Jolly Beach and Shirley Heights

Sy-tucanon
Philip Fearnhead
Sun 23 Mar 2014 21:38
Sunday 23rd March 2014: Position 17:04.27N 061:53.22W
 
The mooring in Jolly Harbour gave us a wonderfully calm dawn, in which we could watch a dolphin entering to hunt fish.  Perhaps it was the same one we saw entering previously when anchored outside the marina.  From Jolly Harbour it is a short walk round to Jolly Beach, one of Antigua’s finest beaches and a classic tropical white sand palm fringed beach. 
 
We took the opportunity of quiet weather to sail down to Falmouth Harbour and sample the entertainment at Shirley Heights, above English Harbour. After sailing down the western leg, we found the wind increasing and heading us as we turned east.  So it was on with the engine and a safe passage inside Cadre Reef to Carlisle Bay for lunch.  Although we saw several large Green Turtles on the approach, we saw no turtles in the bay, unlike previous visits, perhaps due to disturbance from fast boats taking people for rides from the hotel on the beach.  After a blustery arrival in Falmouth Harbour, the wind again faded with the sun. 
 
The visit to Shirley Heights to watch the regular Sunday evening sunset show and BBQ was very crowded and gave the sense of being processed rather than entertained.  The view from Shirley Heights is outstanding, but probably more worthwhile in the day than at a crowded sunset.
 
Dolphin entering Jolly Harbour
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Jolly Beach
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Cadre Reef
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Shirley Heights
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