| Journal: TWUK | Section: |
| Title: | Issue Date: 29/05/00 |
| Author: | Page Number: 56 |
| Copyright: Other |
Destination report by Lois Jones
Islands bask in niche itineraries
Region develops year-round choice for visitors
SITTINGin the Atlantic, Bermuda consists of 181 islands and covers an area 21 miles long and two miles wide. Famed for its colonial charm, high-quality accommodation and good food, it has traditionally attracted middle-aged couples from the UK.Bermuda has the clearest waters in the North Atlantic with temperatures ranges between 17C and 29C. Water sports include sailing, motorboating, parasailing, waterskiing, helmet diving, snorkelling, scuba diving and fishing (rates are approximately $600 per charter boat for a half day and $850 per full day).
More than 15,000 couples wed or honeymoon on Bermuda’s idyllic pink sand beaches each year. It is also growing in popularity as a cruise destination – in 1998 over 188,000 passengers visited the island.
In addition, operators are reporting increasing numbers of younger couples with children looking for an idyllic beach holiday. Golf is also selling well. Bermuda’s eight courses have a reputation for immaculate fairways, although the specialist golf operator market is relatively immature.
Most tee reservations and payments need to be made locally and there are few package discounts for a round, which can cost up to $180.
Making a splash: Bermuda is an ideal destination for a range of water sports
Water and underwater sports
Scuba diving is available year-round. Visibility ranges from 60ft in August – when plankton is the heaviest – to up to 200ft in December.
There are four local dive centres dotted around the main island: Nautilus Diving; Fantasea Diving and Snorkelling; Blue Water Divers; and Scuba Look. Typical prices (including equipment) are $65-$75 for two boat dives in a day; divers can also hire an underwater scooter for shore dives ($70 for equipment plus scooter).
Tourism Bermuda director Ian Parker said: “This is the most northerly coral that people dive on.”
In addition to the hard corals and marine life, Bermuda is also the wreck-diving capital of the world, with 450 wrecks including a luxury liner, a 19th-century French warship and several 16th-century Spanish treasure galleons. Although Hayes and Jarvis is adding Bermuda to its 2001 diving brochure available in July, few operators offer brochured diving packages and most clients arrange diving in resort through their hotel.
Cruising
Bermuda has three cruise terminals – in Hamilton (three docks); St George’s (two docks); and at the Royal Naval Dockyard (one dock). A further docking facility exists in Grassy Bay for deep-hulled vessels such as the QE2. To improve the quality of life for locals and land-based tourists, cruise ship policy is regulated – only a certain number of ship arrivals are allowed each year.
Titan HiTours offers a 14-day cruise-and-tour holiday taking in Washington, Philadelphia, Bermuda and New York, including seven nights full board on the Pacific Princess and staying in an outside cabin. The itinerary takes in two nights in Washington, two in Philadelphia and two in New York, with a lead-in price of £1,725 including flights.
In Bermuda, the ship calls at St George’s then cruises around the island to Hamilton before making its final journey across the Great Sound to the most westerly point, once home to the former Royal Naval Dockyards.
Princess Cruise has a nine-night cruise called Bountiful Bermuda. The itinerary starts in New York where clients spend two nights before boarding the Pacific Princess. The ship cruises the island docking at St Georges, the capital Hamilton and the former Royal Naval Dockyard. The lead-in price is £1,260 and includes scheduled flights.
Weigh anchor: Hamilton is a popular cruise stop
Weddings and honeymoons
Twenty-one UK tour operators offer special wedding and honeymoon packages to Bermuda. Couples can find their own deserted cove for the day; get married at sunset beneath a Moongate (a stone circle fabled to bring happiness in love); dine by candlelight in an intimate oceanfront restaurant or be pampered in a spa at one of the hotels.
It is standard for the island’s hotels to treat honeymooners to a range of added extras such as Champagne, flowers, room upgrades and luxurious picnic hampers.
Marrying couples must forward a notice of intended marriage and a bank draft for $169.50 to the registrar general at least two weeks before the ceremony – Bermuda Tourism can provide the necessary paperwork.
A professional on-site wedding planner can take the worry out of the planning process and make all the necessary phone calls.
Many of the hotels have a planner on staff, and there are a few private wedding consultants in Bermuda (The Bridal Suite Tel 001-292 2025; Bermuda Wedding and Special events 001-293 4033).
Honeymooners have a large choice of hotels – from resort complexes to small informal hotels, or luxury cottages.
Caribtours can arrange weddings at most of the properties it features. For example, a wedding at Cambridge Beaches, a luxury ‘cottage colony’, costs £1,135 per couple.
The price covers all costs including the minister’s fee, advertisement of the bands, wedding licence, personal assistant to help with all aspects of the wedding, Champagne and fruit on arrival, flowers, wedding cake and photography, a sailing trip, and his and her massages.
Seven nights at the property, which names Elizabeth Taylor among its former guests, costs £1,809 per person half-board for certain dates until October 31 this year.
On the beach: weddings can be arranged in beach locations