SeaVenture

Bermuda beach review: Southlands

Or Marley Beach, according to Google Maps.

This is a bit of a hidden gem. Far enough from the popular Horseshoe Bay in the West and the City of Hamilton in the North East, this beach is great if you want some peace and quiet. Peace and quiet from people that is. The Ocean often makes a fair bit of noise here and waves can be bigger and more powerful than anywhere else.

Bermuda is surrounded by a barrier reef which extends quite far out to the North and West and acts as a natural breakwater around a shallow laggon. On the South side the barrier is thin and so waves come in a bit stronger if the swell and wind comes from that direction.

20190720_153449 — Better bring your own umbrella or Factor 50.

This beach is a part of the Southlands estate which was bought at one point by private investors who wanted to develop a hotel on site. As this is one of the few relatively, unspoilt natural areas left in Bermuda the Government arranged a land swap and now both the beach and the park are open to the public.

The beach is quite wide and open which also means there is very little shade. There is a little car park where you can leave your scooter. Alternatively you can get the number 7 bus which stops just outside the Swizzle Inn, about 5 minute walk away. It’s possible to walk from the bus stop as this is one of the few stretches of main roads in Bermuda that actually have a little bit of grass on either side. If you’re walking from the bus stop you will walk past the Southlands Park where the original estate was located and which is now, for all intents and purposes, a thick, dark jungle.

Snorkeling is pretty good here – there are some corals on the left and right end of the beach. You will find here lots of parrotfish and doctorfish. Around and under the rocks on the right hand side are always a few trunkfish. Occassionaly you can spot a palometa darting past you, Bermuda chubs floating around and even, once, what looked like a baby barracuda!

palometas

trunkfish

This fish has no time for your nonsense

A bit further offshore on the right end is a small boiler reef with very nice soft coral. Water there is shallow enough to freedive with fins.

A word of warning – Hurricane Humberto really did a number on Southlands beach. Tons of sand were washed out to the sea creating huge ditches, exposing previously buried rocks and generally changing the coastline. The beach itself has gone back to normal since then (although the new sand is not as nice and white as it was previously) however the sandy bottom changed so much you can now walk quite far out without it becoming too deep and there is also a strong side current. If the wind is blowing from the south or there is a big swell make sure the side current is not pushing you to the right, onto the reef.

After you’re done snorkeling and lounging you can go back to the Swizzle Inn – the place makes decent food, their cocktails are really quite strong and the prices are reasonable (for Bermuda!). On Sunday evenings there is usually some form of live music.

Bermuda Dollar

Bermuda Dollar (BMD) is the official currency in Bermuda. In reality US and Bermuda dollars are used interchangeably because the exchange rate is fixed at a 1:1 ratio. Every shop and restaurant will accept USD and it is is practically impossible to buy BMD outside of the island so if you’re coming to the island just bring your Benjamins. Even the appearance of money is similar. Bermuda dollar coins are denominated similarly to USD – nickels, dimes, quarters – and the size of the coins is the same. Interestingly thickness of the coins is a little different so despite the same size vending machines on the island will accept either US or Bermuda dollars only.

The Government has recently introduced a 1.25% foreign currency purchase tax so you’re actually better off not exchanging currency assuming your bank doesn’t charge you extra for overseas transactions. So why would you want to get the BMD? The main reason is that banknotes are a bit unusual – things are printed on them vertically rather than horizontally. Also, unusually, there aren’t any famous people or the Queen. There is always a national bird or animal on one side, such as a Bluebird on this $2 which won the “Bank Note of the Year Award” in 2012.

On the other side is a famous Bermudian landmark such as the St. Peter’s Church in St. George’s on the $50 note.

So the banknotes are a nice souvenir to take back home with you.

A simple postcard would be cheaper though.

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Only in Bermuda: codfish breakfast

Smoked fish and onion for breakfast: I tried it so you don’t have to.

If you visit any decent restaurant in Bermuda you will notice a curious item on the menu: traditional codfish breakfast.

