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Bermuda Maritime Museum & Dolphin Quest Review

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Bermuda Maritime Museum & Dolphin Quest

Address: Maritime Museum, Dockyard, MA 01
Phone: 441/234-1418
www.bmm.bm

Category: Museums/Galleries
Location: The West End and Dockyard

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Fodor's Review:

The Maritime Museum, ensconced in Bermuda's largest fort, displays its collections in a series of old munitions warehouses that surround the parade grounds and Keep Pond. Insulated from the rest of the Dockyard by a moat and massive stone ramparts, it is entered by way of a drawbridge. At the Shifting House, right inside the entrance, you can wander through rooms filled with relics from some of the 350-odd ships wrecked on the island's reefs. Other buildings are devoted to seafaring pursuits such as whaling, shipbuilding, and yacht racing. More displays are in the 19th-century Commissioner's House, on the museum's upper grounds. Built as both home and headquarters for the Dockyard commissioner, the house later served as a barracks during World War I and was used for military intelligence during World War II. Today, after an award-winning restoration, it contains exhibits on Bermuda's social and military history. Before seeing them, you'll likely want to snap some photos of the goats that graze outside the building: their job is to keep the grass well mowed.

After immersing yourself in maritime history, you can immerse yourself—literally—in the wonderful world of dolphins. Dolphin Quest (441/234-4464. www.dolphinquest.org) offers a range of in-water programs that allow adults and children ages five or older to pet, play with, and swim alongside Atlantic bottlenose dolphins in the historic Keep Pond. There are even specially designed sessions, conducted from a submersible bench, for younger kids. Since entry to the Dolphin Quest area is free with museum admission, anyone can watch the action. Participation in the actual programs, however, costs $150 to $295 and advance booking is recommended.

Cost: $10
Open: Daily 9:30-5; last admission 4

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