Beautiful Bermuda

Less than a two-hour flight from Boston, the fabled island offers lots of beautiful pink-sand beaches and warm blue water. I was just settling into the flight when the captain announced, “Please take your seats for landing.” Just one hour and 40 minutes in the air from Boston and we had arrived in Bermuda. By 10:30am, we were lounging by 82-degree azure blue waters, listening to sultry waves massaging the pink sand of one of the most beautiful beaches imaginable.

On our second day in this proximate paradise, we learned that you can travel around the entire island in only 49 minutes and 7 seconds! Talk about a quick getaway for today’s time-deprived vacationers.

To be fair, you really need at least three days to explore this romantic coral reef, to sink your feet into the soft rosy sand, to swim in the brilliant blue waters and feel the intoxicating island rhythm. And while vacationers can take a boat tour around the entire island, 49 minutes was the fastest clocked time around the island at the annual “Round the Island Race,” which we viewed from the comforts of our beach chaise.

If Bermuda is the best destination for a quick tropical tryst for East Coasters, then The Fairmont Southampton has the best of Bermuda all wrapped up in a pretty pink package. The confection colored hotel crowns the 100-acre resort, surrounded by an executive golf course, tennis, six restaurants, and Bermuda’s biggest and best spa. Each of the palatial pink hotel’s 593 rooms offer water view balconies and while it is not directly on the beach (which seems like a hindrance at first), an efficient trolley delivers you to a spectacular private beach club, or to a ferry dock where you can ride a free water shuttle to the capital city of Hamilton or the Royal Dockyard for shopping.

Within a short walk of the hotel, we discovered some of Bermuda’s best sites; Gibb’s Lighthouse is a must (if you are not afraid of heights). You can climb the 185 steps for the most impressive panorama of the island that $2.50 admission can buy.

Adjacent to the Fairmont’s exclusive beach club is stunning Southampton Park and famous Horseshoe Beach, considered one of the top 10 beaches in the world (deservedly so – I concur). You can walk for two miles along a labyrinth of coral caves and formations that jut from the otherwise satiny pink sand.

Other than that, you really don’t need to leave the Southampton Bermuda resort grounds. By day, you can snorkel right in the resort’s protected cove, or take an excursion boat, play golf, croquet or tennis, or do nothing at all but savor the glorious setting and sip a frosty drink delivered by the Cabana boy.

Treat yourself to Willow Stream Spa access one day – you will get a fluffy robe, fitness facilities, a private indoor pool and outdoor hot tubs with spectacular views of the ocean plus very personal service (with a head-spinning list of the latest a la carte body treatments).

By night, stroll to the Italian bistro called Bacci on the golf course, watch the sunset as you dine beachfront at The Ocean Club, or bayside at the historical 1670 Waterlot Inn, or experience elegant four-diamond cuisine in the Hotel’s mahogany yacht-inspired Newport Room.

After dinner, soak in the Spa’s Jacuzzi with a splendid sunset (the spa facility is complimentary for hotel guests after 6:30p.m.), or dance in the intimate enclave -The Cellar. The Jasmine lobby bar is also a happening spot for drinks and jazz till late (the afternoon setting for traditional High Tea if cucumber sandwiches are your thing).

If you feel the tug to explore beyond the resort, grab a free ferry from the hotel dock, a cab or bus, or rent a moped - just know that Bermuda roads are narrow and curvy so don’t “pitch a hot” (local term for getting tipsy). Visitors may not rent cars.

After excursions to several beach resorts along the South Shore, to the Naval Dockyard and to the humming port of Hamilton (where you can visit the more urbane sister-property Fairmont Hamilton Princess), we would return to the Fairmont Southampton and remark that we had the best beach club, best views, best walks and some of the finest restaurants on the island.

Bermuda is a fabled isle (actually a coral reef atop a dormant volcano). Early explorers called it the “Isle of the Devils,” since the prominent reefs that surround the main island wrecked over a hundred ships – making for today’s great diving and snorkeling. Bermuda shorts and knee-highs are the real deal – a delightfully proper male dress code that has to be seen to be appreciated.

And last but not least, Bermuda is reputedly “expensive.” Well, you get what you pay for. Dinners are $30-$40 per entrée, while lunch runs about $15, and the focus on food quality is evident and enjoyable. Don’t go to Bermuda for shopping; instead splurge on top-shelf lodging and delicious cuisine at this honeymoon haven.

As Mark Twain said after spending time there, “You go to heaven, I’ll stay in Bermuda.”


Bermuda Do’s and Don’ts