Where to Stay in Anguilla: Meads Bay vs Maundays Bay

For Meads Bay vs Maundays Bay, the short answer is this: pick Meads Bay if you want a long, lively beach with independent restaurants you can walk to along the sand, and pick Maundays Bay if you want calmer winter swimming, a sunset framed by St Martin and a crescent of sand that is effectively run by one resort. Meads Bay suits longer stays and people who like to eat somewhere different each night. Maundays Bay suits short, quiet trips where the beach itself is the whole plan.

Both bays sit in Anguilla’s West End, a short drive apart, so you are not choosing between opposite ends of the island. You are choosing between two very different coastlines. Meads Bay faces north-west onto open water, with nearly a mile of sand shared by hotels, villas and restaurants. Maundays Bay faces south towards St Martin, with a sheltered curve of sand and Cap Juluca spread along most of it. This guide compares the bays first, then looks at how each hotel makes use of its stretch of beach.

The quick answer: bay vs bay

My overall pick is Meads Bay for five nights or more, because the choice of places to eat along the beach keeps a week interesting. For three or four nights of pure rest, especially in winter when the north coast can get rough, I’d choose Maundays Bay. If you are still deciding on the island itself, the Anguilla vs Turks & Caicos comparison weighs the West End against Grace Bay.

Beach shape and sand

Meads Bay is the bigger, more open beach. Its sand runs for nearly a mile in a broad sweep, wide enough that even with several properties behind it the shoreline rarely feels crowded. The scale is the appeal: you can walk for half an hour, stop for lunch at one end and drift back to your lounger at the other. Low dunes and sea grape separate the sand from the buildings in places, so the bay keeps a natural edge despite its popularity.

Maundays Bay is smaller and more enclosed. The crescent curls between two low points on the south-western tip of the island, which gives it the protected, cupped shape that shows up in so many Anguilla photographs. The sand is famously fine and almost glaringly white, and palms at the eastern end offer natural shade. In 2024 it was ranked 30th in The World’s 50 Best Beaches list, which singled out its seclusion and clear water. Walks here are shorter, and you are almost always walking past Cap Juluca’s whitewashed buildings.

Swimming conditions through the year

This is the most practical difference between the two bays, and it is easy to miss when comparing hotel photos. Meads Bay sits on the north-western coast, so it catches the Atlantic swells that roll through in the Caribbean winter. From roughly December to March there are days when waves break on the shore, which bodyboarders enjoy and nervous swimmers do not. On calm days the water is glassy and clear, but you cannot count on it every morning of a winter week.

Maundays Bay faces south and is sheltered by its crescent, so it stays calm far more often in exactly the months when most people visit. Entry is over soft sand with no rocks to negotiate, which makes it the easier bay for older travellers, children who are still gaining confidence and anyone who simply wants to float. A very large swell can wrap around the whole island, and late summer storms affect both coasts, but for consistent flat water Maundays is the safer bet.

Good to know: August to October falls in hurricane season, when swells can make either beach unsuitable for swimming on some days. Check with your hotel before heading in, and look for flags or staff guidance on the sand.

Sunset views: open sea or St Martin

Both bays are on the west of the island, so both deliver strong sunsets. They just look different. On Meads Bay the sun sets into an uninterrupted horizon, so the show is all sky and sea, best watched from a beach table with a drink. Because the bay is so long, there is no single crowded viewing spot.

Maundays Bay adds scenery. Across the channel, the hills of St Martin catch the evening glow, and as the light fades the lights of the neighbouring island start to appear. Cap Juluca leans into this with an early-evening golden-hour session at Cap Shack, typically with a DJ, small plates and cocktails on the sand, and both Pimms and Cip’s look over the water at dusk. If a sunset view with a sense of place is high on your list, Maundays has the edge.

