recommended earlier http://news.ai/ref/shoalbay.html