We've been to Turks & Caicos, Grand Cayman. Loved it! Give me reasons for trying Anguilla. Where to stay? Good restaurants? Best way to get there from New York or Atlanta? All-inclusive? Anything hat will help us make an informed decision.
Thank-you.

If you liked T&C and GC because of the white sand beaches you'll enjoy Anguilla. The island is flat and arid like T&C (I assume you were on Provo). It boasts 35 spectacular white sand beaches lapped by bright torquoise waters and over 80 restaurants some of which are among the best (and most expensive) in the Caribbean. Visit Anguilla if your idea of an ideal vacation is sitting on a beach and dining on good food. There's not much else to do on the island. The top resorts are Cap Juluca, Malliouhana and Cusinart. As far as restaurants go with 80 to choose from everyone will have a different list of favorites. For starters check out Altamar, Trottoria Tremondo, Picante, Pimms, Oliver's, Mangos, Blanchard's, Straw Hat, Koal Keel, Overlook, Hibernia, Kemia, Barrel Stay, Bistro Phil's, Zen.

Much has been written on this forum about Anguilla restaurants and resorts. Use the seach feature and you'll find literally hundreds of posts telling you everything you'd ever want to know about the island, it's resorts and restaurants.

There are no All-Inclusive's on the island although some of the hotels do offer an optional Meal Plan. With all those good restaurants a person would be foolish to dine in the same place for every meal.

There are only two way's to get there from anywhere in the US: 1) Fly to SJU and get the American Eagle to AXA (currently there's one AE flight a day), or 2) Fly into St. Martin and take your choice of the ferry from Marigot to AXA (leaves every 30 minutes and takes 20 minutes), private water taxi or fly on an island hopper (6 minutes).

We went to Anguilla May 2006 for 7 days for our honeymoon. I have to say it was my least favorite of the 10 islands we have visited. We stayed at Cuisinart which is a nice hotel with beautiful grounds and the beachfront room was fine. There is not much to do unless you want to hang on the beach. this is the only island I have visited where I could not find anything to purchase to bring back as a memento. If you go I wouldn't spend more than 3 nights unless you are looking to just hang on the beach.

There are about 7-8 cute & unique gift shop and another 8-9 artists' shops. Anguilla doesn't really have a town center but there are shops on & off the main road & in some of the villages near the beaches where you can get all kinds of things. We have always managed to come up with lovely gifts, mementos, and art work. We go for 2&1/2 - 3 weeks every year & have yet to get bored.

We loved Anguilla when we went in June, so we decided to try Turks & Caicos this coming April. It seems to me that on this board, people who love one love the other, too!

Anguilla has lots of options on places to stay. We stayed at Ku, which has beachfront rooms for about $200/night (off-season). Ku is on Shoal Bay East, which is the most incredible beach! You can also rent villas on Anguilla (www.mycaribbean.com) or stay at expensive resorts like Cap Juluca or Cuisinart.

We came from Boston and flew to St. Martin on the way there, then took a ferry to Anguilla. On the way back, we flew right out of Anguilla (tiny, easy airport), then to San Juan, and on to Boston.

Restaurants in Anguilla are excellent! We liked Picante, Straw Hat, Blanchard's, etc...Check out www.anguillaforum.com -- There are lots of trip reports and tips there.

As we are older now, all that shopping and runnung around is not necessary. We like to rest on nice beaches and dine on good food. Quality is first, price is second. So it sounds like Anguilla would be to our liking.
Also if shopping was a priority we can stay in St. Martin and to to Anguilla for the day.

If you enjoy snorkeling Anguilla is NOT the island for you. While the hotels mentioned in the first response are the best we only stayed at Cap Juluca nut visied Mulliojhana and did not like the stark appearance of the place. Though the lunch was terriffic and the beach/pool areas are lovely I cannot add more.If you want an al inclusive with "some" snorkeling and lush surroundings the ultr-Sandals on St. Lucia I hear is quite nice if you select the deluxe rooms. Hope that helps.

No question, Turks and Caicos Islands...12 miles of white sand beach and good snorkeling and diving. You can't beat it!

We have been to Anguilla 3 times and will probably go again this year. We love to relax at the beautiful beaches and read lots of good books. We find it perfect to unwind. We like the quiet. The hardest part is to pick which restaurant and the 2nd hardest thing to do is to decide what to eat. The people are very friendly. Rent a car for 2 days and drive around just to see what the rest of the island is like