Nestled in the Northeastern Caribbean Sea, Anguilla entices travelers with powdery-white sand beaches, authentic cultural experiences, and romance, offering what Minister of Education and Culture, Dee-Ann Kentish-Rogers, describes as “barefoot luxury.”
Anguilla has what we like to call barefoot luxury. It’s unpretentious. It is very heartfelt. It sets out to be somewhere where you can press reset, where you can reconnect. There’s a little bit here for everyone.
– Dee-Ann Kentish-Rogers, Minister of Education and Culture
Born and raised in the capital of Anguilla, The Valley, Minister Dee-Ann Kentish-Rogers has a special connection to her home country.
Growing up in a large family on a farm, she recalls a childhood without much privacy but one bursting with support from everyone around her.
“I had a really beautiful, connected-to-nature childhood, which I view as a real privilege in today’s day and age,” Rogers shares. During her younger years, she spent a lot of time tending to her family’s goats and watering plants on the farm.
Her family revolved around her grandmother, the matriarch of their home, whose prowess in agriculture helped send Rogers’ mother and aunts to school. Her grandmother even sold one of her goats to help her brother gain access to education.
“She felt it very strongly and so did my great aunt, that education was a ticket out of poverty,” Rogers explains. “While education was at the forefront of what we wanted to do as a family, they also made sure they kept us grounded and humble by requiring us to stay connected to the land.”
Minister Rogers’ humble beginnings have flourished into an impressive career.
She first received national recognition in athletics while competing for Anguilla at the 2010 and 2014 Commonwealth Games and the 2012 CARIFTA Games.
Following a knee injury in 2014, Rogers hung up her sneakers and relocated to England to study law at the University of Birmingham. She graduated with a Bachelor of Laws degree and qualified as a barrister in 2018.
Around the same time, she started modeling and eventually entered the world of pageantry. In 2017, she won Miss Anguilla and Miss Universe Great Britain 2018, where she was the second Black British woman after Anita St. Rose in 1996 to win the title. She later competed at Miss Universe 2018, finishing in the top 20.
Minister Rogers’s first foray into tourism began after participating in Miss Universe Great Britain, where she served as the main ambassador for the Anguilla Tourism Board.
Rogers shares, “That gave me an opportunity to really start to understand the industry, the ins and outs, what it takes for people to come to Anguilla, to love Anguilla, to celebrate Anguilla. And it kind of snowballed from there.”
In 2020, she decided to run for elected office and ultimately became the youngest person elected to the House of Assembly at 27. Party leader Ellis Webster later took office as Premier and formed a seven-person government, nominating Rogers to serve as Minister of Education and Social Development.
Today, at only 31 years old, Minister Rogers continues to fall in love with Anguilla.
“My favorite time of day is our sunrises,” she shares, smiling. “I usually get up at 5:30 in the morning with my dogs and we will take a short walk down the coastline and I’ll just sit on the beach and watch the sunrise.”
Looking out from the shoreline, she feels so lucky and privileged to live on a beautiful island with unspoiled sunrises and gorgeous golden sunsets every day. It’s something she doesn’t take for granted. And more than pretty views, for Minister Rogers, it’s the people she loves the most.
“It’s my window down, my hand’s sticking out of the window and waving, and I’m saying hello to everyone as I go to work. And it’s just that friendliness that is well known about Anguilla, wherever you go.”
The island’s inviting locals, intimate beaches, and boutique accommodations evoke romance at every turn, allowing authentic experiences and dreamy destination weddings and events to unfold. These authentic experiences are what today’s travelers crave.
Very often in the tourism industry, there’s competition between different territories or where you should go, but Anguilla doesn’t set out necessarily to compete. It sets out to be home.
– Dee-Ann Kentish-Rogers, Minister of Education and Culture
Keep scrolling to read more of our exclusive interview with Minister Dee-Ann Kentish-Rogers of Anguilla.
Below, she shares her insight on everything from what makes Anguilla unique to the island’s offerings in romance and cultural festivities including the 50th anniversary of the Anguilla Summer Festival.
The annual festival is underway from July 21st to August 11th, 2024. A milestone celebration, the festival invites locals and visitors to enjoy a week full of cultural events, music, and fun activities celebrating Anguilla’s emancipation.
We hope you enjoy this Muna Exclusive #Traveltuesday interview!
Barefoot Luxury: What makes Anguilla unique?
Anguilla is the flattest country in the Caribbean by far. We’re made predominantly of limestone. That limestone base is what makes Anguilla the white powdery sand beach country that it is known for.
This is very unique from many of the countries around Anguilla, which are more volcanic and have black or darker sand than ours. But Anguilla sand is very powdery white, and we are known for our beaches.
We don’t have a lot of mountains, but Anguilla actually is, topography-wise, like a bowl. So we’re high at the outer edges and then sink lower down in the middle. And we have a very unique, what we call an eel shape. Our ancestors used to call Anguilla Malliouhana, which is an Arawak word for eel-shaped.
