With its pastel-sand beaches, water sports galore, and 220 sunny days a year, Bermuda lives up to its reputation as the perfect vacation spot.
In the April issue of Traveler, Gisela Williams visits the island paradise in "48 Hours: Bermuda," where she spent summers as a teenager. Residents cherish local traditions in the first and oldest offshore British colony—from pink houses to yacht clubs to Bermuda shorts—while enjoying the present with epicurean cuisine, chic shops, and picture-postcard weather.
48 Hours in Bermuda
Text by Gisela Williams
Bermuda beguiles with its blush-colored beaches, fine dining, and watersports galore.
One of the most idyllic summers of my teenage years were spent on Bermuda in the late 1980s, living it up with my gang of cousins who owned an apartment hotel called Astwood Cove. I joined them in sailing lessons at the Royal Bermuda Yacht Club, threw darts with local divemasters at local pubs, explored hidden coves, danced the night away at Hamilton's nightclubs, tried my first Planters Punch, and even attempted to sneak onto one of the big cruise ships without success. Since then, things have changed on this 21-square-mile, hook-shaped archipelago. Offshore financial and reinsurance companies have taken over with a vengeance where honeymoon tourism once reigned, and traffic jams can be a daily hazard. But much is still the same—maintaining the past is a long island tradition—and better. Since Bermuda passed one of the New World's first conservation laws in the early 1600s, its residents have excelled at retaining the island's clichéd but charming emblems: Pastel-colored houses like dainty cakes are topped with ridged white roofs; businessmen proudly don bright colored Bermuda shorts; pink-hued beaches stretch to the next horizon, and local celebrity Johnny Barnes, aka Mr. Feelgood, still waves to commuters and visitors from his post on the main road entering Hamilton.
Fast Facts
Bermuda is named for Spanish navigator Juan de Bermúdez, who in the early 1500s was one of the first of many "accidental tourists" to set sight on its shores (the island´s surrounding reefs were so treacherous that for many years it was dubbed the "Isle of Devils"). Subsequently, Bermuda wasn't settled for another century, becoming Britain´s first legal offshore colony in 1684. It's still their oldest: In 1995, Bermudians voted against independence and for Queen Elizabeth as their figurehead leader. Now with a population of about 65,365 full-time citizens, Bermuda is said to have one of the highest per capita incomes in the world. With 220 days of sun a year and a mild subtropical climate, Bermuda is warm all year with the exception of December through March when temperatures drop to between 50 and 70 (°F). But it's not all mild breezes and blue skies: Less than three years ago Hurricane Fabian hit the island—the worst storm they'd ever seen. Damage was extensive, but the island used the recovery period as an opportunity to improve itself with renovations and hotel expansions.
Don't Miss
While the island has a reputation for harboring an intimidating mix of East Coast WASPs, posh Brits, and multi-millionaires, such as New York mayor Michael Bloomberg, it has a more laid-back and local scene as well. The best way to enjoy Bermuda is to experience a little bit of both. In other words, pack a picnic and explore the secluded coves at Astwood Cove National Park one day; the next, try to get yourself invited for lunch at the tiny Coral Beach Club, one of the island's most exclusive clubs. (Tip: Guests of Waterloo House and Horizons receive membership privileges.) If it fits your budget, charter a boat and skipper with a company like Sail Bermuda to glide among the outlying islands; shorter sails in the Great Sound allow for a different perspective of Bermuda. Another day, hop on the Reef Explorer Glass Bottom Boat Safari or sign up for a scuba diving or snorkel trip with Blue Water Divers & Watersports. The waters around Bermuda are home to at least 4,500 types of marine organisms as well as hundreds of shipwrecks from five centuries and 15 countries. Stroll through the historic town of St. George, a UNESCO World Heritage site that was Bermuda's capital until 1815. Take kitschy pictures of yourself in the stocks at King's Square, then check out the new home of the Bermuda Perfumery in Stewart Hall. Visit St. Peter's, the oldest Anglican church still in use in this hemisphere, and Fort Saint Catherine, an impressive fortress that dates back to 1614. The next day do some window shopping on Hamilton's Front Street. Don't miss a history tour with the colorful "admiral" (Bryan Darby), who keeps guests both laughing and enthralled during his walks through the renovated Royal Naval Dockyard. When you've had your fill of the island's history and beautiful beaches, walk through the lush, 35-acre Botanical Gardens or rent a bike for a ride along the Bermuda Railway Trail.
