The Invoice Is the Smallest Line
Ask most people what paving costs and they will quote you a rate per square foot. On this island that rate is a starting point and rarely more than that. Between a supplier’s invoice and a finished terrace at Rendezvous Bay or Shoal Bay sit an ocean leg, a channel crossing, a customs declaration, a haul and a laying crew, and each of them has a number attached. A quote that shows only the stone is not cheaper than one that shows everything. It is simply less finished.
The Stack, Line by Line
Every delivered paving cost on Anguilla is built from the same components, and writing them out in order stops the awkward conversation later.
- The stone itself, priced by format, finish and gauge at the quantity you are genuinely buying.
- Ocean freight to the hub, plus the short inter-island leg that brings the load across into Road Bay.
- Insurance covering the whole journey, which forms part of the CIF value everything is assessed on.
- Customs duty at the classified rate, and the 9% Import Goods Tax on CIF that replaced the old port charge in August 2025.
- Brokerage, quay handling, haulage to the plot, site handling, bedding materials and the laying itself.
CIF Is the Number Everything Hangs On
Duty and the Import Goods Tax are assessed on CIF value, which is goods plus insurance plus freight to the port of import. That has a consequence people miss: cheap stone shipped expensively is taxed on the expensive part too. Consolidating a job into one well-planned consignment therefore does more for the landed figure than shaving the invoice, and it is one of the few levers a specifier genuinely controls. What you cannot do is estimate the tax line from a percentage you read online, because the classified duty rate and the current Customs Service Charge both need confirming with your broker on the real goods. Treat any supplier who volunteers a firm duty figure for your stone with polite suspicion.
The Feeder Leg Has Its Own Bill
Anguilla’s documented cargo route involves a hub quay and then a short crossing of roughly five nautical miles into Road Bay. That second movement is a real cost and a real schedule risk, and it is the line most mainland quotes forget entirely. It also changes the packing: crates built for two lifts cost more than crates built for one, and they are worth every dollar the first time a pallet arrives with its top course intact. When you compare quotes for what the paving itself costs, check whether the cheaper one has quietly stopped at the hub.
Wastage, Cuts and the Pattern You Picked
Paving is bought by area and laid by piece, and the difference between those two is real money on a plot full of steps, drains and planters.
- Allow more waste on large formats than on small ones, because every cut discards more material.
- Diagonal and radial layouts cut more perimeter pieces than a simple square-set field.
- Curved edges, planters and pool geometry all raise the cut count, sometimes sharply.
- Order spares from the same lot up front, because a small follow-on order carries the whole freight route again.
- Count thresholds and steps separately, since they often want a different piece rather than a cut one.
What Pricing in US Dollars Fixes
The Eastern Caribbean dollar is Anguilla’s currency, pegged at EC$2.70 to US$1, and US dollars are widely accepted. Villa construction here is generally discussed and priced in US dollars, so a US-sourced package does not introduce the currency exposure it might elsewhere in the region. That is genuinely helpful, but it fixes only one variable. Freight, classification, handling and site labor still move, and they move by more than a currency line ever would. The peg is a convenience for the paperwork, not a hedge against a badly planned shipment, and no budget has ever been rescued by an exchange rate.
Where Money Is Genuinely Saved
Real savings on an Anguillian paving package come from planning decisions, not from squeezing a rate.
- One consignment instead of three, so freight, brokerage and handling are paid once.
- Zoning by duty, so vehicle gauges are bought only where vehicles actually run.
- A simpler laying pattern in the busiest, most cut-up areas, with the showpiece layout kept for open ground.
- Correct packing, since a broken top course is the most expensive discount anyone ever accepted.
- Early specification, because a change of mind after the sailing costs weeks on this route.
Getting a Number You Can Budget Against
A delivered figure is only as good as the information behind it. Give a supplier the real site and you get a real number back; give them an area and you get an average. If you want to see how the whole picture fits together for this island, our sourcing desk for Anguilla sets out the route, the clearance and the supply side in one place.
- Areas by zone, with vehicle areas marked and turning ground identified.
- Format, finish and gauge preferences, plus any threshold levels already fixed.
- The plot, the access, the staging space and who is lifting on the day.
- Your target laying week, so the sailing and the feeder leg can be planned backward from it.
Ask for the landed figure, not the rate, and the budget will hold from drawing to handover.