It’s a very long narrow island where you can get beach views anywhere you go. But it also has that intimacy, as I said before, it’s really beautiful. I think that Anguilla is something that everyone needs to experience at least once in their life.
Romance: From the lens of romance, weddings, and honeymoons, what does Anguilla have to offer?
We always strive to make the moment about the couple. It’s really about Anguilla supporting that romance and helping that romance to flourish.
– Dee-Ann Kentish-Rogers, Minister of Education and Culture
When you’re in love, it’s really about experiencing and creating new memories with your loved one. And yes, we have the beaches. We have the beautiful sands and the unspoiled waters where you don’t have that overcrowding of people. But we also have very unique experiences.
You can get a Moke for you and your love bird, and you can drive around Anguilla with the top down and the sea breeze blowing in your hair as you visit.
To see the landscape of Anguilla, you can also go hiking. This sounds like the antithesis of a country that is completely flat, but because we have such an interesting coastline, which is usually golden because of the clay on the outskirts, we also have unique formations. It makes a very beautiful adventure for you and your partner.
We also have beautiful companies called Quest Experiences where you can experience what it was like to live in Anguilla. Our main industry used to be salt picking. If you wake up early in the morning and you’re inspired to do something unique with your loved one, you can go to our salt ponds and pick large quantities of salt as the sun kisses the water.
It’s very beautiful and it’s like a kaleidoscope of colors, and everyone who has that experience absolutely loves it. We call it the Dead Sea of the Caribbean. It’s very undiscovered. So you can float in our salt pond just the way you would float in the Dead Sea.
Food: What are some of your favorite dining options on the island?
I will say this without reservation, there is no restaurant, there is no food place in Anguilla where you’ll get a bad plate of food.
Anguilla has exceptional culinary experiences. Whether or not you’re just getting some coconut water from Nates, or if you want to get a fruit bowl from Fruity Web, you can get it all.
You can go to the juice bar and have your fresh morning juices and your wellness shots. Everything that you want to prioritize in terms of a healthy life, you can get in Anguilla.
If you want to indulge, we have some of the best restaurants in the Caribbean region on Anguilla. Whether you are looking for something Thai or Asian inspired or you’re looking for something more, you can get that at Hibernia.
Or if you’re looking for something more true to home in Anguilla, you can go to Sharkys. An island favorite, it’s very hard to get a reservation there, mind you. But if you are really into experiencing Anguilla and experiencing the culture outside of the beach, there are multiple opportunities for you to do so.
Accommodations: Where can couples stay in Anguilla?
One of the unique things about Anguilla is that we don’t have any all-inclusive resorts. If you’re coming to Anguilla, you’re coming to enjoy not just the beautiful vistas at the hotels, but you’re also coming to enjoy the Anguilla experience, which is one of a kind.
One thing Anguilla does exceedingly well is provide you with a wide array of luxury options for accommodations.
You have the pick of the litter if you’re looking for something smaller, and more intimate. We have the Quintessence Hotel, which is on the western end of the island. It’s a smaller hotel, very tropical with Haitian-inspired details. Lots of artwork. It’s a very interesting resort.
We have the Malliouhana Resort & Spa, which is also a smaller resort located on one of the best beaches on the island, and it’s one of our flagship resorts.
You have, of course, Four Seasons Resort and Spa. We have the Aurora Anguilla Resort & Golf Club. Those are the larger hotels.
But there’s also the Belmond Cap Juluca, which is a mid-size property with the most beautiful joining of a Bay and the Sea. It’s this really protected coastline with turquoise, blue, shallow waters. As it goes out about a hundred to 200 meters in, you then see it connecting and joining with the Atlantic and Caribbean oceans.
On the eastern end of the island, we also have the Manoah Boutique Hotel and Zemi Beach House Resort & Spa with Shoal Bay, which is known as the best beach in Anguilla.
I’ll save my opinion as to the best beaches in Anguilla because there are lots, but Shoal Bay has the most breathtaking views of the sunrises. And it has, in my opinion, some of the best food on the island.
The Logistics: What are the steps and legal requirements needed to get married in Anguilla?
You would need to get some paperwork from the judicial department. Of course, if this is a DIY wedding ceremony, you can definitely go to the courthouse and they’ll give you the documents and everything you need. It’s actually a really simple process. If you decide to have someone help you manage the process, they’ll have all of those details covered.
Legal Quick Facts:
- Couples wishing to marry on the island should obtain a Marriage License from the Judicial Department, open weekdays between 8:30 am and 2:30 pm. The cost is US$280.86.
- Both parties must present proof of identity (valid passport, birth certificate etc).
- If divorced, the original decree must be presented. If documents are not in English, a certified translation along with the original certificate in the foreign language must be presented.
