My First Trip to Bermuda: Horseshoe Bay Beach and St. George’s

Introduction

Compared to Heaven by Mark Twain-beautiful blush sands and water the color of sapphire along a town full of pastel colored buildings make it an adequate comparison.

Even though I read Fodor’s book on Bermuda and watched multiple YouTube videos, I still didn’t know what to expect. But I did know this: it was going to be hard not to compare this to Sanibel Island, FL. AKA the most beautiful beach I know.

I was excited nonetheless for a new adventure to come! I was also venturing on Royal Caribbean’s Liberty of the Seas!

Day 1

A hectic day for sure. We got on the ship near noon and were one of the first people on (due to my grandparents status as Pinnacle (highest ranked class for members)).

Our port was Cape Liberty in New Jersey and you could see the NYC skyline clear as day. I looked at that skyline soooo many times yearning to hopefully go soon. It was a hot, sunny day and happiness came over me: my adventure was happening! I soaked in every moment.

The first thing I did was play mini-golf with my family. Out of the 9 holes I had one hole in one with 20 hits of the ball. My hand-eye coordination sucks lol.

We then walked around the ship. While I know Royal Caribbean has larger ships, this one was still huge to me. Over the course of 5 days my knees hurt after walking all about the ship up and down numerous flights of stairs and longways and back-a-ways from lounge to lounge or room to restaurant. About 2 hours after we boarded we left and waved good-bye to NYC and said hello to the journey to Bermy.

I took a quick lay in the sun before getting ready for dinner. I’m a huge foodie so I was excited to try multiple things for 3 different courses. I didn’t take any photos of the food but overall, it was great!! Our waiters John and Luis were absolutely splendid. What I remember having the first night was escargot, shrimp cocktail with an entree and multiple desserts. BTW their asiago rolls…chef’s kiss! I had like 5 every night they were so good!

We walked around the ship at night. Completely dark…I would not want to fall in pitch black. Cue shivers. But at the same time-it was peaceful hearing the waves go against the side of the ship slightly rocking it. I also watched my grandparents play in the casino. Time flies there watching in anticipation of winning some or losing some.

Day 2

A day at sea. On Liberty of the Seas they have this thing called Tidal Wave where you sit in a 2 person raft and slide down a slide, go up and possibly airborne, then slide back down. I went with my brother and it was really fun! It’s a boomerang style slide.

I did some trivia specifically a geography one. I got some pizza at Sorrento’s (meh) and walked around the ship. Because of my grandparent’s status on the ship I had access to both the suite lounge and Diamond Club lounge and you bet I went there 5 times a day for free coffee and small plates of cheese, salmon, or mini desserts. Jaysen, if you’re reading this, thank you!!

Days at sea are really boring if nothing interests you on the ship. But on Liberty there’s plenty to do like shopping, fitness classes, loads of trivia games, theatre productions, etc.

We all went that night to watch ‘Saturday Night Fever’ and it was okay. I’ve seen the movie before and understood that for maybe copyright issues or keeping it appropriate things were changed. Obviously the movie was better but the best part about the production was the ending dance sequence. My grandfather (big fan of the movie) said the best part was when it finished.

Day 3

The ship docked at around 7AM. We had planned an excursion at Dolphin Quest. It’s held in the dockyard and you can swim with dolphins.

As we stepped outside the sweltering heat hit us like a slap in the face. I started sweating immediately. But, even stated in Fodor’s travel book and by my bailiff who went earlier, late July through August is the HOTTEST time in Bermuda.

As we walked to our destination I took in the scenery. Tons of taxis lined up to take tourists to their excursions or separate desired areas, there was a floating water obstacle course that looked super fun, boat bars, and shops.

We entered through the museum and to the Dolphin Quest pools. The dolphins were already playing with groups (the Norwegian Pearl was here before us). My siblings and I were super excited to do tricks and swim with the dolphins.

