Wildlife Photography Hides in Anguilla

Anguilla — a flat British Overseas Territory on the northeastern edge of the Leeward Islands — combines excellent sea turtle nesting beach access with some of the northern Lesser Antilles' most intact coral reef photography, centred on the Prickly Pear Cays Marine Park and the island's network of east-coast protected beaches. The Anguilla Sea Turtle Program's monitoring operation, in partnership with WIDECAST, tracks Hawksbill Sea Turtle nesting on approximately 15 beaches annually, with Scrub Island (an uninhabited 2-km offshore cay) providing the island's highest nesting density during the May–October season; participatory nightly beach patrols, with photography under strict red-light protocols, are available by arrangement with the Department of Fisheries and Marine Resources. Prickly Pear Cays Marine Park, 5 kilometres northwest of Anguilla, provides outstanding snorkel reef photography in some of the Leeward Islands' clearest water, with French Angelfish pairs (typically life-paired and approachable), Spotted Eagle Ray, and Caribbean Reef Shark on every visit. The island's calm, tourism-developed west coast has not diminished the east coast's natural character — Anguilla remains one of the more pristine of the northernmost Lesser Antilles for reef and turtle photography.