Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Operating from April to October, trips cost $65 for adults and children 11 or older,
and $45 for ages 8 to 10.
Glen Court, Warwick.
&
441/236-4804.
www.jessiejames.bm. Bus: 7.
6
SCUBA DIVING
Bermuda is a world-class dive site, known for its evocative and often eerie ship-
wrecks, teeming with marine life. All scuba diving outfitters go to all sites. If you're
diving, talk to the dive master about what you'd like to see, including any or all of the
various wrecks that are accessible off the coast and not viewed as dangerous. For the
locations of many of these sites, see the map on p. 124.
The Diving Sites
CONSTELLATION
When Peter Benchley was writing
The Deep
(later made into
a film), he came here to study the wreck of the
Constellation
for inspiration. Lying in
9m (30 ft.) of water, this wreck is 13km (8 miles) northwest of the Royal Naval Dock-
yard. Built in 1918, the
Constellation
is a four-masted, wooden-hulled schooner.
During World War II, it was the last wooden cargo vessel to leave New York harbor.
It wrecked off the coast of Bermuda on July 31, 1943, and all the crew survived.
Today, the hull, broken apart, can be seen on a coral and sand bottom. You can see
the 36,300kg (80,000 lbs.) of cement it was carrying, and morphine ampoules are still
found at this site. Large populations of parrotfish, trumpet fish, barracuda, grouper,
speckled eels, and octopus inhabit the wreck today.
CRISTÓBAL COLÓN
Bermuda's largest shipwreck is the
Cristóbal Colón,
a
Spanish luxury liner that went down on October 25, 1936, between North Rock and
North Breaker. A transatlantic liner, it weighed in excess of 10,000 tons. The ship was
traveling to Mexico to load arms for the Spanish Civil War when it crashed into a
coral reef at a speed of 15 knots. During World War II, the U.S. Air Force used the
ship as target practice before it eventually settled beneath the waves. Its wreckage is
scattered over a wide area on both sides of the reef. It is recommended that you take
two dives to see this wreck. Most of the wreck is in 9 to 17m (30-56 ft.) of water, but
the range is actually from 4.5m (15 ft.) at the bow to 24m (79 ft.) at the stern. Some
artillery shells from World War II remain unexploded, so don't have a blast, please.
HERMES
This 1984 American freighter rests in some 24m (79 ft.) of water about
1.5km (1 mile) off Warwick Long Bay on the south shore. The 825-ton, 50m (164-ft.)
freighter is popular with divers because its U.S. Coast Guard buoy tender is almost
intact. The crew abandoned this vessel (they hadn't been paid in 6 months), and the
Bermuda government claimed it for $1 (50p), letting the dive association deliberately
sink it to make a colorful wreck. The visibility at the wreck is generally the finest in
Bermuda, and you can see its galley, cargo hold, propeller, and engines.
L'HERMINIE
This 1838 French frigate lies in 6 to 9m (20-30 ft.) of water off the
west side of Bermuda, with 25 of its cannons still visible. A large wooden keel
remains, but the wreck has rotted badly. However, the marine life here is among the
most spectacular of any shipwreck off Bermuda's coast: brittle starfish, spiny lobster,
crabs, grouper, banded coral shrimp, queen angels, and tons of sponges.
MARIE CELESTE
This is one of the most historic wrecks in the Atlantic, a 207-
ton paddle-wheel steamer from the Confederacy. The steamer was a blockade runner
during the Civil War. In exchange for guns, this vessel would return to Bermuda with
