Antigua - Heart of the Caribbean?

Antigua is the largest, most developed, and most prosperous of the Leeward Islands. It is a fully independent nation, not a British Territory like Montserrat. It's quite a contrast to Montserrat which is very close, and everyone who was here in 1995 could see the Montserrat volcano eruption from here. It's comparable to the BVI and the Cayman Islands in level of development, or perhaps even more developed than those. It bills itself as a luxury Caribbean resort destination, specializing in weddings, honeymoons, and romantic getaways for couples. It calls itself the "Heart of the Caribbean", though that claim is suspect. I am just staying here one night (because it makes the connecting flights easier and -- I'll admit it -- to increase my country count; I only count a country if I've stayed at least overnight), so I just picked a place at random -- Cocos Hotel. It turned out to be probably the most upscale place on the island. It has individual oceanfront cottages built for 2 or more. They apparently never get singles, because they didn't know what to do with me. Finally, I managed to get a Deluxe Cottage for half the normal double occupancy rate! Most of the other guests are young European jet-setter couples from Italy, UK, and France. The shower is outdoors, on the back balcony facing the ocean. This is an all-inclusive type of resort, with breakfast, lunch, dinner, and drinks included. The type of place people come to get really pampered.

I went kayaking (for exercise) and jet-skiing (for thrills) today. I used a brand new 2008 model jet ski. Jet skis have gotten really powerful! Of course I had to check out the top end -- it maxed out at about 86 kph, which is really flying on the water. I also mastered doing "water donuts". There's apparently good scuba diving here, but I didn't stay long enough to take advantage of that.

Update: My flight arrived here yesterday at 4:25 pm, and my flight leaves today at 4:10 pm -- less than 24 hours so I didn't have to pay the embarkation tax. Ha!