Restaurants within walking distance

Meads Bay is one of the best beaches in the Caribbean for dining on foot. Blanchard’s, opened in 1994 and set just back from the sand in a West Indian-style building, is one of the island’s best-known dinner reservations, and its casual Beach Shack handles lunch. Straw Hat sits right on the beach and has served locals and visitors since the mid-1990s, often with live music in season. Jacala brings French cooking to the sand, and hotel restaurants such as Leon’s at Malliouhana are open to outside guests. Schedules change with the season, so book important dinners before you arrive.

On Maundays Bay, the restaurants are almost all Cap Juluca’s. Pimms is the dressed-up dinner option, Cip’s by Cipriani does Italian classics by the water, Uchu serves Peruvian dishes such as ceviche, and Cap Shack covers casual, all-day eating with grilled catch of the day. That is a strong set for three or four nights, but it is one kitchen culture and one price list. Leaving the bay for dinner means a car or taxi, a point covered in depth in the guide to Anguilla without a car.

Cap Juluca’s self-contained bay

It is hard to separate Maundays Bay from Cap Juluca, because the resort occupies most of the shoreline. Roughly half of its accommodation is beachfront, and its Greco-Moorish domes stretch along the crescent, so wherever you lay your towel there is a beach attendant within reach. The result is a bay that feels private even though Anguilla’s beaches are public by law. Non-guests can walk the sand, but very few come, and the experience is shaped by one operator’s standards of service.

That self-containment is either the point or the problem. If you want to land, unpack and not think about logistics until checkout, it is ideal. If you like the buzz of strangers, the choice of a different bar each evening and the sense of a neighbourhood, Meads Bay suits you better. The broader question of a single all-in resort versus a more open base is explored in Grace Bay vs a private island resort, and the same logic applies here on a smaller scale.

Location, nightlife and villas

Neither bay is far from anything on an island about 16 miles long. Cap Juluca is around 9.5 km from the Blowing Point ferry terminal, the main crossing point from St Martin, typically 15 minutes or so by road. Meads Bay is a similar drive from the ferry and roughly 15 minutes from Sandy Ground. The difference is less about kilometres and more about what is on your doorstep when you step outside.

Anguilla is not a big nightlife island, and most of what exists is at Sandy Ground, where Elvis’ Beach Bar, built around an old wooden boat, keeps going late, especially on Thursdays. From Meads Bay that is a short taxi ride, and on the bay itself you will often find live music over dinner. From Maundays Bay, evenings centre on the resort’s sunset session and its bars, with Sandy Ground a slightly longer trip.

For villa renters, Meads Bay has far more choice, from beachfront cottages to large estates in the low hills behind the sand, plus condo-style suites at Tranquility Beach. Maundays Bay’s villa supply is mainly Cap Juluca’s own three-bedroom pool villas, which come with full hotel service. If you are planning a group trip or a multigenerational holiday, Meads Bay gives you more options at more price points.

How each hotel uses its bay

The bay you prefer should point you to a hotel, but the hotels also use their beaches in very different ways. Here are four strong options, judged on how they make the most of the sand in front of them.

Malliouhana: best for a clifftop view of Meads Bay

Malliouhana sits on a bluff at the western end of Meads Bay, so it gives you the bay from above as well as at sand level. Its 25 acres of gardens reach down to Meads Bay on one side and the small, sheltered Turtle Cove on the other, which is useful on winter days when the main beach has some surf. Leon’s is the hotel’s barefoot beach shack on Meads Bay, with rum punch, hammocks and Caribbean plates, while the signature restaurant up on the bluff is led by Anguilla-born chef Kerth Gumbs. Part of the Auberge Resorts Collection, it was included in the Travel + Leisure 500 list for 2026.

• Best for: Couples who want sea views from the room and a choice of two beaches
• Location: On the bluff at the western end of Meads Bay, above Turtle Cove
• Rates: Garden View rooms run from about US$900 a night between May and mid-December to about US$1,500 from mid-December to mid-April, room only and before 13% GST and service
• Don’t miss: A late lunch at Leon’s, then sunset from Bar Soleil on the bluff

Prices are indicative and were last updated in October 2026. Rates change with season, exchange rates and availability, so check live prices before booking.

