Finding your Bahamas

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“Let the currents bring you here.” – Unknown

Many years ago, my parents spent their honeymoon in the Bahamas and my mom still talks about going back. When we were deciding where our next winter getaway was going to be and the Bahamas caught our hearts and imagination. Our main requirement? Good snorkeling. The Bahamas has some of the best snorkeling in the Caribbean and we were instantly hooked.

If you are planning on going to Nassau, the capital and arguably the most popular location in the Bahamas I recommend staying at the Comfort Suites next to Atlantis because you get a full breakfast and every day you can go over to Atlantis and get a bracelet that gives you access to everything Atlantis has to offer without the price tag.

Atlantis really is something to behold. It has a huge casino, lots of restaurants, shopping, several beaches and pools, an aquarium, and a water park. You really don’t have to leave the resort if you don’t want to, everything you could possibly want is at your fingertips. But let’s be honest why would you go to a new place just to stay holed up in a resort when there is so much to explore?!

Atlantis Waterpark and Aquarium

We did spend our fair share of time at Atlantis, mostly for the waterslides, because who doesn’t love waterslides? They have lots of different options, from individual slides to group slides with tubes, it truly has something for everyone. As you walk around the massive property there are hidden hot tubs and a surprising number of pools just steps away from the ocean.

One of the main features of the waterpark is the not so lazy river. Taking a tube, you can lounge in the river that circles around the entirety of the park. However, if you picture yourself floating down this river with a cocktail in your hand, don’t, it’s not that kind of river. As I got onto my little tube I was lured into a false sense of security as I slowly floated around the river.

Then I reached the bend where the waves are generated. I thought I would just get an extra push from the wave but as I looked behind me at the giant wave coming straight at me, the good feeling was gone. It hit me in the back and pushed me completely over. I popped up coughing and sputtering as my tube floated away trying desperately to grab onto it and pull myself back in before the next one hit. No such luck, I had just pulled myself into the tube, on my stomach, when I was slammed into by another wave and found myself once again out of my tube.

The saddest part is I think I may have been the only person on that river who went over. After that we went on the lazy river with the two-person tube and somehow, miraculously, didn’t go over.

After, if you need a break from the heat or from ridding the slides, or have been beaten up by the lazy river one to many times, I would check out the aquarium. This gives you a preview of some of the things you will see when you head out on your snorkeling adventure. Or your more of a beach bum than a mermaid this is a great way to experience the beauty of the reefs and tropical fish without setting foot in the water.

Snorkeling

But the highlight of the area, or at least in my opinion, is the snorkeling. We signed up for a tour, with Stuart’s Cove Dive Bahamas that went out from the filming location for Flipper. This particular tour took you to two separate snorkel sights and then to swim with the sharks.

You want make sure you have a good underwater camera for this adventure. The first sight had multiple statues, so mournful and eerie it made you feel like you had come across a graveyard. There was also a small passenger plane, purposely sunk in the area for filming purposes, that you could snorkel up to. It was like being in a whole other world with the light filtering through the murky waters and the statues standing sentinel to the plane wreckage. Tropical fish have made this place their home along with several corals.

Back in the boat we rounded the island, cruising by another filming site, to snorkel another location that was absolutely teeming with life. The tour operators put food in the water to attract the tropical fish but the corals alone were absolutely magnificent. There were many different fan corals and brain corals and the waters were bursting with color from the plethora of tropical fish in the area. As schools of fish darted in and out around the corals you felt like you had become part of the group as you became completely surrounded. You could almost reach out and touch them there were so many fish around you.

Our final stop was to swim with the sharks. Out in the open water there is a ship wreckage where the tour operators send down a box of bait. The sharks have learned that this is where the food will be at a certain time every day and have grown to expect it. As they lowered the bait box they simultaneously sent out a long rope for our group to hold onto. Then we each eased our way out onto that little life line, holding onto the hope that the little rope in our hands would be enough to protect us from drifting out to sea or from being eaten by sharks.

As you are floating out in the ocean, as a group, you can look down into the water and watch the sharks feed. As the feeding starts to wrap up the tour operators tell you to start coming in out of the water. Well, we were some of the first ones out on the tether and were therefore some of the last that would be getting out of the water. It was chaos as people tried to quickly pull their way back to the boat. I think everyone had a slight sense of panic as they tried to swim to safety.

As I inched my way closer to the boat, the sharks started to get closer to me and I silently willed the people ahead of me to hurry up and get on the boat. My boyfriend meanwhile was still taking photos and watching the sharks as if there were no real sense of urgency.

All was well in the end, just a little adrenaline rush as you feel like you are just a floating line of rotisserie for the sharks. I’m not trying to take anything away from the tour operators, it was an extremely well-run tour and they definitely seemed knowledgeable and professional, I just let my own silly fear overcome me momentarily.                    

Off the resort

After such an exciting day you are famished. There are so many options in Atlantis, but all of them, quite honestly, are budget busters. We tried one sushi restaurant in the hotel, and it was delicious, but the bill was over $100 and we were still hungry after.

If you want good food, for a decent price, you need to leave the resort. I know this sounds like a no brainer but so many people just stick close to the resorts because it’s easy. Please tell me how you are going to get a real authentic Bahamian experience if you stay on the resort?

Atlantis, and subsequently, the Comfort Suites are on their own island, connected by a bridge to mainland Nassau. If you walk across that giant connector bridge, made mostly for vehicular traffic, to the mainland and walk directly underneath the bridge you will come upon treasure trove of food options. The area is lined in small food shacks, filled with locals.

At our chosen spot, there was a boat tied to the dock containing the days catch of conch. They would pull up what they needed as the day went on and prepare the conch for cooking. It just doesn’t get any fresher than this.

When the locals realize you are a tourist (which doesn’t take long), they invite you in the back to see them shuck the conch out of the shell and then try to sell you the shell. Hey, everyone has to make a living somehow right?

Otherwise, the food is so fresh I just couldn’t get enough of the conch salad and conch fritters. I think that is all I ate every time we went to visit those shacks. If you want a real Bahamian experience, this is where you want to go.

Other fun places are in the downtown area of Nassau, though I would be careful walking around the area as people offered to sell us some pretty hard drugs. Regardless, we went to Señor Frogs and though it wasn’t as busy as I had been told it would be, it was still a good time. They had several drinking games, good food, and a really fun atmosphere. The ceiling is covered in funny signs and the seats at the bar are different butts. It’s such a lighthearted and fun place to check out.

The other downtown spot that is a must do is the Fish Fry. This is a string of restaurants specializing in local cuisine, different from the Fish Fry in Turks and Caicos, with its open air tents. The Fish Fry in the Bahamas is more like a strip mall, but you can still get good local food and a beer for cheap.

I highly recommend checking out Nassau, Bahamas but there are so many different islands to explore that you just can’t do it all in one short trip. Have you been to the Bahamas? I would love to hear about your adventures or even misadventures.