Crystal Caves and Dolphin Quest: Two of Bermuda’s Best Experiences

There are plenty of things to do in Bermuda. Bermuda is a gorgeous island with some of the most helpful and friendly locals. Our whole experience on our Norwegian Breakaway cruise with everyone was fantastic. We definitely want to return and explore more of what Bermuda has to offer. We docked at the Royal Navy Dockyard which made starting your exploration that much easier. This was our first trip to Bermuda and although it is not a Caribbean Island the vibe and the cruise sure felt like one.

Navigating Bermuda was super easy as their public transportation is reliable and convenient, Norwegian Cruise Line provides a free ferry to St. George and there is also a public ferry where you can purchase tickets at the kiosk right after you walk off the cruise ship. If you have not planned out your explorations, when you get off the ship make sure to take advantage of the free WIFI the Dockyard has to offer. This is what we would ise to get to the furthest of these 2 attractions in St. George.

The Dockyard is home to great spots like The Frog & Onion Pub, Snorkel Park, Clocktower Mall and so much more but before we departed on our cruise we made the decision that the girls wanted to experience the Swimming with Dolphins and the group, as a whole, wanted to visit the Crystal Caves. We accomplished both and here are some thoughts and feedback about each excursion.

PRO TIP:

You can save money by researching off-ship excursions or booking attractions direct with the vendor. Of course make sure you leave yourself plenty of time to return to the ship but in our case, with overnight stays, we could take advantage of this.

My daughter will tell you this was her favorite part of the trip. We booked this excursion on our own directly by visiting the Dolphin Quest Website. Their website is very user friendly with up to date calendars showing availability.

Dolphin Quest is located inside the National Museum of Bermuda which is approximately a 6 minute walk from the ship when docked in the Royal Navy Dockyard. You pretty much walk off the ship, walk straight and follow the road to the right to the front door of the NMB.

Starting price for the Dolphin Encounter is $199 per person per encounter. We actually booked the Encounter package for $249pp and then added their cancel for any reason insurance just in case we had any issues. The encounter was supposed to allow the girls a total of 30 minutes of time in the program and 20 min with the dolphins. In all honesty I think the girls got more than 30 min in the water with the dolphins and enjoyed the whole experience.

The trainers take the time to talk to the group educating them on what the program dos and what makes them a marine sanctuary. They then go into details about the dolphins you will meet that day and safety precautions to follow when in the water with the animals and handling them.

The girls were fascinated by the operation and I think what may have impressed them the most is that this operation is owned and operated by reputable marine veterinarians. As mentioned earlier they are both Vet students so they were immersed in what this group of people were doing with the animals and the scientific studies performed.

Your admission to Dolphin Quest also includes your admission into the NMB. If you are a spectator, as we were, than the fee is $20pp to enter the museum. Do not miss the museum grounds. Once you are done at Dolphin Quest, make sure you explore.

Visit the Queen’s Exhibition Hall, a old 1850 ammunition storage house, the boat loft or even the Prisoners in Paradise exhibit. The museum is quite large and offers some breathtaking views of the sound. It makes for a great photo-op for sure.

Once the dolphin encounter was complete, and we toured the grounds, it was time to head to the ferry and make the run to the town of St. George. Norwegian provides a complimentary ferry service for it’s guests that runs to and from the Dockyard to St. George which is where you will find the Crystal Caves.

I have included a nice little map you can get on the ferry that shows you the town of St. George and the layout of where to find St. George’s Beaches and Forts ( Zone 2 ) or the St. David’s ( Zone 3 ) home of LF Wade Airport , St. David’s Lighthouse and Beaches.

Once you are off the ferry you can grab a taxi right there which will take you to where you want to go. In our case it was the Crystal Caves which is literally right around the corner from The Swizzle Inn. You can jump into any of the vans going to either of those places and for $7per person you are dropped at the door. I was not a fan of the Swizzle Inn or the Rum Swizzle. Read about it here.

You know, I was not sure what to expect with this excursion. We also did not purchase tickets ahead of time as we were unsure if the timing was going to work out. As this attraction always comes highly recommended, the group felt we needed to do this.

PRO TIP:

Wear sneakers or comfortable shoes. This attraction will make you walk down a ramp at a incline and back up at a steep incline so good footwear is a must.

After being dropped off by our taxi driver we immediately saw we would be here for a bit. There was a major line of people. Shame on me, definitely not a smart move. The line was for people like us waiting to purchase tickets to the caves.

The line did move very quickly and the staff on site was very communicative to what was happening and what was to come. No need for everyone in the group to stand in line. Have someone in your party grab a spot where you can sit and relax while you wait.

Admission can be purchased to either 1 of the 2 caves separately or as a combination ticket. Seperate each ticket was $24pp Adults, $10child 12 and under and free for children under the age of $5. If you are there early enough to book the combo ticket Adults are $35 and children $12.

The combo tour operates on a bit of a tighter schedule so if this is something you want to experience I would get there early. From the Crystal Caves Website they list the combo hours as

• 9 am thru 11.45 am & 2.45 pm thru 4.45 pm, Monday through Thursday.
• 9 am thru 4 pm Friday, Saturday & Sunday.

When purchasing our tickets we were informed that the combo passes were not offered as they were sold out and tours were being done at each cave. We chose Crystal Cave. Our tour time was going to be 1:45pm and were instructed on where to go when our wristband was called.

In the meantime we waited the rest of our party grabbed some seats at the onsite Café Olé. I was super excited about this as the helpful dockyard volunteer told me this was 1 of 3 places to get a fried fish sandwich. We got a couple to share and happily snacked while we waited for our tour.

Once we were called to the waiting area we met Darius our tour guide. He was super knowledgeable about the caves and was excited to tell us all about the caves, the grounds and the history behind it all.

The journey down was pretty simple. You start from the grounds and walk down a long, ramp until you reach a winding staircase. Not sure about the number of stairs but it was not too bad and I am a big guy. There are rest points if you feel the need to stop and rest.

You can spend about 35/45 minutes down here listening to your tour guide explain what the crystals are, how they are formed, the story of how they were discovered and also how they were used in the movies. The water here is so clear that when you look down and see formatations, they can be as much as 50 feet below the surface but visually they look like you can reach out and touch them.

The walk out the cave is a little slower than it was going down but we made it out. It was definitely worth seeing for sure and it was a popular attraction. To be honest I am kind of glad we missed the combo ticket as I feel that Fantasy Cave would have been the same as Crystal Cave. So we saved a few dollars but only being able to view one.

Would I recommend the Crystal Caves Bermuda to other cruise travelers? Absolutely. It was a wonder to see. When you are done you can walk the grounds right to the Ice Cream shop or you can head to the Swizzle Inn, as I mentioned not my favorite. Needless to say they are both easily walkable

PRO TIP:

There was 6 of us in a group. So when we got to St. George we just took a shared van from the dock to the caves which was $7pp. When leaving the caves, we flagged down a passing taxi and he took us back to the dock for $22 total. Also the public bus stop is right across from the Swizzle Inn as well.

As we never have been to Bermuda, we were not sure what to expect. We have cruised all over the Caribbean and Bermuda ranks right up there with the beauty of the island and the waters. I am so glad we chose these 2 excursions as the girls got to do something they were completely in love with doing and we got to travel the island by ferry and taxi taking in some breathtaking views. I still think their water is just as blue as the Caribbean.

Now that this is done I cannot wait to go back and this time spend more time on the beach and also spend time visiting Hamilton which we were told offers lots to see and do. If you are looking to try these excursions out and are unsure, I would say just go for it and enjoy every minute of it.