Top 3 Romantic Dinner Experiences in Antigua and Barbuda

Antigua does not line up its special-occasion tables along one glamorous strip — you have to go and find them. The most talked-about dinner on the island right now isn't on the island at all: The Hut sits on Little Jumby, an islet off the north shore between Jumby Bay and the mainland, reached by a shuttle boat from the dock at Barnacle Point. Back on dry land, the candidates thin out fast — of the sixty-odd places we screened around St John's, Piggotts and the villages, only a handful justify a jacket or a good dress, and they cluster in the north and east rather than in town.

The real decision is logistics before menu. Little Jumby is the four-dollar-sign splurge and runs on reservations — you turn up at the dock about twenty minutes ahead and the boat collects you, so book before you dress. Willikies, out past the east-coast villages near Long Bay, means a drive of half an hour or so from St John's but pays it back in open Atlantic views. The airport corridor around Piggotts is the practical middle ground if you fly out the next morning.

Go at sunset whichever you choose: the boat crossing, the east-coast water and the runway lights all do their best work in the last hour of light. Our three picks below cover a private islet, the east coast and the north — one unforgettable splurge and two easier evenings.