Favorite Excursion

[my3sonsnj]

Can anyone that has been to Bermuda on multiple occasions share their favorite "to do" activity/excursion? We are going with a group of friends and half of them have been to Bermuda more than once while the other half have never been to Bermuda. I would like to be able to suggest a variety of things we can do together or separately.

 

Thanks so much!

[billslowsky]

It's seasonal, but the dunking of the wench in St. George's is outstanding.  And free.

[Brighton Line]

Rent a Boston Whaler go to the shipwrecks, feed the fish, snorkel the reefs,  find a beach or sandbar, do your own tour of "Homes of Rich & Famous". 

[mskaufman]

Taking the shuttle to Horseshoe Bay is a nice day.  You can make it a beach day or a hiking day along the beach.  

[mitsugirly]

Although it's been awhile since we've been to Bermuda, one of our favorite things was what Brighton Line said...rent a Boston Whaler and cruise around to the shipwrecks, snorkel, go to an inhibited island. (We also did the jet skis with the same company right before renting the whaler). 

 

HERE is our jet ski tour 

 

Then when we went back to the dock, HERE is my review with the Whaler Boat. 

 

There's tons of pictures included. 

[CruiseECNC]

On 2/22/2024 at 7:40 PM, mitsugirly said:

Although it's been awhile since we've been to Bermuda, one of our favorite things was what Brighton Line said...rent a Boston Whaler and cruise around to the shipwrecks, snorkel, go to an inhibited island. (We also did the jet skis with the same company right before renting the whaler). 

 

HERE is our jet ski tour 

 

Then when we went back to the dock, HERE is my review with the Whaler Boat. 

 

There's tons of pictures included. 

Thank you. This was extremely helpful. 

[mitsugirly]

4 hours ago, CruiseECNC said:

Thank you. This was extremely helpful. 

 

You're welcome. I hope you get a chance to try it out. They are so fun.

[dmrrn73]

It's been 15 years since I've been to Bermuda so I don't know if they still have it but I always enjoyed the Helmet Dives. If you don't know about them it is a great way to see underwater and the coral reefs and not have to get your face wet or be able to swim. 

 

Hartley's was the name of the company I have used most times. I had always done ship shore excursions with them but pretty sure you can book on your own. There was one time it was with another company but I don't remember the name of that one. Hartley's gets great reviews on Trip Advisor if that matters to you.  I don't see it on the list for our upcoming cruise on the NCL Joy in May. 

[njhorseman]

49 minutes ago, dmrrn73 said:

It's been 15 years since I've been to Bermuda so I don't know if they still have it but I always enjoyed the Helmet Dives. If you don't know about them it is a great way to see underwater and the coral reefs and not have to get your face wet or be able to swim. 

 

Hartley's was the name of the company I have used most times. I had always done ship shore excursions with them but pretty sure you can book on your own. There was one time it was with another company but I don't remember the name of that one. Hartley's gets great reviews on Trip Advisor if that matters to you.  I don't see it on the list for our upcoming cruise on the NCL Joy in May. 

 The cruise lines stopped doing business with Hartley's over 10 years ago after a cruise passenger died just after doing a Hartley's dive. 

IIRC, the reason cruise lines stopped booking Hartley's dives was not only that someone unfortunately died, but just as much Hartley's attitude and response to the tragic incident. 

[dmrrn73]

1 minute ago, njhorseman said:

 The cruise lines stopped doing business with Hartley's over 10 years ago after a cruise passenger died just after doing a Hartley's dive. 

IIRC, the reason cruise lines stopped booking Hartley's dives was not only that someone unfortunately died, but just as much Hartley's attitude and response to the tragic incident. 

Oh wow, I hadn't heard about that, so sad. Thanks for the info. 

[Charles4515]

11 hours ago, dmrrn73 said:

Hartley's was the name of the company I have used most times. I had always done ship shore excursions with them but pretty sure you can book on your own. There was one time it was with another company but I don't remember the name of that one. Hartley's gets great reviews on Trip Advisor if that matters to you.  I don't see it on the list for our upcoming cruise on the NCL Joy in May. 

You can book with Hartley direct on their website. 

