What are the best things to do in Bermuda for cruisers? — featuring Life Well Cruised
In this video: 10 Amazing Things to Do in Bermuda for Cruisers!!
Life Well Cruised · 4 years ago
Do Bermuda beaches really have pink sand?
Yes, Bermuda beaches have genuinely pink sand, though the color is more champagne or blush pink than vivid. The pink comes from tiny pieces of coral in the sand. In person the color may appear less striking than in photos, but it is visible and distinctive.
What this video answers
Do Bermuda beaches really have pink sand?
How do I get to Horseshoe Bay Beach from the cruise ship?
Is it cheaper to book excursions through the cruise line or independently?
What to Expect on a Bermuda Cruise: 10 Essential Activities from Dockyard
This video from Life Well Cruised offers a practical guide to maximizing a cruise stop in Bermuda, drawn from the creator's eight visits to the island. Whether you're arriving on Norwegian, Carnival, Royal Caribbean, or Celebrity, the guide covers activities accessible both near the cruise port at Dockyard and across the island, along with dining highlights and transportation tips. The video aims to help cruisers choose a realistic mix of activities rather than attempting everything, since most cruise visits last only one to three days.
Bermuda suits travelers seeking natural beauty, water sports, cultural experiences, and local food in a compact, walkable destination. The guide emphasizes activities ranging from beach time to cave exploration, evening festivals, and wildlife encounters, with practical advice on costs and logistics specific to cruise passengers.
Key Moments
Top Experiences Highlighted in This Bermuda Cruise Guide
Horseshoe Bay Beach with its famous champagne-pink sand, including a tip to walk left past rock formations to find quieter areas, and a small cove on the far right ideal for snorkeling or families
Crystal Caves, an underground cave system reachable by ferry and bus at a fraction of cruise-line booking costs, paired with nearby Swizzle Inn for rum swizzles and burgers
Hamilton Harbour Nights, an evening street festival featuring local food, parades, Gombey dancers, and Portuguese donuts, with ferry access in roughly 15–20 minutes from Dockyard
Dolphin Quest, a hands-on experience swimming and interacting with dolphins in their ocean-water habitat within the National Museum of Bermuda's historic fort walls
Catamaran excursions offering snorkeling, paddle boards, kayaks, unlimited rum swizzles, and optional cliff jumping in calm coves even on windy days
St. George, a UNESCO heritage site with quaint streets, gardens, Fort Saint Catherine, and St. Peter's Church, accessible by free shuttle (Norwegian cruises) or public ferry
Planning Your Bermuda Cruise Visit: Practical Details
Transportation: Shuttles to Horseshoe Bay Beach cost $7 per person each way; public ferries to Hamilton cost $5 cash or a ticket; a taxi from Hamilton back to Dockyard may cost around $100 if you miss the last ferry
Beaches: Horseshoe Bay offers facilities (bathrooms, showers, restaurant, bar, chair and umbrella rentals) but can be crowded when multiple ships are in port; quieter alternatives exist but lack amenities
Timing: Book Dolphin Quest for your last day in port to avoid rushing; check Hamilton Harbour Nights ferry schedules to ensure you catch the return boat
Safety: Public transit, ferries, and evening exploration in Bermuda are safe; locals ride buses alongside tourists
Cost savings: Booking Crystal Caves independently via public transit costs significantly less than cruise-line excursions, sometimes one-third the price
Activity selection: Plan two to four activities per visit rather than attempting everything; save some for a return trip
Frequently Asked Questions About Bermuda Cruise Activities
Do Bermuda beaches really have pink sand?
Yes, Bermuda beaches have genuinely pink sand, though the color is more champagne or blush pink than vivid. The pink comes from tiny pieces of coral in the sand. In person the color may appear less striking than in photos, but it is visible and distinctive.
How do I get to Horseshoe Bay Beach from the cruise ship?
Shuttles depart directly from the cruise port for $7 per person each way. You can also take public buses or a taxi. Shuttles are convenient and available immediately after passengers disembark.
