less crowded / more private beaches

[family cruisers]

I hear so much about the gorgous beaches in bermuda. Elbow beach, horseshoe and tobaco ....

Please name some of the smaller, private beaches that are equally as beautiful without the crowds. Thankyou...

[Ethan19]

I've heard that Shelly Bay Beach is very family friendly and not very crowded. But you can research for yourself at the following link:

 

http://www.bermuda.com/beacheswatersports/beaches/

[Writeratsea]

I hear so much about the gorgous beaches in bermuda. Elbow beach, horseshoe and tobaco ....

Please name some of the smaller, private beaches that are equally as beautiful without the crowds. Thankyou...

My personal favorite is John Smith Bay. Located in Smith's parish on the South Shore near Devil's Hole Aquarium. It has a high bluff above the beach, nice shallow water for snokleing and close by reefs where the water casades over for spectacular photos. Mostly local residents go there, very few tourists. I think Warwick Long Bay is a picturesque as Horseshoe. Also on the South Shore is Astwood Cove and Chaplin Bay. In St George, Achilles Bay is in between Tobacco Bay and St Catherine's and is just as nice a beach as these better known beaches. I have not been to Clearwater Beach near the airport but I am told that is very nice. Just a little bit tricky about which bus to take to get there.

NCL Majesty Aug 2004

NCL Majesty Sept 2005

NCL Majesty Sept 2006

[pittfan]

We spent a day at Shelly bay beach and it was just us and another couple. It was beautiful and you could walk out real far and the water was only a little above your waist. It was a very relaxing day.:p

[family cruisers]

Thank you all for the great replies.

[naxos]

Warwick Long bay is gorgeous and nearly empty and you can walk for a long strectch on the beach-- we are just back and wanted a less populated beach as well- never went to Horseshoe bay Also Church is good for snorkelling- it is a small cove- very beautiful! we stopped at Church bay first then on to Warwick Long bay.

[cruisedjguy]

Wasn't that impressed and you can only take the #6 bus there which only comes once an hour, it's a bit out of the way. If you are looking for seclusion but don't mind searching a bit start at Horseshoe Bay and just walk up the beach and over the bluff, there are a bunch of smaller more secluded beaches just up a bit that are BEAUTIFUL!

 

Massi

[Lisa63]

Thank you all... I was about to post for information on John Smith's Bay and Shelly Bay Beach. What is the best way to get there via public transportation? In looking at the bus maps, it appears that the #10 bus stops near Shelly Bay Beach and the #1 stops near John Smith's Bay. Is that correct? We will be in St. George's for our entire stay.

 

Also, any thoughts on Somerset Long Bay? We are traveling with a child who loves the water, but is a non-swimmer (although we have a coast guard approved swim vest, we'd still rather not take any chances).

[Writeratsea]

Thank you all... I was about to post for information on John Smith's Bay and Shelly Bay Beach. What is the best way to get there via public transportation? In looking at the bus maps, it appears that the #10 bus stops near Shelly Bay Beach and the #1 stops near John Smith's Bay. Is that correct? We will be in St. George's for our entire stay.

 

Also, any thoughts on Somerset Long Bay? We are traveling with a child who loves the water, but is a non-swimmer (although we have a coast guard approved swim vest, we'd still rather not take any chances).

For John Smith's Bay, the number 1 bus stops right at the top of the beach. When you take that bus back to St. George, it goes all through the exclusive Tucker's Point golf course. Just beautiful scenery and expensive houses. I hadn't seen this area of Bermuda before, very interesting. John Smith is very shallow and enclosed by reefs, so it is good for children. There is a park at the top for them to run around in if they get bored with the beach. It also has bathroom facilities. But they are chemical toilets so they can get aromatic. LOL But they are perfect for changing the kids clothes as well. Tobacco Bay in St George is actually perfect for children, very shallow and lots of fish near the reefs for snorkling, even at that point the water is only waist deep (about 3 feet). Somerset Long Bay is great for watching a sunset and is not crowded at all, so it is perfect if you want to be alone. But the bottom is mixed not soft and sandy like Tobacco Bay. It also does not slope gently but has abrupt changes in depth, so it is not as good for swimming for the children or your peace of mind. It is more of a cove rather than the long, expansive beach such as ELbow or Horseshoe, both of which are excellent for children as well.

[Swizzle v2.0]

The number 10 & 11 go past Shelly Bay, as noted above the #1 goes past John Smiths.

 

Be careful about time at John Smith's, the #1 stops running sometime after 6pm so have a schedule with you. If you miss the last bus walk east along the road to Pink Beach resort (five+ minute walk) and get a taxi from there.

