Horseshoe Bay, Tobacco Bay and St. Georges
On my first trip to Bermuda, we only spent a rainy morning walking from the NCL Ferry to the bus stop in St. Georges so that we could head to the Clearwater Beach/Cooper’s Island Nature Preserve. There was so much in the historic UNESCO World Heritage Site that we missed out on. On this return trip, we made a serious effort to spend a little more time in the St. Georges area.
St. Georges and Tobacco Bay
The beauty of using Norwegian Cruise Lines to visit Bermuda is their complimentary ferry that runs several times per day from the Royal Naval Dockyard to St. Georges. Bermuda has a public ferry that runs between the two, but the schedule is seasonal. To be honest, I’ve never taken that particular ferry since the NCL one is so convenient.
Other than walking, the most straightforward way to get to Tobacco Bay from the NCL Ferry in St. Georges is to hop on a taxi. We talked to the staff of the ferry who gave us the tip of how to easily access the taxis. Immediately when you disembark from the Ferry, take a left. About 100 yards away is a pink building, and right outside there are several vans parked. They’re identical to the vans that are in the Naval Dockyard that bring you to Horseshoe Bay. There will be an attendant there who will ask where you want to go and will direct you to the appropriate van. I think it was $5 per person to get driven to Tobacco Bay.
Here’s the route, whether walking or taxi:
We chose the taxi because we read that while it isn’t far, there is a hill involved. It really wasn’t bad at all.
Tobacco Bay Beach
Out of all of the beaches that are easily accessible to tourists visiting Bermuda, Tobacco Bay is probably the one best suited to small children. It has a large, shallow tidal pool that is calm, and easy to explore. The beach offers very close bathrooms, food and beverage, chair/lounger/umbrella rentals, and even snorkeling gear and paddleboard rentals.There are areas of coral that are pretty neat to explore. Seargeant Majors and Parrotfish are plentiful here and are very fun to observe. It was April, and the water was still pretty chilly. We didn’t venture past waist to chest-deep water, but using our phones and our Pelican Waterproof Phone Pouches, we were able to grab some pretty cool pics.
This beach is just about as far as one can get from the Royal Naval Dockyard, but it is easily seen off in the distance. Standing on the beach I was able to grab a few shots of our ship, the Norwegian Joy.
One of the fantastic features of Tobacco Bay and the surrounding area are the amazing limestone structures. There are pillars, arches, and exposed ancient reef that are very photogenic! These are visible and accessible right from the shore of the beach.
Here’s the NCL Ferry passing by the beach:
If you walk past the beach, there is a path that follows a bluff overlooking the amazing formations. While I’m certain that you could venture out there with snorkel/fins, it’s best accessible to paddleboarders. If you visit Tobacco Bay, do not miss out on taking this short walk. I think the views are some of the best in Bermuda!
Also worth spending a moment at is Fort St. Catherine, which is a short walk down Barry and Cut Roads. It lies next to the St. Regis Resort. Achilles Beach is another little hidden gem worth visiting. It is typically very quiet.
We didn’t grab lunch at Tobacco Bay because we had other plans. After a few hours at the beach, we hopped in a waiting van headed back to St. Georges. We had asked the driver to drop us off at the unfinished church, which was amazing to walk through.
Lili Bermuda Perfumery and Afternoon Tea at Sweet P
After the church, we took a short walk to Lili Bermuda Perfumery. The fragrances were nice (but pricey). Honestly not something for us, but I’m certain that many appreciate the place, as it was very crowded. The main reason why we stopped by is that we had a reservation at the adjoining Sweet P. We were promptly seated in this beautiful outdoor courtyard. We had a choice of tea, and were surprised that they served Harney and Sons, which is our favorite. We chose Paris. The scones, finger sandwiches, and sweet treats were prepared onsite by Paula. They were perfect!
I have to admit, I really like the video I can shoot with my new Dji Osmo 6 gimbal that I had purchased right before this trip.
After tea, we decided on sharing a fish sandwich from Wahoo’s, a St. Georges staple. They have a reputation of having one of the best Bermudian fish sandwiches, so we had to give it a try and see if it was better or worse than Woody’s, which we had on our last trip. They were both great, and I honestly can’t pick a winner. Both are definitely worth trying!
We wandered around the streets of St. Georges and visited the original St. Peters Church, which was established in 1612!
Then it was picture time. The streets were almost empty! We had to wait a bit for the next ferry to bring us back to our ship, so to kill a few moments we enjoyed some ice cream from Yo Cherry in the town square. Yeah, we basically eat our way through our vacations…
As we were walking towards the ferry, we walked past this picturesque opening with a view of St. Georges Harbor, and I spotted a woman on a bench enjoying some time with her laptop. I felt that it captured the vibe of Bermuda, and had to stop and take a click. She’s definitely living the dream!
Horseshoe Bay Beach
Since we ran around that first day in St. Georges, we decided to spend the next day relaxing at Horseshoe Bay Beach. We had previously visited the beach and sat on Norwegian towels that we procured from the ship. They were fine, but we had a better idea this time. The beds in our room came equipped with a blue runner. Since our room was set up with 1 bed, there was another runner in the room (I don’t remember whether it was under the bed or in a closet). They were the perfect length and thickness. We stuffed them in our backpack and headed out. Since the sand isn’t super fine, we were able to brush off all of the sand, and the runners weren’t any worse for the wear.
Pro Tip – Use the Bed Runners as beach blankets!
We had a pretty big breakfast at the buffet before we left, and we didn’t feel the need to bring any food with us other than water bottles, which was fine. The vans to take you to and from the beach are located right at the Dockyard and are $7 per person. They’re cheap, fast, and very convenient.
One of the things that I wanted to do on this trip to the beach was to explore more, especially further east where there are far fewer crowds. Sure, the bathrooms are farther away, but if you hit them on the way past the entrance to the beach, you should be good for a while…
My advice for the least amount of crowds possible is to walk all the way past the rocks on the far side of the beach.
There are amazing rock formations and tons of little secret nooks that are definitely worth seeking out and enjoying.
Another area worth spending some time at if you have smaller children is the small tidal pool on the extreme right side of the beach looking out at the water. It can be pretty crowded, though.
Bermuda Triangle Glass-Bottom Boat Tour
The one NCL Excursion we did was a nighttime glass-bottom boat tour around the Vixen, one of the many shipwrecks around Bermuda. I recommend the tour, and it was a great way to spend an evening out on the water. The guides were informative about the wreck of the Vixen and the nighttime activity around the ship and surrounding reefs.
Sunset Mini Golf at Dockyard
We decided to have a date-night on our last evening in Bermuda. After dinner, we headed over to Bermuda Fun Golf that’s right next to Snorkel Park Beach for a sunset round of mini-golf. The course is fantastic, and features some of the most famous holes in golf from around the world.
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