- Where
- Eastern Caribbean, about 30 miles
north of Antigua - Coordinates
- 17.63° N
61.79° W - Area
- About 160 km²
highest point about 38 m - People
- 1,634 (2011)
- Protected
- Codrington Lagoon: national park
and Ramsar site (2005) - Getting there
- Ferry from St John’s, Antigua, 90 minutes
or a short flight - Best visited
- September to April (frigatebird breeding season)
The sand here was pink. Not faintly, not in some special light: pink, for as far along the empty shore as the eye went, with not a single building on it. In the lagoon behind, big black birds sat in the mangroves puffing out red throat pouches like party balloons, and others hung overhead without moving their wings at all. I wrote nothing down for an hour.
The short answer
Barbuda is an island in the eastern Caribbean about 30 miles north of Antigua, with which it forms the state of Antigua and Barbuda, in which it is an autonomous dependency, Wikipedia records. It covers about 160 square kilometres of coral limestone with little relief: the Barbuda Highlands in the east rise to about 38 metres. Its only settlement is Codrington and the localities around it, and it had 1,634 people in 2011, one of the most thinly peopled islands in the Caribbean. The Kalinago are thought to have called it Wa’omoni, perhaps “island of herons”, or of frigatebirds.
Why it's worth knowing
A lagoon of frigatebirds. Codrington Lagoon, on the west coast, is the largest saltwater lagoon in the Eastern Caribbean: about 9 kilometres long and 2.5 wide, 3,600 hectares, mostly between one and four and a half metres deep, separated from the Caribbean by a natural barrier of coral, shell and algae sand 140 to 260 metres wide, Wikipedia records. It is a national park and, since 2005, a Ramsar wetland. At its northern end, on tiny Man of War Island, magnificent frigatebirds nest in the mangroves, in a colony Wikipedia calls the world’s largest. From September to March or April the males display inflated scarlet throat pouches; each pair lays a single egg. The birds neither walk nor swim, and live on fish, often stolen from other birds, which earned them their local name, man o’ war.
A colony that came back. The colony was put at 2,500 to 5,000 nesting pairs before Hurricane Irma struck Barbuda as a Category 5 storm in September 2017. The storm surge and winds wrecked the mangroves; 28 days after the storm, a census found about 300 frigatebirds, BBC reporting carried by Caribbean News Service records, and the birds later returned. The same hurricane cut two new inlets in the lagoon’s western barrier, and the island’s whole population was evacuated to Antigua for a time, Wikipedia records.
The field notes
Pink sand
Barbuda’s long western shore, on the bar between lagoon and sea, is known for its pale pink sand; Pink Sand Beach is among the island’s best-known sights, Wikipedia records, and the reefs around the island are notorious for wrecking ships.
Caves in the highlands
The Barbuda Highlands hold caves and sinkholes. Darby Cave, three and a half miles north-east of Codrington, is a sinkhole more than 300 feet across and about 70 feet deep, with stalactites up to eight feet long under its overhang and palms, ferns and lianas growing on its floor like a small rainforest, Wikipedia records. Indian Cave holds two petroglyphs carved by the island’s first people, and Dark Cave opens into a large cavern with pools.
Barbuda from the International Space Station, December 2003: Codrington Lagoon on the west, the reef on the east (astronaut photograph).
Astronaut photograph: NASA · Public domain
The Highlands escarpment above an Atlantic beach, July 2024.
An empty west-coast beach under midsummer cloud, 2025.
- Board the first boat over and sit out on deck if the sea allows. The crossing is half the welcome.
- Start listing the shades of pink on the beach. That list continues, and has elbowed out everything else.
- Visit the birds with a village boatman, keep the distance he keeps, and lower your voice when he lowers his.
- Bring water and shade of your own. The long beach has none to lend.
- Climb down into the forest growing in the sinkhole on the higher ground, and wait there until your eyes adjust.
