Dive Into the New York Times

It looks like the Grey Lady has come calling again, this time to shine a bright light on Bermuda’s world-class diving scene. The small piece in last Sunday’s New York Times Travel section is a departure from the newspaper’s larger coverage of the island, namely 36 Hours in Bermuda written by yours truly and an unflattering portrayal of the island called Hurricane Season, Bargain Hunting in Bermuda penned by Seth Kugel. As I’ve stated before I found his story grossly unfair and vastly under-reported, but in the writer’s defense at least he left a thoughtful comment clarifying his intentions. Ahh well. Today is all about diving and so onto the New York Times’ latest piece titled 6 Action Adventures in the Caribbean. Now before you jump on the snark bandwagon, complaining that Bermuda is not actually in the Caribbean, that it’s a mid-Atlantic archipelago, blah, blah, blah, consider the story’s first two sentences. “O.K., so Bermuda is not technically within the Caribbean Sea, but it is part of Caricom, the political alliance of Caribbean nations. And with more than 300 shipwrecks and one of the healthiest coral reef systems in the world, the island is ripe with diving opportunities.” Boom! Alright New York Times, you got it right from the start this time, but what else do you have to say about my fair island? “From June through October, Triangle Diving offers a night-diving excursion to the King George, a dredger built for the Bermudan government. In 1930, the ship was sunk off the coast, and it remains fairly intact, more than 45 feet below the sea.” Awesome fact, but you do realize it’s November, right? Anything else you’d like to say for yourself? “The marine life encountered on a night dive may look more frightening than during the day, but Mr. Christmas said there is little danger and that seeing sharks inside the reef is very rare. ‘Generally speaking, don’t poke it, and it won’t poke you,’ Mr. Christmas said.” Excellent advice my merrily-named friend. If you’d like to learn more about diving in Bermuda—and see a picture of yours truly in a tight-fitting wetsuit—then head on over to my Outside Television blog This Way Out where I’ve written all about a recent dive on Bermuda’s south shore. And yes, that picture above was taken in Bermuda's waters, just not by me (thanks New York Times photographer, Mike Nagle!).

Bermuda for Budget Travelers?

It was back in September 2009 when the New York Times Travel section published my story, 36 Hours in Bermuda. In case you missed it I covered the island’s best and brightest: Dinners at Mickey’s and Port O Call, golfing at Port Royal, happy hour at Newstead, snorkeling at Church Bay, plus a handful of others like scoping out paintings at the Masterworks Museum of Bermuda Art or where to get Bermuda’s best fish chowder (for my money, it’s still a toss up between Hog Penny and the Lobster Pot; discuss). Well, it looks like the Grey Lady has struck again, this time with a story from it’s newest reporter, Seth Kugel, who recently took over the Frugal Traveler column from budget-traveler extraordinaire Matt Gross. Frankly, I never thought Bermuda had a chance of landing in the column titled "Hurricane Season, Bargain Hunting in Bermuda," what with $40 dinner entrees and hotel rooms hovering around $250 a night, but Kugel does point out a few inexpensive winners. He raved about The Commissioner’s House in Dockyard, a bonafide piece of nautical history that I love taking visitors to and for $2.50, you can’t get a better view from the top of Gibb’s Hill Lighthouse, a site that he also seemed to enjoy. I also agree that the island's public bus system is one of the best and cheapest ways to get around. But the rest of the story just seems, let’s say, a bit off. Who comes to Bermuda for bacon and egg toast at Angeline’s, then has the gall to call it “soulless?” Or a hamburger lunch at New Traditions, a meal he later called “mediocre?” The one meal he did enjoy was at Breezes at Cambridge Beaches, a dinner he didn’t even pay for, which makes sense since there’s no way the beachside restaurant’s $31 sea bass fits within his Frugal Traveler budget. And what about that room he rented on the east end? I’m sure it’d be great for college kids or backpackers, but that’s just my point. The island doesn’t cater to college kids or backpackers. Or even budget travelers for that matter. Look, there’s nothing wrong with attempting to squeeze more value out of your vacation dollar—as a former editor of Budget Travel magazine, saving money while on the road has long been one of my tenants of travel—but Bermuda’s not really a budget travel paradise. It’s just paradise. Period.