It’s been nearly a year since we were able to travel freely – if at all. But there is light at the end of the tunnel and some day we really will be able to pack our bags and reach for our passports again. While we wait, our local agents remind us of what we’re missing.

As I look out at the Caribbean Sea from my office window on the south coast, life in Antigua feels in many ways close to its laid-back best. The weather is perfect with blue skies and temperatures hovering around 28Cº and the beaches are at their most beautiful. A perfect antidote to winter in Europe and North America.

Life is not totally normal of course. Last month the Government introduced a three-week curfew from 8pm to 5am, effectively closing all bars and restaurants until 19 February. This seems largely to be a response to the worsening global situation because Antigua has handled the pandemic well.

At time of writing, there have been under 500 Covid cases in total here, testament to the Government’s swift and efficient response and that encouraged a good number of travellers to visit in the last months of 2020. Many subsequently decided to extend their stay, preferring the flexibility of a private house rental to a hotel room so the best villas are in hot demand.

A new group of holidaymakers this season are international travellers who would normally use Antigua’s impressive airport as a gateway to the Leeward and Windward Islands. When Covid disrupted their onward flights they chose to stay in Antigua instead and found there was so much to explore.

Antigua is the authentic Caribbean with a natural beauty of tumbling green hills, tropical rain forest and soft sand beaches. There are lots of good restaurants and laid-back beach bars from elegant Sheer Rocks and Catherine’s to buzzy Cloggy’s overlooking Falmouth Harbour, the traditional noisy rendezvous for sailors and sports fans.

The island is big enough to provide several distinct centres, UNESCO World Heritage English Harbour in the south and Jolly Harbour marina on the west coast (now under new management) to name two. Yet it’s also relatively compact. I spend plenty of time criss-crossing the island looking at property and nowhere is more than a 45-minute drive. I have even walked across the island, celebrating my 50th birthday by trekking from Galley Bay to Shirley Heights, a distance of 22 miles or 50,000 steps.

Wealthy buyers have good choices for their holiday home. Prime options include Mill Reef on the east coast and more contemporary Jumby Bay on its own private island. The Windward Estate, where Savills are the exclusive agent, is a newer project of 13 plots and top-quality homes on 93-acres between two of the most beautiful beaches on the south coast.

Antigua, and especially this southern coast, is the sailing capital of the Caribbean and some exceptionally beautiful super yachts are moored here now, confined to their berths by Covid. It’s a thrilling opportunity to see them up close in all their glory. I can count 20 from my home at Falmouth Harbour with a similar number in English Harbour. Green Island, where I go most weekends to kite surf or snorkel, has so many that it resembles an aspirational parking lot.

Antiguan life is about the ocean, swimming in it, sailing on it or learning to wake board, kite surf or fish and it’s this laid-back, outdoor lifestyle that brings visitors back year after year, even over the difficult last 12 months.

Further information

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• Chris Bourne and the global residential team are available remotely for any questions about the market or to simply share stories about their beloved locations.