After a 10 minute boring intro we finally got with our trainer (who was passionate about dolphin conservation) and got in the pool. Our dolphins were Juniper and Mr. Wilson. Both juvenile’s. We were told from the beginning that they just started training and boy did it show. While other group’s dolphins were jumping in the air and flapping their tails we were doing the easy tricks. Overall, it was somewhat disappointing and in the end we did get compensation back. But, I do have to say, it was neat interacting with the dolphins and touching/petting them.

After that, we ran back to the ship to quickly get changed and run back down to catch a ferry to St. George’s. By then I was melting…like my tits could’ve turned into my nuts.

St. George’s

St. George’s is a UNESCO World Heritage Site as it should be. It was full of not only history but of color. Pastel pinks, yellow’s, blue’s and more lined the streets.

From where we were docked it took 35–45 minutes to get there and I’m pretty sure it’s $4.50 one way. When we got the green light to leave the boat and head into St. George’s everyone tried to get off at one time and it was like a swarm of people. It was overwhelming but, oh well, this is tourism. We had 5 hours on St. Georges before we had to leave. Here goes:

We stepped onto cobblestone streets and started walking while looking around. Our first stop was to Lily Bermuda, a perfumery. As we walked to Lily’s we saw the driving on the left side of the road which was different for us American’s lol.

The inside of Lily’s was pretty and smelled amazing. We were greeted by a woman who had a lovely British accent. It took my mom, my sister, and I at least 25 minutes to find a scent. Some were strong, old lady smells and other’s were very faint. My mom and sister ended up getting ‘Island Rose’ which I almost got but since I have 15 perfumes at home I decided to get a variety pack so I could have more to choose from. The variety pack I got included ‘Island Rose.’ My favorite, though, was ‘Pink’ which reminded me of a fun, playful scent.

We walked back to the perfumery’s garden. It was small but pretty. My dad wanted to get cigars so we went to Churchill’s. They were selling weed. WEED. St. Georges is the place if you want organic weed yessir!

We then went to Peter’s Church and did a quick walk through (you have to pay $2 or so to enter). There were lot’s of historical item’s there and a picture of Princess Diana and King Charles. *We were told by our bus driver to Horseshoe Bay Beach that Bermudians couldn’t care less about King Charles and cared more about American politics lol.* We then went back through the cemetery. As we were walking we saw some people in long sleeves and I was like ‘how? HOW?!’ I could never.

We walked through the streets to the Town Hall (quick photo op) before we got something to eat. Mom and I watched a policewoman with an accent yell at a driver. It was funny. While at the town hall we walked to the water where boats were docked and looked at a telephone booth.

After that, we walked to Wahoo’s, a highly recommended restaurant, and stood in line. A local was mad at the line full of hot, sweaty tourists and demanded a seat but the bartender basically told him f off disguised in so many words.

At lunch we waited 45 minutes to be served (there was a miscommunication) and by then we were hangry! But it was okay, the food made up for it as well as our server who was super nice. I tried the Bermudian drinks Dark N’ Stormy and Rum Swizzle. I learned quickly that I’m not a rum girl and tried a Pina Colada later at dinner but I still didn’t like it. Rum is very strong. I guess I’m still a vodka girl. Rum Swizzle I liked a bit more than the DNS because it was fruity.

A new thing we tried (minus my sister) was octopus stew. It was really good…squishy tentacle chunks in a broth with Basmati rice and Nan bread. It wasn’t really spicy. I got the Fisherman’s Platter: breaded scallops, shrimp, and Talbot with coleslaw. Not bad.

They weren’t kidding when they said Bermuda’s food was expensive. It hella was. My platter was 32 flippin’ dollars. It was expected though lol we knew it would be coming in to the island. A 17% gratuity/tip is automatically put in so if your service sucked…doesn’t matter!

My mom and I went to a coffee truck right next to the restaurant. BTW both the truck and Wahoo’s are waterside so it was a pretty view.

