Shoal Bay East is a broad and long beach with radiant white sands that beach connoisseurs consider to be Anguilla's premier strand. The waters, ideal for swimming and snorkeling, offer some of Anguilla's best coral gardens, inhabited by hundreds of tiny iridescent fish.

Anguilla has a small section of rainforest located at the north end of the island. There is a hiking trail that leads from the beach near the Masara Resort through the forest.

Dozens of good beaches put Anguilla on the tourist map. All beaches are open to the public and to reach one visitors may have to take a bone-jarring trek down a dirt-path or walk through a hotel's lobby.

Small Anguilla is home to a remarkable 120 species of birds. Most live in or around the many salt ponds.

The Anguilla National Trust offers birding tours to the best areas of the island. Visitors should also enquire about the 'Bird Watching Guide to Anguilla'.

Anguilla's waters offer seven marine parks: Dog Island, Prickly Pear, Seal Island Reef System, Little Bay, Sandy Island, Shoal Bay Harbour Reef System and Stoney Bay Marine Park. Many dive sites are intentionally sunken ships that become artificial reefs. The sand that surrounds the dive sites is where divers will see turtles, stingrays and garden eels. Divers off Scrub Island regularly see sharks and barracuda. Anguilla also boasts a healthy double reef system, with an abundant variety of corals.

Anguillians aboard fishing boats take part in Race Week, which is held at the same time as Carnival. While looking towards the sea for its livelihood Anguilla has developed a penchant for boat racing, its national sport.

The Anguilla Summer Festival is a two week event held at the end of July and start of August. The festival includes all kinds of activities with music, dancing, boat races, a 'Miss Anguilla' pageant, parades, fireworks, and events.

Held in November, the Tranquility Jazz Festival is a four day event filled with music and fun. Jazz entertainers from around the globe are brought to the island for this festival that attracts jazz enthusiasts from all over. Performances are held at various resorts and venues around the island.

Anguilla's offshore islands of Anguillita and Prickly Pear are popular for snorkeling where divers see barracudas and nurse sharks, stingrays, eels and turtles.

Blowing Point Harbour is a working harbor where the St Maartin ferry docks. 200yds/182m of sand rings a bay busy with ferries and fishing boats. The beach is good for picnics and bird-watching.

There are several restaurants and establishments at the harbour.

Cap Juluca is a luxury resort on Maunday's Bay. The structures have a Moroccan theme and Moorish architecture with domed villas and arched walkways. The Cap Julaca is set on a crescent shaped beach and offers spa facilities, water sports, and more.

Cheddie's Art Studio features the work of local carver Cheddie Richardson. The artist uses mainly local driftwood to carve a variety of wildlife figures and other subjects. Visitors can stop in his show room to see his works.

Cove Bay in Anguilla's West End features a beautiful beach lined with coconut palms. This stretch is free of hotels and a good place for swimming, hiking, and bird watching. There are nearby hotels and amenities for tourists.

Crocus Bay Beach is the site of an historic invasion by the French in 1745 plus a well protected anchorage for fishing boats and yachts. Visitors can snorkel and hunt for fossils in the shadow of its dramatic cliffs.

At 213ft/64m, Crocus Hill Prison is the highest point of the island. Although not much of the old prison remains there are great views to be had from this vantage point.

The Devonish Art Gallery on West End Road features the works of artist Courtney Devonish, a sculptor and potter.

The dolphins from this facility were moved to the Cayman Islands.

Estate Hope Art Studio features the quilts of Carol Richardson. The studio is run out of his home on Crocus Hill, with fine views of Crocus Bay. On offer are various hand made quilts and wall hangings.

Forest Bay is located on the southeast coast of Anguilla. The beach here is a scenic area with many vacation villas in the area, although some have been destroyed in storms and abandoned.

The Heritage Collection displaysAnguillian artifacts, early 20th C photographs and stamps and important documents which trace the Anguilla's history from the days of the Taino to the present.

The museum's curator is Colville Petty, an author and authority of the history of Anguilla.

Katouche Beach, a prime site for snorkeling and a beach picnic, is located in the Katouche Valley which contains Anguilla's only rain forest.

Behind the beach lies a mangrove pond where bird-watchers spot white cheeked Pintails and breeding pairs of yellow crowned night herons. Songbirds such as Bananaquits, the Yellow Warbler and the Mangrove cuckoo are common. The east end of Katouche Beach is a good place to look for fossilized sea life.

Long Salt Pond is a narrow, rectangular pond on the southeast shore whose perimeter is covered in dense scrub, particularly sea-grape and buttonwood. Many birds roost on the stone dykes in the southeast corner, which were built for a failed shrimp farming experiment in the 1980s.

Lynne Bernbaum Art Studio displays the work of this American Modernist painter who now makes her home in Anguilla.

1m/1.6km long, white-sand Maunday's Bay Beach with good snorkeling and swimming sometimes attracts sailboats and windsurfers when the wind is up. On a clear day St Maarten can be seen.

Mead's Bay presents a 1mi/1.6km sweep of white sand beach for swimming and strolling. The beach is one of the most popular in the West End. There are several hotel resorts and dining options in the area.

Moonsplash is an annual music celebration organized by musician Bankie Banx. This four day event is held at the Dune Preserve at Rendezvous Beach and features the talent of local, regional, and international musicians. This can be great fun for those interested in reggae and beaches.

Rendezvous Bay is a long crescent of sand that stretches for 2.5 mi/4km. Calm and shallow, it's popular with sunbathers and shell collectors.

The Dutch Fort on Sandy Hill dates to the 1700s. The fort was the site of fighting and battles during the French invasion of 1796.

This low-lying limestone island just called Sombrero by the Anguillians, is best known for its lighthouse whose flashing beam, 166ft/50m above sea level, protects ships passing from the Atlantic Ocean to the Caribbean Sea through the Anegada Passage.

Stoney Bay Marine Park is the resting place of the El Buen Consejo, an 18th C Spanish galleon that shipwrecked off the southeastern shores of Anguilla in 1772. The site is an award-winning underwater park open to certified scuba divers.

Sydney's Antique Museum is a unique look at Anguilla's history and development through exhibits of household artifacts, implements and furnishings. Occasionally visitors can join Sydney Gumb as he revisits a traditional Anguillian evening making bush tea and cooking local dishes.