I am bouncing about in the tiniest aeroplane I’ve ever flown in when the 11-mile arc of white sand now known as Princess Diana Beach comes into view. The 15-minute flight from Antigua, which moments ago felt like an eternity, is plainly now a ticket to paradise.
Tiny Barbuda, which was left decimated by Hurricane Irma in 2017, had just two weeks earlier opened its brand new airport. It is now – depending on who you ask – reopening for business or on a fast track to becoming an exclusive billionaires’ enclave.
The new airport, which has been designed to accommodate multiple private jets, was described at its ribbon-cutting ceremony by Antigua and Barbuda Tourism Authority chief executive Colin C James as a “game changer for Barbuda, as we look to attracting the luxury traveller and private jet owners from around the world to Barbuda”.
Read more: TravelSmart’s guide to the Caribbean islands
Despite the grand plans, the population of around 1,600, who have mostly returned to Barbuda and are slowly rebuilding their homes and businesses, are determined to protect the island’s extraordinary environment.
This includes the 16-mile Codrington Lagoon national park, my first stop where I hop into a small boat for the short trip out over the shallow blue lagoon to the tiny Man of War Island to see the largest colony of frigate birds in the western hemisphere. Other marine life includes the endangered hawksbill and leatherback turtles.
The frigate birds travel between the Caribbean and Galapagos islands, arriving in time for the mating season when the red pouches on the males’ throats inflate to attract a female.
It is a spectacular sight, and its careful protection as a delicate ecosystem with a minimum of human involvement means that our next stop at the aptly-named Pink Sand Beach, just over the sandbar from the lagoon, is a genuine catch-your-breath moment.
Read more: The best Caribbean islands for winter sun and beach stays
The beach, with its seasonal shade of pink from crushed shells edged by the clearest turquoise waters, is both safe and deserted – there is not another soul to be seen in either direction. I bathe in the warm waters until our guide, Pat, gives me a…
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