Well, we just made the choice of Anguilla for nov this year. does anyone have any opinions on:

which car rental agency is best on Anguilla

Should we fly into St. Maarten or Anguilla

Anyone recommend a particular airline (flying out of Philly)

Anyone ever rent JEMS?

Best beaches for calm waters and snorkelling?

Any info/opinions at all on our choice?

Can't believe we finally have made a decision!

Pretty much any of the car rental places will be able to service your needs - rates will be essentially the same.

Most people fly into SXM and take the ferry from Marigot or a private water taxi to AXA. Do the routing that is easiest for you. Remember the more connections you have to make the more chances there are for delays. If you can fly non-stop to SXM from your US gateway city that tends to be easiest and quickest as the ferry is very reliable and runs every 30 minutes.

Anguilla has 35 beautiful white sand beaches and everyone has their favorites. Waters are generally calm on all of the but if you encounter waves on one beach simiply go to another and you are likely to find calm waters. There's not a lot of great off-beach snorkeling on AXA. The best is at Shoal Bay East (fantastic beach, plenty of beach bars, lounge chair rentals, etc.). Other places for decent snorkeling are Litte Bay (accessible only by boat unless you don't mind climbing down and up a 30" cliff using a rope ladder), Savanah Bay, Junk's Hole and Silly Cay.

Sorry, not familiar with JEMS Villa other than it's near but not on Shoal Bay East.

roamsaround - thanx for the info, the JEMS villa is near shoal bay, it is on a section of coast that is rocks. flying directly to axa may be the best choice, this morning it was cheaper to fly to axa with one connection than to sxm. i am going to check rates with the company recommended by the rental agency but keep my options open to be my own travel agent. (we made it work on st. john so why not anguilla!) more info always greatly appreciated.

Check USAir for nonstop flights from PHL to SXM. It's a four-hour flight, so may be the best option, especially if you can travel on the weekend.
You can book Avis online for a 10% discount. Otherwise, Island Car has been very reliable.

Avis has had the best prices for us for the past several years but only if you book online before you go -- the island office does not offer the same prices.

I have stayed at JEMS -- it's walking distance to Bon Pain (the BEST bakery on the island -- really worth getting up early). The veranda is amazing; sitting there watching the boats go by was just wonderful & there's great furniture out there. It was comfortable -- the 2nd bedroom doesn't have a view; the kitchen was well-stocked; the pool is weirdly all one depth (I pace around while I read so being chest deep all the time was strange) but it's neat how it sits out over the rocks. It's in a residential area rather than a rental "villa" area. I loved how close it was to Shoal Bay East although it's a real trek to some of our favorite west end restaurants (not a fun drive back after tequila shooters at Picante). Please ask any specific questions -- it's hard to just think stuff up.

P.S. U.S. Airways to SXM out of Philly is definitely your best bet! AA just doesn't get it together all the time for AXA flights -- we've given that up.

Well we've finalized island, villa and flight. had to take american airlines to anguilla, the nonstop to st. maarten was sold out when i went on line and was hoping the price would go down us air (with taxes $900+ per person when it sold out. ) so we'll take our chances on american - 200 less per person. (hotwire didn't do any better)

last piece of the puzzle is the car, which i have some emails out and found a price of 300 for the week with avis. i figure i have a little time on this one. thanx for everyone's help.

What time in November -- we go for the 1st 3 weeks of November and get $215/wk for a 4 door Honda civic or equivalent. I understand that Avis goes up to $245/wk in season but I have never come across $300 from any of the rental companies.

it was the avis web site (added the insurance which is 56 dollars) hmmmm i am there the first week of nov. also saw island car rental which has 260 for a jeep, which would be convenient for the beach chairs.... but i have a question out to them concerning insurance...

i also have a question out to bryans car rental which does have a lower rate but again i have an email out to them about availability.

Aaah, we pay some kind of annual fee to AmEx and it covers car insurance wherever for waaay less than daily or weekly riders so the $215 for us is really $215. Keep looking -- did you get all the rental info there is on anguillaguide.com?

Thanx to all, as i noted already we kinda of were given no choice on taking chances with AA. We set up renting from Bryan's 215 for the week includes insurance. car will be at the villa. this seems pretty standard way of doing business.

I am very excited about anguilla and our villa. I am now scanning thru all the posts looking at restaurants. My friend and i are cheap and not fancy, and don't really feel like driving around every night. but are willing to do so maybe once or twice. so we'll see how it goes. thanx again!

Very close to you (5 minute drive) & cheap, not fancy are the Arawak Inn for pizza, Cote de Mer in Island Harbour and Zara's just down the road at Allamanda. There's a wonderful map available for free at www.anguillaguide.com -- shows all the restaurants and roads. You have plenty of time to order one!

JEMS is amazing.
are you staying there?

Stayed at Shoal Bay East--fantastic beach. Took a cab to Shoal Bay Villas and then rented a car from Uncle Ernie right at his restaurant on that beach. It all worked out great.

Our favorite restaurant was "Zara's".