Sea Glass - All you can carry!

Following lunch, we walked 1 mile (30 minutes) to Alexandra Battery Beach Park from St. George. The Battery isn’t much to see, but the real prize here is sea glass! You’ll find it by the handful at low tide amongst the reef rocks at the end of the cement seawall (located between the battery and the beach). There is some scattered on the beach too, but the treasure lies beyond. Especially look for the cave, about 15 feet beyond the seawall, where the sea glass is 5-inches deep and sparkles in the late afternoon sun. Pottery with blue or green stripes, impressions, blue anchors, and inscriptions can be found amongst the white, green, blue, brown, red, clear, and ivory hued glass. We filled 2 quart-sized bags in about 30 minutes. You can do it in 5 minutes, but it was fun to be particular.

St. Catherine Beach also had some sea glass, but don’t waist your time here. For sea glass by the handful, walk down to Alexandra Beach.

Which we did the next day after exploring Fort St. Catherine. My wife wasn’t content with the half-gallon of sea glass we picked up the day before. She decided she wanted more. So we walked a mile to Alexandra Beach to hunt more sea glass. This is a very pleasant walk along the coast. As you leave St. Catherine, turn around just as you walk around the first bend in the road. You'll find an awesome picture-taking opportunity of the Fort. Once at Alexandra Beach, we found the tide was about 3 feet higher than it was the day before. While it made looking between the reef rocks dangerous, the cave was still fully accessible and we gathered 2 more quarts of sea glass, and walked back to the ship.

Here is a very detailed review of our cruise to Bermuda. We were there for a week. We stopped in Hamilton and St. George. Hints and tips about the ship, island transportation, beaches, caves, forts and sea glass. http://www.lavasurfer.com/info/bermuda.html

For example, did you know that Fantasy Cave is a much better cave than Crystal? Did you know you can easily walk to an incredibly cool Fort in Hamilton that has underground passageways and a deep moat (now a botanical garden) you can explore?

Thanks for the info CB! Sounds like a fun thing to do. :) Sea glass is similar to our Cape May (NJ) diamonds.

We did the same thing last year. It was a long but beautiful walk, amazing cacti and other plants, a few moongates to take pictures of etc, etc etc.

We will be going back in May and bringing our 8 yr old D/D with us and expect to have a great time, we can't wait:)

Getting sea glass is a priority for me, but we will not have enough time to get over there. I've been told there is a Royal Cemetery that also has a lot of it, and it's closer to where I will be most of the time while in Bermuda. I can't wait to see it!

Heres a little tip that I learned on these boards last year, bring a small cat litter box scooper to pick up the sea glass with, that way you can rinse all the sand off the glass so you don't have to carry that extra weight of the sand back with you. It worked like a charm last year for us. I hope it helps someone else.:)

Okay, what exactly is Sea Glass? I'm going to Bermuda in May and it all sounds so nice, so want to know where to look for this stuff. Also, what do you do with it?

Getting sea glass is a priority for me, but we will not have enough time to get over there. I've been told there is a Royal Cemetery that also has a lot of it, and it's closer to where I will be most of the time while in Bermuda. I can't wait to see it!

Do you have the directions to get to the beach across from the RNC for your seaglass adventure? It is amazing the amount of seaglass that covers the beach there.

Okay, what exactly is Sea Glass? I'm going to Bermuda in May and it all sounds so nice, so want to know where to look for this stuff. Also, what do you do with it?

I have the same questions.....hate to admit it but we have been to bermuda 4x and I guess we just never heard of it or didnt pay attention to what it is....would it be used like glass to mosaic...??

oops

Cruisegal403...

Sea Glass is broken pieces of glass and china that has been tumbled by the seas to make it nice and smooth, and then deposited near the beach by the surf. You'll find pieces of pottery with blue or green stripes, impressions, blue anchors, and inscriptions as well as white, green, blue, brown, red, clear, and ivory hued glass. I understand there used to be a dump in the ocean somewhere off Alexandra Battery Beach Park which is where most of the sea glass originates. Hey, it's also possible it's coming in from any number of reef shipwrecks as well.

Salt air hair and CruiseDivaNJ...

Take the ferry from the RNS to St. George and then walk to Alexandra Battery Beach Park from town. The beach park is easy to find on any local map.

I have the same questions.....hate to admit it but we have been to bermuda 4x and I guess we just never heard of it or didnt pay attention to what it is....would it be used like glass to mosaic...??

CruiseDive NJ

Where are you from in NJ? Bermuda sea glass is like Cape May diamonds. Check out this site to see what some people do with it.:)

http://stores.ebay.com/SEAGLASS-DREAMS

Yes, the docks in Hamilton are closed to the cruise ships. The ships will dock at King's Wharf or anchored at Grassy Bay.

I live near Princeton, about 40ish minutes to Belmar, 45 to Pt pleasant and HOURS to Cape May,lol I bookmarked the seller's eBay site, thanks for sharing! I had a feeling that is what seaglass was, I never noticed any in Bermuda but then again we were never looking.

Well, glass is made from sand, so I figure nature has a lot to do with it and not the dump, but just my two cents! I came across something online once and it stuck in my head. I read directions on this website somewhere on how to get to the cemetery for the sea glass, I guess that Alexandra Battery and the cemetery are the two places that have a lot of it.