The frigatebird mangroves. The low mangroves of Man of War Island, at the northern end of Codrington Lagoon, on which the colony of magnificent frigatebirds builds its nests and lays its single eggs, a colony Wikipedia calls the largest in the world. Hurricane Irma flattened much of them in 2017; the birds came back. They are seen from a boat at the edge of the colony, with a boatman from Codrington.
Tally, in the marginFor an hour I admired the birds before looking properly at what they sat on: low green bushes standing in the water, holding up a whole noisy city without complaining once.
Getting there
How to get there. From Antigua. The Barbuda Express, a catamaran ferry, crosses from the ferry dock in St John’s Harbour in about 90 minutes, six days a week, the tourism authority reports; its day tours take visitors by taxi to Codrington and by boat across the lagoon to the frigatebird colony. Barbuda also has an airport, Burton–Nibbs International, with short flights from Antigua.
When to go. September to April, the frigatebirds’ breeding season, when the males display. The Atlantic hurricane season runs from June to November; the State Department notes that Antigua and Barbuda regularly experiences hurricanes, so watch the forecasts and keep plans flexible in those months.
What to arrange ahead. The ferry or a flight, and a boat to the sanctuary with a boatman from Codrington, which the day tours include. Accommodation on the island is limited. Bring water and sun protection: the beaches have little shade.
Safety. The State Department has Antigua and Barbuda at Level 1, exercise normal precautions (advisory dated 20 May 2026 in its feed, read 5 October 2026), describing the country as generally safe and noting hurricanes. The hazards here are the place’s own: sun and heat, reefs, and storms in season.
Mark this place
Common questions
Where is Barbuda?
Barbuda is an island in the eastern Caribbean about 30 miles north of Antigua; the two islands form the state of Antigua and Barbuda. Barbuda covers about 160 square kilometres, and its only village is Codrington.
What is the Frigate Bird Sanctuary on Barbuda?
It is the magnificent frigatebird colony on Man of War Island, at the northern end of Codrington Lagoon on Barbuda, which Wikipedia describes as the largest in the world. The birds nest in the mangroves; males display red throat pouches from September to March or April. Visitors see it by boat from Codrington.
How do you get to Barbuda?
By the Barbuda Express ferry from St John’s, Antigua, about 90 minutes, six days a week, or by a short flight to Barbuda’s Burton–Nibbs International Airport. Day tours from Antigua include the ferry, a taxi to Codrington and a boat to the frigatebird colony.
What is Pink Sand Beach on Barbuda?
Pink Sand Beach is the long shore of pale pink sand on Barbuda’s west coast, along the bar between Codrington Lagoon and the Caribbean Sea, and one of the island’s best-known sights, according to Wikipedia.
How did Hurricane Irma affect Barbuda’s frigatebirds?
Hurricane Irma struck Barbuda in September 2017 and destroyed much of the mangrove where the frigatebirds nest; a census 28 days later found about 300 birds, against an estimated 2,500 to 5,000 nesting pairs before the storm. The colony survived and the birds have returned.
What is Codrington Lagoon?
Codrington Lagoon, on Barbuda’s west coast, is the largest saltwater lagoon in the Eastern Caribbean: about 9 by 2.5 kilometres and 3,600 hectares, mostly shallow, separated from the sea by a narrow sand and coral barrier. It is a national park and has been a Ramsar wetland since 2005.
What is Darby Cave on Barbuda?
Darby Cave is a sinkhole in the Barbuda Highlands, about three and a half miles north-east of Codrington: more than 300 feet across and about 70 feet deep, with long stalactites and a small rainforest of palms, ferns and lianas on its floor, according to Wikipedia.
How many people live on Barbuda?
Barbuda had 1,634 people in 2011, most of them in and around Codrington, the only village. Wikipedia records that the whole population was evacuated to Antigua after Hurricane Irma in 2017 and that most residents had returned by February 2019.