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In this page, you'll find a complete list of all the many islands - present and past - of Bermuda. No other online resource anywhere features this list. It is a Bermuda Online exclusive.

Most visitors' maps portray Bermuda as only one island. In fact, there are many of them. The six principal islands are now joined together by bridges and a causeway, giving the appearance of one island only.

Together, these six comprise the contiguous mass of Bermuda. Most visitors confine themselves to these bigger islands. But some of the smaller ones are fascinating.

One of Bermuda's many small islands

The great majority of them are in Castle Harbour, the Great Sound, Harrington Sound, St. George's Harbour and off Bermuda's North and South Shores.

Some are more historically significant than others. They have particularly interesting histories, too long to show in this file. Unfortunately, only a handful of them are easily accessible to the general public or visitors. However, with more cultural tourism emphasis, some may be in the future.

The Castle Group of islands, Darrell's Island, Nonsuch Island and Paget Island are but four specific cases that come immediately to mind as closed to most visitors. Historians who claim these are national treasures worthy of international recognition - as indeed they are - should ensure that they can be accessed by the general public and visitors to be appreciated. As matters now stand, some people with connections can visit them, but most others cannot. The general public should not be deprived of the opportunity to see these splendid islands.

Why "present and past" islands?

At various times in Bermuda's history, other islands were merged with neighboring ones, or destroyed for pressing development purposes.

As listed by name in Bermuda's Many Islands, present and past - these are 570 nautical miles due east of the nearest landfall, Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, USA. Halifax, Nova Scotia, is 729 miles north. New York Harbor is 666 miles from St. David's Lighthouse, Bermuda. By contrast, Puerto Rico is 1,300 miles due south.

Bermuda is the northernmost apex of the so-called Bermuda Triangle, with Florida (southwest) and Puerto Rico (much further south) as the other points.

Nor does Bermuda have any of the problems associated with the Caribbean. It enjoys an impeccable business reputation, especially in banking and multinational business, as well as in tourism. Unsavory businesses, money launderers, tax evaders, etc. are NOT tolerated in Bermuda.

The main island (the largest) - most of what you see in the small graphic on the right - is Bermuda, otherwise known as Great Bermuda, at 14 miles or 23 kilometers in length. Boaz Island, Ireland Island, Somerset Island, St. David's Island and St. George's Island are the other five bigger islands of the total of 178 Bermuda islands and islets. Only these six have ever had any significance in terms of commercial and population growth.

They are now all connected - via bridges, roads and a causeway - to make it seem they are only one island. However, some of the smaller islands have enjoyed a fair amount of historical significance and 14 are lightly populated. These are located in large bays or sounds such as the Great Sound and Little Sound in the west, Hamilton Harbor (the easternmost part of the Great and Little Sounds), Harrington Sound (almost an internal lake, accessing the sea via Flatts Inlet and Flatts Village).

The total land area of Bermuda is less than 22 square miles (53 square kilometers). The coastline is 103 kilometers in total length. No place in Bermuda is more than one-third of a mile away from the coastline. The terrain is not flat and naturally featureless, but a series of low, undulating hills separated by fertile depressions. The islands themselves are low-lying but hilly, averaging 259 feet (80 meters) above sea level, climbing in one area to 340 feet.

Bermuda has two official names, both used in correspondence affecting matters of state. The better known one, Bermuda, is in honor of the Spanish navigator Juan de Bermudez, referred to later. The second name, the Somers Isles, commemorates Bermuda's founder father, official discoverer in 1609 and first colonizer, British Admiral Sir George Somers. He too is referred to later, in this file.

For all telecommunications purposes, Bermuda's island-wide area code is 441. It used to be 809, similar to some Caribbean territories, but no longer. Please note this carefully. If you have difficulty with the 441 area code, the problem exists with the PBX system of your local telephone company, not with Bermuda.

Bermuda does not have the same kind of weather year-round as the Caribbean, much further south. Those who don't like heat and humidity year-round can get the relief they want in Bermuda in the months of October through May.

Despite its latitude and longitude - and its location so far north of the Caribbean - Bermuda is entirely frost-free, snow-free and ice-free. Why? Because the warm waters of the Gulf Stream pass between the American mainland and Bermuda. Thus, the climate is sub-tropical, mild and, in the summer months especially, humid.

Bermuda is the oldest colony or "dependent territory" of the United Kingdom and third-oldest in establishment of all the (British) Commonwealth of Nations territories after the United Kingdom itself. Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II is Bermuda's official Head of State. Bermuda's current relationships with Britain and the Commonwealth countries are described in Bermuda's Links with Britain, Britain in USA and Commonwealth.

Bermuda precedes in date of colonization and establishment all the original 13 American colonies except for Jamestown (Virginia), no longer in existence as a colony. Newfoundland was the only non-American mainland British colony that pre-dated Bermuda - until it became part of Canada. Thus, Bermuda is the oldest-established English-speaking country in the entire Western Hemisphere.

The Foreign & Commonwealth Office (FCO) is the British Government department responsible for Bermuda's overseas relations and foreign affairs, through its headquarters in London and its Embassies, High Commissions and Consulates throughout the world. In Bermuda, the FCO is represented by the Deputy Governor's Office, at Government House, 11 Langton Hill, Pembroke HM 13, Bermuda. Telephone: (441) 292-2587. Fax: (441) 295-3823.

The mainland of the Castle Harbor area is host to one of Bermuda's largest areas of ancient rock outcrops and caves. These have defied development for centuries. Early settlers were discouraged by the hard grey pinnacle rock. Not until the 1970s, when bulldozers and jack hammers facilitated the drilling of foundations and water tanks, did the area become susceptible to human spoilage via building.