Good to know: Some rooms sit high on the bluff, so ask how many steps lie between your room and the sand if you plan to spend most of the day on the beach.

Check rates for Malliouhana

Tranquility Beach Anguilla Resort: best for living on the sand

Tranquility Beach treats Meads Bay as a front garden. Its 15 suites and villas sit directly on the beach, each with a full kitchen and a private terrace with hot and cold tubs, so you can step from your own space onto the sand without passing a lobby. There is no big resort restaurant, which is exactly why the location works: Blanchard’s, Straw Hat and Jacala are all within walking distance along the beach. A beach butler sets up your chairs, and there is a small fitness centre for guests.

• Best for: Families, friends sharing and anyone planning to eat out every night
• Location: Directly on the middle of Meads Bay
• Rates: One-bedroom suites cost around US$540 a night from mid-April to late November and about US$850 in early winter, climbing past US$1,150 over Christmas, all before 13% GST and 10% service
• Don’t miss: Breakfast cooked in your own kitchen and eaten on the terrace facing the bay

Good to know: Minimum stays apply in busy periods, often three nights and up to seven over Christmas and New Year, so plan dates around them.

Check rates for Tranquility Beach Anguilla Resort

Cap Juluca, A Belmond Hotel: best for owning the whole bay

Cap Juluca is Maundays Bay for most visitors. With 68 rooms, 45 suites and a handful of private pool villas spread along the crescent, it turns the entire beach into a single, serviced space, with loungers and umbrellas set out along the sand and four restaurants facing the water. The sheltered water suits watersports and easy swimming, and the Guerlain spa adds an infinity pool open to guests without a treatment, alongside the main pool. Its three-bedroom villas have private pools and open straight onto the sand, a rare combination on Anguilla.

• Best for: Honeymoons and short stays where the beach is the whole itinerary
• Location: Along Maundays Bay on the south-western tip, around 9.5 km from Blowing Point
• Rates: A Deluxe Beachfront Room is roughly US$1,050 a night in the quieter months and near US$1,900 from mid-December to mid-April, room only, with 13% GST and 10% service on top
• Don’t miss: The golden-hour session on the sand at Cap Shack, with St Martin across the water

Good to know: Cap Juluca closes each year from mid-August to early October (15 August to 8 October in 2027), and some facilities run on reduced hours either side, so confirm which restaurants are open for your dates before booking.

Check rates for Cap Juluca, A Belmond Hotel

Which bay suits your trip?

Travelling in December to March with swimming as a priority: Maundays Bay, or Malliouhana with Turtle Cove as a fallback. Staying a week and loving food: Meads Bay, ideally at Tranquility Beach where you can walk to a different restaurant each night. Honeymoon of four nights or fewer: Cap Juluca.

I wouldn’t split a short Anguilla trip between the two bays. They are close enough that you can spend a day on the other beach and be back for dinner. For a longer Caribbean itinerary, the guide to one resort vs a split stay helps decide when a move is worth the packing.

Hotel comparison

The verdict

Meads Bay is the better all-round base. It has more space, more places to eat on foot, more villas and more variety over a week. Malliouhana gives you the view from above and a sheltered cove for rough days, while Tranquility Beach puts you right on the sand with a kitchen of your own and the bay’s best restaurants within a short walk.

Maundays Bay is the better beach for swimming and for sunsets with a view. Its south-facing crescent stays calmer in winter and looks across to St Martin, and Cap Juluca’s control of the shoreline makes it feel like a private bay. Choose it when you want the beach, the service and the evening light to do all the work, and you’re happy to stay put.

Some links on this page are affiliate links. If you book through them, Lagoon Edit may earn a commission at no extra cost to you. It never affects which resorts we recommend.