[Charles4515]

10 hours ago, njhorseman said:

 The cruise lines stopped doing business with Hartley's over 10 years ago after a cruise passenger died just after doing a Hartley's dive. 

IIRC, the reason cruise lines stopped booking Hartley's dives was not only that someone unfortunately died, but just as much Hartley's attitude and response to the tragic incident. 

I didn't care for his attitude and response. Instead of empathy it was more like she must have had a preexisting condition which might have been true but was not established. The Bermuda government did estabish new rules in response which he'd  has to follow to continue which he objected too but he has had to follow.  In any case the cruise lines have not resumed booking his excursions since then, 10 years ago. 

[Laszlo]

On 2/22/2024 at 7:40 PM, mitsugirly said:

Although it's been awhile since we've been to Bermuda, one of our favorite things was what Brighton Line said...rent a Boston Whaler and cruise around to the shipwrecks, snorkel, go to an inhibited island. (We also did the jet skis with the same company right before renting the whaler). 

 

HERE is our jet ski tour 

 

Then when we went back to the dock, HERE is my review with the Whaler Boat. 

 

There's tons of pictures included. 

I'm with Kim, we have used H20 three times in the past, will be four in June and have never been disappointed. If money is tight rent kayaks or paddle boards and go to the little islands about 1/2 mile away

[sportscruiser]

 If you're in Bermuda between April-October, and don't have mobility issues, I took a "hidden gems" tour last July. This tour goes to Tom Moore's jungle to visit a dry cave, swim in a wet cave(if you want), the blue hole where you can jump into or swim in if you want, and to Clearwater Beach to snorkel/swim in the Cooper's Island Nature Reserve. It included lunch and complimentary scoop of ice cream.

 

I know NCL does this excursion, not sure about other lines, but I booked directly with the company anyway since it was cheaper but is still pricey though. The tour took almost an entire day and was great; only reason why it wasn't "awesome" was because of the heavy rain/lightning that started while in the wet cave, so be prepared for bad weather.

[luckyinpa]

take the bus to swizzle inn and walk down the hill to tom moores jungle. go down every path you find. incredible caves, blue water, rock formations, holes to swim in. just an incredible discovery journey. we spent at least 90 minutes exploring the jungle. if you love discovery and surprise this IS the thing to do. walking in those small caves is amazing

 

then when youre done get nachos at swizzle inn...yum. 

[JGmf]

My favorite is the kayak tour that gets you close to the reefs, is in pretty calm water, and gives you about a half hour to swim.

[barric]

We seniors will visit again this month.   Numerous previous trips to Bermuda.  We think the best excursion is a bus/ferry day pass. Hop on hop off.   The bus goes all over Bermuda and is easy to understand.  Colored marker posts at stops indicate the bus heading, inbound or outbound from Hamilton.   

 

Our favorite stop is the Zoo/Aquarium.  We go every year.

[luckyinpa]

general note: ferry times to st geo have changed. i did not like having only the  4pm ferry going back to choose from the day i was there

[EllieinNJ]

On 5/20/2024 at 7:39 PM, luckyinpa said:

general note: ferry times to st geo have changed. i did not like having only the  4pm ferry going back to choose from the day i was there

We are going in September. Would you suggest the st george line going and hamilton returning to dockyard?  Can you elaborate on the Tom Moore jungle experience?  How long to do?

[luckyinpa]

5 hours ago, EllieinNJ said:

We are going in September. Would you suggest the st george line going and hamilton returning to dockyard?  Can you elaborate on the Tom Moore jungle experience?  How long to do?

 

I devoted one day to St George and one day to Hamilton so I cannot say how returning from a different ferry would work out. But I do know that Hamilton has more frequent ferry times.

 

Our plan for the jungle and the swizzle inn was as follows. We took the earliest ferry to Hamilton and walk to the three or four blocks to the bus station and if my memory is correct one, three, 10, 11 bus all go right past swizzle. So we hung out around the bus station and just got in the bus that seemed to be ready to go. I say that because it seems to be a very relaxed thing there and I'm not sure they really keep on a timetable for instance if it says the number 10 bus will leave at 9:45 I'm really not sure where it does. The beauty of that is you will get to see some different part of the island you may not normally have seen. We wound up on the bus that took you through the middle of the island so that was quite interesting.

