What else should we do in Bermuda? Renting boat

We plan to rent a boat while in Bermuda on the breakaway. Probably the second day we are there. What else should we do and should we buy 3 day transport passes?

We are a family of 4, me, hubby, and 2 girls 10 and 13.

We love swimming and snorkeling.

Thanks!!!!

We plan to rent a boat while in Bermuda on the breakaway. Probably the second day we are there. What else should we do and should we buy 3 day transport passes?

 

We are a family of 4, me, hubby, and 2 girls 10 and 13.

 

We love swimming and snorkeling.

 

Thanks!!!!

If you like swimming I recommend Horseshoe Bay. For snorkeling and also swimming I recommend Tobacco Bay. Besides swimming and snorkeling read thru the threads on this board for ideas. As far as the transportaion passes buying them depends on what you decide to do. I usually only buy a two day pass since the third day tends to be limited in possible activities. So if I use the public bus system I get tokens for the third day. Last time on the third day I used the Horseshoe Bay shuttle which is $16 round trip. Since the ship you are on, Breakaway, now leaves at 3:00 your third day you have to plan that day well to be back on time.

This a great snorkel excursion you can do on your own. The people that run it are very nice. Kids have a great time. :)

http://www.jessiejames.bm/

just back from Bermuda with 14 yr old. I would go to St. George on the ferry and then either take the beach bus (if it is running--check at tourism office on main square @ St. George) or walk 1/2 mile (uphill) to Tobacco bay--would be good for kids swimming and also snorkeling. you should be able to snorkel while kids swim (with floats-in knee level water) and you could still eyeball them. We took dollar store inflatable inner tubes for our kids and they loved them for floating around, bobbing in the waves (no waves @ Tobacco), etc. Kids could lie on their stomachs with goggles and see fish. St. George has lots of historical bldgs. Be sure to go in the replica Deliverance ship off the main square.

My kids also REALLY liked the Caves--a 18 minute bus ride from St. George. You could also take ferry to St. George, then bus to caves, then bus (change in Hamilton) to Elbow beach, which has awesome snorkeling from the shore--a bit far for the kids, but they could do it if they used those inner tube rings--it's protected by an outer reef. Gorgeous beach--right off of the #7 bus line. FYI--no facilities, just port a potty, but Elbow beach resort is right there--buy a drink/lunch, etc. and use their showers, changing room, bathrooms (very nice). After Elbow, continue on #7 bus back to ship or make another stop at Horseshoe down the road about 10 minutes. Horseshoe Bay has OK easy snorkeling in the kiddie area for kids to try, but no good snorkeling otherwise. HB has facilities. Snorkel park right at the ship looked good for beginner snorkeling and decent for more advanced right outisde the reef. Nice beach area. Good if you have a few extra hrs one day.

If you are going into St-Geroges or Hamilton, they sell booklets of 15 tickets good for both bus and ferry. Adults (16 and up) is 37.50 and kids were 9.50$ For 15 tickets. That is by far the cheapest you'll get however, they do not sell them at the Dockyard. In Hamilton they are sold at the Ferry Terminal and in St-George's, at the post office.

If you use these tickets, you need one for each bus or ferry. So for example when we went to Blue Hole Park, we used one on the ferry to St-George, one on the bus to Blue Hole, another for the return bus and another for the ferry back to the dockyard.

Back to your original question: we really enjoyed Blue Hole park. We hiked through the trails, found the cave you can swim in (so very very cool !!) and jumped of 10 foot "cliff" into the blue hole.

Also, for a beach day: we took the #7 bus to Warwick Long Bay and walked the trails from beach to beach back to Horseshoe Bay. It's not a long walk (maybe 20 mins ?) it was super easy and so so pretty ! We stopped a Jobsons Cove to swim, Chaplin Bay then the beach just before Horseshoe. We pretty much had it to ourselves and played in the surf there until we had to leave. We walked to Horseshoe, used the washrooms and changing rooms, then grabbed a taxi back to the ship.

Are you renting the boat from H2O ? I have some suggestions of places to go !!

We just got back and had a ton of fun !

We are renting from Somerset. Where is Blue Hole? We definitely want to do the Caves.

I am now thinking maybe going to St. George the first day to walk around and do Tobacco Bay. If Blue Hole is near we will do that too. Second day is boat rental. Third day Horseshoe Bay.

What do you think?

Blue Hole is near the Caves. Look on a map at where Gotto Bay Resort is. Caves are just up the road, Blue Hole is just down the road. Thus, both are 18 minutes via bus from St. Georges. you could actually do St. George, Tobacco, Caves and Blue Hole all in the same day. Caves closed at 4:30 pm in the summer, don't know if it changes for the fall. If I was in a pinch for time and I was not going to Fort ST. Catherine, I would skip Tobacco Bay and do Elbow Beach on the #7 bus route headed home. There is excellent snorkeling right off shore. Take blow up rafts for the kids if they are not strong swimmers. Tobacco Bay will take a bit of time to get to, so I think 3 hours to get there, swim, snorkel, get back to St. G. If you cut that out, you have plenty of time to see StG, bus to Caves, swim Bule hole and then even hit Elbow on the way back to ship. If you are going to the Fort, then you could fit in Tobacco, but might be squeezed for time for both the Caves and Blue hole.

