Codrington - General Info
Description:
Approaching Barbuda you may be deceived into thinking there is nothing there, the Island is so flat, and many a sailor has succumbed to joining the wrecks already scattered here, of which there are many.
Codrington lies midway down the western side of Barbuda. About 1500 residents returned after Hurricane Irma with several hotels and guest houses re-opening.
Cruiser Highlights:
Home to the world’s largest breeding and nesting colony of Frigate birds. Port of entry and exit. Locals are very welcoming.
Entrance Notes and Cautions:
The sand spit to the North of the breach into the lagoon has extended to the South and overlaps the Southern end. In March 2020 a yellow and black buoy had been placed in the channel. To enter the lagoon it was necessary to line up those buoys with the high land behind until reaching the buoy when one can alter to Starboard to head straight for Codrington. There was still a minimum of 6 ft depth through the breach, but this may well change. Exercise caution. [Our thanks to Richard Kingsnorth – RCCPF for this info.]
Stay clear of the south coast during a storm. It is littered with uncharted reefs and coral heads. From the south spot Martello Tower on the southeast of the Island. Almost 5 miles east is Coco Point. From the southwest, head for the tower until your bearing to the building indicates you are inside Codrington Shoals and Codrington Bank.
Approaching from the eastern side of Antigua head to Coco Point, keeping it to bear north by east. Offshore hazards include a seven foot shoal five miles offshore, Codrington Shoals to the south and a nine foot spot on the north corner of Codrington Bank. Sail under a high sun and keep an eye out for reefs. Remember all fishing should be done on a Barbudan boat, no spearfishing and no anchoring to reefs.
Cruisers need to be aware of what is happening on the island re. new development, as there may be bays and anchorages that are no longer cruiser-friendly, where luxury resorts have been built and beaches privatised. See this news item for details.
Links:
Barbuda’s Resilience: Top 10 Attractions Six Years Post-Hurricane Irma
Position:
17° 39’N, 61° 49’W
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To check into Barbuda, first must send
email to comptroller of customs
requesting permission. Do this 48 hours ahead of arrival. Email
Raju.Boddu@ab.gov.ag, copy to
Customs@ab.gov.ag.
Upon arrival you should WhatApp John at +1 (268) 464-
5012 to make sure he is at the office.
Let him know you have recived
permission from the Comptroller of
Customs. When you check in at
Barbuda, you will pay no fees, but will
be instructed to pay them when you get to Antigua at the Port Authority office.
We anchored in clear sand north of the opening to Codrington Lagoon, a bit north of the collapsed resort. Good holding, but a bit rolly (in E winds).
We dinghied in to the dock area in Codrington, but don’t recommend it.
There is a single pink-ish buoy (hard to find) marking the entry, with waves breaking across much of the opening.
When we went back in to clear out, we instead called the boatman who had conducted us on a tour of the frigate bird nesting area, Kevin (+1 268-732-2643). His high-bow boat is much more appropriate for handling that crossing than a low-slung, underpowered dinghy. $40US round trip.
CSSN News- WARNING Dangerous Dogs Barbuda
CSSN has received a report from a witness to a dangerous situation in Barbuda. Two cruisers who had been kiting had just packed their things into the dinghy to return to their yacht when they were aggressively approached, harassed and nearly attacked by 3 large and very aggressive dogs. This is a remote area with no road access or persons living nearby, described as the sand spit close to the wrecked/abandoned Lighthouse Bay resort, near Low Bay.
We spent five days in Barbuda in April 2019.
Cocoa Bay is a stunning beach. It is worth sailing to Barbuda just to see so much beautiful empty beach. The holding was very good in sand. Others reported being hassled by security when they walked along the beach in front of the hotel. We just got a friendly wave. Seaplanes land directly in front of the hotel. The only way to get to Codrington is a taxi which costs US$80 return.
Low Bay is in front of the bar at Codrington Lagoon. The holding was very good in sand. Trying to land a dinghy on the bar was an adventure in the swell. Hurricane Irma blasted a breach in the bar which is slowly silting back up. Others took their dinghys through but the swell from outside hits the wind here and it was a bit “iffy!”. We took the dinghy to the bar and had a water taxi pick us up there. Water taxis listen on VHF16 and/or 68. We used George Jeffrey (phone 788-7067) and highly recommend him. He has lived on the island all his life and is a great source of information about island life, wildlife and politics. He also took us to see the frigate birds and the lagoon.
Boat harbour is coral. The coral reefs shown on Navionics are there but there are also lots more coral heads. The buoys are no longer there but just east of where they are marked appears to be relatively free. That was where the locals recommended but also told us a catamaran was wrecked this year. We only stayed an hour or so as it was very swelly. If there is a party on the beach then that is the place to eat lobster as they were delicious and not expensive.
The island is not recovering from Hurricane Irma. Codrington is still largely in ruins and the bank, post office and most other things remain closed. It is very depressing to see the town dieing.
From https://oceancruisingclub.org – 1 December, 2017
For those cruisers who wish to help onsite in Barbuda….we just received the contact info for the Waitt Institute’s Volunteer Coordinator. Contact Renee Desuza at 268-732-0183 by phone or Whatsapp to discuss specific needs and logistics. Volunteers needed to clear debris, fix fences, repair homes. Cruisers anchored in Low Bay can dinghy to Codrington through the breach in the lagoon. https://www.facebook.com/waittinstitute/
A request to cruisers from Shayna at Waitt Institute: We are having trouble getting boats to transport our scientific divers and equipment to Barbuda from Antigua, to do a scientific assessment of the underwater environment of Barbuda after Hurricane Irma. We will need several trips between Antigua and Barbuda to move people and gear.
Also having trouble working out logistics for running a compressor on Barbuda, as there are no generators large enough on the island. If any boats have a compressor for dive tanks that would be immensely helpful. Please contact Shayna Brody at sbrody@waittinstitute.org or message Waitt Institute on FB.
Further details from SV Aftica (based in Antigua):
We are anchored at N17 38.670, W061 51.359 in 17’ of water.
The population of Barbuda is gradually drifting back although I suspect that a proportion will never return.
The islands’ central electricity supply is not yet running and the RO water plant is not online. Samaritans Purse are running a small RO plant to provide potable water for residents and this is running flat out – they are doing a great job. One or 2 small stores have some groceries and soft drinks etc. Cube ice is available. There is gasoline and diesel available (occasionally) from the gas station – both the stores and the gas station have small generators. Both Lime and Digicell cell phone and internet coverage are a available (this message is transmitted from our onboard 4GLTE wireless router via Digicell 4G.
My recommendation is that yachts should visit (currently) only if they are completely self-sufficient for the duration of their stay – this is the recommendation I have made to the various charter companies with whom we are in touch. I also believe that Barbudians would not appreciate visitors wandering around with cameras photographing their misery.
Spanish Point, Gravenor Bay, Cocoa Bay, and Low Bay can all be visited but be aware that the Barbuda Express and various other shallow draught vessel are accessing Codrington via Low Bay.
Codrington airstrip is operational but I suspect only for chartered flights.
Posted on main Antigua/Barbuda page:
This is the SV Aftica, currently anchored at Low Bay, Barbuda. There are no restrictions. There has been some sand shifting but we had 10-12ft of water east of 9ft Bank. There are two breaches in beach between Low Bay and the Lagoon – use the north one (just south of LightHouse Bay Hotel) to dinghy into Codrington – the ferry (Barbuda Express) and fishing boats are using it. DO NOT USE THE SOUTH BREACH.