 

Also we got off at the swizzle inn but I do believe they would let you off at one more stop before you go across the causeway but I am not positive so we just got off at the swizzle inn and walked down the hill to Tom Moore's jungle. There is a gas station there if you want to use the bathroom or buy snacks or water etc. At the bottom of that road you can get some pretty neat pictures of the bridge. And then you just go right into the jungle. All of the paths are easily identifiable as paths. It's just you have to decide which way you want to go. And of course remember how to get back lol. But I really doubt you could get lost there.

 

Walking down towards the beach and the caves maybe a little tricky so I do recommend you have decent shoes. Like flip flops you might have to be really careful. But going into the caves or to the beach as well worth any very minor tiptoeing. In addition to the little caves that are right along the ocean there are also places where there are blue water inland so to speak. The beautiful blue holes that you see in the movies are here. Also at the end of The One path there is a very tall rock formation and a small body of water and I imagine if you were extremely daring you could get in there but there's no way I would. One of the path led to some kind of abandoned dwelling and others just lead into nice pastures that might have flowers or something like that.

 

We walked to the end of the jungle where the Tom Moore restaurant is and the entire experience including going off all the tributaries that we did was about 90 minutes. You can absolutely cut that down as short as you want. For instance if you just want to go to the caves and the beach and leave you could probably be out of there in 30 minutes. I'm also a little surprised nobody actually was on that beach sitting but there's no chairs or anything but it is nice and private and very beautiful.

 

I believe swizzle inn opens at 11:00 and I love the nachos there so we ate there. Be warned there is really no air conditioning but being in the shade is better than nothing. And we just took the bus back into town and got back on the ferry.

 

Regarding Saint George the only time to return on the day we went was 4:00 so it is annoying that you have to get there very early and to be honest next time I would probably just sit on the bus and go back to Hamilton because the bus is ice cold air conditioning and I just hate waiting in the heat for the ferry. And when you compare the time that we waited for the ferry it really is not that much more time and we're on vacation so it's not like we're in a hurry.

Edited Friday at 07:46 PM by luckyinpa

[Charles4515]

12 minutes ago, luckyinpa said:

I believe swizzle inn opens at 11:00 and I love the nachos there so we ate there. Be warned there is really no air conditioning but being in the shade is better than nothing. And we just took the bus back into town and got back on the ferry.

The AC must have been on the blink as they had it the many times I was there but I prefer to sit on the second floor balcony outside if there is an empty table . Besides the nachos which are great the seasoned fries are a pretty good side. They also had a great fish chowder. 

[luckyinpa]

i believe  they thought lower 70s was cool and kept the doors open instead of turning on the mini splits. i noticed many, what appeared to be natives, wearing coats i would only wear in winter. so i guess 70 is cold for bermuda. humidity was very high so those lower 70s were somewhat miserable to walk around in. reinforced my plans to never take a summer cruise as im very heat averse. will be back end of september and hope it's cooler

 

 

[Charles4515]

2 minutes ago, luckyinpa said:

i believe  they thought lower 70s was cool and kept the doors open instead of turning on the mini splits. i noticed many, what appeared to be natives, wearing coats i would only wear in winter. so i guess 70 is cold for bermuda. humidity was very high so those lower 70s were somewhat miserable to walk around in. reinforced my plans to never take a summer cruise as im very heat averse. will be back end of september and hope it's cooler

 

 

August has the worst heat and humidity. I prefer mid June because the water has warmed up enough then for me to swim comfortably. Late September is like June, the humidity and heat are lower but there are increased chances for hurricanes in September. 

[Scottdalfonso]

@luckyinpa Thank you for these step by step directions, as I think this will be our exact plan when we visit in July.  Ferry to Hamilton, bus to Swizzle and stroll through Tom Moores.  Then maybe a snack and drink at the Swizzle INN or just bus back to Hamilton for lunch on Front street.  And, as silly as it seems, my son will LOVE the gas station- when we did Roatan last year, i think his favorite part was pulling into a local gas station mini-mart and looking at the different drinks and snacks (the armed guards with AK47's out front was a little culture shock for him, as well..lol)