Tobacco Bay beach crowds?

[OceanBlue123]

A recent question about Horseshoe beach jogged my memory a bit and made me think about my favorite Bermuda beach, Tobacco Bay. I have not been there in a couple of years, since a cruise on the Holland America Veendam called on St. George as one of its ports. I remember the beach would often get crowded as the actual sandy beach area is rather small. The bay is quite large and shallow, however, so the water never felt crowded. Being able to swim out to the bay's opening and snorkel in and around the rocky entrance was fabulous. But I am digressing here...

 

My question is does that wonderful beach ever get crowded anymore, now that the cruise ships park all the way down at King's Wharf? Is it worth the time to take the ferry all the way to St. George and then still have to cab or walk to the beach?

[JMC715]

I can only speak for my recent experience on a Thursday afternoon in mid-June. Both the Summit and Breakaway were in the Dockyard that day.

 

We arrived at Tobacco Bay at about 1 pm, after a morning doing a taxi tour. It was a beautiful sunny day, and Tobacco Bay was moderately crowded. But we had no trouble finding spots on the grassy hill to spread out our blankets for 10 of us. We rented umbrellas, but they had run out of chairs so we sat on the blankets.

 

There was still plenty of space on the beach for a couple or a single person to plant himself. It was nowhere near as crowded as I remember it in June of 2003 when I was there on the Zenith which had docked at St. George. Back then in mid-morning I barely found space on a rock to put my towel for just myself.

 

I don't know if this is typical these days, but that was my experience a few weeks ago.

 

JC

[hdbag4vr]

Hi: Do you remember what was the cost of renting an umbrella at Tobacco Bay? Thanks. :confused:

[JMC715]

Well, now I'm getting Horseshoe Bay and Tobacco Bay prices mixed up!

 

I think it was $11 at Tobacco Bay and $15 at Horseshoe for an umbrella. I might not have that quite right but I know it was not over $15. As I said, they had run out of chairs by 1 pm at Tobacco Bay so I don't know that price, but they seemed to still have plenty of snorkel gear left.

 

Janet

[hdbag4vr]

Many thanks JMC715. :). IF I don't go to Clearwater Beach the day I am in St George I will go to Tobacco Bay. In the past I have never stayed at any of the beaches long enough to need/want an umbrella. I don't need a chair as lying on a towel is fine for me. ;)

[CTCruiser72]

Many thanks JMC715. :). IF I don't go to Clearwater Beach the day I am in St George I will go to Tobacco Bay. In the past I have never stayed at any of the beaches long enough to need/want an umbrella. I don't need a chair as lying on a towel is fine for me. ;)

 

IF you go to Clearwater I would suggest you keep walking to Turtle Bay or even the Cooper Reserve/Long Bay, we missed it last month but were told Cooper is amazing. Of course one person's amazing isn't someone elses...I stay clear of Tobacco Bay and walk 5mins more to St. Catherine, or better is Drew's Bay or Alexandrea Battery. I don't care for crowded beaches. My $0.02

[OceanBlue123]

...I stay clear of Tobacco Bay and walk 5mins more to St. Catherine, or better is Drew's Bay or Alexandrea Battery. I don't care for crowded beaches. My $0.02

Now there is a good point - if you are walking over the hill to a beach from St. George - you will walk right past Tobacco Bay first (IMO, the nicest and it has facilities). One can easily survey the "crowd" and decide on the fly whether or not it is too crowded for them. I have done that myself as well.

 

I still have to decide if it is worth the time for the ferry and then the walk when the ship is all the way over in the Dockyard.

[hdbag4vr]

Have been to Turtle Bay in the past as well as the beach at Ft St Catherine. Enjoyed them both. This time we will decide on the spur of the moment when we are on the ferry to St George. Clearwater will depend on how long we have to wait for the no. 6 bus that goes to Clearwater (they don't run very often and I refuse to take a cab there). I also don't mind the walk to Tobacco and St Catherine beaches. And will depend on the weather. Expecting hot and humid (have been there this time of year before tool) same as here in DC area. G.

[Cruise a holic]

Well, now I'm getting Horseshoe Bay and Tobacco Bay prices mixed up!

 

I think it was $11 at Tobacco Bay and $15 at Horseshoe for an umbrella. I might not have that quite right but I know it was not over $15. As I said, they had run out of chairs by 1 pm at Tobacco Bay so I don't know that price, but they seemed to still have plenty of snorkel gear left.

 

Janet

We will probably take a taxi from the dockyard to Tobacco bay. Do you know the cost? Can you easily get a cab to take you back to the ship? Any facilities to use restrooms and purchase refreshments? We do not like waves, but enjoy clear water and rock free sand. Is Tabacco Bay right for us? Any other suggestions?

[iheartbda]

We will probably take a taxi from the dockyard to Tobacco bay. Do you know the cost? Can you easily get a cab to take you back to the ship? Any facilities to use restrooms and purchase refreshments? We do not like waves, but enjoy clear water and rock free sand. Is Tabacco Bay right for us? Any other suggestions?

Depending on the route taken, it is roughly 22-25 miles from Dockyard to Tobacco Bay. Taxis are metered with $6.40 for the first mile and $2.25 for each additional mile, then add a tip on top. Taxis come and go all the time at TB so there probably would not be a problem to get one later.

 

Tobacco Bay has restrooms and a snack bar. You will not find waves there but the beach itself is small. It's not the best place for just a beach day but rather it's a great place to snorkle. There are other beaches on the south shore that may suit you better and not be as far away.

