Bermuda by Fred

Just got back Sunday from the lovely island of Bermuda. That's about the only   complimentary thing I can say about the island itself. I was there primarily   to get educational hours necessary to maintain my CPA license. I had scheduled   to go diving Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday with Nautilus Divers, as   they had a shop in our hotel, the Hamilton Princess.   Flight in on Delta was smooth, but crowded (airline seats weren't made with  people of my stature in mind). Landed at St. George on the NE end of the  island. Very nice airport as islands go. Air conditioned, carpeted, and a  steel drum band playing while you waited to go through imigration. 30 minute  cab ride to Hamilton along crooked roads. Like I said, it is a lovely island.  The whole island looks like one big manicured garden. No poverty and I love  their welfare system (You work, you eat. You don't work, you starve). People  are very polite and there is no crime. The hotel is nice, but they need better  air conditioning. There is no beach at the Hamilton Princess, just two pools.  If you want to go to the beach, then you take their private ferry to the  Southampton Princess and take the ground shuttle to the Beach club. Nice beach   protected by large rocks protruding out of the water. There is a little to see   snorkeling around these rocks (about 100 feet off the beach). Nautilus Divers   also has a shop here.   When I get checked in, I go by the dive shop at my hotel and they tell me they  are only diving out of their Southampton location (not what I was told the  month previous). Since the private ferry ran too late for me to get to the  dive shop for the 2:30 dive, I had to take a cab over (about a $20 ride). I  had meetings in the morning, so I was restricted to this one tank afternoon   dive. Diving was cancelled Monday due to 30 knot winds and high seas (wimps).   Tuesday when I got there, the tide was too low for the boat to use the dock, so   we had to carry our equipment out to the boat (no big deal really. I've had   to do it a lot in the islands). The dive boat was a real piece of work. Keep   in mind that this is a PADI 5* resort. This boat is 25 years old minimum. All   wooden. The deck and seats (the whole damn thing actually) is scraped up and   badly in need of a paint job. The dive platform is about 1 foot wide with one   gate for entry/exit directly in front of the ladder. The kid (and I mean kid)   who was deck-handing had that funny, inbred look in his eyes. The dive guide   was nice.   Tuesday's dive was on the Mari Celeste, a side wheel steamer, who was running  guns to the good ole CSA during the Civil War when she sunk. About 55 feet of  water with decent visibility. Had two newbies with us, one of whom literally  had to be led around by the hand (PADI certified of course). The guide let me  hang out around by myself around the paddle wheels (one of which is still   upright) and the engines. I could still see them (it's not a big wreck).   Kinda rough conditions had blown in by the time we came up, but no big deal.    Wednesday's dive was a reef and we had a lot of fun going through a couple of   extended swimthroughs. Beautiful. Coral is plentiful, but not as varied as   some Caribbean destinations. Multitudes of brain coral.   Thursday, the wife and I took a 4 hour snorkeling trip on Jessie James cruises  (don't ask me where they got the name). Snorkeled two different locations  (three were scheduled, but the check out snorkel at the beach was cancelled due  to holiday crowds. It was their national holiday, Cup Match). The first was a  wreck, two actually. The first was the Montana, another Civil War era gun  runner wreck. Paddle wheels are still prominent as well as boilers/engines.  About 25 yards over is the wreck of the Constellation, a schooner sunk in 1943.  This is the wreck that Benchley based "The Deep" on. The most prominent  features of this wreck are the rudder and the hardened sacks of concrete in  semiorderly mounds on the bottom. These wreck are only in about 25 feet of  water. There were divers below, so I just had to free dive down and mess with  them (not physically, just mentally). The second site was a shallow patch reef.   Colorful, with a decent amount of life HUGE parrot fish.   Friday's dive was cancelled due to high winds again.   To summarize, DON'T use Nautilus Divers, there are other options, namely  Fantasea Divers. Don't stay at the Hamilton Princess, stay at the Southampton  Princess. Food is EXPENSIVE on the island and so is cab fare. Lots of history  to see on land. Pictures will be up soon.    Fred

Last edited on June 29, 2002