# Caribbean Vacations Forums > Anguilla Vacation Forum >  >  Cap J or SBH?

## Dorocke

I've been to SBH the last 3 years in a row, and have always wanted to go to Cap Juluca... but is it run-down and unsafe with the island crime?  Would I be content staying within CapJ for the most part for 5 nights?  Or should I just go back to SBH again because I'll be wishing I were there anyway??  Would like to hear from those who've been to both SBH and CJ.  

I know that after my first visit to SBH, I went to St. Lucia (Jalousie Hilton) and was wishing we'd spent the money instead to go back to SBH...

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## Petri

Could Cap Juluca use a bit of renovation?  Yes.  Is it a bad, unsafe place?  No.  Would I rather be at SBH?  Absolutely ;-)

We spent 6 nights in Anguilla over the New Year before arriving to St. Barth.  We wanted to get to the region earlier and accomodation for the New Year in St. Barth is impossible and very expensive, and this way we could arrive to St. Barth around midday for lunch.   We have been in Anguilla over the last years for five times.

The biggest difference compared to a year ago on the island was the size of the cars and trucks.  The people seem to spend the new income mostly on buying bigger SUV's and pickups instead of e.g. cleaning their yard.  Some new road work had been done, though.  Things are getting more and more expensive every year and personally I don't feel the island is no longer value for money by any measures.

Accomodation is expensive, restaurants are expensive and the quality is nowhere compared to St. Barth.  In fact, my girlfriend said that the only restaurant we can visit is Trattoria Tramonto.  The beaches are still wonderful and imho, much better than in St. Barth (but I'm very picky about beaches anyway).  But when you go to e.g. Cove Bay beach, the first thing you see is two abandoned refridgerators.  Even the beach bar at CuisinArt no longer served "Our Award Winning" Pina Colada, causing the long term best Pina Colada award going to Frangipani.  Overall the service attitude on the island is lacking, you get the feeling that they're just doing their job and they'd rather not give you the service -- I cannot imagine how it must feel from the service-oriented American perspective.  Not a problem as such but you can still sense something in the air.  Of course we met nice people as well but I cannot help noticing that things have changed over the years, perhaps the economical gap between tourists and locals has increased too much.

We didn't feel unsafe on the island nor saw any crime.  But I can imagine that if you give someone the opportunity, something might happen, unlike in St. Barth most likely nothing would happen.

I'm also a bit concerned where the island is going.  A lot of super-expensive villas and half a dozen five-star hotels are nice for short term but what happens when the rich find another favourite destination.  A lot of new properties are currently being built, the St. Regis Golf course is huge compared to the island's size.  Slowly you're spoiling the Caribbean athmosphere and beautiful beach like Mead's Bay will soon look pretty awful (there's already one ugly, tall building in the middle).  If I had property on the island, I would be selling it as fast as I could.

When I was wondering about the situation, one big thing is that a lot of money that is spent on the Anguilla hotels and super-expensive villas actually goes to foreigners or foreign companies, the locals will only benefit from the (low) salaries from the jobs.  Compared to e.g. St. Barth, where a lot of villas are owned by locals and therefore a lot of the money goes back to the local economy directly.  The same goes for restaurants, all Anguilla hotels have one or more popular restaurants while in St. Barth you're most likely to go to a non-hotel restaurant.

We have already decided that we will not plan to visit Anguilla next year (or the year after) and instead try to make an effort to stay longer in St. Barth instead.

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## Peter NJ

Petri,you speak pretty truthful,and i agree with most of what you say..I think we were on island at the same time?I was there jan1st to 10th..With the whole family..At a youngish age,i was lucky enough to land a cool little cottage in Sandy Ground,had it for 5 years..It fell into my lap,with lots of luck..This was about 10 years ago..Lets just say,im glad i got out when i did...The progress?? since the early 90's is sickening..I will always love AXA,and am really glad i was there for 10 days,but the future is not looking to good for the island..That island is selling its soul,for the almighty tourist $$$..I still fell that 90%  of AXANS,are the kindest,most generous people you will meet...The beaches?? SBH isnt even in the same area code for beaches..I hope you visited Junks Hole on your visit,my favorite..To the original poster,if you go to AXA i hope you go outside the shiny walls of CJ and experience all the island can offer..Dont put yourself in dangerous positions,and use your travel smarts and you'll be fine..CJ can use a little attention,but in no way is it run down..The place is still awesome,and fronts a beautiful beach..Dont know how old you are,but CJ can be a tad stuffy,and more of an older crowd..I would suggest KU Resort,on Shoal Bay,if your younger..Not as luxurious but very nice..Lots of beach bars to walk to,and fun people watching..Great Reggae bands all over the island too,make sure you hit Johnnos and The Pumphouse as well for late night fun..As well as Gwens,Elodias and Uncle Ernies beachbars all on Shoal Bay

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## Dorocke

Thanks both of you.  I think I should head back to SBH.  I love the hills/mountains there and the French culture.  I don't know what Anguilla might offer for me that SBH does not have... I think I'm just trying to force myself to go somewhere different for the sake of experiencing another place/island...  I'm not that much of a beaches "connoisseur" and Gouvernour and Saline take care of that well enough for my tastes/expectations.  Thanks for clearing this up for me- especially Petri's input!

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## Petri

We arrived on the 28th December and left on the 3rd January, so we might have seen your family somewhere ;-) 

For the last few years we have been staying at Paradise Cove, reasonably priced, run and owned by locals, clean.  We always drive to one of the many great beaches for the day, depending on the mood and wind direction.  We like the fact that there are such a pristine beaches with very little people on them, almost like Nevis (which would be superb but we don't like any kind of insects, and they're common such a lush island).

Unfortunately we didn't visit Junks Hole this time, our car was a small sedan and we weren't quite sure if the road would be good enough for it.

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