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Bermuda: Travel Guides, Off the Beaten Track!
Bermuda Triangle
If you need to disappear and a seven-day break on the island isn't enough, perhaps you should head for the paranormal zone stretching south of Bermuda to Puerto Rico and west to the coast of Florida. With 100 ships and planes having vanished in this triangle, you stand a good chance of going AWOL.
The mysterious disappearances have been blamed on atmospheric disturbances, erratic magnetic forces, time warps and extra-terrestrial kidnappings, though others have dismissed them as the usual combination of mechanical failure, bad weather and human error.
Cristobal Colon
This Spanish liner, which ran aground eight miles north of
Bermuda in 1936, is the largest ship ever to wash up in Bermudian
waters and makes a fine wreck dive site. The cruise ship ran
aground on a reef rather than sinking and became an easy target
for pilferers who stole everything from chandeliers to plumbing
fixtures.
During WWII, the US military used the Cristobal Colon as a target ship and blew it in two: one half settled on either side of the reef. This was probably a wise move since a Norwegian cargo ship had, in 1937, lethally gashed its hull when it mistakenly assumed the Cristobal Colon to be sailing through the reef and followed her course. Both boats now sit in about 50 feet of water. The Norwegian cargo ship still has a fire truck it was about to deliver to Bermuda sitting on its forward deck.
Nonsuch Island
This bird sanctuary, southeast of Bermuda's airport, was built
for the reintroduction of the Bermuda petrel, or cahow, one
of the most endangered birds in the world. Predators are being
eliminated from the island to restore the island's precontact
ecology. Human access to the island is restricted.
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