Into the Atlantic; Discovering Bermuda

Crossing the Atlantic Ocean, you never quite know what weather you’ll encounter. Fortunately, we were headed toward Bermuda for shelter—a country I admittedly knew little about, aside from the dreaded Triangle. This island has now become one of my favourite destinations yet. With a country often called “The Isle of Devils”, due to dangerous reefs, sea monsters and storms, its also known as “Shipwreck Capital of the Atlantic”, I didn’t expect it would be the calmest atmosphere with such kind locals and endless things to see. After being in rough seas from Florida, the crew and I were all excited to get off of the boat and explore, first exploration; the nearest bar. I was surprised to see how truly British an island in the western north Atlantic could be. The pubs named such as ‘Churchill’ and ‘The White Horse’, to the Union Jack on British police cars, the UNESCO Heritage site named St. George, and cobbled streets! The only juxtaposition being that we were surrounded by tall palm trees and clear blue ocean.

We met a kind local who worked as a politician there, and he was determined to give us a true Bermudian experience. He led us up a winding hill until we arrived at what looked like an ordinary community centre. Inside, a group of older Rastas were playing pool. Tucked away in a side room, almost hidden, was a small bar that felt like a secret only locals knew. I got a few curious looks—being the only girl in the group—but I never felt unsafe, Bermudians are warm and interested in what we were doing there. The locals in there were drinking and dancing, it happened to be the politicians birthday. instead of singing the usual “Happy Birthday,” we joined in on a more fitting island version: “One More Year Pon Dem.” After a few games of pool and a few beers we rode motorcycles through the strangely British towns, past red phone boxes back to the boat.

The next day I was keen to explore, myself and two of the stewardesses grabbed a rum swizzle cocktail, Bermuda’s national drink and then caught a taxi to Blue Hole Park. Surrounded by a lush landscape with crystal clear water and rain forest, we reached a blue lagoon where we cooled off with a refreshing swim. From there, we walked through the park and continued to Cathedral Cave, tucked inside Grotto Bay Resort. We had this magical cave entirely to ourselves with water to swim in. You can also visit The Crystal Cave’s nearby, which is larger and more famous but also more of a tourist attraction, personally I preferred exploring on our own to find smaller caves with no people around. Bermuda has an insane amount of caves, actually the highest concentration of caves per square mile in the world. Most were discovered by early settlers in the 1600’s. The story goes that two boys were playing cricket in the garden, the ball went missing down a hole and the boys started digging. Perhaps this is local legend but its nonetheless a nice story. After our caving adventure we found a hot tub on the resort and filled ourselves up with more rum swizzles and girly chats overlooking the ocean, days like this are the reason I travel.

The next day we walked even more, and I was genuinely surprised by how many remnants of past wars are scattered across the island, Bermuda was used primarily as a British Outpost and naval station in both world wars and the American Civil War. We walked past many forts, cannons and the Royal Navy Dockyard. If you plan to explore the southern part of the island, I’d recommend renting a scooter or small car to see even more but they happened to be sold out when we went to rent.

A highlight of mine was visiting Tobacco Bay, a perfect coved swimming and snorkelling spot, with a pool table sat on rocks looking over the water. We partied there as the sunset and decided to take the adventurous route home. There was so much left to see after the taxi driver told us some cool places to look out for. First was an old unfinished church, if you look for it on the map it is literally called The Unfinished Church out of a gothic fairytale. We then were feeling brave and saw an old gunpowder factory, we walked through the maze of creepy alleyways. Honestly, I wouldn’t recommend navigating abandoned military ruins but after copious amounts of rum swizzles, it felt like the perfect end to a day of adventure.

Fun Facts we found from locals (to potentially need a fact check) –

Shakespeare was thought to have written ‘The Tempest’ based in some of the caves within Bermuda.

Bermuda’s landmass used to be possibly 10 times its current size before rising sea levels swallowed up the surrounding land.

House roofs are all white limestone because there is no fresh water system, Bermudians collect rainwater from their roofs. The limestone helps filter and purify the water, which is then stored in tanks built into the homes. However, during hurricanes or power outages, this system stops.

Bermuda once made a name for itself with its famously large onions grown by local farmers. These “Bermuda Onions” were so popular they helped put the island on the agricultural map.

The price within Bermuda is extortionate, with a loaf of bread costing $7, 6 eggs also $7 and milk at $12 making it very unsustainable for locals.

The whole island is 42km, with a population of 64,000.

Bermuda is famous for its pink sand beaches, formed by crushed coral. It also has pig beaches very similar to The Bahamas.