One of the most polarising topics in the Anguilla tourist forums lately has been the Aurora Waterpark. On one side, you have those who feel the waterpark goes against what they have determined to be the “Anguilla aesthetic”, on the other you have those who support advancement in Anguilla’s offerings. Reading the comments that have swirled around the pool of people who seem to feel that they know Anguilla best, I’ve begun to question the underlying motivation behind the polarity: what exactly is the Anguilla Aesthetic?

As a child raised by an artist, the concept of aesthetic isn’t just a new internet buzz word. It was taught in my life with the same importance as manners or etiquette. The ways in which colour, visuals and atmosphere combine to create the essence of something; the physical and mental arrangement of space or art. What comes together to represent it, or you, your brand, your core. Who decides the aesthetic of a country though? Is it the media with perpetuation of stereotypes? Is it the country’s own culture mixing an aesthetic into an emulsion of history, present and future? Or is it a visitor who uses the base of stereotype to create a concoction of their own determination– something that fits their idea of the aesthetic they want while they are on vacation.

Maybe we are all guilty of this in some way. Superimposing our own filter of what we think is the aesthetic of a country onto the image we want for our trip there. Sort of how I cropped the McDonald’s sign out of a photograph of my children walking on a street in Paris. Or the way a tourist posts a photo of their hand selecting a mango from the wooden box of a roadside produce vendor and captions it “grocery shopping in Anguilla”. The thing is, I’m not posting in French tourist forums telling them to eradicate all McDonald’s because it doesn’t fit the “French Aesthetic”.

So, why am I talking about McDonald’s and roadside produce stalls? Because they represent two opposite spectrums of aesthetic– whimsical past and commercialised future. This brings us drifting back to the anchor of this post: the Aurora Waterpark.

As someone who has children and lives in Anguilla, I read the initial announcement of the Aurora Waterpark as a welcomed addition to the line up of activities to do with my kids on island. I also saw it from the tourism perspective as an innovative step to bridge a gap in Anguilla’s hospitality offering, especially with Aurora boasting the new “secret season” of summer in Anguilla. What better to draw vacationing families than a resort where you can offer entertainment for children of all ages?

However, to the diehard Anguillaphiles, the construction of a waterpark deep in the 300 acres that houses the Aurora Resort and Golf Club did not make the splash it intended. Chatter ensued with moderators in forums turning off comments for posts about the water park. In the flotsam and jetsam of such threads wafted things like “no need for this type of development in Anguilla”, “if I wanted to hear screaming children I would go to Florida”, “not what Anguilla is about”, and (most poignant to me) “this is not the Anguilla aesthetic”.

With competition from other more accessible destinations, increases in taxes, two back-to-back disasters, and something as delicate as tourism as our only industry, the main aesthetic in Anguilla is currently the dollar sign. It may not fit in with the visitor’s idea of a Caribbean vibe, but the truth of the matter is that our hospitality industry has ridden the wave of lowkey high end tourism since the 1980s and as it finally moves to fill in the gaps and expand its offering, people are upset.

None of those people live here, though.

I haven’t heard anything from locals but rave reviews for the advent of the Aurora Waterpark. I expressed my support for the project along with many others recently online and was excited to receive an invitation from the resort to be part of the test group for the park. The Aurora Waterpark houses a kid’s club, teen club, lazy river, splash pad, water slides, rock climbing wall, multiple pool sections and a swim up bar. With a hard launch date of December 2023 for resort guests and January 2024 for everyone else, it’s sure to be a huge hit with families both visiting and living in Anguilla.

To the keyboard warriors who are still so against the waterpark, I offer the following suggestions:

1. If you don’t want the view of the waterpark obstructing your vacation, then don’t sit in its parking lot.
2. If you don’t want to go to the waterpark, then don’t purchase a ticket.
3. If you don’t want to be around people or children on your holiday, there are 33 beaches and I’m sure one of them will be empty.