I have no idea what I will do with it, but maybe I'll put it in a jar with some pink sand as my momento of Bermuda!

I live near Princeton, about 40ish minutes to Belmar, 45 to Pt pleasant and HOURS to Cape May,lol I bookmarked the seller's eBay site, thanks for sharing! I had a feeling that is what seaglass was, I never noticed any in Bermuda but then again we were never looking.

It's not prevelent on regular beaches. If there are coves where things can wash up and get caught, you might find some. At Horeshoe Bay, the area to the right as you look at the water has a mini "cave" where some gathers.

Well, glass is made from sand, so I figure nature has a lot to do with it and not the dump, but just my two cents! I came across something online once and it stuck in my head. I read directions on this website somewhere on how to get to the cemetery for the sea glass, I guess that Alexandra Battery and the cemetery are the two places that have a lot of it.

 

Carribean Bound has it correct about the dump and shipwrecks. What nature DOES have to do with it is, like CB said, the ocean tumbles the glass against the sand which "polishes" it.

Hi CruiseDiva,

Sounds like you live near us. We live in East Windsor and have a small condo in Pt. Pleasant. There is very good sea glass hunting near Martell's pier in Pt. Pleasant..

I didn't know that! Nevertheless, I gotta have some sea glass. :p 142 days til I'm on the ship!

As I recall the cemetary is fairly close to the RND. That's the one end of the island we did not visit.

my GF and I went to the one by the cemetery to get sea glass, it was pretty close to the Royal Navy Dockyard. if u take the bus just ask them to let u off by the cemetery (there is another forum somewhere which has directions to it) its fairly easy to find... once u get to ur stop - at the cemetery u have to go between two houses - like i said im not real sure of the numbers i know they r greenish/blue houses if u need any help just msg me i think i still got directions on my puter that i saved from last yrs cruise) but when we went down to get some there was A TON. as we were getting some glass an older guy came down and was talkin to us tellin us when the best time to come down to get some and what to look for... he said the blue ones were really rare (found a few of them). someone made a table with seaglass embedded into the top of the table - looked pretty neat. we r planning another trip to bermuda and will more than likely stop for more sea glass :D

Hey gixxer I don't know how to pm you, but I would love to have the directions to the cemetery if you can find them. I will try a search to find the thread you referred to. We will be in Bermuda on a Sunday and it doesn't look like the ferry from the dockyard to St.George runs on Sunday, so we are looking for sea glass closer to the dockyard. We were just in Bermuda in Sept and one of the highlights of our trip was Alexandra Battery.

I do recall the cemetary being very close to the dockyard, but I haven't been there.

there are directions provided be Writeratsea in reply #7 to this thread:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=226948&highlight=cemetary

Hey gixxer I don't know how to pm you, but I would love to have the directions to the cemetery if you can find them. I will try a search to find the thread you referred to. We will be in Bermuda on a Sunday and it doesn't look like the ferry from the dockyard to St.George runs on Sunday, so we are looking for sea glass closer to the dockyard. We were just in Bermuda in Sept and one of the highlights of our trip was Alexandra Battery.

How was your cruise in Sept? I just booked for Sept 20th this year and I'm a little worried about the sail there...........was the ride rough? Was the water in Bermuda warm for swimming in Sept? Where's a good place to go for snorkeling? Appreciate any information you can give me.

Patty

I'd love to try to pick up some sea glass. We will be docked at the dockyard, and we do want to go see the Caves. So, I guess it would be best for us to try the beach by the cemetary, since it seems to be a lot closer.

How was your cruise in Sept? I just booked for Sept 20th this year and I'm a little worried about the sail there...........was the ride rough? Was the water in Bermuda warm for swimming in Sept? Where's a good place to go for snorkeling? Appreciate any information you can give me.

 

Patty

We first cruised to Bermuda in August. It was way to hot and humid. Now we go in September or October. Just a lot less humid and still nice beach weather. The water is just right for swimming as well.

Yes the ride can be a little rough as this time is hurricane season, so it depends upons whether they are any storms. Last year the ride down was rough but the return was as smooth as glass.

We brought our own snorkling gear and had great success at Tobacco Bay in St. George. The water is very shallow and calm. We never tried Church Bay which is supposed to be the best in Bermuda, though the water there is choppier.

We first cruised to Bermuda in August. It was way to hot and humid. Now we go in September or October. Just a lot less humid and still nice beach weather. The water is just right for swimming as well.

Yes the ride can be a little rough as this time is hurricane season, so it depends upons whether they are any storms. Last year the ride down was rough but the return was as smooth as glass.

We brought our own snorkling gear and had great success at Tobacco Bay in St. George. The water is very shallow and calm. We never tried Church Bay which is supposed to be the best in Bermuda, though the water there is choppier.

WriteratSea,

Thanks for the information. A few people are talking me out of going in Sept, I've never gotten sea sick yet but we always have a balcony so an inside will be the first for us. I didn't want to spend the money for a balcony for just a 5 nighter - don't really think we need it on this cruise........we'll even be docked for 2 of the 5 days - won't really be in the room relaxing much for a 5 nighter. I'm so used to the longer cruises now that I wish RCCL did at least a 7 nighter to Bermuda.

Looking at your name.........are you a writer?

Patty