Atlantis Resort Bahamas: Our Aquaventure Day
We received discounted passes to Aquaventure courtesy of Atlantis Resort to facilitate this post. All opinions are mine alone. #AtlantisBahamas #BahamasAtHeart
During our recent anniversary trip, our cruise stopped in Nassau, Bahamas for a day. We knew exactly what we wanted to do with our port day – visit the Atlantis Resort! Hubby couldn’t wait to try some of the water slides, while I was eager for the not-so-lazy river. If you’re considering joining in the awesome fun offered here, but not sure exactly what it’s all about, don’t worry – we’re sharing our experience at the Atlantis Resort Bahamas: Our Aquaventure Day so you can decide if you’re family would enjoy it as well.
Atlantis Resort
One great thing about making port at Nassau is that it’s docked, not tendered, so you can just walk on and off the ship. You can even see the Atlantis Resort in the distance from the cruise port!
Once you’re off the ship, it’s just a short walk to an area with plenty of taxis (that have a set rate per person, so no worries about haggling) that will take you on the 15-20 minute drive to the Atlantis Resort.
We were dropped off at the curb, then followed the signs to the admission area – it was towards the left, outside of the building. They gave us wristbands that were our entrance passes to everything Aquaventure includes – water slides, pools, rivers and beaches, plus the Atlantis ‘excavation’ area. Then we were off on our adventure! We took our time walking through the hotel – checking out the fun decor and AMAZING and GIANT glass sculptures. There’s also plenty of fountains and such near their massive aquarium.
Be sure to explore the aquarium and the ‘excavation’ area – they designed it as if there were remnants of the actual Atlantian culture, complete with models, sculptures, and ‘submarines’ that may have been used for them to travel under water. It’s really cool – and the fish and stingrays were really neat to watch. We noticed at least TWO different types of stingrays, which was fun comparing them.
Once we had made our way through this tunnel area, we went to a locker station to place our belongings. We had waterproof phone lanyards so we could keep our phones and credit card with us (for lunch), so we were able to take photos and such. Lockers ranged in price from about $12ish/$14ish up to just over $20ish I believe. Our medium sized one was about $16. It’s important to note that they don’t take CASH, so be sure to have a card with you. They have towels there that you’re allowed to use, as well. Be sure to check out the maps because there are a TON of different areas – be sure to check out your top priorities first, in case you don’t have time to make it to the other ones.
Atlantis Resort Leap of Faith
I wanted to make absolute sure that hubby got to do the Leap of Faith slide – the one that goes almost straight down, then you shoot through a tube in the shark aquarium! Yes, I’ve done it in the past, but this was his first time – he thought it was great fun. Both of us do want to point out that it’s SUPER quick, not even 30 seconds probably, and you don’t really see the sharks while going through the tube because you’re going so fast and there’s water splashing in your face. It’s still a great feeling being able to say you tried it though!
Next to that is the Serpent Slide, which is next to the Leap of Faith. This one allows you to go in a one or two person tube, first through a totally dark enclosed water slide, then coming out to move SLOWLY through a larger tunnel going through the shark area. I like this one because you just glide along in the enclosure, so you have time to look around and actually SEE the sharks swimming in the water on the other side of the glass/tube.
After those two slides, we went over to that not-so-lazy river I told you about – The Current. You’re propelled in tubes (one person or two – we enjoyed the two, since we were on our anniversary trip, after all) with large waves through beautiful rivers, up and down water escalators (you can stay on the tube, no stress), and extreme rapids. There’s plenty of areas to get out, so if you only want to do a section then it’s perfectly fine. We went around a few times, loving the adventurous rapids and rolling waves mixed with the relaxing flow of the slower sections.
During our time on The Current, we stopped for the Power Tower – a very tall building that houses several of the more intense water slides. I chilled in the water by the river while hubby tried these ones, and he said they were a lot of fun! I guess there’s a section along the river we were on that you can get on another water escalator that’ll take you to the top of the tower, so you don’t have to carry your tube all the way up stairs – but we didn’t find it during our time there.
Some of the slides in Power Tower used tubes, while The Abyss was tubeless. Hubby said this was probably the most intense in his opinion, as it drops almost straight down in total darkness, levels out for a bit so you start to relax, then drops again!
There’s actually several places you can choose between to eat (unless your lunch is included in your excursion, I’m not sure how that works), but we were closest to the Riverbend Cafe near the entrance to The Current. It was reasonably priced – about as you would expect from a water park. The pizza I got was about what you’d expect as well – not great, but not awful either – and hubby really enjoyed his wrap. The staff was very friendly and great! Both our meals came with LOTS of fries.
While we focused on more older kid/adult stuff, we did see plenty that young kids could do as well – like this fun water playground! It makes me hopeful that I can bring my whole family here sometime to check out that perspective of Atlantis Resort Aquaventure.
One thing we realized later that we didn’t do but wanted to was The Challenger slide – it’s two slides side-by-side that you race on. They even have a timer board at the bottom of each slide so you can see EXACTLY how fast each person went, and who the real winner was 🙂 I would’ve loved to race hubby, but we’ll just have to prioritize it more next time!
There’s also SEVERAL pools to choose from – some are adult-only, some are reserved just for guests, and some are more shallow and geared towards kids. Basically, they have something for everyone! Plus it’s neat to be swimming along in a pool with beautiful waterfalls nearby 🙂
We had an absolutely AMAZING time, and agree that it’s one of our funnest days on our trip – we can’t wait to go back again, either as a couple (because it was super great to enjoy together) or as a whole family to see how it’d be for kiddos, too! If you’re considering taking a day to do the Atlantis Resort Aquaventure, both hubby and I highly recommend it – and don’t forget to do the Leap of Faith for bragging rights!
Which slide at Atlantis Resort Bahamas would YOU do first?
Check out our other posts from our cruising fun!
5 Common Cruising Myths Debunked!
Why Shorter Cruises are Totally Worth It
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