ATLANTIS PARADISE ISLAND
BAHAMAS RESORT AND WATER PARK

Story and photos by Barb & Ron Kroll

We floated lazily down a meandering turquoise river, holding hands so our multicolored plastic tubes moved at the same pace. Palms lined our route, their fronds rustling in the breeze.

Lazy River Ride. Atlantis Paradise Hotel. Bahamas.

Photo © Barb & Ron Kroll

Drifting under a bridge, we emerged beneath a series of arched fountains. Dripping wet, we abandoned our tubes to soak under a waterfall nestled into a grotto.

Lazy River Ride, next to the Beach Tower, is only one of many things to do at the vast Atlantis resort complex, named after the legendary lost city.

Lagoon Bar. Atlantis Paradise Island. Bahamas.

Photo © Barb & Ron Kroll

Where is Atlantis?

Atlantis Paradise Island is only a 10-minute drive from the bustling duty-free stores and cruise ship terminal in Nassau, The Bahamas. Nassau is only a half-hour flight from Fort Lauderdale. Other flights from Florida to Nassau depart from Miami, Orlando, Tampa and West Palm Beach.

Water links the hotels, casino, shops and Harborside Villas. Beautiful beaches and swimming pools for kids and adults are only the beginning of the many water attractions. Aquaventure, a 63-acre water park, has a tower with four water slides. From the 200-foot-long body slide, Abyss, you plunge into a lagoon filled with alligator gar fish.

A six-story Mayan temple has five waterslides. One nearly vertical slide propels you through an acrylic tunnel in a lagoon filled with sharks. Waves push inner tube riders through underground tunnels, along rapids and down water slides in The Current, a mile-long river ride. A climbing wall entices kids to climb 12 different surfaces.

World's largest open-air marine life habitat

Atlantis Paradise Island is home to over 50,000 marine animals, from more than 200 species. At Dolphin Cay and the Dolphin Education Center, guests can wade into the 11-acre lagoon to interact with bottlenose dolphins or snorkel, swim and dive with them in deeper water, using a water scooter.

Turtle. Atlantis Paradise Island. Bahamas.

Photo © Barb & Ron Kroll

Each Atlantis hotel has different wildlife exhibits. Near the Beach Tower, the Hibiscus Turtle Lagoon shelters endangered green sea turtles. Blue and yellow parrotfish and other tropical reef fish play hide and seek in the coral of Seagrapes Lagoon. Guests can feed stingrays in the Stingray Lagoon. There are also feeding times for eels, fish, turtles and sharks.

A giant Pacific octopus, great hammerhead sharks and barracudas drew us to the Predator Lagoon, near Coral Towers. A 100-foot underwater tunnel offered close-up views. We gazed at tuna, manta rays, bonefish and zebra sharks in the Ruins Lagoon, near Royal Towers. Clownfish, moray eels, seahorses and venomous moon jellyfish are easy to see in The Dig, a maze of underwater corridors.

The Cove and The Reef

Near Aquaventure is The Cove, with 600 oceanview suites, flat screen HD TVs and poolside cabanas with butler service. Also on Paradise Beach is The Reef Atlantis. The 22-storey tower offers fully equipped kitchens and private access to Cascades Pool and Beach Club.

A Conference Center, with indoor and outdoor space for 4,000 people, features two ballrooms and 26 boardrooms. Atlantis Kids, Discovery Kids Adventure and Aqua Tots entertain children with morning, afternoon and full-day programs. Atlantis Theater shows three recent movies daily. Club Rush entertains pre-teens and teens with music and dancing.

Restaurant dining plans

With nearly two dozen restaurants and almost as many bars and lounges, it's difficult to decide where to eat at Atlantis Paradise Island. Casual restaurants include the Lagoon Bar & Grill, near the casino and Coral Towers. In the Cave Grill near the Beach Tower, we enjoyed lunch, while watching fish through aquarium windows in the grotto wall.

There are three buffet restaurants: Mosaic, next to the Cove Atlantis, Water's Edge, at Coral Towers, and Marketplace, at Royal Towers. Fast food places include the Marina Pizzeria, near the casino, and the Village Creamery in Marina Village.

Beach Tower and palms. Atlantis Paradise Island. Bahamas.

Photo © Barb & Ron Kroll

Eight high-end restaurants offer gourmet meals. Bobby Flay's award-winning Mesa Grill is next to The Reef Atlantis. Chef Nobu Matsuhisa's Japanese restaurant, Nobu, is in the casino, next to the Atlantis Marina. Chef Jean-Georges Vongerichten's Café Martinique also overlooks the marina.

Restaurants can be expensive if you order à la carte, but dining plans reduce prices considerably.

Things to do at Atlantis

Each day brings new pleasures: a stroll along the beaches, a jaunt across the swinging rope suspension bridge to a free-form pool for a swim and a trip around a lagoon on a water tricycle, built for two.

Without leaving the resort, you can enjoy massages, saunas and hydrotherapy in Mandara spa, 18 holes of golf at the Ocean Club Golf Course and tennis at the Sports Center and Fitness Facility. Shopping is conveniently close at the BahamaCraft Centre, Marina Village Shops and Crystal Court Shops.

After dark, lights illuminate the pools, waterfalls and palms, while romantic music plays softly from speakers hidden in the tropical flowers. Atlantis Casino, the largest casino in the Caribbean, has 1,000 slot machines and 100 gaming tables. Also popular is the Jokers Wild Comedy Club and Aura, a two-story nightclub, with a sunken dance floor and two bars.

Nassau and Paradise Island activities

Tour desks at Atlantis Paradise Island offer more sightseeing and entertainment: deep-sea fishing, sunset cruises, Nassau tours and helicopter flights over Nassau/Paradise Island.

TRAVEL INFORMATION

Atlantis Paradise Island: www.atlantis.com