Lagoon Park

Beyond Dockyard’s [1] gates and over one-vehicle-wide Grey’s Bridge on Ireland Island South is Lagoon Park (open sunrise to sunset daily, admission free), a large, quiet chunk of parkland that has a spectacular islet-sprinkled coastline on the Great Sound. Named for the central lagoon, which attracts birdlife, insects, toads, and frogs, the park has lots of picnic tables and grassy lawns, as well as coves and bays for swimming.

Nestled alongside the parkland is a large meadowed valley that contains the Royal Naval Cemetery. The early 19th-century graveyard contains intriguing headstones and above-ground cemetery plots, where the lives (and often unfortunate deaths) of naval officers, crewmen, and their families are honored with touching inscriptions. Easter lilies pop up here around Easter, and wildflowers are scattered over the hillside.