Bermuda has received a glowing review as a scuba diving destination.

In an article published in the Toronto Star this month, freelance journalist Cynthia Barnes details a dive on the wreck of the Mary Celestia with Philippe Rouja, Custodian for Historical Wrecks, shortly after Hurricane Gonzalo hit.

“Gonzalo’s eye centred right over Bermuda, snapping feathery casuarina trees as if they were toothpicks and ripping slate tiles from roofs,” she wrote. “Blue tarps and brown foliage are still in evidence, but Bermuda has weathered worse. Repairs and cleanup are rapid. Below the waters, Gonzalo has shifted huge swathes of sand around the reefs, and their wrecks. Local divers and tourists alike can’t wait to catalogue the changes.

“The crystal clear waters abound with wrecks old and new, and the relatively cool waters and remote Atlantic location have kept the coral healthier and more colourful than some warmer and more polluted Caribbean reefs.”

As well as the Island’s reefs and shipwrecks, she highlights the National Museum of Bermuda in Dockyard and the Bermuda Underwater Exploration Institute.

“Looking past the green island into the deep blue, it was impossible not to agree with Mark Twain: ‘You can go to heaven; I’ll stay here in Bermuda.’ With its soft pink beaches, the island seems like a paradise to visitors.

“But to the mariners who perished with the ships that foundered on the reef around it, it was anything but.

“Today, their vessels provide a spectacular window into history for divers lucky enough to explore it.”