Is it cheaper to book excursions through the cruise line or independently?
Booking independently, such as visiting Crystal Caves via public ferry and bus, is typically much cheaper—sometimes one-third the cruise-line price. However, this requires more planning and takes longer. Cruise-line excursions offer convenience and guaranteed return to the ship.
What is Hamilton Harbour Nights?
Hamilton Harbour Nights is an evening street festival in the capital city featuring local food, a parade, Gombey dancers, and Portuguese donuts. It requires a ferry ride of about 15–20 minutes from Dockyard. Check ferry schedules to ensure you return before the last boat of the night.
Can I swim with dolphins in Bermuda?
Yes, Dolphin Quest offers programs where you can swim and interact with dolphins in a spacious ocean-water habitat located within the historic fort walls of the National Museum of Bermuda, near the cruise port. Reservations are required, and the creator recommends booking for your last day in port.
This video is genuinely valuable because it draws on real, repeated experience. The creator has sailed to Bermuda eight times, so the advice goes beyond generic recommendations: specific dollar amounts, ferry schedules, crowd patterns, and insider tips like the quieter sections of popular beaches feel earned and trustworthy. The mix of budget-conscious guidance (taking public transit) and splurge-worthy moments (Dolphin Quest) respects that cruise passengers have different priorities and timelines.
What impressed me most was the realistic framing: the creator explicitly advises against doing everything on the list, acknowledging that cruisers have limited time and should plan strategically rather than rush. The specific details—the cost of a taxi home if you miss the ferry, the champagne-pink description of the sand, the note about taking buses as a way to see the island—make this feel like advice from a friend who knows the place. If you're planning a Bermuda cruise, this guide is worth watching before you book anything.
Years on the front lines of helicopter tour coordination — not as a travel blogger, but as the person responsible for making every guest experience go right. Managed 2,000+ cruise guests weekly as Shore Excursions staff aboard the Pride of America in Hawaii
Personally coordinated with helicopter tour operators to confirm age, weight, and safety requirements.
If you're going on a cruise to Bermuda, this video is a must-watch! You'll find our the best things to do in Bermuda on a cruise, as well as the best places to see, what to eat, and more. Bermuda is amazing - here are the best Bermuda excursions & things you MUST know!
In this video we go over what to do in Bermuda near the cruise ship in Dockyard, the pink sand beaches including Horseshoe Bay Beach, how to get to the best places to see, like Crystal Caves and Hamilton. Plus, I'll share the cruise travel tips we've learned after cruising to Bermuda several times.
This Bermuda travel guide will be useful for Norwegian cruises to Bermuda, Carnival cruises, Celebrity Cruises, Royal Caribbean & all Bermuda cruises.
