Nassau
Aren’t you always intrigued with the Atlantis commercials? The families laughing and looking picture perfect. When I went on a cruise to the Bahamas and had a stop in Nassau where Atlantis is located, I knew that I had to spend the day hanging out at the water park!
Atlantis is a sprawling resort with many hotel towers that range in price depending on your needs or luxury level. Since we were in port for just a day, I knew that I wanted to enjoy the beach / water park for the day.
Travel Tip – If you are on a cruise, do not book this through the cruise line. Book this ahead of time online and pay the $135 for the day pass. It is super easy to get off the cruise ship, catch a cab and take the ten minute ride to Atlantis. The cruise line up charges you by $65 just to drive you there.
The Aquarium
If you follow my tip and head to Atlantis on your own right when the cruise ship gets into port, you will be able to take in the beauty of Atlantis with no crowds! We were told to visit “The Dig” first which is their aquarium. It took us a bit to walk there and find it, but just walking the Atlantis grounds is amazing!
The Dig is decorated exactly as if you were at Atlantis underwater with all the sea life. It takes about 20 minutes to walk the whole thing! There are fish and eels that make you feel like you are in a real like Little Mermaid movie. This is probably one of the best aquarium type displays I have walked through. Before heading to the water park, take about 20 minutes to walk the grounds of Atlantis. It is so large and sprawling you probably won’t cover much ground but stop inside one of the hotels and take in its beauty!
The Water Park
The water park is another section in the resort. There is fencing that separates it from the resort. We flashed our wrist bands and we were in!
Travel Tip – Rent a small locker for about $10 for the day and it will hold about 5 people’s clothes/flip flops/cameras etc.
Travel Tip – Make sure you buy a good waterproof camera. We bought a waterproof camera from Nikon and it worked great! – or bring a Go Pro!
We started off by going on the lazy river which is over a mile long! It takes about 30 minutes to get through the whole thing. Don’t let the name fool you. This lazy river is anything but lazy. There are huge waves, rapids and twists and turns. We went on this 2 times and it was a lot of fun!! If you go with a group of people, you will be laughing at each other as you are thrown around in the rapids.
There are several intense water slides that I opted out of and let some of the others in our group go on. Of course, I had to snap some photos and videos. There are also a few other inner tube water slides that we went on. One took you into a clear tube that went through a shark tank!
The Beach
We spent the last two hours of the day enjoying the private Atlantis beach and took naps in the covered chairs. The breeze was amazing and the water was calm. The food at Atlantis is also not as expensive as you would think. We enjoyed a Pina Colada (or two) as well!
Travel Tip – Not taking a cruise and don’t want to pay the crazy hotel prices at Atlantis? The Comfort Suites Paradise Island is adjacent to Atlantis. This property provides guests access to Atlantis and full use of their resort facilities just one block away, and two golf courses are a mile away.
Have you been to the Bahamas? What things did you do?
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