One of the stops on our recent cruise on the Norwegian Sky was at Nassau, Bahamas. We decided to spend the day at Atlantis enjoying their amazing water park. Read all about our day and our tips for future travelers below:
Cost:
Because this was just a day stop on our cruise, we did not stay at the Atlantis property. They sell day passes for access to their waterpark, Aquaventure. Prices for the day pass that Atlantis was selling on their website for that day were $135 each. Matt and I decided to book the excursion through our cruise ship even though it was a little more expensive (we each paid $170). We went this route because because neither of us had been to Atlantis before and we weren’t positive where we would need to go on the property to purchase our wristbands or how much transportation to and from Atlantis would be.
Getting There:
Because we booked through the cruise line, they had shuttles that took us from the boat to the entrance of Atlantis. The boat docked at 8am and our shuttles dropped us off at 9am. Once we arrived on property, a Norwegian employee escorted us to the waterpark and pointed out a few of the other things we had access to with our pass (beaches, aquarium, etc.). This was really helpful because I’m sure Matt and I would have gotten lost trying to navigate the property on our own.
The Morning:
Because we arrived at 9am, the park was pretty empty. Matt and I were able to walk around and take in truly how massive this place was. They have 11 pools, 6 huge slides, a unique lagoon, and of course, 5+ miles of beaches.
Lockers:
We decided to rent a locker because we didn’t want to leave our stuff unattended as we were working our way through the park. They had multiple sizes available in the locker room at various prices. We opted for the small which fit our stuff fine. It was $17 for the entire day.
Atlantis has several towel stations throughout the park that lend you towels for no additional charge, so that was really convenient. After applying sunscreen and getting our stuff put away in the locker, we hung out at the pool for about 15 minutes. It’s important to note that the waterslides don’t open until 10am, so that’s probably why the park was so empty when we arrived. There are 4 slides that require a tube and 4 that riders just go down on their back. The tube rides were by far our favorite because in addition to the typical single-rider tubes, they had double tubes as an option that allowed Matt and I to go down the slides together.
Three of the slides are located at the Mayan Temple (closest to the entrance to the park). This is where Atlantis’ famous Shark Tunnel is housed. The other three are located at the Power Tower in the center of the park. These slides start a lot higher up and there’s actually an awesome view from the top of the whole park. Matt and I didn’t try every waterslide that they had, but here are our thoughts on the ones we did ride.
The Current
The current is Atlantis’ mile-long river rapids ride. You can float through the course on a single tube by yourself or with on a double tube with a friend. Sections of the river are very calm and similar to a lazy river. Other parts have intense rapids that spin you around and speed you up rather quickly. There are multiple exit points of the river rapids so you can ride all the way through or get out and take your tube to a slide.
Mayan Temple Water Slides:
Serpent Slide-
This is the ride that Atlantis is probably most known for. We chose to ride this one first when the slides opened at 10am. After we grabbed our double tube, we stood in line for about 6 minutes waiting for the rides to open. Once we got up to the entrance of the ride, there were a few people in front of us. We waited about 5 minutes until it was our turn to go. This is the longest we had to wait at any ride all day. We were at the park on Halloween day, so I’m guessing the lack of lines was just because it isn’t a busy time for Atlantis. I’ve heard from other people who have visited in more of a peak season that they have had to wait a while for the rides.
This ride was super awesome and we rode it again a few times throughout the day. This slide is the only slide that you ride with a tube at Mayan Temple. Pressured water (and a little push from the water slide attendant) send you and your tube through a dark tunnel of twists, turns, and sudden drops. The best part about this ride is after all this excitement when you float slowly through a tunnel with sharks swimming all around you. After making your way through the tunnel, your tube slides down one more little drop before drifting you into a little pool. Then you pop out of the pool and can carry your tube back to the start to ride it again if you’d like!
Challenger Slides-
This is the only slide I tried that didn’t involve a tube. The Challenger Slides are a set of two slides that have opponents racing straight down to a pool to see who finishes first. Once you land in the pool, there’s a stopwatch time display that shows who the winner of the race was!
Leap of Faith- Matt was actually the one who rode this slide because I was too afraid to. They don’t call it “Leap of Faith” for nothing! It’s essentially a straight down drop on your back and is definitely the fastest ride in the park. You fly underneath the shark tank but its actually hard to tell because you’re going so fast. It ends by shooting you out into a small pool. Matt said it was a cool ride, but he preferred the tube options as well.
Power Tower Water Slides:
The Drop-
This is the slide we actually rode the most, we loved it! All of the tube rides at the Power Tower actually start you on a conveyor belt that sends you up and helps you get some height before the ride starts. It featured lots of ups and sharp drops down in dark tunnels. The best part is that this tube ride sends you into the The Current, Atlantis’ river rapids.
The Surge-
By the end of our day, I had finally worked up the courage to try this ride out. It was a tube ride, but it had the highest starting point of any other slide at the park. While it looks like you are going to drop straight down into a free fall at the start, you actually have a short drop before going through some sharp twists and turns in a tunnel. This ride also ends in the river rapids. And you can stay in your tube and float through the rapids back to the starting point of the ride, if you’d like to go again.
The Abyss-
We didn’t end up trying this ride because it wasn’t a tube ride and only allowed for single riders at a time. It did look pretty cool though because riders end in an indoor pool with fish tanks all around you.
Lunch:
We ate lunch at a little restaurant in the middle of the park called Shark Bites. We each had a bacon burger with fries and multiple refills of ice water. The burgers were delicious and reasonably priced (for Atlantis) at $16 each. It was nice to grab a bite without venturing too far away from the action. And in typical Atlantis style, the service was impeccable. It’s important to note that Atlantis is cashless, so if you plan on eating lunch here or renting a locker you’ll need to use a credit or debit card.
The Beach:
Atlantis has several different beaches along the property and we took a short break from the waterslides to check out the main one, Atlantis Beach. We were only out on the beach for about 10 minutes. The sand was cool, white, and super soft and the water was super clear and blue. The section that we were at though had really intense waves, so we didn’t go out deep into the water. After listening to the sound of the waves crashing for a little bit and taking a couple of selfies, we headed back inside and stopped at the Lagoon.
The Lagoon:
The Lagoon was actually a super cool feature that I hadn’t heard much about before. This lagoon is located inside of Atlantis which makes it feel a little safer than swimming out in the middle of the ocean. It is huge and stretches across the property for seven acres!! Guests can take advantage of kayaks, snorkeling, and other water sports. Or, guests can just swim around with fish in this unique space.
There is actually a ton more to do at Atlantis’ Aquaventure, but with us only being there for a few hours (the last shuttle back to the boat was at 3:30), we didn’t get a chance to check everything out. Hopefully, we’ll be able to go back one day and stay on the property so we can check out everything Atlantis has to offer.
Overall tips:
– If possible, plan on traveling here during their off season. Being able to hop on rides with no wait was a huge plus for us.
– If you are only visiting for day (like we did), try your best to plan out what you want to do before you get there. It’s easy to spend the entire day checking out the pools and beaches and running out of time to check out all the slides or other features too.
– Rent a locker! This gave us so much peace of mind during the day because we didn’t feel comfortable leaving all of our stuff on a pool chair without keeping an eye on it. The lockers are centrally located too, so we were able to go back to them multiple times throughout the day.
– Don’t bring cash. Atlantis is cashless so you’ll need to use a debit or credit card for any purchases.
