According to a guide, there are some 365 beaches in Antigua, and all of them are open to the public. The cost of the taxi ride to Dickinson Beach and return was reasonably priced at $10.00 per person. This beach just happened to border the Sandals Antigua Hotel... very nice indeed.
However, don't think that you can use Sandals' beach chairs, those are for the hotel guests only. Other cruiseship guests found that out the hard way when the security guard asked them politely to vacate the chairs. The tip-off was the Ocean Princess towels thrown over the chairs.
The sand is very comfortable and relatively hard-packed, making walking along the beach effortless. The water was not quite the bluish-green color found in Barbados, but it was warm and very clean. It also didn't drop off at a fast rate like the Everything's Cool beach we were at in St. Maarten.