When you dock at the port of Nassau, Atlantis Resort is hard to miss.
With over 2,300 rooms, 35 restaurants & bars, a casino, and the most awesome water park anywhere, Atlantis is more destination than a resort.
In the past, our cruise stops in Nassau, Bahamas took us to the Straw Market and public beaches. While we saw Atlantis from a distance, it never occurred to us to take a trip over to Paradise Island to experience at least some of the resort. Instead, we bummed around town and had a less than exciting time.
This time was different.
My daughter had been begging me for months to visit Atlantis, and a surprise change in our cruise itinerary had us docking in Nassau for the day. There was only one excursion I would even consider: An Atlantis day pass for Aquaventure Water Park.
Because of our excitement, we tried to get off the boat as early as possible. In our case, it was 8:00 am. We weren’t the only ones with Atlantis on our itinerary — the cruise terminal was a madhouse. Our two options to get to Atlantis were: Taxi and Water Taxi. Even with a taxi, it took us an hour from the time we got off the ship until we arrived at Atlantis.
Since this was our first visit to Atlantis, we found navigating the resort to be a little tricky. After some confusion, we picked up our tickets at the Discover Atlantis desk, which is located at the Coral Towers.
Update: Tickets can now be purchased at the Atlantis Adventures Tour Center, located outside Coral Towers, overlooking the Atlantis Marina. Current prices for an Atlantis day pass are $161.00 for adults and $99 for children 4-12.
No worries though — once we had our wristbands, the day was officially on. We only had a few hours, but we wanted to make the most of them. Atlantis Aquaventure opens at 9:00 am, and the water slides open at 10:00 am. Closing time is 5:00 pm.
The grounds of Atlantis are expansive— just Aquaventure Water Park covers 141 acres!
The path to the water park took us through THE DIG, through a 100-foot tunnel, where we were met with sharks, stingrays, and large fish.
The theming is unreal.
Once outside, we discovered there are eleven pools, seven mega-water slides, and two river rides. Of course, my photos are limited because this is, after all, a water park 😉
My favorite water activity was The Current — a lazy river with some unexpected twists and turns. My daughter loved Splashers, the Mayan-themed kid’s water playground with rope bridges, cannons, fountains and water slides. She could have spent all day there.
We spent a good couple of hours exploring the water attractions before we made our way to Atlantis’ private beach.
It was darn near perfect.
The water was crystal clear and calm. I didn’t want to leave.
By the time we finished with the beach, our day was almost over, and we had to get back on the ship. As much as we tried, we couldn’t do everything we wanted… not even a quarter of it.
Atlantis Aquaventure is a multi-day experience. To see and do it all, you need to stay on-site for three or four days. Believe me, once you experience Atlantis for a day, you will want to come back for a longer stay! Even with limited time, my family had a fun-filled day — hopefully next time we can check out the hotel, too 😉
** A few years after visiting Atlantis on a day pass, my daughter and I flew to Nassau for a mother-daughter weekend in the Caribbean. We stayed at Comfort Suites Paradise Island and had access to Atlantis Aquaventure for the duration of our trip— It was incredible! You can view our experience here.
A note about Atlantis Day Passes: Passes may be purchased by day visitors, but availability is limited – and may be closed – during periods of high resort occupancy. Most cruise lines sell excursions to Atlantis, and this is your best bet if only spending the day in Nassau. Admission to Atlantis Aquaventure is complimentary to all guests staying at Atlantis Resort.
Special thanks to Atlantis Resort for providing my family with complimentary Atlantis day passes. All opinions are my own.
First of all, love the new look! Great job! Also, really excited about the day pass option at Atlantis. Thanks for sharing
What a great way to spend the day when in port.
Wow! I can’t believe how massive that place is. I wouldn’t have thought of going there for a day. I would definitely like to stay there!
I want to go!
WOW! I want to go, how beautiful!
That looks awesome. I am hoping to make it there with our girls one day! What a great place to make memories.
What an awesome day you guys had! Atlantis looks like so much fun!
