I want to write more, and a vacation is the perfect place to start. I recently visited Bermuda, took some pictures, and learned some interesting things about the island.

Words and images here are my own.

Table of contents

Arrival

I arrived in Bermuda on American Airlines 2044 via Charlotte. It’s a three-hour flight and I passed the time reading What’s our Problem, which goes into the history/analysis of the dysfunction of United States politics. There are many cities with daily service to Bermuda including New York City, Boston, Charlotte, Philadelphia, Atlanta, Miami, and London. Interestingly, Westchester County, an affluent NYC suburb, also has direct service to Bermuda via BermudAir weekly on Thursdays. Bermuda sits a fifth of the way between the United States and Portugal, and probably much farther north than you think it is.

I stayed for a night in Inverurie Executive Suites, which had a view of the Hamilton Harbour and further out, the Great Sound. It feels very modern, and I booked it for $250/night. It’s right next to Darrell’s Wharf, which is a ferry stop that makes it convenient to get to Hamilton, and from Hamilton, you can get everywhere via ferry.

Inverurie has the domain inverurie.bm, which got me thinking about the .bm TLD for local companies. Why does Bermuda get a TLD but not Texas, which has almost 460x as many people? I decided to do a deep dive on Why dependent territories get their own TLDs.

Tour of Bermuda

My dad and I joined a guided tour bus around the island of Bermuda. We were met at the Royal Naval Dockyard by a burly Bermudian man named Jevon who was our driver on the #9 bus. Most of the interesting tidbits below are things that Jevon stopped to point out or stories he related. We took a different route than other tour buses to avoid the crowds. We left at 9:45am local time with our full group of tourists.

Hamilton

This is the Capital of Bermuda, and it became the capital from St. George’s in 1815, because it is centrally located. The ferry service, ShoreLink uses this city as a hub to get to other parts of the island because of its central location in both Bermuda and also the Great Sound.

This is a view of the Hamilton waterfront from the ferry as we were close to disembarking at the Hamilton dock. The ferry has comfortable seats and a triple deck for people who want a windy view.

Mopeds are very common as most of Bermuda is close to the rest of Bermuda. From tip to tip, the island is 24 mi long. Here, we also see the stepped limestone roofs.

Around the island

Apparently, Bermuda has a prison right next to the dock. There are a total of four prisons serving a population of 65k. It feels exorbitant for such a tiny island, especially coming from the US, which has one of the highest incarceration rates in the world. There are worse places to be in prison than Bermuda though.

Somerset Bridge is the smallest drawbridge in the world, and so unusual it has its own Wikipedia page. Supposedly, it allows for a sailboat’s mast to pass through, and features on the Bermuda $5 bill. Bermuda gets so many US tourists that the Bermuda dollar is pegged to the US dollar at 1:1.

The Governor of Bermuda is apparently Andrew Murdoch, and was appointed in Jan 2025. This is the Governor’s mansion called the “Government House”, but he doesn’t live there because of renovations.

St Georges

St. George’s rhymes with “Gorgeous”. This photo was taken from Fort George, which sits atop the aptly named “Mount Hill”. St. George’s looks like a wild man, but one would presume that most people who lived 400 years ago were a little wilder.

The cannons that flank a statue of St. George’s point towards the city, and this is not to protect aristocracy, but purely for decoration. In the War of 1812, Bermuda was used as a staging ground for the Burning of Washington. Since then, it has not needed to worry about external threats given the military umbrella provided by Britain and calm US-UK relations.

Visiting an office on Fort George where you can get your passport stamped, we see a sign listing prohibited weapons. Weapons and drugs apparently find their way onto the island via container ships, cruise ships, and air traffic. “The deadline for complaints was yesterday” resonates.

Across the street from this Anglican church is a graveyard that has gravestones with an interesting characteristic. All have bodies whose feet are facing East, so that they will be correctly oriented for the Second Coming of Christ. Jevon also relayed that a graveyard is located on church grounds whereas a cemetery can be anywhere.

Here we see an alley, but also the characteristic stepped limestone roofs that are the predominant roof type in Bermuda. It is a readily available building material, and provides a sturdy, heavy barrier to hurricanes.

Water is expensive, and Bermuda has no natural source of clean water. Seawater intrusion into groundwater aquifers ensures that well water is brackish and not potable. The last roof step is angled on all sides to pour rainwater into a gutter that empties into a cistern underneath the house. Mold/bacterial contamination on these roofs is a constant concern, and all roofs must be repainted every 2-5 years. In addition, it is recommended to disinfect cistern water with 1/4 cup per 1000 gallons of water every three months. In the 21st century, there are six desalination plants that help to cater to a tourist population that is not used to such drastic water conservation measures.

Beaches and coastline

Here we see mansions that are worth millions next to the golf course and airport in St. George’s. It is extremely difficult to get residency in Bermuda, and you can get it after ten years of marriage to a Bermudian. This seems to be one of the easier ways to get Bermudian residency.

This is Horseshoe Bay Beach, which allegedly has pink sands. The sand did not look pink to me, and I think the photo is representative of the color. It is still a very beautiful, idyllic beach.

This is a view of the South Coast with cyan-blue waters, but this is NOT the Caribbean. Bermuda is about 1,000 miles north of the Caribbean, and does not identify with that region. The breakers on the reef in the distance are also of note. Reefs protect the island on all sides from hurricanes by dampening their energy.

Gibbs Hill Lighthouse

This Gibbs Hill Lighthouse has 185 steps, which feels endless going up them. The ascent of the lighthouse feels like climbing up a castle turret with the circular staircase. At the top though, you get a view of the western half of the island, albeit through the structural beams and wiring. Once you get to the top, you get to see this giant Fresnel Lens. This optical engineering was THE premier lighthouse technology until the advent of GPS navigation.

The lighthouse gift shop has the cheapest gifts in Bermuda according to Jevon, and I found this to be true compared to St. George’s (2/3 the price for the same paintings of Bermuda landscapes).

Summary

Bermuda is an affluent dependent territory of the United Kingdom that sits at many crossroads of history and geography. Reinsurance is a large industry here because of the competitive advantage of Bermuda’s tax incentives. This may change due to the implementation of laws in 2025 to comply with OECD Two-Pillar Solution which require a global minimum tax for large multinational corporations. Millionaires and billionaires buy property to live in this beautiful paradise and it is as expensive to rent an apartment here as in New York City. Jevon said that his mother moved to the UK five years ago due to the costs of living. His daughter visited his mother in the UK, and hasn’t come back.