One day in Bermuda: Hamilton or St. George?

[yuckylucky]

Like many other CCers, our ship will be in Bermuda (docked at the Dockyards) for one day...a Monday, from 8am to 5pm. I know we cannot see both Hamilton & St. George realistically and we're okay with that. We know we will take a vacation solely to Bermuda some day. For now, we have one day and we're trying to determine what to do that one day. The ferry rides will take 2hrs. away from us (round-trip). We'd like to visit a beach that has some sort of facilities (will be travelling with our 3yr. old daughter) and doesn't have rough waters (I've read about rip currents). We would also like to experience the local flavor and have lunch (use our voucher, if possible) and shop a bit.

 

In a nutshell, looking for a family-friendly beach, good food & shopping all in one area...meaning take one ferry ride and hoof it/bus it around the area. There are probably arguments for Hamilton & St. George and I'm open to hearing any and all of them! :) I already printed out bus & ferry schedules so now we just need to figure out where we should go!

 

I understand Horseshoe Bay gets super-crowded so I'm fine with not going there. Tobacco Bay is a place I'd like to go but then I read about the sewage pipe a mile offshore that sometimes can reach the beach depending on the wind & currents. Anyone have thoughts on Tobacco Bay?

 

In another direction, the South Shore has some nice beaches as well...but how is the dining & shopping? The South Shore is closer to the Dockyards so we'd have less travel time (which is nice), but I don't want to miss out on anything just because of an hour difference in travel.

 

I apologize, I'm all over the place...literally & figuratively. If anyone has any advice to offer, I'd greatly appreciate it. We sail in four days and I always have itineraries planned out by now but this one-day stop in Bermuda has thrown me for a loop!

[Cyber Kat]

You might want to try Shelly Bay - off the North Shore Road, midway between Flatts Bridge and the Shelly Bay Plaza. Bus routes 10 and 11 stop here. According to http://www.bermuda-online.org the beach is public, popular, shallow and safe for the family. There are a children's playground, a park and a restaurant on the premises. We've been by there a number of times, but not to swim. It looks very nice. It's about 15-20 minutes from Hamilton by bus.

 

You could get in some beach time and still have time to take in a bit of Hamilton. You will need to go up to the main bus terminal on Church St between Burnaby and Queen.

 

St George is kind of far if you're only there 1 day - you'll spend most of your time going back and forth.

[yuckylucky]

Thanks Cat!

That's my fear about going to St. George...the commute time is long.

 

I too read about Shelly Bay and had it on my scratch pad as a beach to consider precisely because of the playground (our daughter LOVES parks). Hmmmmmm, so we would take the blue route ferry to Hamilton, and then the 10 or 11 bus to Shelly Bay? Sounds good to me!

 

I am feeling much more relaxed about this! We could even use our voucher for lunch in Hamilton then because the bus seems to run frequently enough! Thanks so very much!

[Starspangle1]

we did a similar cruise and they have these water taxi's that take you over to both. I had done another cruise to Bermuda in which we stayed over night in Hamilton and then we went over to St.George so when I did my second I knew that St. George really wasn't any big deal. The deal with the Taxi's is that it takes longer to get over to St. George and that gives you less time there, most of your time is spent on the taxi. Hamilton is much nicer for shopping, eating and sightseeing. If you do that early enough and get back to the dockyard I think there is a small beach area there. We didn't really see that beach because on my last cruise to Bermuda the weather was bad and we didn't see sun for 5 days.

[yuckylucky]

Thanks Starspangle1!

 

We're definitely going to Hamilton...I printed out the ferry schedule (blue route) and the #10 & #11 bus schedules as well so we'll have an idea of when to be where. I don't want to be running for the ship in the afternoon!

 

Have a good one!

[wwinfl91]

Actually there is a nice small beach right at the Dockyards and a visit to the Royal Navy Dockyards, the big fort within walking distance from your ship, includes a chance to sit and walk the dophins and people who want to swim with them

 

We spent our first afternoon in Bermuda in Hamilton which is a nice city and has a fort overlooking the city which was a great place for photos. Then we spent our next morning and afternoon before the ship sailed in the afternoon at the Dockyards and felt we had a better time the second day.

 

Here are a couple of links you might want to check out.

 

http://www.experiencebermuda.com/dockyard/

 

http://www.insiders.com/bermuda/

 

http://members.cox.net/rridgely/sightseeing.htm

 

http://www.bermudashorts.bm/

 

My suggestion would be to stay at the Dockyards for your day and use the beach near there after visiting the fort.

 

Have a great next cruise.