my wife and I just returned from our 7 day honeymoon at Galley Bay and all we have left until we return are our movies which I am already viewing over and over again to remind me of how wonderful Galley Bay is. We decided that for our honeymoon we wanted simply to relax and enjoy the beach - with peace and quiet, excelent food and a beachfront room where we could step right out of our room onto the beach and relax in front of the ocean and swim everyday. our travel agent recomended Galley Bay to us and we were not disappointed. Galley Bay was exactly this - a place for people who simply love the beach. For seven days my wife and I literally lived on the beach at Galley Bay, and it was incredible. We stayed in a deluxe beachfront room which was very spacious. When we arrived, another plane had also arrived so it took at least an hour to get through customs in Antigua. Our driver from Galley Bay waited for us and warmly greeted us (as did the person who stamped our passports). A friendly face was very welcome after a long trip and long wait online. This was our first lesson in carribean life - there is no need to hurry. Take it slow and be patient, and very much was the lesson I learned on this trip. The pace of life and the warmness of the people of Antigua is comforting. After the twisty turny ride through the streets of St John, and around the harbour, we proceeded on a winding country road with goats and quant landscapes to the entrance to Galley Bay. We were taken by cart to the beach, to have our first look. The sea was a lovely blue and was very calm, folks were sipping drinks and relaxing. the landscaping was lush and very well maintained, and from the moment we arrrived we felt like royality. The service was excelent. Upon arriving at our room, we found a bottle of Champagne and fresh flowers in our room. The first thing that caught my attention when we arrived at our room was the view. From our bed to the sea was just a few steps. We stayed in deluxe beachfront room in the single story building at the east end of the resort. It had a king size bed, two chairs and couch, a t.v, a fridge stocked with water, beer, and soda, (which was restocked with lots of fresh bottles of water every day as that was all my wife and I drank in our room). the bath was huge with two showers which we especially got used to. The back door to our room led to a spacious covered porch with an outdoor shower to wash the sand off. The porch overlooked the sea with two very comfy lounge chairs where we spent much of our time.
Each day was the same for us, and that was exactly what we wanted - relaxing to the sound of the waves, the frogs and the birds, reading a good book and swiming in the ocean all day and every day long into the evening. The east end of Galley Bay (to the right of the seagrape if you are looking towards the sea) is the calmer side - the waves were small and on some days non-existant, making it very fine for swimming. On the other end of Galley Bay near the Gaugan restaurant the sea was rougher and had rocks in some spots. But in front of our room, on the east end, the surf was calm enough for swimming each and every day - we could walk right out into the ocean as the sand was smooth as silk all the way into the sea.
The surf was very calm the first day. A storm came on the second day of our visit which made the sea rougher for two days. This resulted in red flags for 3 days on the beach. However it seemed that in front of our room on the calmer east end of the beach, even when there were red flags, the surf was not too rough for us so Consequently we went swimming every day despite the flags and enjoyed being knocked about by an occasional "wave" as we were swimming on these days. By the fourth day, the flags were gone, and for each of remaining 4 days we had extremely calm surf with no rough surf at all. On the 5th and 6th days, in fact, the sea was extremely calm.

Each day we had a short rain storm which lasted no more than 10 minutes, followed by brillant blue skies and warm sunshine. Besides lounging and swimming in front of our beachfront room, my wife and I enjoyed taking walks around the bird santuary lagoon, and spent an hour at the pool one day but quickly returned to the beach. the large fresh water pool is not the main attraction at galley bay, but it was still very nice as well if you prefer a pool.

As for the food and service - I can't say enough about how excelent it was. We were made to feel regal by the staff. Veronica the woman who cleaned our rooms couldn't do enough for us, giving us fresh beach towels each day upon request, and keeping our room spotless. Every person we met greeted us with a warm smile and quick hello if we smiled back or made eye contact. The people are reserved in Antigua but very friendly and quick to warmly greet you if you make eye contact.