[OceanBlue123]

We will probably take a taxi from the dockyard to Tobacco bay. Do you know the cost? Can you easily get a cab to take you back to the ship? Any facilities to use restrooms and purchase refreshments? We do not like waves, but enjoy clear water and rock free sand. Is Tabacco Bay right for us? Any other suggestions?

This thread from last year has a good discussion of various beaches on Bermuda ... and it has some great pictures of Tobacco Bay.

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1603268

[SailBadtheSinner]

We will probably take a taxi from the dockyard to Tobacco bay. Do you know the cost? Can you easily get a cab to take you back to the ship? Any facilities to use restrooms and purchase refreshments? We do not like waves, but enjoy clear water and rock free sand. Is Tabacco Bay right for us? Any other suggestions?

 

I would estimate the cost for a taxi from the Dockyard to Tobacco Bay to be about $60.00, 1 to 4 passengers; $75.00, 5 or 6 passengers. There would be fare savings by taking the ferry first to Hamilton and then a taxi to TB.

 

 

SBtS

[iheartbda]

Taking the orange route ferry to St. George's at $4 each way pp. and about 45 min. is also an option. Taxi, about $8 or shuttle $2 (maybe it's gone up to $3) at St. George's to Tobacco Bay. We've found other couples to share the taxi and didn't have to wait for the shuttle to makes it's rounds.

[JMC715]

We will probably take a taxi from the dockyard to Tobacco bay. Do you know the cost? Can you easily get a cab to take you back to the ship? Any facilities to use restrooms and purchase refreshments? We do not like waves, but enjoy clear water and rock free sand. Is Tabacco Bay right for us? Any other suggestions?

 

I agree with the other recent posts. A taxi from Dockyard to Tobacco Bay is not the way to go. Aside from the expense, it will be a long ride as well. Take the ferry to St. George then a taxi from there to Tobacco Bay. You might even find privately run shuttle buses to give you a lift there. We ran into a guy with a mini bus seating about 12 people who took us back to the ferry from Tobacco Bay for $3 per person.

 

Unless you plan to snorkel, I'm not sure that I would recommend TB for a beach day. Its not a particularly great, sandy beach, and the facilities are nothing to write home about. Functional but thats about it.

 

The south shore beaches, (Horseshoe, Elbow) are much nicer, sandy beaches. I didn't find the waves at Horseshoe Bay very wild, and family who went to Elbow Beach on another day said the same about there. I suppose it is dependent on the weather, but even so, Horseshoe Bay has nice coves surrounding it with protected water.

 

My niece and her young family spent the last day at Black Bay Beach,which is just outside Dockyard. Its a small beach, but there is a fellow there renting umbrellas and chairs, and lots of shade from trees and shrubbery. She said the water was great, very clam, but that it was a little rocky, although water shoes solved that problem. You might want to check that out first since its so close to the ship.

 

Janet

[Cruise a holic]

I agree with the other recent posts. A taxi from Dockyard to Tobacco Bay is not the way to go. Aside from the expense, it will be a long ride as well. Take the ferry to St. George then a taxi from there to Tobacco Bay. You might even find privately run shuttle buses to give you a lift there. We ran into a guy with a mini bus seating about 12 people who took us back to the ferry from Tobacco Bay for $3 per person.

 

Unless you plan to snorkel, I'm not sure that I would recommend TB for a beach day. Its not a particularly great, sandy beach, and the facilities are nothing to write home about. Functional but thats about it.

 

The south shore beaches, (Horseshoe, Elbow) are much nicer, sandy beaches. I didn't find the waves at Horseshoe Bay very wild, and family who went to Elbow Beach on another day said the same about there. I suppose it is dependent on the weather, but even so, Horseshoe Bay has nice coves surrounding it with protected water.

 

My niece and her young family spent the last day at Black Bay Beach,which is just outside Dockyard. Its a small beach, but there is a fellow there renting umbrellas and chairs, and lots of shade from trees and shrubbery. She said the water was great, very clam, but that it was a little rocky, although water shoes solved that problem. You might want to check that out first since its so close to the ship.

 

Janet

Thanks for info We went to the dockyard beach last year. It was ok and a back up option But we wanted something a little nicer. Do you know if we can arrange to spend the day at the Elbow Beach resort and the cost?

Thanks

[JMC715]

My family went to the Coco Reef Resort which is located at the end of Elbow Beach. (Next door to the Elbow Beach Resort).

 

A day pass at Coco Reef is $49 per person, which includes lunch. They enjoyed it very much. Look on the Bermuda forum for the thread about Coco Reef. There are quite a number of recent posts about it.

 

Janet

[Cruise a holic]

My family went to the Coco Reef Resort which is located at the end of Elbow Beach. (Next door to the Elbow Beach Resort).

 

A day pass at Coco Reef is $49 per person, which includes lunch. They enjoyed it very much. Look on the Bermuda forum for the thread about Coco Reef. There are quite a number of recent posts about it.

 

Janet

 

Sounds great! How do I make reservations to go?

[Spf12]

I would estimate the cost for a taxi from the Dockyard to Tobacco Bay to be about $60.00, 1 to 4 passengers; $75.00, 5 or 6 passengers. There would be fare savings by taking the ferry first to Hamilton and then a taxi to TB.

 

 

SBtS

Or even cheaper.Take the ferry from the Dockyard to St.George and then take a taxi to TB.The ferry takes 40 minutes.