Ninety seconds on Elbow Beach
Cruise ship days pack Horseshoe Bay; this beach has roomier pink sand and healthy reef a short swim from the public stairs. There is no lifeguard and rip currents run here.
In a south or east wind, skip it: the reef sits well offshore, so the water turns choppy and a current runs.
On a calm day, swim straight out from the foot of the stairs, where the outer reef is shallowest and the coral and fish are best. The patch reefs nearest the beach are in poor condition; the next set out, halfway to the barrier reef in about 1.5 metres of water, are healthier. The entry is soft sand, so reef shoes are optional.
All sand below the high tide line is public in Bermuda, so you can walk the whole shore. The loungers and facilities behind it belong to the club and the hotel.
Explore the rest of Hamilton
Hamilton's harbourfront main street, lined with pastel two-storey merchant buildings with wrought-iron verandas, backed by the Sessions…
East of Southampton lies the quieter half of the south shore, a run of pink beaches linked by a dune path along the top of the sand.…
A coastal nature reserve on the south shore, running from Horseshoe Bay east to Warwick Long Bay. A sandy trail links the two beneath…