Caves?

[pach]

Has anyone been to the caves? If so is it worth it? How much do they charge. It looks really interesting. Any feedback would be appreciated.

[Writeratsea]

Originally Posted by pach

Has anyone been to the caves? If so is it worth it? How much do they charge. It looks really interesting. Any feedback would be appreciated.

I thought Crystal caves were very interesting. Nice and cool on a hot day. You do need to go very early 8 or 9 in the morning or so, as the tour buses come in droves later. There is only one way in, so the prior group has to come out before the next one goes down. It limits the amount of people that can go at a time. I thought the price was reasonable, like $5 or so. I could be wrong, as it has been a while, with special prices for kids of course. Afterwards you can walk up to near the swizzle inn and get ice cream at Bailey's which is the best in Bermuda except for the hagen daz sold in the dockyard mall.
If you have kids, the aquarium and zoo is excellent. The zoo does not smell which is important to me. They have live turtles and seals at various times which is fun

[GinDon]

There are two caves, side by side...............Crystal Caves and Fantasy Caves. Both are different. The price is definitely not $5. We were there in May, and it was $16/pp for one cave........$23/pp for both. Children 5-12, $8/pp and $10/pp. If you only do one cave, most people agree that Fantasy is the better of the two.
As previous poster said, go early, because there is only one set of stairs going down, and back up. It gets bottled up. Speaking of the stairs, be advised that there are something like 85 stairs to descend (and haul yourself back up). The stairs are narrow and damp, so you have to be careful. I don't mean to discourage you, but I'm 62 and terribly out of shape, so I was puffing on the way back up. But, I made it!
The caves are gorgeous to see, and the tour is interesting. However, if you have already seen cave systems in the U.S., you might find these caves not nearly as extensive, and it might be something you would want to skip, and use your time elsewhere.
The Swizzle Inn is very close by, and is a great place to re-hydrate with one of their Rum Swizzles.
For more info, go to http://www.caves.bm

[Bamagal in FL]

Absolutely worth it. Very interesting and pretty. We only went to Crystal Caves but enjoyed it very much.
and yes, the Swizzle Inn is a MUST!!!

[jdarch]

My dh and I went to the caves one of our times in Bermuda. We ended going in the crystal cave and really enjoyed it. When we came out there were busses of school age kids waiting to go in. Yes, the Swizzle Inn is a short walk and worth a stop for a drink. We also went to the zoo and aquarium and REALLY enjoyed them. It was very inexpensive and worth your time. Last time there we went to the Bermuda Underwater Exploration Institute and Really enjoyed that, too. Alot. We try to do different things each time. Next June will be our 5th summer in a row cruising to Bermuda. We love it more each time. Have fun

[pach]

Do I have to do the caves through the cruise lines? Or can we go on our own?

[Paul from Maryland]

Originally Posted by pach

Do I have to do the caves through the cruise lines? Or can we go on our own?

You can easily tour the caves on your own.

[Phishface]

it's about a 10/15 minute bus from St. George. It costs $18 per cave (I assume less than $36 for both caves but I only did fantasy). I thought it was really cool and well worth doing.

[newspix100]

We did Crystal cave last week and it was a definite highlight of our cruise. Just ask at the ticket booth what bus to take and it's a piece of cake. I asked the driver to let me know when we were at the proper stop. Well worth the time and $$.

[pickytraveler4]

Originally Posted by newspix100

We did Crystal cave last week and it was a definite highlight of our cruise. Just ask at the ticket booth what bus to take and it's a piece of cake. I asked the driver to let me know when we were at the proper stop. Well worth the time and $$.

We went in Sept 09 and took the bus. The driver was very friendly and full of information along the way. We felt like we got a free tour for the price of the bus fair.

[MightyQuinn]

We went by bus from Hamilton, along a very scenic sea route, to the caves. We visited both Crystal & Fantasy on a combo ticket of $26. Since we were the only people there, we ended up on a private tour. Awesome. We thought both caves were excellent, but we actually preferred Crystal. After the caves we popped into nearby Swizzle's Inn for their famous libation. Tasted mighty fine even at 11:00 am! Then we continued by bus to St. George & wandered around this most charming town before returning by bus to Hamilton.