Thanks!!! That sounds perfect

 

Are you renting the boat from H2O ? I have some suggestions of places to go !!

 

We just got back and had a ton of fun !

We are renting from H2O next month for their 5 hour rental special. We would love some suggestions - particularly if there is a place to grab sandwiches and beer/wine before we head out or a place to dock to jump out and grab some.

Thanks!

 

 

We are renting from H2O next month for their 5 hour rental special. We would love some suggestions - particularly if there is a place to grab sandwiches and beer/wine before we head out or a place to dock to jump out and grab some.

Thanks!

We did this too. We had the rental from 9am-2pm (and could easily have gone longer).

We arrived about 8:45 and got the briefing, life jackets, steering wheel, throttle. Super easy. We were off a few mins later. We had 2 boats since we were 11 people.

We went directly to the HMS Vixen and anchored just past it. This is a shipwreck with a part of it's bow above the surface. Easy to spot. We snorkled there for a while. Bring Cheerios - the fish LOVE them. It was super funny being swarmed by fish (who never get close enough to touch you) when you throw a handful of Cheerios. Lots of fish on the Vixen.

From there we went to Sea Glass Beach which I really enjoyed. The girls all had fun hunting for treasure and the "one perfect piece" but the boys weren't as impressed. I suggest bringing a mask and snokle here too - lots of smaller fish that were fun to watch if you are not into the treasure hunt aspect. And most definitely WATER SHOES. Do not get out of the boat at Sea Glass Beach without water shoes.

From there, we went back to Mangrove Bay (which is basically where we started from). Have the guy at H2O point out Sandy's Boat Club. Its a big yellow building in the bay with a dock. Since we did not require any service from the boat club, we didn't want to use their dock. We just beached in the bay. I hoped off and climbed up the small embankment. Once on the road, turn left - there is a liquor store right there. We bought cold Champagne and chips there (I had brought plastic glasses from home. Bring some rom the ship, it's easier). Across the street, if you keep going in the same direction, you will see a small cafe - I think it was called The Village Cafe. Pink building. They are like a 'chip stand' and had fries, sandwiches, chicken fingers. If you want to save time, go to the restaurant first, place your order, walk to the liquor store to buy what you need, then hop back to pick up your food. I walked back down to the boat with our lunch.

We went straight across the bay to Middle Kings Point which is the middle of 3 islands at the mouth of the bay. It was BEAUTIFUL !!! We had our Champagne picnic then explored the 3 islands. We were at low tide so you could easily walk from one to the other with waist deep water at most. Bring a camera - breathtaking views, lots of interesting rocks and nook and crannies. I did not want to leave. I kept joking that they should forward all my mail to "1, Middle Kings Point, Bermuda" and that I would just live there from now on.

About 1:55, we reluctantly hoped back in the boat and went back to H2O. I think we spent 10$ in gas !

I have some pics here - I believe you should be able to view them even if you don't have Facebook. We forgot to take pics at Sea Glass beach.

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10156034917580707.1073741835.886890706&type=1&l=c82e4e18f5

If you are able to view the Facebook album, scroll down to the very last photo - I added a Google Map of where there points were.

If you go to Sea Glass - it's right in front of these 4 Mint-Turquoise apartment buildings. You can see them from the water

http://s100.photobucket.com/user/SailBadtheSinner/media/SeaGlass.jpg.html?t=1296503598

Are there caves you can swim in for free? In researching, I am finding that the Grotto Bay Resort caves are for their guests only.

Are there caves you can swim in for free? In researching, I am finding that the Grotto Bay Resort caves are for their guests only.

The ones at Grotto Bay are for guests only (which is too bad, I hear they are nice).

The one you can swim in is in Blue Hole Park. Our group swam there and I thought it was really cool. If you check the Facebook link above, I have pics. (after the towel bunny is the cave swimming).

The cave is on a path that I might not have found on my own. There is a pic of it too ! In my FB album, find the one with the group of us standing in front of a pond. The one before that shows the actual pond. This pond is off the main trail on the right hand side (assuming you are coming from the entrance right off the causeway, near Grotto Bay resort. If you are coming from Tom Moore's tavern, then it would be on your left). The pond is visible from the trail, but you have to go down an embankment to get to it. If you are standing in front of this pond, facing it, there is a path to your left that goes up - that path leads you to the cave you can swim in. Just go straight on this path and it leads you right to it.