Family trip to the Atlantis Resort Bahamas

The minute we passed Customs is when our Bahamian vacation had begun. We were all pretty tired flying a red eye and changing two planes with three kids (ages 7, 12, and 16)  to get here but I knew it was going to be perfect. How can it not be perfect-- you’re going to the Bahamas baby! This was our family's first time in the Bahamas so we decided to stay at the Atlantis since we had heard so much about it. While our shuttle was driving through the streets of Nassau for about 40 minutes to our resort, we could see the Atlantis from a far distance at Paradise Island, and it took my breath away.

Finally we arrived at our destination, which was the Coral tower, one of many towers the resort offers for guests to stay at. This is the tower where you do all your check-ins & check-outs. The check-in went smoothly and they told us our rooms were ready. The best part about it? We didn’t have to wait until 3:00 pm to get in our rooms like we were originally told to. Atlantis has the nicest staff you will find. I’d say the day is going real GOOD!

Now we’re ready to go check out our joining rooms for 5. We are heading through the long, beautiful hallways to finally settle down in our rooms at the Beach Tower (the tower connected to the Coral Tower). Later that same day we took a tour on our own of the mega-resort Atlantis property and everywhere you turn it is manicured to perfection. This place almost looks like the real Lost City! We quickly got over how tired we were after seeing the grounds and waterfalls, lagoons filled with sharks and stingrays, fast-moving streams, beautiful walkways, plus the aquariums hidden in caves all around the resort.




Did I mention the crystal clear, turquoise blue beaches awaiting us? You really come to appreciate this little paradise called The Atlantis. JUST BEAUTIFUL! Now, I'm a planner and I don’t like to go somewhere with high expectations and later get disappointed. Thanks to all the reviews I’ve been reading online, I knew I got this.

While in California I was able to make some important and money-saving choices. I heard about an online grocery store called www.foodstore2go.com/ Someone was thinking of us moms! It is a great service for arriving guests at any hotel who have a mini fridge in their room and are on a budget, especially Atlantis guests. I had preordered my items while still in California. Once we arrived to the resort, our food was delivered to our room only an hour after our arrival.  Wow, now that’s good service! In case you’re curious to know what kind of items I had ordered, it was mainly breakfast items (although the service isn’t just for breakfast) like a gallon of milk, yogurt, apple juice, ham & cheese, 24 bottles of water, etc. I had a large carry-on bag that I brought with me on the flight filled with small cereal boxes, sandwich bread, bagels, chips, nuts & dry fruits, chocolate for the sweet tooth, cereal bowls, and spoons, which all definitely came in handy. This also gave the kids, my husband, and I some extra time to sleep in instead of worrying about missing the breakfast buffets. We all ate breakfast at our own leisure without having to spend a fortune.

You have to remember that the Atlantis is not an all inclusive resort and everything here is four times the price with 15% mandatory tip added to your food bill. So we have to be smart about our spending for 5 people in the next 8 days. The Atlantis resort is pretty impressive and expensive. Of course we already knew this before hand and planned it ahead

Now, enough said about savings. Our first morning we spent at the beach, which was only one of many that the Atlantis has to offer. The three beaches: Atlantis Beach, Cove Beach, and Paradise Beach. They are so clear you can see through it, and so blue it almost looks like a post card. I really wish we had some beautiful turquoise beaches like this in California. We did a lot of swimming with the kids, and they loved it! They couldn’t believe that they were actually in the Bahamas!.

Later that day we headed for the Aquaventure. (Atlantis’ very own water park) We walked several miles per day around the park, most of it consisting of just getting around the resort. Don't worry about putting on extra calories on here! My kids could not get enough of Aquaventure!  Mom & dad, just so you know, the kids have to be 48 inches tall to go on the BIG slides, which include the Leap of Faith, Serpent slide, Challenger Slides, Jungle Slides, the Drop, The Falls, The Abyss, and the Surge. Plan ahead and don't get the kiddies disappointed.

Note: Free shuttles transport guests around the property if you're to tired to walk.

Tip: All Poolside food and soft drink services are reasonable and open till 5:30pm.

