Our Honeymoon – Cap Juluca Hotel, Anguilla

The Tuesday after our wedding, T and I flew into the island of St. Maarten and then took a boat to the island of Anguilla to start our honeymoon. When researching different resorts in Anguilla, we decided on Cap Juluca based on it’s pristine beaches, beautiful villas, and complimentary beach activities and breakfast. In case any of you are looking for a relaxing and luxurious vacation on the most beautiful beach I’ve ever seen, I’ve included a list of pros and cons for the hotel and island of Anguilla.

Pros

• Clean and spacious villas – When we arrived we were greeted with tropical drinks at check-in and then were shown to our beautiful villa. We had a spacious room with a king bed and a big bathroom as well as a seating area. On the south side of the room there was an entire wall of folding doors and when opened we had a beautiful view of the Caribbean as well as a tiled path that led to the beach. I immediately felt relaxed and felt the stress of traveling melt away. Many places on the island don’t have air conditioning but our villa had air conditioning and worked very well during our entire stay. The entire hotel (including the beach) had complimentary Wifi as well. This worked out great for us since our cell phone plans didn’t work in Anguilla.

• Beautiful beach – T and I spent every day in our private cushioned lounge chairs enjoying the sun and beautiful beach just steps from our villa. We had our own attendant who brought us a cooler with ice water and sorbet and took our food and drink orders whenever we needed him. The hotel also gave us a lounge float to use in the ocean which was great since there were virtually no waves. We spent our days by the beach napping, reading, and swimming. After our exhausting wedding weekend, it was just what we needed!

• Complimentary non- motorized water sports – The hotel offered a variety of complimentary non-motorized water sports including snorkeling, paddle boarding, kayaking, and sailing. This was my first time paddle boarding and I loved it! The water was so clear that we could see to the bottom even when we were very deep. It was a great workout and a fun activity for T and I to do together.

• Complimentary breakfast – Every morning, we walked the short distance to the beachside restaurant Blue for breakfast. There was an array of choices for both T (who loves meat and is a total carnivore) and me (who eats more of a plant based diet). They had an assortment of fruit, breakfast meats, an egg station, cereal, pastries, juices, and yogurts. We were both very impressed with the breakfast variety and quality since it was included with our room. There was also an option to have breakfast delivered to your room to eat on your terrace but T and I enjoyed the beach walk to the restaurant.

• A variety of restaurants at the hotel – Since we got to the hotel in the late afternoon on the day we arrived, we decided to eat at one of the hotel restaurants for dinner. We settled on Pimms, the hotel’s seafood restaurant. The restaurant is situated right on the water and you get to enjoy your meal with the sound of the crashing waves on the rocks below while enjoying the sunset. We got a salad and lobster bisque to start and for our entrees I got the salmon and T ordered the trout. We finished the meal with a popcorn chocolate cake with vanilla bean ice cream. The food was excellent and the view was even better.

• That following night, we decided to attend the BBQ buffet on the beach. Cap Juluca does this every Wednesday night. You pay a set price and then are able to enjoy the all you can eat buffet. There were tables and tiki torches set up in the sand and an unlimited buffet with lobster, mahi mahi, local Johnny cakes and every other amazing dish you can think of. T and I ate until we couldn’t take another bite and enjoyed listening to the live band and listening to the sounds of the ocean.

• We also ordered our lunch every day from our beach attendant and ate in our lounge chairs on the beach. We tried their mahi mahi wrap, a flatbread, and grouper fish and chips. Everything was delicious! The hotel also had tea time every day at 4 pm. This was one of my favorite things about the hotel. Every day at 4 pm, the hotel sets out tea for the guests. You can chose from an assortment of hot teas but my favorite was the mango-iced tea they set out every day to go with the warm biscuits and cookies. T kept making fun of me about how adamant I was about not missing teatime every day.

• Foodie Island – Since Anguilla is known for it’s amazing food, we tried a new restaurant on the island every night and each restaurant exceeded our expectations. If you are ever in Anguilla I would recommend Jacala, Veya, Dolce Vita, and Blanchards Beach Shack along with the restaurants at Cap Juluca. All of restaurants had great choices for both of us. I ate fish for dinner every single night and it was so fresh and amazing!

• Excursions – T and I decided not to do any excursions during our stay and instead enjoy the dozens of activities at the hotel. We are normally very active during our vacations but we were both so exhausted from the wedding and work that we really just wanted to enjoy our days relaxing without the constraints of plans. That being said, the concierge offers snorkeling excursions, sunset cruises and so much more. The concierge made it so easy to sign up for excursions and when we come back we definitely plan on doing some!

• Quiet and Private – The hotel was extremely quiet and private. The majority of guests were couples and we didn’t see any children. The lounge chairs were spaced so that you weren’t close to any other lounge chairs and you felt like you got a portion of the beach to yourself. It was very romantic and relaxing.

Cons

• Expensive Hotel Store – In case you forget anything Cap Juluca has a store that you can buy things like toiletries and sunscreen from but it is very expensive. Trevor and I decided we did not want to check our bags and we we would buy sunscreen when we arrived at the hotel. Well, the sunscreen at the hotel store was $30. We ended up taking a taxi to a local supermarket to stock up on sunscreen and anything else we forgot.
• Expensive food – Since everything has to be imported to the island, the entire island is on the pricier side when it comes to food but all the food is delicious and totally worth the price. It is something you should be aware of when coming to Anguilla though so you can budget for it. Our dinners were usually around $200 and our lunches usually cost around $70.
• No Uber or public transportation – Since the island is so small, the only way to get around is to take a taxi and those can quickly add up. Every night we spent about $50 on taxis when we went to dinner. This is something you should budget for as well.
• No shopping or “town” – Anguilla is not known for it’s shopping and it does not have any sort of “downtown” or central area with shops and restaurants. If you want to do any shopping, you should take a ferry to St. Maarten for the day.

Our honeymoon in Anguilla was the most amazing vacation I’ve ever been on. The clear sparkling water and the white powder beaches won over my heart. I’m the type of traveler who doesn’t really like to vacation somewhere twice because there are so many places on my bucket list that I haven’t been to yet but Anguilla and Cap Juluca is a place that I already miss and could see myself going back to.