Anguilla in Pictures: 16 Beautiful Places to Photograph

Picture-perfect Anguilla is still a relatively untouched tropical paradise without a lot of big commercial development, making it a wonderful Caribbean destination for deserted-island-style photo shoots.

Basking on sugary white-sand shores is one of the top things to do in Anguilla. Surrounded by a calm, clear, and electric-blue sea, the beaches need no social media filters to shine. Here are the best places to capture beautiful pictures in Anguilla:

1. Shoal Bay East Beach

The hue of the water on Shoal Bay East Beach is absolutely stunning with its mix of turquoise and deep ocean blue juxtaposed against a clear blue sky and swaying palms right at the water's edge.

Whether you want to photograph a person or just the landscape, the palms make a great focal point in the sea of blue at what some consider one of the best beaches in Anguilla. It is also great for snorkeling, with coral gardens just offshore.

2. Sandy Ground Beach

With a wrecked ship slowly rusting away at one end, Sandy Ground Beach makes a great photograph. The ship provides a focal point in the frothy turquoise sea and gold-sand backdrop. Sandy Ground is one of the most popular in Anguilla, and you'll find a number of restaurants along it, often with live music.

3. Barnes Bay

A wide sugar-white sandy beach meets a dark turquoise sea at photogenic Barnes Bay, which is one of Anguilla's top beaches. A number of upscale hotels are set along this pretty half-mile-long stretch of sand, including the posh Four Seasons Resort and Residences Anguilla.

4. Meads Bay

Grab a different angle and step into the super shallow, almost green-hued water at Meads Bay to point your camera back at shore like the photographer does in this image.

Meads Bay is one of the most popular beaches on Anguilla's west end. The white-sand beach here runs for 1.5 kilometers, and while the water is shallow to begin, it eventually gets deep enough to swim.

5. Little Bay

Only accessible by boat or by rappelling down a cliffside, Little Bay is another one of the most picture-perfect beaches on Anguilla. The white-sand beach is small but stunning, with clear azure water juxtaposed against the white sand all surrounded by craggy cliffs. Most people visit on a day trip by boat from Crocus Bay.

6. Rendezvous Bay Beach

Running for a few miles, Rendezvous Bay Beach is another gorgeous stretch of white sand and clear blue sea framed by coconut palms. This is a favorite beach for families with little kids, as the water here is calm and shallow. Look across the ocean from Rendezvous Bay, and you'll see the island of Saint Martin.

7. Prickly Pear Island

Take a boat out to Prickly Pear Island, pictured here, and spend a day diving or snorkeling in the clear water and reefs surrounding it. The island is not inhabited, so you'll have to visit on a day trip, which usually includes lunch and time to chill on the sand here as well. Trips to Prickly Pear depart from the Sandy Ground pier.

8. Maundays Bay

Picture-perfect Maundays Bay is a small, crescent-shaped, white-sand-meets-turquoise-water stretch of shoreline. There are just two hotels near this beach, the luxe Belmond Cap Juluca on the beach itself and the equally swanky, but smaller, Villas at Sheriva, which is just a short golf cart ride away from the sand.

9. Cove Bay

Still undeveloped, Cove Bay Beach has just one restaurant, Smokey's, which cooks up delicious gourmet fare. The beach is on Anguilla's west end and is gorgeous for sunset walks. It also has good snorkeling and swimming, and you may even have this beautiful spot all to yourself.

10. Island Harbour

Anguillian families have been fishing Island Harbour, on the island's east side, for generations now. And this charming fishing village is a great place to get a feel for local life. There are a few local restaurants with tasty food to try out, and you can also just pass an afternoon sitting around watching the day languidly slide by.

11. Sandy Island

Off the coast of Anguilla, Sandy Island is a great place to spend the day just chilling on a white-sand beach; swimming in the calm blue sea; and maybe grabbing lunch at the island's only establishment, a restaurant. You can't spend the night here, but you can hop over for the day on a ferry boat from Sandy Ground.

12. Savannah Bay

On Anguilla's east side, Savannah Bay is a beautiful place to escape. Anguilla's least commercial stretch of sand, it is perfect for a chill day of walking on the beach; swimming; and grabbing lunch at the only restaurant here, Nat's.

13. MV Commerce

Some of Anguilla's best places to photograph are found under the sea. Many a ship has wrecked off Anguilla's coast over the centuries, and the MV Commerce, pictured above, is one. You can explore and photograph the rusted skeleton and its fishy residents - like these snappers hiding out in the wheel house of the ship - on a scuba diving excursion.

14. Anguilla Limestone Arch

On the far western coast of Anguilla is a pretty limestone arch carved from cliffs by the sea over thousands of years. Pay it a visit at sunset, when this image was snapped, for a gorgeous juxtaposition of colors against the pounding waves.

If you can visit when there are some clouds in the sky, you'll get an even more photogenic shot, especially if you snap from underneath the arch looking out at the ocean.

15. Diving at Shoal Bay Reef

Anguilla has some excellent dive and snorkeling spots including Shoal Bay Reef, pictured here, where you can snap beautiful underwater images. The diving along this reef is at depths of 30 feet on the eastern end to as deep as 85 feet at the western end.

The reef has a sandy bottom floor, where you'll have a chance to see Southern stingrays, lobsters, and eels.

16. Conch Shells on Cap Juluca Beach

You'll find conch shells scattered all over the beaches in Anguilla, and they make fantastic photographs. Try positioning your camera close to the shell and placing the shell just at the water's edge, so the background blurs slightly.

When photographing objects, like conchs, it is always best to try to put two or three shells into your shot. This will draw more attention to your image. This image was snapped on the beach at Cap Juluca.