Hundreds of people flocked to Elbow Beach this morning to enjoy the sunny twist of a Bermudian Christmas.

Families and friends, many of them expatriates, gathered at the Paget beach to relish in the festive annual tradition.

Alaia Maheux, 28, visited the beach for the first time with her husband and five-month-old son for the start of what she said could be a yearly tradition.

She said: “We met up with friends, which makes us feel like we’re still with a close circle.

“I think we might do it more often. Our friends here make us feel like we’re at home. We’ve got a good little group.”

Ms Maheux, from Montreal, said she and her husband usually went back home for the holidays, but decided to “spend it here with our little family”.

The Maheuxs met up with their other Canadian friends to spend the day at the beach as a group of nine.

Hitesh Shah, 40, who came with the Maheuxs, said he appreciated the sense of community that came with the holidays.

He said the season was about “connecting, unwinding, being present and having fun”.

“That’s the Christmas Spirit,” Mr Shah said.

He added: “We’re lucky to be here and partake in the beauty that Bermuda has to share with us.”

Mr Shah, initially from Toronto, said that he planned to see his nephew later.

He said: “It’s not going to be a late night, we’re just going to be spending most of the day with each other.

“We haven’t set anything concrete, just more things we want to do and when we get to it we get to it.”

David Ng, 39, came to the beach with his partner and one-and-a-half-year-old son, Ethan.

He said that Ethan’s first Christmas was spent in Ontario, Canada, home to the boy’s parents.

Mr Ng said: “This year, we wanted to stay on island and show him quite the opposite end of the spectrum — the beach life in Bermuda.

“We’d always heard wonderful things about the expat gathering on Elbow Beach on Christmas.

“I think he’s having a blast playing with the sand instead of the snow.”

Jack O’Keefe, 30, said he was spending Christmas in Bermuda for the first time as he visited his brother.

He explained that his brother moved to the island from their home in Dublin, Ireland, about two years ago for work.

Mr O’Keefe said that, although a different experience, he enjoyed the sun and “good vibes” of the beach, adding that it was “probably raining, or just very cold” back home.

Anna Lipski, 30, who was spending the day with her boyfriend and his seven family members, said that spending time at Elbow Beach was her favourite part of Christmas Day.

She said: “We’ve bumped into ten people we know just walking up to find a spot. It’s a nice community here.”

Sarah and Tim Charman went to Elbow Beach to socialise with friends and enjoy the atmosphere.

Ms Charman, originally from the UK, said she loved Christmas in Bermuda and saw it as a way to spend time with the community they built on the island.

The 46-year-old said: “I love Christmas in Bermuda. You don’t have to travel, you don’t get sick on a plane. It’s just so low-key.”

She added: “I have Bermudian friends that come down. I see some families and then I get to call home and make everyone jealous. That’s the key to the day.”

Mr Charman, 45, originally from Florida, said he’s spent every Christmas in Bermuda for about 14 years.

“It’s colder here,” he admitted. “It’s 85 degrees in Florida right now.”

However, Mr Charman added: “The water’s much prettier here.”

Meanwhile, Jenni Simpson, 41, said: “I’ve lived here for ten and a half years and I’ve never come to Elbow Beach on Christmas Day, so here we are.

“I’ll have to make it a new tradition.”

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