They also have several locations for little kids, one of which includes Splashers, Ripples, Poseidon’s pool & water park. I went there with Thomas and we had a blast. His favorite part was the bucket on top that pours down on you once it is completely full! You will get soaked! They do have slides for smaller kids as well so no one is left out.

Note: All pools at Atlantis close at 7:00pm

Note: Gym goers can sign up and pay as you go or you can save by signing up for the week for only $50 and go as much as you want.

Atlantis has 11 separate pools including 3 kiddie pools. Our favorite spot was at the pool closest to the entrance of Mayan Temple, simply called the Mayan Temple Pool.

You can easily lose your family however if you don’t plan well. At least I thought we did? We all decided to leave our belongings near the pool we were at and head for the big slides. All three of my kids are pretty adventurous and daring, so I had no worries there. Nelly, Thomas, and I jumped onto the Surge and my husband and Anthony went on the Abyss. Now, the Surge has those inflatable tubes you sit on and the Abyss does not. The Surge leads you straight into the lazy river, but be warned: this lazy river is definitely not “lazy”! It is known for its rapids, drops, and also for its paths leading in completely opposite directions. Nelly had been recording us with the water camera while we were making goofy faces into it, when while we weren’t paying attention, the river took over, and separated her from me and Tommy. We found each other almost one hour later by our belongings. As for Anthony and my husband, they were safe in sound in the hotel room watching TV all along while we ran in, soaked from head to toe.

Note: You'll be given a room key which is also used to charge everything you eat, do and play onto your room key and paid at the end of your stay by credit card or cash. Immediately notify the front desk for your missing key and they will give you a new key free of charge.

 Our nightly routine was going to the Marina Village to have dinner (and also people watch!) This is the place to see million dollar yachts, walk along the piers, see the nightly Junkanoo parades Wednesday and Saturday nights, and dine at all the awesome restaurants that are amazing. Our favorite go-to restaurants were Johnny Rocket’s, Marina Pizzeria, and of course for dessert, Ben & Jerry’s

The Marina at night-just beautiful to take in...




Thomas' 8th birthday celebration!

Another must-see attraction that the Atlantis has to offer is what is known as The Dig. The Dig holds the record for being the largest such exhibit in the Caribbean and one of the largest in the world. I could get lost just staring and getting mesmerized into the marine life The Giant Manta ray had to be my favorite. The gentle giant has to be one of the most beautiful sea creatures out there. Seeing all this took my breath away. Once again, all this is one of many beautiful creations of God. I feel so blessed and am so grateful to my Lord for letting me see all of this.

And so, the stare-off begins...

                                
Manta Ray swimming in the top left corner, a gentle giant and true beauty!

I had arranged a power boat excursion to the Exuma Islands for the family, in which I had secured a 10% discount by booking directly with them ahead of time at http://www.powerboatadventures.com/


My husband and kids had no idea what they were about to experience. I couldn’t wait to see the look on their faces once the power boat jets off! We were collected from the Coral Tower at Atlantis at 8:30 am as promised.

We were taken to their boats on the Paradise Island harbor, and just after signing a contract, the trip began with a 45 minute high speed boat ride and a cranked up James Bond theme song made the experience that much more fun! It was just awesome! Our first stop was an island inhabited by iguanas in a beautiful location where you are provided with a handful of grapes for each person. We found sticks on the shore and popped on the grapes. Soon, we started chasing after the iguanas to make sure they are fed. Although they were very friendly, be warned ladies with red polish (or any color polish for that matter) on your feet: the iguanas have poor eyesight and tend to mistake painted toes for grapes, so they will bite them if you do not bury them in the sand.

The crew offered us a dive off from the front of the boat. Whoever did not want to take the jump climbed off the ladder in the back, but for those who were feeling more adventurous like my hubby, daughter, and older son Anthony, had jumped from the front!





