NCL Dawn Bermuda - Aquarium

Since we had gotten an earlier ferry to St. George, which saved us time getting to the Crystal & Fantasy Caves, we had some extra time in our schedule. We planned to spend the morning and early part of the afternoon in Hamilton.

The Bermuda Aquarium, Museum and Zoo (BAMZ) can easily be reached by bus #10 or #11 from the Hamilton area. We walked out the entrance way of the caves and weren't sure which way to go to catch the bus. We stopped at the entrance trying to get our bearings and a taxi driver asked where we were trying to go. We told him where we were headed and that we were looking for the bus. He said we could catch the bus right around the corner.

We walked down the street and found the bus stop. You'll recognize them pretty easily once you see them. They are cement structures with a bench. They can also be a blue metal post. A bus came within a few minutes. Our timing all day was very good (catching the ferry, then the bus to the caves, and now the bus to the aquarium).

Boarding the bus, we showed the driver our passes and asked to be told when we got to the aquarium. It only took 10 minutes or so to get there. The bus stops right in front of the building.

As you can see, it is pretty easy to get around Bermuda. What makes it even easier are the people. We've been all over the world and I don't think we've found more helpful or friendly people than we did in Bermuda. When we asked someone where some attraction was, they would stop what they were doing and give specific directions. In many cases, they practically took us to where we wanted to go. The people really made the trip to Bermuda enjoyable.

The admission to the BAMZ is $10 per adult. It is not a large facility, but it is a worthwhile attraction, especially for anyone that loves seeing fish. There's a Discovery Room where children of all ages can gently handle sea urchins, sea stars and sea cucumbers, along with conch, sponges, chitons and other marine creatures.

There are over 200 species of fish and marine life in the various displays. The angel fish, octopus, eels, and spiny lobster were our favorites.

After we completed the indoor aquarium exhibits, we went outside to the zoo portion of the facility. Since it was past lunch time, we decided to get sandwiches in the outdoor cafe. There wasn't much of a selection, but it met our needs.

We completed our lunch and continued our self-guided tour of the BAMZ. A peacock greeted us and joined us as we walked along the path. It would later spread it's feathers for the photograph above. There were several species of birds and animals including Parma wallabies, tree kangaroos, and Asian small-clawed otters. A pleasant surprise was a Galapagos turtle. Our next planned cruise is to Galapagos Islands, so this gave us a glimpse into our future.

Our goal was to catch the 2:30 ferry back to the Dockyards, so we bid farewell to the BAMZ and headed for the bus stop. We didn't have to wait long for the bus. This time the bus was pretty crowded and we had to stand. Make sure to hang on tightly if you ever stand on a bus in Bermuda so you don't end up in the driver's lap. The bus ended at the Hamilton terminal. We asked a pedestrian for directions to the ferry (it was only a couple blocks away). Once again our timing was excellent - the 2:30 ferry was about to depart fo the Dockyards.

We'll look at other Bermuda attractions in my next posts, so be sure to check back for updates.
Here's a link to some pictures from the Aquarium visit.