Achille's Bay vs. Tobacco Bay and Mini-bus

[md115]

We'll be in Bermuda this month, and hope to swim and do some snorkeling. Any opinions on differences between these two beaches??

My plan is to take a mini-bus to St Catherines, spend some time at the beaches, then walk back into town. Any experience with the mini-buses, and where do you get them.

Thanks!

[nu2cruzin03]

We just returned from Bermuda yesterday; we were on the Zenith. The country is absolutely beautiful. Horseshoe beach is stunning. I would recommend going to Achille's or St. Catherines beach. Tobacco Bay is nice, but nothing really to look at. It is a small, croweded beach, with very shallow water...good for snorkeling, I guess. It has a bar and some food (burgers, hot dogs, chips, etc.) is available. We just "followed the crowds" in walking to Tobacco Bay; apparently we walked straight when we reached the top of the hill at Duke of Kent Road, when we should have beared to the right, to continue walking to St. Catherine's and Achille's Beaches.

 

Rick

 

Norwegian Dawn June 1, 2003

Norwegian Dawn May 23, 2004

Celebrity Zenith May 28, 2005

[md115]

thanks!

[Swizzle v2.0]

(Tobacco Bay) is a small, croweded beach, with very shallow water...good for snorkeling, I guess.

The snorkeling is better on the 'ocean-ward' side of the rocks at Tobacco Bay. I agree with nu2cruzin03 that while it is a nice beach it is small so when a cruise ship is in St. Georges the beach is usually packed.

[md115]

Thanks. Re mini-buses....where do you get them?

[Susan-M]

Thanks. Re mini-buses....where do you get them?

 

They leave from the Town Square in St. George. The cost is $3.00 pp each way. We took a taxi which was only $6.00 to Tobacco Bay or $7.00 to Fort St. Catherine Beach for all 4 of us...much less expensive than the mini-bus. We were on Zenith and taxis were parked right there, whereas it was a 5 minute walk to the Square to find the mini-bus, so not as convenient as taxis. However, if you like walking, it's an easy walk (we did it a few times, but took a taxi when friends joined us who couldn't manage the walk.)

 

When we were there (in early May) the Norwegian ship was docked right next to the Town Square.

 

If you want to take a taxi back from the beach, there are always some waiting. It's less than a mile between the ship and the beach, so the taxis and mini-bus zip back and forth all day.

[md115]

That's the info I needed! Thank you.

[wolfpack]

We walked to St Catherine's from our ship. That is a wonderful beach.

[Tomct]

We just returned from Bermuda yesterday; we were on the Zenith. The country is absolutely beautiful. Horseshoe beach is stunning. I would recommend going to Achille's or St. Catherines beach. Tobacco Bay is nice, but nothing really to look at. It is a small, croweded beach, with very shallow water...good for snorkeling, I guess. It has a bar and some food (burgers, hot dogs, chips, etc.) is available. We just "followed the crowds" in walking to Tobacco Bay; apparently we walked straight when we reached the top of the hill at Duke of Kent Road, when we should have beared to the right, to continue walking to St. Catherine's and Achille's Beaches.

 

 

On Friday morning as we went into the shops to leave any extra money we had, I noticed a post card of Achille's Bay Beach, and the sand looked pink. I thought all the pink sand was on the south side. Is it pink or was it a photographic phenomana?

 

We visited a few pink sandy beaches on our taxi tour, including Horseshoe Bay, but on our "Pink Sand Day" we took the grandkids to the zoo from St. George's, and wanted to find a beach nearby. We had a great afternoon at John Smith Bay, thanks to a tip from Majesty waitress Liliana Oana (7 C's). Achille's would be great if it were pink, as we did have folks in our group go to Tobacco Bay and Ft. Catherine's.

[clm101798]

we caught the mini-bus on the left side of the town hall. It goes to tobacco and st. catherines, but when we saw how crowded Tobacco was we opted for St. Catherines and had a wonderful time.

[Dolphins]

If you are a good snorkeler, you might consider going to less crowded Fort St. Catherine's beach and snorkel around the fort to tobacco Bay which is not that far away. If the water there is rough due to south or east winds, you could take a bus from St. George a short distance to Shelley Bay beach on the north shore half way to Hamilton. Nice, uncrowded beach with good facilities.

[cljjkelly]

Just back this morning! Forget the rip-off mini-bus! You can take a cab from Hamilton to St. Catherine's and Achillles (they are right over a hill from each other) and the snorkeling is incredible at Achillles! Swim over to the big rocks on the left and you will see TONS of fish. The cab cost $7.19 to get there (which we shared with a couple (there were four of us), and, I think, $8 to get back. We only took the public bus once and it was slow, crowded and hot. Some on our cruise rented mopeds, but I would never...my husband would, though, and only one teenage boy got a little road rash this week among our PAX's. We also took a cab to Warwick Long Bay and Elbow beaches. Rough surf and we LOVED it. We like the "beach less traveled" and these were just what we wanted! The cab from Hamilton to Warwick/Elbow was between $10-$15...one is closer than the other. All the cabs are metered, and many of ours were grandmas and offered great insight into the island. There were four of us, and the cabs only charge per trip, so the bus Wouldn't have saved us a whole lot of money, but the taxis sure did save us a whole lot of aggravation!

 

The weather was perfect, everyone we met was warm and wonderful, I am still rocking from side to side and getting the laundry done, but Bermuda is wonderful.

 

Also, if you fish, pack a rod and fish off the beaches. Any local can tell you where a good spot is!

 

Have a great trip!

[spitfire]

We just got back from Bermuda on Saturday on the Horizon. We also took a taxi, which was really a minivan, that fit 6 of us for $8 to Tobacco Bay. We found just the opposite to be true regarding the beach. There was plenty of room and it was not crowded at all. We chose to set up our chairs on the grass up on the hill by the food stand. If we walked down to the right, we were in a shallow cove full of fish, crabs(tiny), etc....COOL!!! If we walked down straight, we were in the "ocean"although it still felt like a cove to me because of the rock formations that surround it. You can swim out past the rocks for a more "ocean-like" swim (waves, currents) but it's not for poor swimmers. We did not make it to St Cath's, so I can't comment on it. We did ask numerous staff members on the ship about Achille's and they all recommended Tobacco. Different strokes for different folks.........that's what makes the world great. Go where your body takes you........it doesn't take much to be swept away by the wonder of it all,