Cove Bay, Anguilla: The Dune Preserve and the Quiet Sand
A driftwood bar built by a musician, on a beach almost nobody else is using.
Why Go
Cove Bay is the stretch of south-coast sand west of Rendezvous Bay, and it is quiet in a way that surprises people who have just come from the west-end resorts. The reason most visitors know the name is Bankie Banx's Dune Preserve — a bar assembled from driftwood, boat timbers and salvage by one of Anguilla's best-known musicians, standing in the dunes behind the beach, and regularly named among the best beach bars anywhere. The rest of the bay is sand, sea and very little else.
The Experience
The beach runs long and shallow with the same south-facing view toward St Martin as Rendezvous next door, and the same calm water. What it does not have is development: a handful of properties, the Dune Preserve, and stretches with nothing behind them at all. The Preserve itself is the character of the place — a structure that has been rebuilt after successive hurricanes and looks it, in the best way, with stages, hammocks, cats and a bar built out of a hull. It is quiet by day and comes alive in the evening and during the annual music festival the owner runs there. Walking east along the sand takes you into Rendezvous Bay, so the two work as one long beach. The Preserve is also a useful corrective to how Anguilla is usually described. The island is written about as a place of expensive restaurants and private villas, which it partly is, and then there is a bar made of salvaged boat timber where an Anguillian musician has been putting on shows for decades. Both are true, and only one of them costs anything to enjoy.
What to Try
Go to the Dune Preserve, and go in the evening rather than at midday — it is a bar and a stage rather than a lunch spot, and the atmosphere is the point. The Place and C Level are the beach clubs along this stretch, and Chef's Table and Kitchen Table cover the sit-down meals. Dune Bratt Water Adventures runs the watersports off the sand. Otherwise the correct use of Cove Bay is a long walk and a swim: it connects to Rendezvous Bay to the east along an uninterrupted stretch of sand, and doing that walk in the late afternoon with a drink at the Preserve at the end of it is about the best evening the island offers for the price of a rum punch. If you are here in March, the music festival the Preserve hosts each year is the one date on Anguilla's calendar worth planning a trip around, and rooms on this coast go early because of it.
Insider Tip
Time your visit to the Dune Preserve for sunset or for live music rather than lunch. It is a bar with a stage, built by a working musician, and it is a completely different place at eight in the evening than at noon when it is a quiet shed with a nice view. Check whether anything is on before you drive out — the annual festival and the regular sessions are what people actually travel here for.
The Practical Stuff
Cove Bay is about ten to fifteen minutes from Blowing Point ferry, fifteen from The Valley and fifteen from Clayton J. Lloyd International, on the south coast west of Rendezvous Bay. You need a car; there is no useful public transport on Anguilla and no walking route from anywhere you would stay. Parking is free and informal off the sand track behind the beach. The beach is public, as all Anguillian beaches are, and facilities away from the bars are nonexistent. Driving is on the LEFT and a temporary local permit is required. Hurricane season runs roughly June to November, and this coast has taken repeated damage — the Dune Preserve has been rebuilt more than once.
Common Questions
What is the Dune Preserve?
A beach bar and stage in the dunes at Cove Bay, built from driftwood and salvage by the Anguillian musician Bankie Banx. It is regularly listed among the best beach bars anywhere and hosts an annual music festival.
When should you go to the Dune Preserve?
In the evening, or when there is live music. At midday it is a quiet shed with a good view; after dark, with the stage in use, it is the thing people travel to Anguilla for.
Is Cove Bay quiet?
Very. Apart from the Dune Preserve and a couple of beach clubs there is almost nothing behind the sand, and long stretches have no development at all.
Can you walk from Cove Bay to Rendezvous Bay?
Yes — they run into each other along an uninterrupted stretch of south-facing sand, and walking between them is one of the better hours on the island.
How far is Cove Bay from the ferry?
Ten to fifteen minutes from Blowing Point, and about fifteen from The Valley and the airport. A car is necessary; Anguilla has no useful public transport.
Are there facilities at Cove Bay?
Only what the bars provide. Away from them there is nothing at all, so bring water and shade, and note that parking is an informal track behind the sand.
Pair It With
- Bankie Banx’s Dune Preserve Guide — The driftwood bar that made this bay known.
- Rendezvous Bay — The next beach east, along the sand.
- The Place Guide — The beach club for the daytime half of the visit.
