Bermuda is a British island territory located in the Atlantic Ocean.
Known for its pink-sand beaches, Bermuda is a destination for almost 200 cruise ships
each year and many ships stay docked for multiple days.
In this video, we’ll provide an overview of our first day in Bermuda, when we visited
St. George’s, a few of St. George’s beaches, and a nature preserve in Hamilton Parish.
Our ship -- the Celebrity Summit -- docked at the Royal Naval Dockyard port for three
days in August of 2019.
The port is located at the Western end of Bermuda and is sometimes referred to as Kings
Wharf or Heritage Wharf.
During our stay, we used Bermuda’s bus and ferry system to explore on our own.
Tickets and transportation passes for the system can be purchased from the circular
Visitor Services Centre building, which is located next to the ferry dock at the Royal
Naval Dockyard.
The ferry dock and Visitor Services Centre are just a 5-minute walk from where cruise
ships dock and copies of the ferry and bus schedules were available inside the center.
A small building located near the ships was also selling transportation tickets when we
visited.
A large sign located at the dockyard provided detailed information about the times and prices
of various transportation options.
The information is also available at the official Government of Bermuda website.
For our visit, we purchased 2-day transportation passes that allowed us to use all of the public
bus routes and the Sea Express Ferry service for our first two days in port.
Take note that there were three ferry routes operating during our visit: A paid ferry to
St. George’s, a complimentary ferry to St. George’s for Norwegian Cruise Line passengers,
and a paid ferry to Hamilton.
Workers at the ferry dock held signs to direct passengers, which made it easy to find the
correct ferry.
The Town of St. George -- which is also known as St. George’s -- is roughly a 45-minute
ferry ride from the Royal Naval Dockyard.
Our ferry to St. George’s had indoor and outdoor seating and restrooms were also available
onboard.
If you sit outside, you should be able to get a nice view of your ship after the ferry
leaves the dockyard area.
Before you visit St. George’s, we encourage you to learn a bit about its fascinating history.
Bermuda is considered founded by English Admiral George Somers whose ship, the Sea Venture,
wrecked on St. George’s north shore in 1609.
The sailors went on to build two new ships to bring critical supplies to starving colonists
in Jamestown, Virginia.
St. George’s also had a role in providing much-needed gunpowder to George Washington’s
Continental Army during the American Revolution.
As we got closer to St. George’s, we could easily see three of the destinations we were
visiting from our ferry: Fort St. Catherine, Gates Bay, and St. Catherine’s Beach.
After disembarking the ferry in St. George’s, we began exploring the historic town on foot
using a brochure we found online.
Take note that not all roads in St. George’s have sidewalks and many of the streets are
just wide enough for a horse and carriage, so be very careful of passing vehicles if
you explore on foot.
The brochure we used for exploring included a map and details of more than 30 points of
interest dating from the 17th century.
Many of the sites were just a few minutes’ walk from the ferry dock.
We’ve linked to the brochure in the description below.
Some highlights of the sites we visited include St Peter’s Church, which dates back to the
early 1600s,
a replica of the ship Deliverance, which is one of the ships Admiral George Somers used
to deliver supplies to Jamestown,
the town hall,
and the King’s Square.
The square, cannons, and pillory are popular photo ops for visitors.
Take note that public restrooms are located nearby, behind the town hall.
Although it wasn’t part of the brochure tour, we stopped at the Bermuda Visitor Services
Centre, which is located one block inland from the St. George’s Post Office.
The center had maps and guides available and the staff were happy to answer any questions.
After wrapping up our points of interest tour, we walked roughly 20 minutes along Government
Hill Road toward the beaches on the north side of the island.
If you would rather not walk, ride-share vehicles and taxis were available during our visit.
Along our walk, we stopped to explore Somer’s Garden, which is named after Admiral George
Somers.
Legend says that after Somers died, his heart was buried on what is now the garden’s grounds.
In addition to quite a bit of green space, there is also a moongate -- which is a national
symbol of Bermuda -- and public restrooms.
Before arriving at the beaches, we also stopped at the Unfinished Church.
The church was set to replace St. Peter’s church on the island and construction started
in the 1800s, but it was never completed.
As we continued our walk, a sign located just past the Unfinished Church confirmed we were
heading in the right direction for the beaches.
Our first beach stop on the northern shore was Tobacco Bay Beach.
The beach is known as a great snorkeling spot thanks to its shallow water and rock formations.
During our visit, the beach and restaurant were a bit crowded, so we continued walking
roughly 10 minutes east along Barry Road to the beaches located near Fort St. Catherine.
The island’s largest fort was constructed in 1614 and you can explore the grounds and
exhibits for a fee.
The fort is flanked by two beaches.
As you’re facing the fort, St. Catherine’s Beach -- which is also known as Gate’s Bay
beach -- is located along a path to the right.
The beach was fairly uncrowded when we visited and a large amount of beach area was available
for relaxing.
Achilles’ Bay beach is located along a path to the left of Fort St. Catherine, along with
Blackbeard’s Hideout restaurant.
Achilles’ Bay beach was far more secluded than the other beaches, but it was also a
bit more difficult to get to -- including a slippery walk down some concrete steps -- and
had very little beach area for lounging.
After spending about an hour in the beach areas, we headed back toward the ferry dock
area and got on the bus to Hamilton parish.
Several bus routes are available to get from St. George’s to Hamilton parish and we took
the number eleven bus.
After a roughly ten minute bus ride, we got off at the stop near the Grotto Bay Beach
Resort and Spa.
Backtracking a bit, we stopped at the nearby gas station, which was great for grabbing
some refreshments and taking a bathroom break before continuing.
We asked the gas station attendant for a good Bermudian refreshment and she recommended
Barritt’s ginger beer, which is produced in Bermuda.
It may have been the hot weather, but the non-alcoholic drink was delicious!
Our next stop was Blue Hole Park, which is also referred to as Walsingham Nature Reserve
and also as Tom Moore’s Jungle.
To explore the park, we used directions from a Trip Advisor post that we’ve linked in
the description below.
Using the directions, we were able to see several grottoes -- or small caves -- not
far from the park entrance.
We then enjoyed a leisurely walk to see the captivating Blue Hole pool.
During our visit, a few people were diving from the rocks into the pool and enjoying
a swim.
The water was so clear that we could see to the bottom in the shallow areas.
Continuing our exploration, we used the directions from the Trip Advisor post to find another,
much smaller blue hole water spot, and the Walsingham Cave, which was located at the
end of a more strenuous -- and sometimes slippery -- hike.
After wrapping up our visit at Blue Hole Park, we took the bus to the Hamilton Ferry Terminal
and hopped on the ferry back to the Royal Naval Dockyard.
At the end of our first day, it was clear that you could easily spend a half day to
a full day exploring just one of the individual areas we visited.
So, plan accordingly if you prefer touring at a more leisurely pace.