Where the Locals Eat
Just like in England, the cuisine on Bermuda has gone from bland to epicurean in the past few years. Case in point: The island now boasts an international culinary arts festival, which takes place every October and brings in chefs like Anthony Bourdain and Todd English. Ironically restaurants import much of their seafood, but there are still some local fish to enjoy. Try the wahoo and rockfish. Largely given over to agriculture in the early 19th century, growing Easter lilies and Bermuda onions, the island's fields were eventually bulldozed for more lucrative hotels and condominiums. But thanks to the increasing interest in gourmet dining, some local farms and ingredients are making a comeback. Tom Wadson, of Wadson Farm, grows and sells pesticide-free organic vegetables and livestock. His sister, Judith Wadson, is one of his best customers: She is credited with opening the island's most exciting newcomer, pint-size Aggie's Garden & Waterside Café. "The café's menu revolves around what my brother grows," says Wadson, who once interned at the famed Chez Panisse in California. She uses Tom's produce and pasture-raised organic chicken for dishes including her roasted vegetable galette as well as in fresh soups, wraps, and salads. The fish-focused Barracuda Grill in Hamilton is also a Wadson Farm customer. CEOs and foodies alike enjoy the tasteful bistro decor while ordering up dishes like rockfish and lobster wrapped in crisp potato strings, served with saffron celery root puree. Fish and Wadson Farm produce are also staples at the restaurant at the Waterloo House. Chef Justin Leboe oversees a menu featuring Bermuda tuna with parsnips and greens with beurre rouge, and paprika-dusted halibut with ris pistou. The Bermuda fish chowder here is an island favorite. Still, for locals, Italian is king on the island, and is served at more than one of Bermuda's favorite eateries, such as the classic Little Venice in Hamilton, whose old-school Italian waiters know every regular's name and favorite dishes. The restaurant has recently opened up a popular wine bar offering a well-edited menu of wines by the glass, plus tapas. Also owned by the Little Venice group and a perfect waterside lunch destination (it's very romantic in the evening) is La Coquille, located at the foot of Hamilton Harbour on the grounds of the Bermuda Underwater Exploration Institute. After trying one of chef Serge Bottelli's French Provençal dishes, check out the famous Bermuda explorer Teddy Tucker's Treasure Room. More casual is the lively Rustico, a trattoria serving homemade pizza, local seafood, and pastas in Flatts Village.
Shopping
Visiting Americans can find some worthy buys in Bermuda—especially since the island has no sales tax. Calypso, on Front Street, has a back room loaded with the latest and greatest women's bathing suits. Just down the street is A.S. Cooper & Sons, the oldest family-owned department store on the island and a great resource for those famous Bermuda shorts, imported china, and Royall Lyme Bermuda cologne. For gifts and crafts, it's worth a trip to the Royal Naval Dockyard's shops. Dockyard Glassworks and Bermuda Rum Cake Company offers a place to watch handblown glass objects in the making along with a selection of tasty cakes with free samples. Don't forget to pick up some Outerbridge sherry pepper sauce at the airport duty-free shop—and at least one bottle of Gosling's Black Seal rum so you can keep mixing those Dark & Stormy cocktails (made with ginger beer) when you're back home.
