Anguilla

Anguilla is a flat limestone and coral island barely 26 kilometres long, sitting in the northeastern Caribbean roughly 8 kilometres north of Saint Martin. It is a British Overseas Territory with a population of approximately 18,000. The island's reputation rests on its beaches — 35 named strands, most with pale white to cream sand and calm, clear Caribbean water — and on the absence of mass tourism infrastructure that has defined the experience for decades. There are no high-rise hotels. No cruise ship terminal. The character of the place is deliberate: upmarket, quiet, and oriented around the water. The tidal regime throughout Anguilla is microtidal, mixed semidiurnal, with spring range typically 0.3 to 0.5 metres. This is one of the smallest tidal ranges in the entire Caribbean — the combination of latitude, the sheltering effect of the island chain, and the exposure geometry produces a tide that is largely a background variable rather than an active planning factor. The difference between a spring high and a spring low is roughly half a metre; neap range compresses to around 0.2 metres. Two unequal high tides and two unequal low tides occur each day. The coasts divide broadly by character. The south and west faces — Road Bay at Sandy Ground, Rendezvous Bay, Maunday's Bay, Shoal Bay West — are the protected Caribbean sides with the calmest water, the most reliable swimming, and the majority of the resorts and anchorages. The north coast at Shoal Bay East and Island Harbour faces more directly toward the trade wind and gets a small surface chop on the regular northeast trade, but is still sheltered from significant Atlantic swell by the shallow waters and the reef system offshore. The eastern end around Scrub Island and the outlying cays has the most exposed character. The fishing and lobster economy was the island's economic base before tourism arrived and still operates alongside it. The Anguillian spiny lobster fishery — peak season roughly November through July, closed during summer spawning — supplies the island's restaurants and a small export. Traditional Anguillian sloop racing, dating to the late nineteenth century, remains an active cultural event; the August Monday race during the August Festival is the most significant boat race in Anguillian culture. Tide data for all Anguilla pages comes from Open-Meteo Marine, a global gridded ocean model — accuracy within plus or minus 45 minutes on timing and 0.2 to 0.3 metres on height.