Directions to Crystal Caves & Review: https://lifewellcruised.com/dockyard-to-crystal-caves/
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Video transcript for “10 Amazing Things to Do in Bermuda for Cruisers!!” Accessibility
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you're going on a bermuda cruise and you are wondering what is there to do near the cruise ship what can you do on your own what are some of the best excursions to book i've got you covered with the top 10 things to do on a bermuda cruise [Music] hi there i'm elana from the website
livewellcrews.com welcome or welcome back to my channel now if you're going on a bermuda cruise you are in luck bermuda is just gorgeous and likely your cruise ship is going to be docked one or two nights in bermuda which gives you ample time to explore and do quite a lot of things now we've actually sailed to
bermuda eight times on a cruise so we do have quite a lot of different things that i can recommend i'm going to share with you some tips and this last cruise that we did we did try a couple of new things so i'm gonna share that with you as well now even though you're going to be in bermuda for two or maybe three
days my suggestion is not to try to do everything on this list or everything that you see on any other list instead pick two three maybe four things to do during your time in bermuda and save some things for a return visit now before i get started i did want to mention that if you like this video if
you find it helpful informative or enjoyable in any way then please do give this video a big thumbs up i really do appreciate it and please subscribe to the channel if you haven't done so already let's get started number one visit a pink sand beach now do bermuda beaches really have pink sand yes they
do but it is more like a champagne or a blush pink and you will actually notice the little um pieces of coral i think it is in the sand so you will see it however when you're right there it may not look as pink as it does in the photos now the most popular beach in bermuda and especially for cruisers is
horseshoe bay beach it is absolutely that gorgeous however beware it can get very crowded there now the last time we were in bermuda it was the most crowded we had ever seen because we had three ships that were in port but usually you have two ships and it's really not that bad so i do still suggest it however i
have a little tip for you what you can do is when you do get to horseshoe bay beach is walk all the way to the left past even the first couple of rock formations and you're going to see that it is very secluded but even if you walk to the left of the beach you're going to see that you just don't have those same
crowds that you have on the right now if you do want to be at an absolutely perfect cove on your extreme right of horseshoe bay beach there is a beautiful little cove you might see little crabs walking on the rocks if you have young children this is perfect or even if you want to
snorkel now there are definitely other beaches in bermuda and if you want to take a cab and maybe go somewhere a little bit more secluded or even take the public bus it is safe to do so you could do that however you just won't find the facilities that you find at horseshoe bay beach so i do find as
cruisers this is sometimes really convenient so you have bathrooms you have showers you have a restaurant you have a bar and you can rent chairs and an umbrella now before i move on i did want to mention that you can take public transit to the beach or anywhere else in bermuda it is safe to do so however the
even better way to get to horseshoe bay beach is actually to take a shuttle these are available right as soon as you get out of your cruise ship you will see these shuttles these sort of mini buses that you can take over and they are seven dollars each way per person number two crystal caves now crystal caves is
so interesting and they actually have crystal and fantasy caves so you can do both or you could just pick one or the other personally we just went to crystal caves absolutely loved visiting there now you can book this with a cruise line if you want but you will probably see that it might be double or even triple
the price of doing it on your own now if you do want to go to crystal caves on your own you would buy a public transportation pass and you would take the ferry over to hamilton and then the bus from hamilton over to crystal caves now i will leave a blog post down below in the description of this video that
will actually give you the instructions as to how to get over to crystal caves on your own but i can tell you if you just pay the entry fee to crystal caves and take public transit it is going to be much cheaper than booking this with the cruise line number three head over to swizzle inn now switzerland is pretty
famous in bermuda for the original rum swizzle which i think is kind of their national drink i'm not 100 sure but it definitely is drank quite a lot in bermuda and it is very good now the swizzle inn is right across from crystal caves so if you're going to crystal caves make a day of it and head over it
to lunch or maybe a light snack head over to the swizzle inn to have some burgers and don't forget to have some rum swizzle now i have a little bit of an honorable mention if you're feeling like some ice cream either after your rum swizzles or after crystal caves then do head over to bailey's it is on the
same property basically of crystal caves now once you are finished at crystal caves you can take the bus right back over to hamilton you'll notice in bermuda that taking the public transit is kind of like getting a tour of bermuda it's absolutely gorgeous it does take a little bit of time but you'll
