Hamilton Outdoors: Snorkeling Circuit, Blue Hole Cave Diving, Clay Pipe Maritime Heritage, Tom Moore Romantic Jungle, Atlantic Observatory, and Bermuda as the Complete Family Destination
The Hamilton outdoor and heritage circuit covers the Church Bay fish-dense south coast reef, the Blue Hole limestone cave snorkeling, the 17th century clay pipe collection at the Maritime Museum, the Tom Moore poetic jungle in Bailey's Bay, the Cooper's Island hurricane observatory, and the family destination case for Bermuda as the finest safe Atlantic island for children.
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Bermuda's Hidden Beaches: The Snorkeling Circuit
The Bermuda snorkeling circuit beyond the Horseshoe Bay reef includes the Church Bay reef on the south coast, one of the most fish-dense and healthiest coral formations in Bermuda accessible directly from the beach, the Tobacco Bay on the St. George's north coast, the most popular snorkeling site in Bermuda for the cruise ship visitors from the St. George's tender port, and the reef at John Smith's Bay, the largest east coast public beach with the reef accessible at the east end of the beach.
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Blue Hole Park: The Tucking Mangroves
Blue Hole Park in Hamilton Parish, the nature reserve surrounding the series of interconnected tidal ponds in the limestone karst landscape adjacent to the Crystal Cave, provides the freshwater cave diving and snorkeling experience in the blue holes, the circular limestone solution holes that descend through the cave system to the ocean water table. The blue hole snorkeling requires the advance arrangement with the specialist guides who know the cave system and the tidal timing.
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Bermuda Clay Pipe: The Archaeological Heritage
The Great Sound seabed and the Bermuda wreck sites have produced the largest collection of intact 17th century English clay tobacco pipes found in a single location, reflecting the Bermuda role as a maritime crossroads where the pipe production of the English potteries was distributed throughout the Atlantic world from the Bermuda harbor. The Bermuda Maritime Museum houses the pipe collection alongside the colonial artifacts recovered from the Great Sound seabed.
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Tom Moore's Jungle: The Romantic Landscape
Tom Moore's Jungle in Bailey's Bay, the most overgrown and most atmospheric section of the Bermuda inland landscape where the exotic botanical species introduced by the 18th century collector Thomas Moore have created a sub-tropical jungle enclosure around the cave ponds, is the most romantically atmospheric landscape in Bermuda and the site of the poet Thomas Moore's writing retreat during his 4-month Bermuda residence in 1804. Moore's sojourn in Bermuda inspired the Odes of Anacreon collection and his reference to the Bermuda landscape in his letters.
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Bermuda's Dark Sky: The Observatory
The Bermuda weather observatory on Cooper's Island, the primary meteorological station for the western Atlantic ocean, has tracked the hurricane patterns and the Atlantic weather system data since 1946 and provides the continuous ocean atmosphere data that the Caribbean hurricane forecasting depends upon. The observatory site on Cooper's Island, accessible by permission from the Bermuda government, is the most isolated and most dramatic natural headland in the territory.
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Bermuda for Families: The Complete Experience
Bermuda is the most complete Atlantic family destination due to the combination of the calm pink sand beaches of the south coast, the Crystal Cave and Bermuda Aquarium educational attractions, the scooter and moped availability for the adult family members, the Beach Club and the Bermuda Railway Trail for the active family, and the safety record of the territory that gives the parent confidence in the freedom of movement that the island scale allows. The Bermuda family hotel tradition of the cottage colony provides the private garden space for children that the Caribbean resort beach hotel does not.