Access is difficult, but diehard naturalists will enjoy trekking around Evans Pond Nature Reserve (off Evans Bay Rd., open sunrise to sunset daily, admission free), a small tract of private land that contains one of the island’s saltwater ponds that is connected to the sea by subterranean channels.

The pond, nestled in woodland, is probably best viewed from a farm track off the busy main road. Fringed by black mangroves, this pond contains a rich ecosystem that often includes endemic species. Among the critters found here are giant toads, night herons, lizards such as the Jamaican anole, bonefish, bream, mullet, flatworms, sponges, seaweed, algae, and sea grass—though many of these are below the pond’s surface and not immediately visible.

Eels and green turtles find their way to the pond occasionally, clambering overland to get there. Turtles are only temporary visitors, though; while they feed as juveniles in Bermuda, they travel south to the Caribbean and Central America to breed.