appreciate being with the locals on the bus number four hamilton harbor nights now hamilton harbor nights is kind of like a street festival and it does happen in hamilton so not really right where the cruise ship is docked but you can take a ferry over it's about 15 or maybe 20 minutes maximum to take the
ferry over to hamilton from the cruise port and the nice thing about being docked in bermuda is that you can go out in the evening and it is very safe to go out in bermuda so this is something that you can do now you can either buy a ticket for the ferry or you can simply pay five dollars cash directly as you
board the ferry now make sure that you do check the ferry schedule there is usually a special ferry schedule for those evenings that are hamilton harbor nights but if you miss that last ferry back you are stuck and you will have to take a taxi back to dockyard which could run you i hear about a hundred us
dollars now at hamilton harbor nights and you will see everybody just out having a good time the locals and tourists alike you will find street food you will find a parade and if you're lucky you'll have the gambi dancers that are dancing during the parade we even had some amazing portuguese donuts
worth a stop number five book a catamaran excursion and you can book any boat excursion but in particular we just happen to like catamarans we tend to book catamaran excursions in a lot of different places that we go and we have booked this particular catamaran excursion several times so this
catamaran excursion was with rising sun now the nice thing about this catamaran excursion is that you do go even when it's quite windy which does happen sometimes in bermuda you will actually be brought with the catamaran over to a cove where it's nice calm quiet you could snorkel a little bit and you could
use some of the different um i guess equipment that they have so the kayaks the paddle boards and if you are very lucky they may even just take a few people from the excursion over to do a little bit of safe cliff jumping oh and i forgot to mention you do also have unlimited rum swizzles which i have to
say we enjoy a lot when we're in bermuda number six dolphin quest now i have to say this was a little bit of a bucket list experience in particular for my son but when we were on our recent bermuda cruise we were looking for something different to do that we haven't done before and i came across dolphin quest
so yes you can swim with dolphins and this is right near the cruise port and it's actually located within the walls of the national museum of bermuda so you know that kind of those fort walls that you see when you're on the cruise ship that is basically where dolphin quest is located
now there are different programs and experiences that you can choose from but you will be swimming with the dolphins right from within their spacious ocean water habitat now i did some research on swimming with dolphins at dolphin quest before we headed over so i was pretty sure we'd have a good experience but
like i mentioned this went beyond our expectations that was my husband and son that actually did the swimming with the dolphins they absolutely loved it i spent some time filming however the trainers were informative it was educational they learned so much i could hear it so i learned a lot too but just
the experience to actually be swimming and interacting with these dolphins it was just absolutely amazing and i highly recommend the experience now i do have a little tip for you because dolphin quest is right near the cruise port what you might want to do is book dolphin quest for the last day that you are in port at
bermuda but don't forget to make your reservations thank you to dolphin quest for upgrading our experience and providing us with a photo package we really did appreciate it and highly recommend our experience with dolphin quest number seven snorkel park beach now if you don't want to go too far from
the cruise port maybe you're looking for something on the last day or maybe you did an excursion in the morning time and you want to go to the beach in the afternoon then snorkel park beach is a really good idea you can walk to snorkel park beach it's probably about a 10 minute walk maximum from the cruise ship
or you can even take the free trolley over there's a small entry fee to go into snorkel park beach and you can rent umbrellas and chairs if you like now as a little bonus tip if you are looking for something to do in the evening time while your cruise ship is docked that is right at dockyard you will notice that
the bars and the restaurants a few of them do stay open later in the evening time and you can actually just walk and come and go as you please to head out to any of these bars but snorkel park as well does i believe it's on thursday night that they do have a bonfire and they keep the bar open as well number
eight take the ferry over to st george now st george is really a little bit different than the bustling capital city of hamilton and it really is much more quaint it's actually a unesco heritage site and it really is worth going over and visiting for the day you can visit it really right on foot so it's very
accessible now if you want to go over to st george you do have to take the ferry now if you're on a norwegian cruise ship you're in luck because at the time that i'm filming this video they do provide a free shuttle for their cruise passengers to head over to st george so something
really nice now if you're on any other cruise ship not to worry you can still take a ferry over you can take the public transportation uh even if you do go over two crystal caves you can take the bus over to st george so it's still accessible it just does take a little bit of extra planning some of the sites
