Sandy Feet Car Rental Antigua
Family-run wheels straight from arrivals, with an owner who'll drive out at midnight to change your flat
Why Go
Most travellers meet Antigua from the passenger seat of a taxi shuttling them to a resort. Rent from Sandy Feet and the island opens up: the west-coast beach roads to Ffryes and Darkwood, the goat-crossings of Fig Tree Drive, the sleepy villages that never make the brochures. It's a small, owner-operated outfit working out of V.C. Bird International, and the difference shows the moment you land - staff meet you before customs, walk you through immigration, hand over the keys, and you're on the road while the resort transfer crowd is still queueing.
The Experience
Arrival is the whole pitch. Email ahead, share your flight number, and a Sandy Feet rep is waiting airside with a placard; they help wrangle bags, escort you through the small but slow customs shuffle, and take you to your car in the airport lot - no shuttle, no off-site depot. The fleet is nine cars deep and unpretentious: a Suzuki Jimny or Hyundai Creta if you want to poke down rutted tracks to hidden beaches, a Toyota Aqua or Honda Fit for pure fuel economy, or the Jeep Wrangler if you're doing the full soft-top thing. Every car comes with A/C, Bluetooth, unlimited mileage and full insurance baked in - the price you're quoted is the price you pay, which is not a given elsewhere on the island. Sandy himself is famously reachable: guests tell stories of him leaving home after dark to swap out a flat tyre roadside, the kind of service that turns a transactional car hire into a genuine safety net.
What to Try
Ask for the Suzuki Jimny if you want to reach the un-signposted end of Rendezvous Bay or the bumpy last mile to Half Moon - it's the one vehicle in the fleet built for Antigua's back roads. Book the chauffeur service for your first afternoon if you're jet-lagged and don't fancy grappling with left-side driving immediately; the drivers double as informal guides and know which rum shop is pouring on which night. Add the $10/day booster seats when you book rather than scrambling for one on arrival.
Insider Tip
You'll need an Antigua temporary driving permit ($20 USD, valid three months) on top of your home licence - Sandy Feet issues it on the spot, which saves a detour to a police station. Also: driving is on the LEFT, roads are narrow with deep drainage kerbs, and Antiguan goats have absolutely no road sense, so decline the smallest sedan if you plan to explore beyond St John's and Jolly Harbour. Fill up at the Texaco near the airport roundabout before returning - it's cheaper than the stations closer to the resort strip.
The Practical Stuff
Located inside V.C. Bird International Airport in Osbourn - you don't leave the airport property to pick up. Phone +1-268-723-9781 or +1-268-562-6833; email sandyfeet268@gmail.com. Typical counter hours run roughly 9am-6pm daily, but they meet late and early flights by prior arrangement, so always confirm your arrival time by email. Free airport pickup and delivery included. Bring your driving licence, passport, and a credit card for the deposit. Unlimited mileage and insurance are standard; child seats $10/day.
Pair It With
- Adventure Antigua — Park the car at Jolly Harbour and hand the day over to Eli Fuller's crew for the Xtreme Circumnavigation - a full lap of the island by boat that reaches beaches you literally can't drive to.
- Ask Iba Tour & Services — Good complement for a day you'd rather not be behind the wheel - Iba's local-guided island tours cover the historical stops (Nelson's Dockyard, Shirley Heights) with context you won't get solo.
- Antigua and Barbuda Tourism Authority — Worth a quick stop for the free island road map and current ferry schedule to Barbuda - useful planning intel before you fuel up and head out in the rental.