After, we made the hill-climb, calf-burning trek to the Unfinished Church (due to lack of funds and a fire I believe). To me, it was stunning because it was different standing in the midst of pillars and an unfinished interior facade.

After that, we headed back to the ferry back to the ship for dinner. We didn’t do much after dinner. I watched my grandparents play slots and my dad play Blackjack.

Day 4

We woke up early to catch a taxi to Horseshoe Bay Beach. It was $7.50 a person for the 30 minute ride. I didn’t really look at many photos about the place beforehand so all I knew was that the sand was pink and that it’s illegal to take sand. *We joked in the courthouse that I would most likely take the sand, get caught, and have that on my record. Imagine having that on your record: stole pink sand.* That’s actually funny to me lol but in all seriousness it’s illegal to take sand.

Horseshoe Bay Beach

TIP MUY IMPORTANTE: When you arrive on the beach walk straight to the rocks where it looks like an entrance. Many people don’t walk further than that. We did and we had that area all to ourselves for 1.5 hours. It was splendid and was like we had our own private island.

It was somewhat wavy out with many rocks to climb/stand on. I climbed a rock (so adventurous lol) and walked the little I could on it. It was very slippery to get up and jagged to stand on. I got a tiny gash on my foot but never noticed until I looked at it. I actually didn’t even care that I did. There was a taller rock that an older man climbed so we figured ‘if he could do it…so could we.’ Everyone except my mom climbed it and on that rock there were naturally made steps and footholds. Once we got to the top the panoramic view of the ocean with rocks dotting it made it somewhat breathtaking.

We saw a crab, many minnows, and a white-tailed tropicbird (I loved their tail). A snorkeler that came later saw a barracuda. I loved Horseshoe Bay…I won’t mention how it compares to Sanibel…I will keep hush on that lol. On the way back to the ship I took in the views of the culture. Many motorcyclists passing cars, Bermudian’s walking the side of the road, the many many colored houses with white roofs, etc. I loved seeing the difference in culture compared to ours.

Day 4 Continued-the Dockyard

We got back on the ship then went back out to go through shops. Our grandparents later joined us. We walked through the ‘Clocktower’ a building full of shops. We got a painting of Horseshoe Bay Beach by Lisa-Anne Rego, a super nice lady and fabulous painter.

I ended up getting a long-sleeved crop top with the island outline at the touristy shop (I know, but Crown and Anchor didn’t have much lol).

We took photos in front of the mall and at the row of telephone booths.

Then…dinnertime!

Day 5

A boring sea day. I went to lots of trivia and watched the ‘In the Air’ production. Some of it was cool and some of it was meh. The tango dancing was the best part.

My dad, grandmother, and I went to ‘Crazy Quest.’ It was HILARIOUS. Loved every moment. A woman was very drunk and took off her top to show her tits. She was a big girl to so it wasn’t a real pleasant site. She jiggled and they moved in circles. Some of us were a little horrified haha. Best show on the cruise (Crazy Quest I mean…not big girl strip-tease).

Outro

The mini-trip to Bermuda was amazing, fun, stunning, etc. I had such a good time with my family and with the island. We booked a cruise for next year (with more family) and our goal is to snorkel and see Hamilton and another beach like Tobacco Bay.

Out of this trip the place I highly recommend you to visit is Horseshoe Bay Beach. It is so stunning with so much to do there. BTW the sand isn’t vibrant pink like people have told me…it’s blush/has hints of pink.

Also, when visiting Bermuda it’s best to come via cruise ship so it’s days of non-stop fun and even though I did say sea day’s were boring…they’re only boring if you do nothing (like I did sometimes and just laid in bed). That’s the only regret I have-not doing more but now I know for next cruise to pre-plan activities. I did love watching in the casino, however.

Any questions you may have…please ask…I would love to answer. Now, onto the next adventure!

xo Bella

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