Splashing out
Atlantis Paradise resort pricey but worth it
My daughter circled the sun, bobbing around the yellow mosaic tile work at the bottom of the pool. Everywhere in the Royal Baths, the water was no deeper than a metre, which meant that my nineyear-old could touch the bottom wherever she happened to float.
I felt no need to play lifeguard. My iced coffee was within arm’s reach. I closed my eyes, ready for deep relaxation. That’s when I heard the shriek.
A woman was racing down the Leap of Faith — a near-vertical slide that starts at the top of a mock Mayan temple and shoots riders in a clear tube through sharkinfested waters. A few minutes later, another daredevil, another cry. It kept up all day and soon was just background noise.
Complete relaxation was not in the cards for me at Atlantis Paradise Island, and I never should have dreamed it was. The resort, on a spit of land called Paradise Island near the Bahamas’ capital city of Nassau, is designed to recall the mythic lost city of Atlantis. It has a 57-hectare, open-air water park with two rivers, including a version with rapids and rolling waves, 18 water slides and so many swimming pools that visitors can choose a different one every day for nearly two weeks. The resort also has more than a dozen marine habitats that show off clown fish, sea turtles, starfish and sharks.
Given the enticing options, my daughter and I were often on the run, or plunging down a slide.
More quiet, grown-up pleasures include a spa, a posh hotel with an adultsonly pool, restaurants by big-name chefs and a golf course. Parents can drop their children at a variety of kids’ clubs if they choose.
I was at the resort because last winter, banner ads kept popping up on my computer: Atlantis was offering a free airline seat for a companion. The fourth night for free. The fourth night for free plus two free dolphin experiences.
The dolphins finally did me in. My daughter had long wanted to frolic with her favourite marine mammal. Meanwhile, I was increasingly intrigued by the offerings. I knew the resort was huge. With six hotels in a range of prices, it has an abundance of rooms to fill. But were the deals true bargains?
A freebie frolic with a dolphin certainly is, but we still spent lots of money — an average of $160 a day. That was beyond the $1,000 cost of the room. Granted, we declined the gratis fourth night, so we packed a lot of souvenir buying into three days. Vacationers looking for a more predictable price can sign up for a meal plan.
“We waited in line 30 minutes for dinner last night. When we finally got to our seat, we learned it was $49 (each) for the two of us and $25 for the kids,” a mother of three told me on the beach. She warned me if you want photos of your child cuddling a dolphin, it’ll cost you $60 US for the basic package and more than $200 for one that includes photos and a CD. That’s because you are forbidden from carrying your own camera into the water for the dolphin experience.
“Still,” she said, “we’re very happy here.”
“Yeah, we are, too,” I said.
I decided the resort lures visitors with giveaways, but gets its money anyway. Frankly, I am glad the tactic worked with me. I had far more fun than I imagined I would, riding the swells on the river in a double innertube beside my squealing girl, racing down slides and diving into waves. It was not just easy access to the Atlantic, or the impeccably groomed grounds, or the water park that made me like Atlantis so much. It was the remarkable marine life features. A ray flipped up a wing, as if to welcome us, even before we checked into our room at the Royal Towers hotel. The main lobby is open to the lower level, where expansive windows offer views of an ocean’s worth of fish as part of a display known as The Dig.
That aquatic showcase plays up the lost-city theme with grouper, sharks and other species gliding among imaginary Atlantis ruins. The Dig also holds special tanks for venomous lionfish, sea horses, jellyfish and moray eels. The dim hallways are mazelike and the ruins have mysterious petroglyphs, so you feel as though you’re on an underwater expedition.
On our last day, we walked to Dolphin Cay, a man-made environment filled with seawater and dolphins. We joined a group, shimmied into wetsuits, watched a video about dolphins and headed into the water to meet our pal.
The trainer told us a bit about dolphins and then it was playtime. We got to hug and kiss the bottlenose, feed it and watch it twirl and jump with other dolphins.
The experience was a microcosm of Atlantis itself: a tad expensive, entirely wonderful and over too soon.