An entirely new world; in ruins, unexplored for centuries and hidden under the sea. From its first words, the myth of Atlantis is one that captures your heart, as well as your imagination, completely!
The Atlantis Paradise Island Resort is the closest existing realisation (as far as we know) of Plato’s famous tale. Perched on a small island adjacent to Nassau in the Bahamas, the resort consists of five separate hotels. The Beach Tower and Coral Towers were the first to be built on the estate by original hotel developer Saul Kerzer back in 1994. Then, we have the Royal Towers, which is the main hotel and is ranked as one of the most expensive in the world. This hotel is right beside the Marina and Harborside Village with its long strips of shops and restaurants. Finally, the resort has recently made renovations and in doing so, went ahead and added two more hotels; the Cove and The Reef.
Now that all the technical, descriptive stuff is out of the way, we can get on to the interesting part! The open aquarium at The Atlantis Paradise Island Resort is the largest in the world, and, in the true spirit of Atlantis, contains something like fifty thousand species of sea life. The two newer hotels were built with a waterpark complex that brought my inner child to his knees! The cornucopia of pools and slides run throughout the resort and are themselves interconnected by a system of rafts so that you can explore the entire resort without ever leaving the water. Among the things that will blow your mind is a replica of the semi-submerged city of Atlantis dropped right in the centre of the resort. The twist is, they enclosed it in an 11-million gallon water tank and topped it full of amazing and exotic fish.
As activities go; you can dive, swim with dolphins, walk with sharks and jump from an 18-meter leap of faith, to name a few. There are more restaurants, shops, nightclubs and casinos than you can shake a stick at! If all the swimming, dancing, and general debauchery get a little too overwhelming, there is also 6583.60 metres (21600 ft.) of golf course available for you to release your inner elderly gentleman.
As you’ve more than likely guessed, this resort is geared toward families, but if you’re looking for a more mature visit to this giant water park (for some reason), then you should check into a room at either the Cove or the Reef. They were designed for a more sophisticated and dignified visit to Atlantis (whatever that means).
As with everything in this life, there are a few flaws to the place. Firstly, the resort seems to have no concept of ‘affordable.’ At any time of year, prices are quite up there. Luckily, I did my research beforehand and found that you can book a room at the Comfort Suites, off the Marina Village. The rooms are generally cheaper than that of on resort and come with full access to the resort.
Another issue I found is that the price you pay isn’t all inclusive. There are extra charges for the activities like dolphin swimming and shark walking. There is no real way around this, and when you take into consideration that you also have to buy food, which comes with its own astronomical price tag, the only real answer is to plan your vacation about a year in advance so you can save.
It really is an entirely unique experience, and if you can afford it, I strongly recommend that you pay a visit to The Atlantis Paradise Island Resort and let your inner child run – or rather swim – free!
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