hiring a vehicle or bike

You will need to hire a car, ATV or e bike if you want to see all that Barbuda has to offer, it’s the cheapest and easiest way to see the island as there is no public transport at all here. However, hiring transport on Barbuda can be difficult; there are not many vehicles available and cars are often out of action after being damaged by bad drivers and bad roads – and we don’t have easy access to spare parts. Our main road is gradually improving but don’t expect international car-hire standards. For some this is an exciting off-road experience, for others it’s a nightmare of flat tyres and flat batteries. There are other cars for ‘informal’ hire so ask your guest house or taxi driver for one if you can’t find anything available on here, they can probably help, but check if the fwd, brakes, windows or a/c and tyres are working or not before you leave and take water and a phone if you are going out for the whole day.

Please book your vehicle directly with the owners below who are sometimes willing to meet you with it at the ferry, airport or guest house, so book a few days ahead where possible – most don’t book out cars months ahead so being early to book is no guarantee of getting one on the day.

You must buy a local driving licence (EC$50) if you don’t have one, which can be bought in Barbuda from the old airport building (pictured above) Monday to Friday. Your international licence does not cover you to drive here but if the office is closed you may still drive, as long as you buy a local one at the earliest opportunity. On Barbuda we sometimes have delays with the import of petrol/gas/diesel in bad weather, so visit the gas station early to make sure you can get fuel during your stay.