As the plane soars over the cosy, homely feeling of Nassau, one cannot help but be mesmerized by the beautiful view of the capital city. On our short but gruesome flight, Niam Jain Autism Artist was playing Angry Birds on full blast, my Mom was reading her book and my Dad was filling out the immigration forms, leaving me unable to sleep. Come on fam, why can’t I sleep?

 

As we land, we grab our luggage and get in the cab. We call the same great guy every year, who fills us in on all the island gossip of the year.  We then take the cab from Nassau to Atlantis (Paradise Island), and let’s say the ride is stunning. We are witness to beautiful coloured buildings with quaint restaurants and stores. People are quietly and calm moving about their day.
We arrive at the Harbourside Resort and Villas where we have a few time shares, email me if you want to rent,  after a long 2 hour journey. We are tired and hungry for some food. We walk to the Marine Village for some delicious Marina Pizza. Scrumptious! PS… if you are eating pizza at the Marina, catch the awesome festival!

Now  Onto Atlantis

We arrive at the Baths at the Royal Tower. Imagine the beautiful view. It is stunning with glorious waterfalls, ancient statues and a big area for fun!

 

First Destination: Lazy River. It’s kind of lazy except you have rapids, so wear a life jacket! Make sure you stay safe your tube can easily turn over. On a side n0te, go up the Tower of Power, a huge drop that goes super fast. Kids, scream as loud as you can and terrify your parents like me! (Just kidding, don’t do that). Second Destination:  Shark Tube. Kids convince your parents to swim with the sharks, trust me it is fun. Your parents will be terrified, but don’t worry it is safe. (Just kidding) The shark slide is one of the highlights of the park. Here’s the plan: You get in a tube (1 man or 2 man) go down a dark waterslide then you go in this “water tunnel” (don’t know what to call it) and you see the sharks… right next to you enclosed in a mini aquarium. Then you come out into a pool! See Mom and Dad, easy?

Now the kiddie rides are over. Now get ready for the real rides… the Challenger, the Leap of Faith and the Abyss. The Challenger is just a long water slide that goes really far down. It is very scary and can be a bit bumpy. It’s a race…. of who reaches the bottom first when you leave at the same time. Usually someone wins. The Leap of Faith is higher on the same “building” as the shark ride. The ride is 4 seconds, you just go down a straight slide and go past the shark tank… but you are going so fast, you cannot see it. That’s me taking the plunge.

That was fun. The last (and final) ride is the Abyss. It’s the shark ride on steroids… no tube, you lie down and no shark tube. It is just one high waterslide with some drops and turns lasting about 2 minutes. Make sure you hold your nose at the end, it will end up cloggy. My parents were terrified of me going on the rides… I don’t know why. The slides are a remarkable feat of engineering.

The rides are so much fun. You could probably do each one a few times a day and not get bored. Be careful though, line ups are long, meaning you need sunscreen.

 

 

Aside from the awesome rides, Atlantis has great restaurants. There’s a nice Chinese restaurant called Chopstix, Johnny Rockets, Carmines and many more.

Now if you want to go outside, that’s great! I recommend Cafe Matisse in Nassau. Hands down, one of the best Italian restaurants ever… period! You have to go there! Vegetarians, try their mushroom pasta. Don’t leave without going to ONE , expensive but amazing. Worth every penny.

 

Here are some other cool things you can do at Atlantis: go to Ben and Jerry’s for yummy ice cream in twenty different flavours, visit the in-house cinema and watch a movie (already on DVD) in a theater with buttery popcorn, do cooking class, going inside caves, the hot tub and more. At Atlantis, you will never be bored.

 

My parents tell me the casinos are great. I’ll take their word for it. My dad is into black jacks, and my mom is a poker maniac!

When you go to Atlantis, you will hear about the Teen “night club” from 9 to 1. No alcohol (don’t worry Mom and Dad!), and just relaxing with your friends. Personally, it is overrated and boring. I suggest you go there once and try it out to see what you think.

 

Atlantis was an awesome trip and it is a trip I hold close in my heart. We go every March Break and than Miami. This year I’m missing it to goto Tanzania for an outreach trip. I suggest you visit there because YOU are NEVER too OLD to go to ATLANTIS