Lodgings of Note
For affordable lodging, the island has several cottages and guesthouses—some converted from old Bermudian manors (for a list of lodgings, check out www.bermudarentals.com). Rosedon, located within walking distance of Hamilton, is a Bermuda bargain with 44 rooms, a garden with a heated pool, complimentary beach taxi service, and traditional tea. The stately yellow Elbow Beach hotel has gotten a chic Mandarin Oriental redo since the stylish chain took over the property. Along with the renovated hotel rooms and beach and garden cottages, there's a spacious new spa. In-the-know Bermuda regulars prefer sister properties Waterloo House, on Hamilton's harbor, and Horizons, across from Coral Beach, for their traditional English style (think lots of pastel floral patterns and elegant prints), teatime, and exclusive access to the Coral Beach Club. Wealthy newcomers choose to stay at the more modern 43-room Ariel Sands—owned by actor Michael Douglas's family—with its two cottages with full kitchens, or the 94-suite Pink Beach Club & Cottages, a discreet, newly renovated hideaway located in the exclusive Tucker's Town area on Bermuda's south shore, which is also a second home to millionaires like Ross Perot, as well as the location of the much discussed Tucker's Point Resort & Golf Club. The private golf and beach club is completed but its über-luxe hotel and spa won't be opening until 2008.
Text by Husna Haq
Following are up-to-the-minute resources to help plan your Bermuda vacation, whether you want to find a great restaurant, learn about an upcoming festival, or find out the latest theories on the Bermuda Triangle. We've also included books and movies set or filmed in Bermuda to put you in that island state of mind.
Blogs
Follow along as American expat Diane Brackett adjusts to life on the island, recording her triumphs and frustrations along the way. Travelers can relate to Brackett's observations, including notes on the cost of living in Bermuda ($8.75 for a carton of Breyer's ice cream, according to her 22-item grocery list), pictures of local flora, and descriptions of typical Bermuda business attire (Bermuda shorts, BlackBerry).
Scroll through Phillip Wells's thoughtful, witty musings on life in Bermuda from the perspective of a British expat. Recent postings ponder emigration, hedge funds, race, and brain drain in Bermuda. Readers are always guaranteed insightful Bermudian perspectives on local and international news.
Royal Gazette columnist and United Bermuda Party member Christian Dunleavy fires off sharp commentary and scathing critiques of Bermudian politics in his intelligent blog. Read it for a crash course in Bermudian politics, or to explore a bevy of topics, from local real estate and taxation to public transportation and tourism. For more links, check out Dunleavy's recommended Bermuda websites.
Cruise expert Greg Manter alerts readers to cruises from American ports, like Boston, New York, Philadelphia, and Baltimore, to Bermuda. Look for special deals, cruise news, and schedules.
Podcasts
TV and radio personality Rick Steves now podcasts his weekly Travel with Rick Steves public radio show. In Program #22, he interviews Rosemary Jones, author of Moon Handbook to Bermuda. Learn practical info as they discuss weather, airfare, costs, and accommodations in Bermuda, in addition to quirky topics like the iconic Bermuda Triangle and Bermuda shorts.
Newspapers
Find full local and international news coverage in Bermuda's only daily newspaper. In addition to current events, read up on local sports, opinion, business, lifestyle—even letters to the editor—for a well-rounded view of Bermudian society. Pick up the Weekender section in the Saturday edition for events and activities, or search the entire paper online.
Read this weekly published by the Royal Gazette for the week's top news stories, entertainment guides, and interviews with local personalities in government and business. Columnists offer insightful views on local politics and society, and critics direct visitors to the best restaurants, art shows, and shops.
What this paper has that the others don't is an extensive events calendar, covering arts, business, music, faith, government, and sports events, among others. Search it online, and while you're there, check out the opinion section or the readers' forum for Bermudians' views on tourists, cruises, race—and winter blues—in Bermuda.
Magazines
Flip through Bermuda's oldest monthly publication (launched by former New Yorker editor William Richardson) for features on the island's homes, gardens, architecture, history, and society. Check out "Best of Bermuda" issues for visitor-friendly tips like "Best Day Spa," "Best Sunday Brunch," and "Best Place for Falling in Love."
