• Twitter
  • Facebook
  • YouTube
  • Pinterest
  • RSS

Anguilla Heaven (And Green Flash)
Two Decades Later

by Carole Adzima
(Fairfield, Connecticut, USA)

Meads Bay Anguilla

Meads Bay Anguilla

We were on vacation in St. Maarten and took a day trip to Anguilla... that was over 20 years ago.

We decided our next vacation would be in Anguilla... and we did!

On Saturday, February 12, we will be back for our 19th time.

We will always remember the "green flash". No other place has it besides Anguilla.

Just sit on the beach at sunset time, a drink in hand, with those you love. Don't take your eyes off the sun is it disappears into the sea, not even for a second.

We stay at Carimar Beach Club. The staff is terrific and the guests have become our friends.

The people of Anguilla are the friendliest of all of the 15 or 16 other islands that we have visited.

Anguilla forever!

Nori's Reply

It just goes to show how a single day trip to Anguilla can stay with you for 20 years. You'll notice many changes, but it's still "very Anguilla."

As for the "green flash," I have often wondered whether this is an urban myth. I've watched for it many times, very intensely, and always without the green flash (sunsets are always spectactular so I must say that I'm never heartbroken ;-) ).

I've heard others talk about it. But when I ask if they have seen it themselves it's always "friends" who have "seen the green."

I researched at wikipedia for green flash. It seems real enough, but wikipedia is just written by people. What if they are all part or a nefarious gang of green flash myth-makers?

And Google has tons of green flash photos. How hard is it to doctor a photo nowadays?

What do you think, real or not real?

I'd love to hear if you have ever seen the green! Tell us everything. Don't leave out a detail. I'm fascinated! Click here to start a new story about any green flash you may have seen.

Back on the topic of Anguilla...

Yes, the people here are wonderful. They are real. They are cool. They don't try to impress and they don't get impressed. They are like the island itself, which is real and cool, all without trying to be -- that's the secret. There's no "Disney-type stuff here."

When you live here and get to personally know people well, you find out that it really is all real, too. It's not "green flash" that is "put on" for the tourists, but that really isn't there -- it's there and it's real.

Most everyone is here is so warm, friendly and welcoming. While I have yet to see green flashes on the horizon, I see many faces flashing smiles on the island all day long.

Comments for Anguilla Heaven (And Green Flash)
Two Decades Later

Average Rating starstarstarstarstar

Click here to add your own comments

Feb 13, 2011
Rating
starstarstarstarstar
Anguilla's Green Flash
by: Anonymous

The green flash is not indigenous to Anguilla beaches! I saw it years ago roller skating on the strand in Manhattan Beach, CA.

I've never seen it since.


Feb 12, 2011
Rating
starstarstarstarstar
The Green Flash
by: John

.. is no myth: it is described in Bowditch, _American Practical Navigator_, page 500 -- one of the seminal references for navigation. I haven't seen it, but those I have served with in the US Navy have.

Bowditch:
"The phenomenon is not observed at each sunrise or sun- set, but under suitable conditions is far more common than generally supposed. Conditions favorable to observation of the green flash are a sharp horizon, clear atmosphere, a tem- perature inversion, and a very attentive observer. Since these conditions are more frequently met when the horizon is formed by the sea than by land, the phenomenon is more common at sea. With a sharp sea horizon and clear atmosphere, an attentive observer may see the green flash at as many as 50 percent of sunsets and sunrises, although a telescope may be needed for some of the observations."

Click here to add your own comments

Join in and write your own page! It's easy to do. How? Simply click here to return to Your Anguilla Travel Story.