- Two witnesses must be present during the wedding ceremony.
- If a spouse from a previous marriage is deceased, the original death certificate must be presented and a certified copy in English.
- If parties are under the age of 18, consent must be presented.
- A 48-hour residence period is also required for both parties.
Additional Requirements for a wedding in a Catholic church:
- Confirmation papers
- Baptismal certificate
- Freedom to Marry papers
- Pre Cana course
- 3-6 months advance notice
*A Note for LGBTQ+ Couples:
Same-sex couples cannot legally marry or enter civil partnerships in Anguilla. However, members of the LGBTQ+ community are encouraged to have celebrations and honeymoons honoring their union on the island instead.
Wedding Planning: How can couples connect with on-island wedding vendors?
Most of our on-island wedding vendors have websites available online, but we also have the assistance that’s provided through the Anguilla Tourist Board. They have their wedding planning features on their Visit Anguilla website. You can also directly contact the ATB via the contact information found on that website, which will connect you to a host of vendors available to assist you with your wedding planning.
Culture + Events: The 50th anniversary of the Anguilla Summer Festival
The 50th Summer Festival of the Anguilla Summer Festival is a celebration of emancipation. It’s like, everyone come, let’s celebrate. Let’s have a good time. Let’s enjoy the journey.
Thus far, it’s an invitation. And that’s why the theme this year is the family reunion. And when we talk about family, we’re not just talking about persons who grew up, or were born and live in Anguilla, we’re talking about those who have adopted Anguilla in their hearts. We are talking about persons in the diaspora. Everyone who has a connection to Anguilla is welcome at the family reunion.
the milestone celebration of this 50th Golden Jubilee is about edifying and celebrating the people who make the culture. It’s about ensuring that people are connected to the sounds of Anguilla.
When you think about the beautiful landscapes, we also want you to think about the melodious sounds that you hear. The voices of the Anguillian people will allow you to lose your inhibitions and get wrapped up in the moment because the celebration is about more than just how far we’ve come. It’s about how we are here to connect on a human level.
Whether you are walking down on J’ouvert morning on the streets that are strewn with the White Cedar Blossoms (our version of cherry blossoms) and everyone is having a grand time, or whether you go to Eyes Wide Shut, which is our largest daybreak festival, and the sun is just hitting over Crocus Hill (the only hill that we have) when you see the sun break and bathe everyone in its glow, these are just glorious moments.
When you go down to the Caribbean’s longest J’ouvert, which goes into an all-night beach party where you have artists from St. Martin, the French side, and the Dutch side from across the region, everybody comes home to celebrate. The J’ouvert and Beach Party are free events, by the way, in the spirit of celebrating one another.
And then you have the pageants, which is our culture. Everyone finds it really interesting that pageantry is such an integral part of Anguilla’s culture.
Fun fact, the Anguilla Revolution started at the Queen Show, at our Queen pageant.
So you have a long lineage of Miss Anguilla who become very prominent figures within society. Women who have gone on to Oxford, who have become economists, and politicians, and who are now senior members in financial institutions globally. As a result, you have not just a large quantity of Miss Anguillas, but a large quantity of Miss Anguillas who are very ambitious women.
Then we have our Calypso Monarch Competition. This event is about spinning very witty tales on the social fabric of the country. It’s a journey interceded with boat racing, our national sport, where people are invited from land and sea to zoom past our golden coastlines.
You can see how the traditional men used to race boats, or you can go to Poker Run, a high-speed boat race around the island. The race includes different stops at each beach where you play a poker hand. There are games and fun on our beautiful waters. It’s just a great time from start to finish.
The whole ethos behind celebrating the summer festival is about understanding that there’s more in this culture that brings us together than divides us.
We have to really hold strong to that spirit of unity right now. That spirit is what helps us understand and overcome the challenges we will continue to face in this ever-changing global world.
Looking Ahead: What projects are in the works for Anguilla tourism?
Our international airport is really about connecting the world to Anguilla. So more roots, and easier access to Anguilla from various places in America. Most of our tourists come from the Tri-state area. And so we want to be able to increase our accessibility and to make sure it’s as comfortable as possible.
We have our cultural center, which is now being developed and soon to be finished. It’s really beautiful. But we’re also inviting the world music city’s global tourism event to Anguilla next year in November. And that’s all a part of the package.
We have a new cultural center. We’re going to have a new airport. We’re really building out the economic case for both culture, our creative industry, and our creative festivals and our tourism offerings so that when people come to Anguilla, they’ll have a wide array of activities to choose from.
Everyone who’s come to Anguilla has said that the experience of being in Anguilla is like nowhere else. Of course, I am biased, but I really do think that for anybody who wants to have an authentic experience that both celebrates the beauty of Anguilla, but also the sanctity of their marriage or their relationship, Anguilla is the perfect place to be.
– Dee-Ann Kentish-Rogers, Minister of Education and Culture
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