The food was plentiful. Each night I was stuffed. The quality food each day was like being on the food t.v. network. Each dish was well presented as a gourmet meal - the mornings began with a buffet consisting of fresh fruit - oranges, grapefruits, pinapples, prunes, and lots of melon as well as assorted breads, rolls, juice and cerial. We chose the buffet to start our day, filling our plates to overflowing with fresh fruit and going back often as we like for more. then we sometimes enjoyed a sit down breakfast of pancakes or bacan and eggs and toast. Each day featured a different type of pancake, strawberry, blueberry, cococut..

Lunch was like dinner for us, it consisted of appetizer, entree, and desert, in reasonible but not super sized portions. We actually like that alot - the food had sensibled sized portions so that we could savor and enjoy each course. The dishes featured alot of local vegatables and seafood- There were traditional dishes like local vegatable soups, seasoned rice, jerk pork, and Chicken Roti (my favorite) as well as sandwiches and burgers and fries. We chose to eat healthy and try traditional dishes of the islands.
On the third day, I requested a "ginger beer" with my lunch. I had it once before a long time ago, and really enjoyed it, so I wanted to try it again. I knew this was a traditional island drink. A woman named Althea (our favorite person at Galley Bay), smiled and said to me, sure we will make it for you, she then skuried over to the bartender, and the two had a long chat, and my ginger beer arrived. She then told me how she makes it at home, and how it is a traditional drink of the islands. I requested it again and again as the taste of Chicken Roti washed down with spicy Ginger beer was memorable.

For dinner on thursday night there is a huge all-you-can-eat buffet and a carribean bbq, Wednesday night features another all-you-can-eat cocktail party were we enjoyed shrimp, meat patties, and a wonderful spicy. meatloaf on a stick. All the other nights are ala-carte traditional sit down dinners.

Dinner at Galley Bay is a special event every night. I liked the idea of a dress code as it made each evening feel like a special night out. ( Men must wear long pants (not jeans) and a colared shirt after 7 pm. )
As the sun set over the beach, and the blue sky went dark and glowed, the lights over the beach changed to soft hues from the restaurant and soft lights facing up towards the palm trees and out at the waves. The frogs and assorted night creatures started chirping loudly, and you could hear these sounds mixed in with the sound of the surf, setting the mood for romance.

Each night featured live music until around 11 pm. the steel band with calypso singer on sunday evening was my favorite. I held my wifes hand and savored our drinks as we listened to the steel band play "island in the sun" and were lost in another more relaxing world. The mood at Galley Bay is pure relaxation even into the night. If you are in a hurry, this place will slow you down to a more human pace, if you are stressed, this place will calm you down. If you are romantic, the sights and sounds will set the mood for love. Dinners like lunch featured alot of vegatables and were very healthy. We felt that we ate well at Galley Bay enjoying hearty soups, crisp local salads, savory appetizers, and a very well presented main courses of chicken, beef, fish of the day, or a vegatable dish. There are 2 restaurants - the Sea Grape, where we ate most of the time and the Gaugon, which was smaller and featured isolated tables under small huts overlooking the sea. One night at the Gaugan my wife had swordfish, and I had a coconut curry chicken dish, and watched the sea gently roll from our little beachfront hut as we watched lizards climbing down from the trees and birds occasionly arrived at our table and greeted us personally looking for a sugar packet to steal. . A rain came in which made the mood even more romantic as we ate under our little hut with the night creatures chirping and the ever present sounds of the surf.

Nights in our room were filled with the perpetual sound of the ocean surf and the constant chirping of night creatures. This takes some getting used to the first night but then lulls you to sleep as if you are sleeping in the jungle by the sea. In the deluxe room there is only screens on the windows - no glass, so you feel like you are sleeping outdoors.

There is alot of wildlife at Galley Bay. Birds everywhere - and yes bugs. If you leave the door open, the birds fly right into the room to steal packets of sugar. In the morning, I took a walk to a juice bar which was open all the time near the pool, and spotted a mongoose crossing my path in front of me.

Our last day was sad. I didn't want to leave, but knew it was time. Paradise in this life is only a short time. We hope to come back again. My last meal at Galley Bay was a dish of coconut ice cream, as I looked over the ocean with sadness about leaving. Althea warmly said goodbye at breakfast, and many of staff bid us farewell and safe journey. I will look at our movies over and over to remind myself of our 7 days in paradise.

WJZ - New Jersey, USA. Stayed 1/4/07 -1/11/07.