Great Sound, Bermuda

Location of the Great Sound

The Great Sound is a large bay amongst the islands of Bermuda, to the north of the main island, dominating the west of the island chain. The Great Sound is shaped by the lie of the islands, defined by the main island to south and east and the chain of islands up to Ireland Island to the west. It is surrounded on all sides by the islands, except for the northeast, where it is open to the Atlantic Ocean.

Bermuda and its reefs from space

The Great Sound forms a capacious natural harbour. In the east, the Great Sound narrows to form Hamilton Harbour. Bermuda's capital, Hamilton, sits against the northern shore of this harbour. The face of the Great Sound against the ocean is nevertheless barred by a reef and for centuries large ships would not enter the Sound. It took a detailed hydrographic survey by the Royal Navy at the end of the eighteenth century to chart "the narrows" through which ships may pass the reef into the Sound.

To the south of the Great Sound, two small peninsulas jut out facing each other separating the Great Sound from the smaller Little Sound.

Islands

Islands in the Great Sound

Many islands lie within the Great Sound, most of them in the southeastern part of it. These include Darrell's Island, Hawkins Island, Long Island, Marshall's Island, Hinson's Island and Watling Island. In a stretched ring around Long and Marshall's Islands are the "Greek Letter Islands": eleven of them, named Alpha to Lambda.

All these main islands named are within Warwick Parish apart from Hinson's, which belongs to Paget Parish. Pembroke Parish which touches the sound’s northeast coast has a few islands in the sound too.