St. George's cruise port guide
Bermuda · from BermudaThings, the offline iPhone guide
Where ships dock
Ordnance Island cruise berth, St. George's
Only small ships dock here, on Ordnance Island facing King's Square. Most ships use the Royal Naval Dockyard instead — from there, the Orange ferry (April–October, Monday–Saturday) takes 45 minutes.
Many ships stay overnight or longer · Bermuda is one hour ahead of US Eastern time — check which clock your ship keeps
All-aboard is in ship time. Check the daily programme and be back at the gangway 30 minutes early.
Top places near the pier
Walking times come from the app: straight-line distance plus 30% for streets, at an easy 4.5 km/h. Places further than an hour on foot show the distance instead.
Ordnance Island & the Deliverance
The little island off King's Square, reached by a bridge, where a replica of the Deliverance stands — the ship the Sea Venture survivors built from Bermuda cedar in 1610 to finish their voyage to Jamestown.
Topher. · CC BY 2.0 · Wikimedia Commons White Horse Pub & Restaurant
A waterside pub on King's Square where you feed the fish off the deck between bites of fish and chips, curry and Bermuda fish chowder, and watch the ferry come in.
Topher. · CC BY 2.0 · Wikimedia Commons Wahoo's Bistro & Patio
The St. George's fish restaurant on Water Street, run by a fisherman's family: wahoo chowder, fish sandwiches, grilled catch of the day and rockfish, on a patio over the harbour.
David Broad · CC BY 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons King's Square
The heart of the Town of St. George, settled in 1612 — the oldest continuously inhabited English town in the New World and a UNESCO World Heritage Site: whitewashed Town Hall, replica stocks and pillory, the Town Crier in costume, and…
David Broad · CC BY 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons Bermuda National Trust Museum
In the 1700 Globe Hotel on King's Square, where a Confederate agent ran the blockade-running trade during the American Civil War: the exhibit explains how St. George's got rich on smuggled cotton and guns, plus a film on the town's 400…
David Broad · CC BY 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons St. Peter's Church
The oldest Anglican church in continuous use outside the British Isles: 1612, rebuilt in 1713, with a cedar roof, a 1615 altar, a churchyard where sailors, governors and enslaved Bermudians lie in separate walled sections, and a modest…
David Broad · CC BY 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons Lili Bermuda Perfumery
Bermuda's perfumery since 1928, in the 18th-century Stewart Hall: scents built on the island's oleander, frangipani and cedar, a free tour of the still room and the garden it's all picked from, and a shop that is the best-smelling souvenir…
David Broad · CC BY 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons Unfinished Church
A Gothic cathedral begun in 1874 to replace St. Peter's and abandoned when the parish fell out, the money ran out and a hurricane took the roof — leaving arches, pillars and grass under an open sky.
David Broad · CC BY 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons Tobacco Bay Beach
A small cove of towering limestone formations fifteen minutes' walk from King's Square, calm and shallow with the East End's best snorkelling among the rocks — and a beach bar, rentals, sun beds and music in season.
dbking · CC BY 2.0 · Wikimedia Commons St. Catherine's Beach
The wide, uncrowded beach under the walls of Fort St. Catherine, where Bermuda's history began in 1609.
David Broad · CC BY 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons Alexandra Battery & Building's Bay
A 1860s coastal battery at the eastern end of town with rusting guns and a view down Town Cut — and below it a small beach of sea glass, where a century of bottles tossed into the sea comes back polished.
MARELBU · CC BY 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons Achilles Bay
A pocket of sand between Tobacco Bay and Fort St. Catherine, sheltered, clear, and usually quieter than its famous neighbour — good snorkelling off the rocks on both sides and a lifeguard in summer some years.
Flickr user "reivax" : https://www.flick… · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Wikimedia Commons Fort St. Catherine
Bermuda's most spectacular fort, on the northeast tip where the Sea Venture survivors came ashore in 1609: begun in 1614 and rebuilt for 250 years, with tunnels, a drawbridge, huge Victorian guns and dioramas, a replica of the Crown…
Black Horse Tavern
St. David's Islanders' own restaurant on the water: shark hash on toast, fish chowder, conch fritters, mussel pie and the day's catch, with fishing boats tied up outside.
Brian Gratwicke from DC, USA · CC BY 2.0 · Wikimedia Commons St. David's Lighthouse
An 1879 octagonal lighthouse on the highest point of St. David's Island, 208 feet above the Atlantic: the finish line of the Newport–Bermuda yacht race and the best cliff view on the East End, with the island's most self-sufficient…
Ready-made port days in BermudaThings
Each is a timed plan in the app, starting and ending at the ship.
- St. George's & the Forts
The Orange ferry to the 1612 town, St. Peter's, the perfumery, Tobacco Bay and Fort St. Catherine - St. David's & Clearwater
The lighthouse, the old NASA station, shark hash at the Black Horse and sea glass under the guns - St. George's from Ordnance Island
For small ships in the old town: the square, the museum, St. Peter's and a harbour lunch - Tobacco Bay from Ordnance Island
A walk over the hill to the East End's best snorkel, back by 1 PM - Kayak to Castle Island
A guided paddle to the oldest English fort in the New World, then the Blue Hole and a swizzle
Getting around: what the app tells you
- Take the ferry out, but know the last one back
- The Blue ferry to Hamilton is 20 minutes and the best view on the island; the bus is 50 minutes. The catch is timing: ferries run roughly hourly, the Orange ferry to St. George's only three or four times a day, and on ship days the last sailing back to the Dockyard fills up. Photograph the timetable at the dock, aim for the sailing before the one you need, and keep a taxi fare in reserve — taxis are the only thing that never leaves without you.
- Read the bill before you tip
- Restaurants, pubs and hotels add a 17% (sometimes 15%) gratuity to the bill automatically, and the card machine will still ask if you'd like to add a tip. Look for 'gratuity' or 'service' on the bill; if it's there, a small round-up is generous. Menu prices are otherwise what you pay — there is no sales tax in Bermuda.
- Look right, drive left, and take the bus to the beach
- Traffic keeps to the left, the roads are narrow with no shoulders, and the 35 km/h limit is real. Pedestrians: look right first. On a scooter, ride like a local — no overtaking on bends, helmet done up, and don't rent one for the first time on a wet day. If in doubt, bus 7 goes from the Dockyard past every South Shore beach to Hamilton, and it's a lovely ride.
Get BermudaThings for iPhone
Every place, description and opening time is stored on the phone, so the guide works at sea and ashore with no signal. Only the map background needs one. $4.99 once, no subscription, no ads, no tracking.
Coming soon to the App Store · About BermudaThings