[familycruzer]

Warwick Longbay is not busy but the water can be rough. We started out there on our last visit and ended up at Jobsons Cove that was a short walk away. We had the beach to ourselves.

[familycruzer]

Warwick Longbay is not busy but the water can be rough. We started out there on our last visit and ended up at Jobsons Cove that was a short walk away. We had the beach to ourselves.

[Lisa63]

Thank you for all of the great suggestions for less crowded beaches. We ended up at Shelly Bay Beach on our first day... simply beautiful, and the shallow, calm water was perfect for our family. On our last full day, we did the "tourist thing" and went to Horseshoe Bay Beach, primarily as we were looking for a South Shore beach with facilities. Having visited the Aquarium in the morning, we needed to change into swimwear.) There were few ships in port then, so there were no crowds, plus we went later in the day (got there around 1:30/2:00).

 

Thanks again. I still have a few beaches to hit for the next time. :)

[lambs2]

We were in Bermuda last November. Here is what we did one day. We took the bus to Warwick Long Bay and then walked along the beach, and some on a dune path, all the way to Horseshoe Bay. It is a couple mile walk, but SO gorgeous and worth it! There were coves along the way where ours were the ONLY footprints on the sand! Magnificent driftwood and rock formations are all over this incredible, absolutely spectacular walk! Wear sunscreen and maybe a hat and have sandals or sneakers on for the dune walking parts (horseback riders use this route too, sometimes), but it is absolutely doable! After we spent some wonderful time at the pink sand beach and in the sea there, we just walked back up to the road (or you can "wimp" out and take the shuttle up the steep hill for a buck ot two), and caught a bus back to our ship. Just remember to change out of your wet suits first at the changing rooms by the beach as there are no wet bathing clothes allowed on the bus.

[VPIcruiser]

We really liked Warwick Long Bay and Jobson Cove. They are side by side with large rocks surronding the Cove. This was perfect for our 14 month old. He just waded right in. There was one couple in the water with us and several people walking by. My DH loved playing in the waves at Warwick Long Bay while DS and I played in the sand. There were other people there but not very many. One man said his coworker told him this was the beach to visit. It is beautiful! There are no facilities other than chemical flush toilets, but they were clean. We brought bottle water and snacks with us.

 

We hope to return to Bermuda in a couple of years and hopefully go back to these two beaches.

 

We pray the storm will weaken and not strengthen tonight.

[tinker]

Question for WriteratSea. (me again, the one with no sense of direction!)

 

We want to take the #1 bus to John Smith Bay while docked in Hamilton this Monday.

To get back to Hamilton (pink pole right?!) is it also a #1 bus and will it pass thru Tucker's Point golf course as your previous reply states it does when going back to St. George?

 

Thanks again for your help. You are world of information.

[Writeratsea]

Question for WriteratSea. (me again, the one with no sense of direction!)

 

We want to take the #1 bus to John Smith Bay while docked in Hamilton this Monday.

To get back to Hamilton (pink pole right?!) is it also a #1 bus and will it pass thru Tucker's Point golf course as your previous reply states it does when going back to St. George?

 

Thanks again for your help. You are world of information.

It would be the number one bus going back and yes it will be the pink pole (I am so proud of you,LOL). Tucker Point is after John Smith Bay on the way to St. George, so you would miss that scenery going to Hamilton. There is another possibility. If you walked over the hill to Harrington Sound Road ( a very short walk), you could visit Devil's Hole which was fascinating and take the number 3 bus back to Hamilton. It would go right by the Aquarium as well, if you wanted to do John Smith in the morning and either/both Devil's Hole or the Aquarium in the afternoon. I would recommend either over something such as Dolphinquest at the dockyard. Less expensive and more interesting to me. You might want to think about taking the number one bus to St. George until you go through the whole meandering trip through Tucker's Point and then get off, go the other way back to Hamilton. If you have the transportation pass, these kinds of options are very feasible. Makes the whole thing kind of fun and less touristy. I doubt many visitors go on the number one bus through the Tucker's Point area, which makes it all the more interesting.:)

[tinker]

Thanks once again!!

 

The bus system in Bermuda is kind of like mastering the transportation in Disney ;)!

[Writeratsea]

Thanks once again!!

 

The bus system in Bermuda is kind of like mastering the transportation in Disney ;)!

If Bermuda had a monorail system like Disney has, then we would be talking about perfection. LOL Can't you just imagine traveling around Bermuda like that.:) Sublime.