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Bermuda advice


FrankT

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My wife and I are going on a 5-night to Bermuda from Cape Liberty next week.  This will be our first Quantum Class ship, so we're excited about seeing how we like Anthem.

Re: Bermuda, I was wondering if anyone who has been there could give advice on our first day.  It's mostly open except the Pub Crawl starting at 7pm.  My wife wants some beach time, and I'd like to see the Crystal Caverns.  What's the best way to sit on the beach for a while, then go to the caverns, then make it to our pub crawl (which I'm assuming leaves from the ship)?  I've seen some live blogs where they hopped on the first ferry to St. George, went to Tobacco Bay, then took a bus to the cavers.  What about getting ourselves to a different beach by Taxi/Bus, like Pink Beach or Windsor Beach (just looking at Google Maps).  Any thoughts/advice?

We're doing a scuba excursion on our second day, so I don't expect to have much time for anything else that day.

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Hi @FrankT, we're going to be shipmates! I'm also sailing Anthem next week to Bermuda, and this will be our second time there. You can find a link to my full blog of that trip in my signature; we went to Crystal Caves, St. George's, and Horseshoe Bay.

Since we get two full days, I will recommend that you do the following:

If you definitely want some beach time on the first day, then I will advise you to get off the ship the second we're cleared to leave and go over to the transit pass ticket booth on the pier. Get an all-day pass, and quickly go to the Orange Line ferry terminal to St. George's. It's about a 45-minute trip, and once you're there you can ask anyone for directions to Tobacco Bay Beach. It's much less busy than Horseshoe Bay, but you have to walk about a 1/2 mile or take a cab to get there. It's also a rocky beach and you'll want to have water shoes if you plan to go in the water.

After walking back to St. George's there are two bus lines from there to the caves, which your transit pass will cover; the buses arrive roughly every 15 minutes. Once you're dropped off, you can walk down the pebble path to the ticket booth for the caves, about 1/4 mile. Bus or cab is the only way to get there, as it's located dead-center on the island. Depending on when you get there and crowds, expect to wait up to 45 minutes for your tour to start, and then the tour takes a little under 30 minutes.

To make your pub crawl, you really need to be done with the caves by 3:30. That will give you enough time to take the bus from the caves back to Hamilton, and from Hamilton you can catch the ferry back to the Royal Navy Dockyard where the ship is ported. The last ferry leaves about 6:00 and is only a 20-minute trip.

If you want to see Horseshoe Bay, save going there for the second dayy; it will be less crowded that day, especially if you go in the morning, and you can take the shuttle vans that are right at the pier for only $7 per person (each way). It's a bit more than the pink bus, but the bus makes you get off at the top of a steep hill leading down to the beach, where the shuttles drive you all the way. They are also constantly going back and forth, so less concerns about catching the right bus at the right time.

Hope this all helps! Keep an eye out for me on the ship, you'll recognize me from the pictures I posted in my blog. ?

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Thanks for your advice!  We're going scuba diving on day two, so we won't have much time that day to do anything else.

We're now thinking we'll go straight to the caves, do them first, then make our way to a beach for a few hours before going back to the ship to shower/change.  After looking at the bus routes, it seems like Shelly Bay or John Smith's Bay would be the most efficient, though they look smaller.  Does anyone have experience with those beaches?  The other option we're considering would be making the longer trek to Elbow, Warwick Long Bay, or Horseshoe from the caverns, then returning to the ship on either the #7 bus or the shuttle vans.  If Elbow, we could also go back up to Hamilton and take the ferry.

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I don't recommend doing Horseshoe Bay on the first day; by all accounts from our trip last year, it was a jam-packed zoo with hardly any room to make your way across the beach.

I can't speak to the other beaches you mentioned, but here are some links from the bermuda4u site, which is an official travel guide site run by the country's tourism department:

https://www.bermuda4u.com/sights/shelly-bay-beach/ -- "...isn't the prettiest of the beaches in Bermuda, but it is one of the best for children and families. Located within a bay, the ocean here is generally calmer than at most other beaches. The water is also shallow. Kids can wander out for hundreds of yards without getting out of their depth."

https://www.bermuda4u.com/sights/john-smiths-bay/ -- "...seldom visited by tourists. Locals love it though, and we strongly suggest a trip. The beach is long and wide and flanked by rocky protrusions. The reef lies about 200 meters from the beach but it's not necessary to snorkel this far to see the wonderful marine life."

 

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Shelly Beach is very small but lovely.  And not usually too horribly crowded like Horseshoe.  There's also Tobacco Bay beach but I'm starting to fear that the more that beach gets recommended again and again on blogs and forums that its going to suffer from overcrowding.  Honestly, there isnt a bad beach in Bermuda

One thing I can recommend is find one of those tour guides that sets themselves up on the pier.  For a very reasonable cost (FAR less than anything organized by Royal) you can pretty much get a private chauffeur and tour guide and they can give some great beach recommendations from a local.  

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