We thought about buying a day pass to Atlantis during our last cruise, but didn’t do it because my friend was pregnant and wouldn’t have been able to enjoy the slides. Next time, though, we will definitely go that route!
Wow! That looks like an amazing adventure of a day – what great memories you made!
wow does that look like fun! i’m so jealous!!
Atlantis looks like heaven! There have been pharmacy trips there, but I never was able to go…I should make that a future trip.
wow. What an amazing and beautiful trip! I def. want to go one day!
Kas
what an amazing family vacation I’ve seen brochures and ads on the net and television and always wanted to go there. Maybe one day. Looks like a great place
We thought about buying a day pass to Atlantis during our last cruise, but didn’t do it because my friend was pregnant and wouldn’t have been able to enjoy the slides. Next time, though, we will definitely go that route!
Thank you so much for this helpful information!!!
Complimentary Passes? lol! No wonder such a glowing report! I walked though the place once last year just to see it. I’m sure they made sure you were there not during a rush time when there’s no chairs together, long lines for water rides, no lockers left. Everything there is so expensive too ($9.00 slice of pizza) If your into “Disneyesque” overly landscaped crowded theme resorts, have at it. Save your money, there are plenty of really lovely public beaches to choose from surrounded by natural landscape and not half as annoying.
Hey Robin– I did receive complimentary passes, but that in no way influenced this post– if I didn’t like something, I would have said it! I didn’t receive any special treatment and entered the park along with everyone else. We did find chairs, but found we didn’t use them much and instead wandered around for the day doing the slides and beach. I supposed I am into “Disneyesque” landscape because I loved the whole resort. I’ve been to Nassau numerous times and this was by far the best time we had.
Enjoyed your post. How did you manage to get complimentary passes? I will be going on a cruise in Nov and plan to go to Atlantis on Nov 11 (Sunday) However, I fear passes could sell out for the water park because of crowds. I am a little nervous of this fact but of course the pass would be for all day instead of just a few hours with the exclusion offers. Any thoughts or suggestions? How many hours total did you spend that day at Atlantis? Thanks, for the information 🙂
Hi Maria — I received media passes in exchange for writing about my experience. We spent a full afternoon there, I want to say from 9:00am until 3:00pm. As long as you get off the ship early, you shouldn’t have a problem getting passes at Atlantis– especially in November. Purchasing through the cruise line will guarantee you space and transportation though.
Hi Robin are you employed with media and have credentials to show them or did you just tell them you would post something through email
Oh my good gracious that looks amazing!
This place looks gorgeous! This is coming from a Caribbean gal who thought that there were no better beaches than those in Barbados. I was very mistaken!
This seems tio be a perfect destination to hang around with family.
Thanks for sharing such an awesome experience with us.
Incredible vacations you had in this amazing place. Would like to visit soon. Thanks!
We will be in Nassau Monday, February 11th. A stop on our Canival cruise. We so badly want to visit Atlantis’ Aquaventure, but tickets purchased through the cruise are 472.00 for our family of 4… We will have to leave the resort by 1:00 p.m. to make outback to the ship which will deport Nassau at 2:00 p.m. Any suggestions on how to get a discount on these tickets? Our girls, 9 and 6 would only have 3 hours on the water slides, and that’s only if we don’t make them break for lunch. Any/ all help you can offer would be much appreciated!
Does anyone know the full day water park pass prices? i hear they also can change with the seasons. Just looking to get an idea of prices. Thanks
We are planning a cruise with our 1 1/2 yr old in October to Nassau. Atlantis is a top pick for an excursion for us, but we haven’t decided. Do you recommend going there with a 1 yr old or should we stick to something more simple like a beach? We will on be in Nassau for one day and I want to get my best experience. Most likely we will return for a longer stay another time.
That’s really hard to answer. If money isn’t an isssue it’s a nice day even with a baby. They have a small private beach that’s lovely and you can walk around the aquariums, grab something to eat. There’s the kids play area as well. The setting is also more secure than a public beach, though you could get a day pass from another hotel in Nassau.