After about 15 minutes of iguana mingling, we were back onto the boat for about a 10 minute high speed ride to our private island. We arrived at our dream destination. By the look of it, I knew this day was going to be fantastic! Wow, these guys really had this adventure planned to perfection! The kids were pretty excited getting off the boat onto our private island. Once we were on the island we went for drinks at the open bar, all included. They put out chips & salsa and some sandwiches for our hungry appetites before they serve us the all you can eat buffet after about an hour or so of snorkeling in waters and feeding sting rays and sharks. During our encounter with petting and feeding the amazing rays, I couldn’t believe how they would swim onto our laps to pick up the food and just be friendly with you. This went on for a while and later the staff had lured in the sharks from open sea for us to see while we were on the edge of the shore. They were there to push the sharks away from us with a long pole. However, they were still splashing around, teeth bared and all, just waiting to be fed whole fishes on a pole.
  

Thomas made new friends and also received a friendship bracelet. Cool kids!

Later in the afternoon our tour guide made tasty, fresh, and healthy conch salad for us right on the beach, using onions, limes, tomatoes, and, yes! Real conch from inside conch shells. Thomas, my youngest, ate the conch salad without any hesitation. Now that’s not something you see many kids do! Despite getting the sunburn of our lives, I can go on forever about this beautiful island & our excursion but instead let the pictures do the explaining.

 

This morning we all decided to have breakfast buffet at the Market Place. It is also my baby’s 8^Th birthday! We all enjoyed the breakfast very much. Time for mom to get some action going here for Thomas’ birthday! First, I whispered to our waitress letting her know about his special day. Of course, little Thomas was curious as to what I just said to her, so I told him that I wanted her to bring more “cups” to the table. He wasn’t convinced but let it slide. About 10 minutes later, my daughter gets out the camcorder and whispers, “Mom, look over there.” We both look back and in the far corner of the restaurant, there were about 3 waiters and our waitress, all with some sort of musical instrument. Now, we had no idea what was going to happen, but we knew it was for Thomas, because they were all pointing over to our table, as if to verify that he is the birthday boy. Next thing we know, the restaurant erupts with music and singing as the 4 made their way through the tables like a mini parade! Of course, everyone else had no idea what in the world was going on, that is, until they looked over at our table. Thomas had the brightest look in his eyes, knowing that all this was for him, but at the same time, you could tell he felt a bit weird getting all this attention. Afterwards, all he could say was, “Oh mom, I knew it.”







                                                             Is the omelet ready yet?



                                                 
                       Love his facial expression here!

That afternoon at 1:15pm we got ready to take our last tour of the week which was the city tour & Ardastra Gardens. Our first stop was at Fort Charlotte. It was originally built for the invasion of the French in 1789, but unfortunately they never arrived. Instead, the British attacked with a surprise invasion. Today the Bahamas is celebrating 40 years of political independence from Britain. Happy Anniversary Bahamas!

 Ardastra Gardens is a beautiful small quiet zoo located in a historic part of Nassau. This was a nice break from the water activity at Atlantis. First thing we did when we arrived was to head for the lorikeet feeding. Guests go into their enclosure and are given apple slices to hold up. The birds come flying and landing all over your hands, shoulders, and heads! Everyone’s reaction was priceless.

Afterwards we headed to the Arena to view the marching flamingos. This had to be the highlight of the day. These flamingos were trained over the years to march like soldiers and follow any command that is given to them. They followed their trainer’s commands and marched around the enclosed arena. Around the end of the show, several kid guests were invited into the arena with the flamingos to take pictures and to get a chance to march with them. As you could have guessed, with it being Thomas’ birthday, that day he was invited in with the flamingos. When his turn came, he had to stand on one leg surrounded by the flamingos that were featured in the National Geographic magazine in the October 1957 issue. One of them even gave him a little kiss on the back of the head! That was my happy mom moment to take a million snap shots. Overall experience: Wonderful!!!

On our last day, we were off to the airport to fly back to sweet old California, but we had no idea what was on our hands. Long story short, we didn’t actually get home until about a day later, we couldn’t fly to our stop in Newark due to severe weather, and we were basically stuck in Albany, New York until the weather cleared up. Thank God, it did. This has truly been one trip to remember!

                                                                        Albany, NY

                        Bon voyage everyone! I'm flying home!