Because of this, the limestone caves in the area, part of the Walsingham rock formation and reaches as far as Harrington Sound, have been largely protected. Risk of pollution was the main concern. Unlike the softer and looser limestone found in other parts of Bermuda which purifies effluent from leaking cesspits, the Walsingham area's rock is dense. Pollutants can seep through crevices into underlying caves, killing off endemic cave life.

Consequently, the caves of Hamilton Parish and St. George's Parish are of special interest to environmentalists. They include Church and Hilltop Caves, some of the largest and most historic of their type in Bermuda. Church Cave is home to an endemic shrimp found only in one other local cave.

Hamilton Parish and a small area of St. George's Parish are where all of Bermuda's finest known subterranean caves can be found. Some are sightseeing attractions, with eerie, massive formations of stalactites and stalagmites formed over hundreds of thousands of years, and deep-water, underground pools.

Be adventurous in Bermuda

Even with a restricted schedule time-wise, cruise ship passengers will find many opportunities to be wonderfully adventurous in the Bermuda islands with their so many unique facets of local environment and life.

Conversations with Bermudians and locals can easily lead to an invitation to enjoy Bermuda fish chowder made from locally caught fish, a local rum punch or a uniquely Bermudian Dark 'n' Stormy, made from locally-bottled rum and ginger beer.

Taxi tours by day or night will enable you to savor the delicate scents of gorgeous local flora which waft through the air to create a wondrous and romantic allure. When darkness falls and the moon is shining brightly, Bermuda can be incredibly romantic and serene. It's a perfect time to find a Bermuda beachside or harborside hotel and sample the unique environmental ambiance of Bermuda, while at the same time enjoying to the fullest the uniquely tangy, oh-so appetizing flavors of local food and drink.

If you prefer to shop, you'll be glad to know that prices of most goods in branch stores in the town of St. George are invariably exactly the same as they are in the main stores headquartered in the city of Hamilton. And that the finest places in range and prices to shop for perfumes are not merely on Front Street in Hamilton but halfway up nearby Reid Street and in the town of St. George as well; in places not so crowded, better air-conditioned, and more intimate.

It may come as a double surprise to you that the latest in perfumes and related toiletries are frequently released in Bermuda weeks or months before they hit the stores in the USA, the US Virgin Islands, rest of the Caribbean and Mexico; and that these and a wonderful selection of china, clothing and other premium-quality British and European goods are readily available in Bermuda, yet are rarely found in most shopping malls back in your home town. In Bermuda, they are all at great savings over North American prices when you can actually find them in super-select stores in Boston, Cape Cod, Charleston, Los Angeles, New York, etc.

What do most visitors buy in Bermuda? Check Best Buys in Bermuda for Business Visitors and Vacationers, written especially for you, based on surveys taken in 1995 and 1996.

In Bermuda, it's a complete waste of your time to go from store to store to check prices to make sure you get the best deals. Instead, relax and enjoy Bermuda, knowing that most individual stores sell different lines of merchandise, to have exclusivity. Precisely what one store carries, another one does not.

However, specific City of Hamilton-based stores with branches in various parts of Bermuda, including the shopping arcades of the leading resort hotels, town of St. George and at the Royal Naval Dockyard, generally have the same merchandise at all their branches - and at the same price throughout.

Merchants have excellent reputations

It will be very reassuring to you to know that most of Bermuda's merchants are not here today and gone tomorrow, not trying to rip people off, but have been in business for centuries or decades. Plaques to this effect often appear on doorways. These merchants have fine reputations to protect.

Their retail traditions are built on genteel British standards of fairness, honesty and fair play. Their business methodology is thus very different to those sometimes encountered in places in the USA, Caribbean islands, Mexico and Europe. There, you may really need to shop around diligently, to avoid getting ripped off. But not in Bermuda...

You spend your hard-earned money to get to Bermuda via a cruise ship. You deserve good shopping and good touring during your short stay. And to get some other good experiences as well, make a point of discovering some of the very many fascinating places beyond the usual well-trodden tourist paths, to see how Bermudians live.

Try browsing around some of our grocery or specialty stores - places like the Modern Mart and Miles - to see the rather interesting range of foodstuffs they routinely import from around the world, some well beyond those ordinarily found in most American food stores.

Products arrive daily by air and weekly by sea, not only from the USA and Canada, but Australia, New Zealand, Belgium, Eire, France, Germany, Hawaii, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, Portugal, Switzerland, Taiwan and the United Kingdom.

Many local people, when visiting the USA, take bottled, packaged or canned esoteric or exotic foodstuffs with them, knowing they are not generally available there. Items from British manufacturers with the unique and long-standing status-crest "By Appointment to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth," on them invariably make gifts much appreciated by hosts, friends, and families in the USA who are lovers of fine foods.

Combine a cruise with a hotel stay

Unlike most cruise ship passengers, visitors who stay at Bermuda's fine properties have much more opportunity and time to really get to know Bermuda. All that Bermuda has to offer is so much more readily apparent and available.

It isn't generally known that it was the quality and variety of Bermuda's hotels that first brought the cruise ships to Bermuda, to give passengers an opportunity to savor Bermuda in ways ashore they couldn't do on board. It wasn't until much later that the airlines became sufficiently interested in Bermuda to start running regular services. Again, it was because of the quality of the local hotels.

Even today, the heart and soul of Bermuda, and the routes to explore them, begin with a leisurely stay at one of Bermuda's great, gracious hotels or more intimate premises.Yes, you CAN enjoy a cruise - AND experience the best of Bermuda! You can arrive by cruise ship, spend a leisurely week in one of Bermuda's nice hotels or guest houses - and then cruise back home.

It's worth your while to look into this. It's the best way to come see, enjoy at your leisure - and luxuriate in all the facets that collectively make Bermuda so much a diamond of a resort in so many ways.