St Georges Bermuda

Sunrise Over St. George’s Harbor, St Georges Bermuda

– Click on the image to enlarge or purchase –

St Georges Bermuda

Summer vacation is just around the corner. As many people spend their vacation on a cruise, I thought I would take a look over the next few posts at one of the smaller, albeit nicest ports of call on the cruise ship circuit. St Georges Bermuda, due to the narrow natural harbor entrance cannot service the monster cruise ships that the cruise companies seem to prefer today.  This port can only take the older, smaller vessels, making for a more intimate vacation experience.  The larger vessels berth at Hamilton on the other side of the island.   The port of St Georges, is deep enough for the ships to actually dock at harbor-side meaning that no lighters are required, so access is quick and easy, especially when there are far fewer passengers than on the larger cruise ships.

The town of St. George’s is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It is said to be the third successful English settlement in the Americas, after St. John’s, Newfoundland in Canada, and Jamestown, Virginia. It was settled by the London Company (also called the Charter of the Virginia Company of London or Virginia Company) in 1612 in the aftermath of the wrecking of its flagship, the Sea Venture, in Bermuda in 1609.  Although English fisherman had begun setting up seasonal camps in Newfoundland in the 16th Century, they were expressly forbidden from establishing permanent settlements. The town of St. John’s was not established until circa 1620.  Jamestown, also, did not exist until 1619.  Prior to that, its settlers were obliged to live within James Fort.  St. George’s claim to be the oldest continuously-inhabited English town in the New World may be true, making it the first English settlement in the Americas and not the third.

Norwegian Majesty in St. George’s Harbor, St Georges Bermuda

– Click on the image to enlarge or purchase –

Learn more about the history of Bermuda here.