Bermuda’s ferry service, Sea Express (www.seaexpress.bm) is fast and efficient, encouraging an increasingly large number of locals to commute to work. Four “fast ferries”—two-tier air-conditioned, hovercraft-like vessels—practically fly over the Great Sound to Dockyard and along the North Shore to St. George’s. For the nostalgic, the clunky old iron black-and-white ferries, Georgia, Corona, and Coralita, still chug along the Hamilton/Paget/Warwick route, while the veteran Deliverance and Patience make occasional scenic milk runs along the Somerset shore several times a day in the summer.

The four ferry routes are divided by color: the popular and busiest Blue Route (which also takes scooters aboard) runs between Hamilton and Dockyard; the Pink Route serves the quieter stops of Paget and Warwick; the Green Route, an express service geared mainly to West End commuters, serves Rockaway and Somerset Bridge; and the Orange Route travels between Hamilton, Dockyard, and St. George’s. The latter represents a wonderfully scenic—and hassle-free—way to do a day trip to the East End. You can take your scooter on board for an extra $4, allowing you to explore the parish by scooter once you get there. There are six departures to St. George’s daily May–November from Hamilton via Dockyard and back. In the winter, an early-morning ferry travels from Hamilton to St. George’s direct and returns in the evening.

The cost of a single fare varies by route; an adult one-way fare to St. George’s (via Dockyard) is $8, from Hamilton to Dockyard it’s $4, and across the harbor to Paget and back it’s just $2.50. As with the buses, cost-saving transportation passes ranging from one day to three months offer unlimited ferry use. Books of 15 tickets ($30) are also cost-effective for longer vacations. While buses accept exact change, as well as tickets, tokens, or passes, ferry passengers will not be able to board using cash; purchase tickets, tokens, or passes in advance. Children under five and resident seniors ride free. Information, advice, schedules, tokens, tickets, and passes are available at the Hamilton Ferry Terminal (8 Front St., tel. 441/295-4506, 6:30 a.m.–8 p.m. Mon.–Fri., 7:30 a.m.–8 p.m. Sat., 8:30 a.m.–8 p.m. Sun. and holidays). Passes, tickets, and tokens are also sold at the Bus Terminal in Hamilton, and at sub–post offices, hotels, and guesthouses.