that you might want to see are fort saint catherine saint peter's church and the unfinished church and it is just so pretty to walk around the old town see the gardens see the narrow streets walk around town square see the harbor and then take a ferry back number nine have bermudez famous fish sandwich now
this fish sandwich it took me absolutely years to try it and my husband or my son didn't think they would like fish so it really took an extra long time we did love it and let me tell you about it first of all you can have this famous fish sandwich at a few different places around bermuda the place that we decided
to have it was at woody's and this was in part because it's close to the cruise ship and also in part because it really is highly recommended by the locals now this famous fish sandwich basically what it was was spicy wahoo fish and then after that yes get this it is on raisin bread so you have to ask for toasted
raisin bread that is apparently how the locals eat it after that they put some coleslaw on it as well we decided to have it just like the locals have it was it good it was very very good so what we did just to let you know is we did head over to horseshoe bay beach and we decided to
not eat at horseshoe bay beach and instead to take a taxi back to dockyard and we stopped there and we had this wonderful fish sandwich it was absolutely delicious along with some mac and cheese and some wings and of course a rum swissle and a beer we stopped there before going back to the cruise
ship we definitely highly recommend it if you have been to bermuda if you've eaten at woodie's or if you've had one of these fish sandwiches at one of the other restaurants please let me know down in the comments below where do you think the best bermuda sandwich is now i'm going to share with you number 10
and it really is it can't miss but i do want to let you know that i have a bonus number 11 after this that you're also really probably going to appreciate so number 10 is the bermuda national museum and the commissioner's house now just because it really is so close to the cruise port i think a lot of people just
discounted as maybe not one of the best things to do in bermuda but we finally did go there this year it is absolutely wonderful so just to mention it is in the same area as dolphin quest very easy to walk there or take a trolley and it really is very affordable to go into the bermuda national museum now you can go
into the museum you'll see all sorts of artifacts and interesting information and as well you can walk along the grounds we kind of had a bit of a half rainy day we still walked along the grounds it was amazing but if you had a really nice sunny day it would be even better now make sure to walk up to the
commissioner's house as well and this is really a museum as well on each floor there are different things to see very very interesting as a little bit of a side note it's also a great photo op a great place to take pictures of those cruise ships or even you in front of the cruise ships amazing place but make sure
to save like a good hour at least to visit the commissioner's house now one of the things that we saw there was this incredible mural i've never seen anything like it we probably spent 15 minutes just taking a look at this mural it was painted by bermudian artist graham foster and it basically depicts
500 years of bermuda history number 11 kind of a bonus but who doesn't like to do this it is shopping right in dockyard so there are a lot of really nice good shops to visit to get souvenirs to buy some things for yourself and i'm going to share a few little kind of secrets with you one of the things is that the
pharmacy is actually a great place to buy some souvenirs as well as if you are missing like some sunscreen or anything like that definitely pick them up at the pharmacy and cloth tower mall is also a great place to shop and just to mention you can take that trolley over there because it can be a little bit longer of
a walk than it looks like especially if you're getting a little bit tired but you'll find everything in clock tower mall so from souvenirs and t-shirts to crafts from bermuda to local art to jewelry now because i've been to bermuda before i'm always looking out for something new to buy something i haven't
seen before or maybe just something that i personally haven't tried so i know this isn't new to everybody but you know i also do like perfume so this is lily bermuda and this is not sponsored but truthfully i went into the store lily bermuda which is actually also right near dolphin quest and right near the
national museum of bermuda i'll insert a photo of the shop oh my gosh it smelled so nice and i did buy a little perfume this one is called coral oh i absolutely love it so ladies take a look into that store you'll be able to try different scents they have for men and for women and they have some soaps
as well but this could be a really nice souvenir to bring home or just a gift for yourself so i hope that you enjoyed this video please let me know any questions that you may have about bermuda or even about the cruise i am going to be making a video about our cruise it was on the celebrity summit so
you will have a video coming up shortly about our experience on the celebrity summit i will leave a video right after this one all about the pros and cons of aft balcony cabins because we did have one of those on the ship and i'll give you some good information but please let me know your questions and if you've
been to bermuda before please share your tips as well now if you did enjoy this video please do give it a big thumbs up i really do appreciate it and please subscribe to the channel if you haven't done so already i would love to have you here within the livewell cruise community bye for now happy cruising
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