Cooper's Island Nature Reserve

Cooper's Island Darkroom Daze/Flickr User (Creative Commons)

Cooper’s Island in sunny Bermuda was used to house ammo bunkers and underground storage tanks during World War II.

In 1960, NASA built a tracking station there to keep tabs on all the manned missions, which remained in operation through the Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo missions.

The eastern end of Cooper’s Island has become a wildlife refuge, open to the public and under active restoration since 2009.

As of May 2013, one of the NASA radar towers has been converted into an ideal birdwatching station. Bermuda is home to a wide variety of marine life and seabirds, particularly the Tropic Longtail and the Bermuda Petrel, dolphins, humpback whales, and sea turtles.

Know Before You Go

Parking is on the grass outside the gate. Dogs are restricted from the Nature Reserve. The beaches can be accessed through the pedestrian gate at the end of Turtle Beach. Reserve is accessible only by foot.