This free monthly magazine is a jam-packed island guide geared to visitors. Check out practical, informative departments, like "What's On" (Calendar of Events), "Arts and Culture," "Shopping," and "Eating Out." Pick up a copy of Preview Bermuda at the Visitors Service Bureau, hotels, and select shops and restaurants throughout the island.
Find weekly listings of cultural and sporting events, along with informative pieces on Bermuda's history, shopping, restaurants, and nightlife from this free publication available at the Visitors Service Bureau, Royal Naval Dockyard, and select hotels throughout the island.
Maps
Zoom in on pictures and summaries of hundreds of attractions in Bermuda, including beaches, restaurants, golf courses, parks, forts, hotels, and geographic features from this comprehensive interactive map perfect for visitors. LookBermuda's pioneering online map includes 360-degree photos of attractions, and links to select locations.
This extremely detailed, photograph-cum-map presents an aerial view of Bermuda based on over 100 aerial photos of the island. Viewers can zoom, pan, and rotate this interactive map to get a closer, geographically accurate view of coastlines, reefs, and land settlements.
Books
The Last Pink Bits, Travels Through the Remnants of the British Empire, by Harry Ritchie (Sceptre, 1998)
Harry Ritchie island-hops his way through seven British territories in the Atlantic in this observant, witty travelogue about Britain's faltering grip on its empire abroad. Amidst humorous anecdotes (scuba diving in Salt Cay off Turks and Caicos Islands, sans clothes) and insightful observations (sun, wealth, and stability make Bermuda too good to be true), Ritchie weaves in politics, history, and economics. From golf to drugs to Margaret Thatcher, Ritchie offers readers an intelligent, quirky view of Bermuda and its British island sisters.
Bermuda Shorts, The Hidden Side of the Richest Place on Earth, by T.C. Sobey (Barricade Books, 1995)
Discover a Bermuda most tourists never do when author T.C. Sobey moves to the island in search of paradise and finds "nothing is ever as it seems on the surface." In spite of its low crime, high per-capita income, and sunny clime, Bermuda has its absurdities, and Sobey illustrates this with his trademark drollness as he explains locals' resentment of tourists, the trivialities of police enforcement, and the strange phenomenon of "island fever": "Living on a remote island twenty-two miles [35 km] long and barely two wide can do strange things to your head," he writes.
The Bermuda Triangle Mystery Solved, by Lawrence David Kusche (Prometheus Books, 1986, reprint, 1995)
Kusche separates rumor from fact in this non-fiction mystery that debunks common misconceptions about the Bermuda Triangle. After digging up stats on "mysterious disappearances" from the Coast Guard, Air Force, and newspaper archives, Kusche considers the possibilities. Electromagnetic aberration? Space-time warp? UFO-beaming station? Sea monster? His conclusion blasts conspiracy theorists and sets the record straight…for now.
Movies
The Deep (1977)
Vacationers discover a sunken ship filled with gold coins and mysterious chemical substances off the coast of Bermuda in this underwater thriller based on Jaws author Peter Benchley's book of the same name. Immerse yourself in Bermuda's luminous aqua waves, brought to life with special lights, cameras, and sound equipment that allowed director Peter Yates to film nearly half the movie underwater.
When Voices Rise (2002)
Catch up on Bermudian social history in this documentary that details mid-20th-century desegregation on the island. Director Errol Williams explores the Theatre Boycott that ended segregation in movie theaters, and the Secret Document, a public statement against limited franchise and segregation. Interviews with former activists and footage of pre-equal rights Bermuda give travelers a glimpse of the island few outsiders have seen.
Rare Bird (2006)
For 300 years, the cahow, or Bermuda petrel, was believed extinct—until 1951, when a nature expedition rediscovered the bird species. Director Lucinda Spurling follows the story of the cahow in her documentary, including its supposed extinction, rediscovery, and future threats. Watch footage of this nocturnal, earth-burrowing bird for both a primer on Bermudian birding and its inspiring story.