Bermuda Travel Safety Guide

Crime, in the words of the record

The UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office records that Bermuda has a moderate level of crime, and names the pattern a visitor is most likely to meet: theft of unattended baggage and belongings, including from rental scooters.

The word unattended is doing the work. This is opportunistic theft of things left in the open, and the storage compartment of a parked scooter is the most Bermudian version of it. Take what you would mind losing with you when you park.

The emergency number is 911, and there is only one

The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office instruction is to call 911 and ask for an ambulance. Neighboring destinations publish a second number alongside it; Bermuda does not, and this guide cites no other.

The road risk

Two facts belong together. Tourists are not allowed to drive cars in Bermuda, so many visitors ride a scooter instead, and accidents between 50cc scooters and cars are common and have caused serious injuries and deaths.

The national speed limit of 35 kilometers per hour applies to the whole island. That is genuinely slow, and it is a description of the roads rather than a restriction on them. Our transportation guide sets out the options.

The sea

There are strong rip currents in many places across Bermuda, and most people in Bermuda do not swim in the sea until after Bermuda Day in late May. Local practice is a better guide than any figure this page could print, and a rip current does not announce itself by making the water look rough.

Health facilities are good, which is not the problem

The record is unusually positive on this point: King Edward VII Memorial Hospital has a good accident and emergency department, and most types of medication are readily available in Bermuda, including UK brands.

The problem is cost, and the destination of a serious case. Medication and medical treatment in Bermuda are very expensive, and cases needing treatment Bermuda cannot provide are usually referred to either Baltimore or Boston in the USA.

That is the single most important sentence on this page for anybody choosing an insurance policy. The cover you need is cover for medical expenses in the United States, plus repatriation by air ambulance. A regional policy written for somewhere else is not the same product.

Before you go

The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office advises beginning health preparation at least 8 weeks before your trip, and notes insect-borne disease including dengue, for which the protection is insect bite avoidance rather than a vaccine.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention records hepatitis A as recommended for unvaccinated travelers one year old or older going to Bermuda, and hepatitis B as recommended for unvaccinated travelers of all ages traveling to Bermuda. On rabies it records that dogs infected with rabies are not commonly found in Bermuda and that rabies vaccines are typically available throughout most of the country. Discuss all of it with a travel health professional; none of this is medical advice.

Laws a visitor can break by accident

Bermuda is a separate legal jurisdiction to the United Kingdom and has its own laws. Several of them catch visitors who were not trying to break anything, and our culture and etiquette guide sets them out. The short version: it is illegal for anyone to be topless in public, it is illegal to drink alcohol in public outside of licensed premises, weapons law covers ammunition, including empty magazines, and drug offenses carry prison sentences of up to 25 years.

Storm season

The hurricane season in Bermuda normally runs from June to November. Read the current official advice in the week you travel rather than relying on any guide, including this one.

Sources

• UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office: Bermuda safety and security: a moderate level of crime, theft of unattended baggage and belongings including from rental scooters, the record that Bermuda is a separate legal jurisdiction to the United Kingdom with its own laws, that it is illegal for anyone to be topless in public and illegal to drink alcohol in public outside of licensed premises, that weapons law covers ammunition including empty magazines, that drug offenses carry prison sentences of up to 25 years, that same-sex partners can no longer marry following a change in the law, that there are strong rip currents in many places, that most people do not swim in the sea until after Bermuda Day in late May, that tourists are not allowed to drive cars, that accidents between 50cc scooters and cars are common, a national speed limit of 35 kilometers per hour, and a hurricane season normally running from June to November. Accessed 18 September 2026.
• UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office: Bermuda health: the instruction to call 911 and ask for an ambulance, to begin health preparation at least 8 weeks before the trip, the record of insect-borne disease including dengue, that most types of medication are readily available including UK brands, that King Edward VII Memorial Hospital has a good accident and emergency department, that medication and medical treatment are very expensive, that cases needing treatment Bermuda cannot provide are usually referred to either Baltimore or Boston in the USA, and that insurance should cover repatriation by air ambulance. Accessed 18 September 2026.
• Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: Bermuda traveler health: hepatitis A recommended for unvaccinated travelers one year old or older going to Bermuda, a further vaccine recommended for unvaccinated travelers of all ages traveling to Bermuda, and the record that dogs infected with rabies are not commonly found in Bermuda and that rabies vaccines are typically available throughout most of the country. Accessed 18 September 2026.