Jumby Bay Island – Antigua, Caribbean

Surrounded by the white sand beaches and tropical foliage of Antigua, Jumby Bay is a 300-acre private island noted for its luxury and world-class service. This exclusive Caribbean resort offers splendid accommodations, exquisite restaurants, a sensational spa and world-renowned facilities to showcase both the beauty of nature and the tradition of elegance that has long graced the private island.

Since its discovery by Christopher Columbus in 1493, this isolated island of elemental beauty has enchanted seafarers, naturalists, and romantics. Today it is known as Jumby Bay (named after the Antiguan word jumbee, meaning playful spirit), a retreat of rarefied yet relaxed luxury that’s just a six-minute boat ride from the coast of Antigua and yet worlds away from the crowds of the Caribbean.

It may be for its postcard-perfect beaches, lapped by clean, crystalline waters. Or for its rich biodiversity, including one of the world’s primary preserves for hawksbill sea turtles. Or for its intimate, private setting of 300 acres — with no cars, beach vendors or jet skis. Whatever the draw, Jumby Bay is the stuff of dreams.

With no hint of urban intrusions, and no indigenous population, this privately owned hideaway has remained largely unchanged for centuries. Nowadays, the entire island — which comprises of just 40 exquisitely appointed guest room and suites and a collection of villas and estate homes — may as well wear a “Do Not Disturb” sign.

Jumby Bay, A Rosewood Resort features 40 tastefully decorated rooms and luxury vacation villas spread across a beautiful private island, two miles off the coast of Antigua. Just steps away from pristine white beaches, each suite is a tranquil oasis offering spectacular views of the Caribbean Sea. This exclusive luxury Caribbean resort embodies both the beauty of nature and the tradition of elegance with inspiring surroundings and simple sophistication.

JUMBY BAY

Today, the island and all its assets belong entirely to a passionately committed group of homeowners who ensure the island continues to remain an undisturbed, secluded hideaway. As a result, Jumby Bay Island is home to one of the richest island ecologies in the world.

In an effort to preserve and showcase its natural beauty, Jumby Bay remains staunchly devoted to its sustainability program, carrying out several initiatives that preserve its environment and indigenous species – the endangered Hawksbill Turtle, the White Egret and the Persian Black-Headed Sheep. Among these initiatives is a recycling program that has made Jumby Bay Island the largest recycler of bottles, cans and golf cart batteries on Antigua. Supplemental efforts are made to reuse all bi-products of island life. Sewage water is purified and stored in a central tank for plant irrigation, while all yard cuttings, including grass, leaves, branches and general foliage are chipped and turned into mulch and compost for landscaping on the island.

The effort to conserve is shared by all home and villa owners who must install solar water heating systems and cisterns to collect roof water for irrigation. Jumby Bay guests are also invited to participate in these environmental activities through the Hawksbill Turtle Preservation Program, which is the longest running, privately funded project of its kind, focused on the scientific study of the survival and recovery of the indigenous Hawksbill Turtle.

Cars are not allowed on the island, therefore, Jumby Bay visitors navigate by bicycle, allowing guests to appreciate all that the enchanting island has to offer, and creating a community unlike any other.

Thanks to numerous conservation projects – the Hawksbill Turtle Program, the island’s native plant nursery, rainwater collection and irrigation, sun-powered water heating and protected coral reefs – Jumby Bay Island is being preserved for future islanders.

ANTIGUA, ANTIGUA & BARBUDA

On Antigua, life is a beach. Its corrugated coasts cradle hundreds of perfect little strands lapped by beguiling enamel-blue water, while the sheltered bays have provided refuge for everyone from Admiral Nelson to buccaneers and yachties. If you can tear yourself away from that towel, you’ll discover that there’s a distinct English accent to this island. You’ll find it in the bustling capital of St John’s, in salty-glamorous English Harbour, and in the historic forts and other vestiges of the colonial past. Yet, Antigua is also quintessential Caribbean, full of candy-coloured villages, a rum-infused mellowness and bright-eyed locals that greet you with wide smiles.

If life on Antigua is a beach, Barbuda is a beach: one smooth, pink-tinged strand hemming the reef-filled waters. Birds, especially the huffing and puffing frigates, greatly outnumber residents on this Caribbean dream island.