Hamilton Finance and Activities: Bermuda Reinsurance Capital, Newport Race, Horseshoe Bay Geology, St. David's Island Local Experience, Golf Course Density, and the Rebuilt LF Wade Airport
The Hamilton finance and activity circuit covers the world's third reinsurance capital after London and New York, the Newport to Bermuda offshore sailing race, the Horseshoe Bay aeolianite cliff geology, the authentic St. David's Island local experience, the world's highest golf course density, and the rebuilt LF Wade International Airport flight connections.
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Bermuda's Financial Industry: The Insurance Capital
Bermuda is the third-largest reinsurance center in the world after London and New York, with the Hamilton-based reinsurance and insurance companies including the ACE Group, the XL Group, and the Aspen Insurance Holdings managing the global catastrophe risk market that has made Bermuda the primary underwriting address for the world's most complex insurance risks. The 2001 September 11 terrorist attack insurance claims created the class of 2001 Bermuda reinsurers that established the island's current position as the catastrophe reinsurance capital of the world.
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Bermuda Race: The Newport to Bermuda Passage
The Newport Bermuda Race, the biennial offshore sailing race from Newport Rhode Island to Bermuda covering 1,070 nautical miles of open Atlantic, is the most prestigious offshore racing event in the North American sailing calendar and the primary occasion when Bermuda receives the concentrated attention of the North American sailing community. The race, held in even years since 1906, attracts approximately 160 boats and 1,500 sailors in the most technically demanding offshore racing course in the western Atlantic.
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Horseshoe Bay: The Beach Geology
Horseshoe Bay National Park on the south coast of Bermuda, beyond its status as the finest beach in the territory, is the most accessible site for observing the Bermuda geological history in the pink limestone cliffs that frame the beach, the foram shell composition of the sand visible under magnification, and the 300-million-year-old volcanic basement rock visible at the beach headlands. The cliffs are composed of the aeolianite, the wind-deposited limestone formed from the beach sand that the trade wind deposited as dunes and that cemented into rock under the tropical sun.
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St. David's Island: The Local Bermuda
St. David's Island on the eastern end of Bermuda, separated from the main island by the Cut bridge and less visited than the Hamilton and St. George's tourist circuit, is the most authentically local part of Bermuda, with the lighthouse, the Black Horse Tavern serving the Bermuda fish chowder and the local fish, the American air base museum at the former Naval Air Station, and the St. David's Battery military heritage providing the alternative Bermuda experience away from the manicured hotel and golf landscape.
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Bermuda Golf: The Scenic Courses
Bermuda hosts nine golf courses on its 21 square kilometers, the highest golf course density per unit area of any island in the world, with the Mid Ocean Club, the Tucker's Point, the Port Royal, and the St. George's Golf Club providing the full spectrum from the private members club with the most selective guest policy to the government-owned public course open to all visitors. The Bermuda golf tourism market, based primarily in the North American East Coast corporate and affluent consumer segment, drives a significant share of the hotel occupancy.
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Bermuda Practical: How to Get There
Bermuda is served by the L.F. Wade International Airport, the rebuilt airport that opened in 2020, with direct flights from New York (JFK, EWR), Boston, Washington, Toronto, London Heathrow, and London Gatwick providing the most complete North Atlantic small island air access of any island in the western Atlantic. The Bermuda ferry system connects Hamilton with the West End at Somerset and the East End at St. George's in the most comprehensive island ferry network in the Atlantic.