It’s no ordinary plate of fish either – it’s fish with boiled potatoes, hardboiled egg, avocado and a banana. Exact ingredients vary, sometimes you get mango salsa, sometimes tomato sauce but the basics are the same – fish and potatoes for breakfast.

IMG-20190928-WA0002 — Better ask for a mint afterwards.

This particular specimen of codfish breakfast is from Bouche, a lovely French brunch place with their own twist on the Bermudian classic – sauce of onion and butter and side of Johnny bread.

Certainly an interesting culinary experience – while the slightly smoked fish goes very well with the onion and buttery sauce things get a bit weird when combined with sweet banana and Johnny bread (which is a bit like a scone). Not for the faint hearted, or stomached.

Arrived!

Finally arrived! Not the smoothest of journeys, but we are happy that after months of planning we are finally here!

The Edinburgh – London leg of our journey wasn’t bad at all. We didn’t realise until the day, but we had business class tickets, allowing us access to the BA lounge and an in-flight three course meal. We are very much used to our budget Ryanair flights with a crap coffee and KitKat meal deal, so it made for a very welcome treat and a great start to our adventure.

Unfortunately the rest of the journey did not run as smoothly, and the surprises to come were much less pleasant than complimentary G&Ts.

The first issue being the flight from Gatwick to Bermuda. There was a problem with the plane which required an engineer to fix – something no one wants to hear before any flight, and espeically when you boarded the plane TWO HOURS before this announcement. This delay meant that before we had even set off we had been sat in our seats (unfortunately not business class for this leg of the journey), for 3 hours with another 6.5-7 to go. Luckily another novelty for frequent Ryanair travellers is that of BAs in-flight entertainment which was pretty decent and kept us amused during the long flight.

we landed around 8pm. The feeling of travelling from the UK to hot a country and the heat hitting you as you exit the plane has to be one of the best feelings. We were both taken back by this – more so than usual – due to the intense heat and humidity, and also the reality that we were finally here after months of stressful preparation.

Our next impression of the island came from the arrivals hall – a little bit dated with no aircon. The long wait in the sweltering heat was however helped by a really charming and kitsch painting of a young Queen Elizabeth II over a wooden fireplace – a fireplace but no aircon… M wasn’t quite as impressed by this as L was. He just would have liked aircon.

The next unpleasant surprise came once we reached the arrivals desk. Since the Work Permit was only approved a couple of days earlier we didn’t have a physical copy of the document and had to go to a special room where someone checked our details on the system. As it turned out, M was on the system but L was not! Fortunately this sort of thing seems to happen all the time so the border guard let both of us in, only L was admitted as a tourist on a 90 stay until her papers come through. Not great but still better than the couple in front of us, neither of whom were on the system!

Having passed immigration, we went through a customs check. At this point we were feeling very pleased that we had packed light as it made it much easier to estimate (on the spot) the cost of the contents of our suitcases. The delayed flight and missing immigration paperwork meant it was quite late by this point and it seemed like the customs official wanted to go home, so he didn’t ask too many questions or check our bags very thoroughly, which is just as well because M forgot to declare his wetsuit and the scuba diving kit.

These delays meant that we were literally the last people leaving the airport for the day at around 10pm. Fortunately our driver, hired by the Firm, was still there waiting for us and we were soon on our way to the hotel.

We sat in silence for the duration of taxi ride to the hotel, both with wide eyes and smiles. We had expected the island to be beautiful, but the reality exceeded our expectations by far. Even at night, the island was stunning, with colourful houses and lush green vegetation.

Arriving at the hotel was not the end of our suprises for the day though, because the room was booked only in M’s name and the receptionist did not quite know what to do when two people showed up (even though it was a double room). Eventually we managed to persuade her to give us the key. We got to bed around midnight and were very soon fast asleep.

First impressions: hot, so very hot and humid; things didn’t go as smoothly as planned; frogs are making a lot of noise at night – but the island is stunningly beautiful.

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