Direct Flights to the Sun. The Bahamas Awaits.

The Islands of the Bahamas have become an even more popular vacation destination for Canadian travellers seeking a warm weather alternative to the southern United States. Like Canada, the Commonwealth country is known for its warm and friendly people. Even its banks are familiar. Scotiabank, RBC and CIBC dominate the banking sector. Air Canada now offers non-stop flights to Nassau, the Bahamian capital, from five Canadian cities and has recently added our city, Halifax. With the winter we’re having we jumped at the chance to take advantage.

Nassau Harbour view of The Royal towers

Our comfortable flight to Nassau took just four hours. Happily, the plane was a regular Air Canada jet, not cramped AC Rouge. Customs was a breeze and drivers were waiting to take us and fellow guests to the best known resort in the Bahamas, Atlantis on Paradise Island.

The four tall hotel towers of Atlantis (22 and 23 stories) have 2900 rooms and dominate the Nassau/Paradise Island skyline. The resort itself is huge, covering 154 acres and includes the world’s largest outdoor marine habitat and a giant 140 acre waterpark called Aquaventure. A massive aquarium beneath the main Royal Towers hotel, The Dig, with 15 chambers, several tunnels and more than 20,000 fish, is meant to imitate archeological underwater searches for the mythical lost city of Atlantis, reputed to be near the Bahamian island of Bimini. There are more than 250 marine species throughout the habitat including those in the Rescue and Rehabilitation centre for injured animals. We were impressed by the number of staff dedicated to the care of marine life.

In the grand lobby of The Royal we met Ted Adderley, VP of Sales for Atlantis, who reminded us that in the early 90s we would have been surrounded by nothing but acres of bush. At the time both Merv Griffin and Donald Trump had financial interests in Resorts International which controlled much of Paradise Island and operated a smaller hotel/casino. Soon after, the acreage was acquired by entrepreneur Sol Kerzner who first wanted to call the development Treasure Island. He finally agreed that Atlantis was a more appropriate choice and he modeled it after his South African Sun City development. Instead of exotic animals, he and his team focused on fish and marine life. Surprisingly, current ownership of Atlantis is Canadian. The resort complex is controlled by Toronto based Brookfield Corporation and its subsidiary, Brookfield Asset Management.

The Grand Lobby at The Royal

Our large room was as impressive as the grounds. From the 18^th floor of the west tower of The Royal we looked down on the three white sandy beaches, the water park with its slides and mile long Rapids River, Dolphin Cay and the two newest hotel towers, The Cove and The Reef. We could easily see the central core of Nassau and the busy cruise ship terminal that hosts four to six ships every day. A comfortable king size bed, excellent lighting, a Keurig coffee maker, generous bath towels, and a large screen TV with many channels, including CBC, added to our pleasure. Slippers, unfortunately, came in only one size. There were many movies available on the TV but they cost a hefty $15 each to watch.

One of many beaches at Atlantis

Atlantis is not an all-inclusive resort so food can also carry a hefty price, mainly because most products must be imported. Also, the resort features several fine dining options supervised by three Michelin-winning chefs and guests pay accordingly. Our first high end dining experience was at Nobu, just off the smoke free casino, a Japanese fusion restaurant designed by celebrity chef Nobu Matsuhisa. In spite of a noisy ambience, we enjoyed dishes like wagyu beef tenderloin toban yaki and shrimp and Bahamian lobster with mushrooms. Other dining highlights included fresh mahi mahi, pan roasted with fennel and Grand Marnier soufflé at Café Martinique in the Marina Village. We splurged on American wagyu striploin ($US 120) and an excellent sticky toffee pudding at the Seafire Steakhouse.

Nobu chefs at work

Atlantis prides itself on fresh seafood so we shared a whole snapper, creatively filleted and prepared by chef Sharlene at Fish by José Andrés.

Chef Sharlene at Fish by José Andrés

Our three appetizers included a luscious lump crab & Belgian endive salad and shrimp mojo negro, a Signature Dish with black garlic sauce. Our favourite appetizer was the plate of crab cakes with 95% crab, the way they should be done (the steakhouse crabcakes were inferior and need improvement).

Sandra and the whole fresh snapper

All the restaurants offer a good wine selection by the bottle or the glass. We were disappointed that there was no non-alcohol wine available. The quality of NA wine has improved dramatically, and most cruise ships and top North American restaurants always carry at least one brand. Non-alcohol beer was also in short supply with only one restaurant able to provide a bottle.

There is a buffet restaurant, Poseidon’s Table, at the base of The Royal tower that receives good reviews. We had breakfast there twice with a wide selection of tempting choices. Like many other restaurants it is pricey with a basic $ 95 bill for the two of us. Lunch can be a bargain, however. Field Trip, close to the beach, offers tasty rice bowls with beef, chicken or shrimp large enough for two people ($16). But the best buy at Atlantis is the Marina Pizza with extra large slices for just $7.00.

Field Trip. Good value rice bowls.

There is so much to see and do at Atlantis that visitors usually have no need to leave the resort. We did make an exception when offered a glass-bottomed boat tour of Nassau Harbour. The fish were interesting and plentiful, but the highlight was seeing a wrecked ship about 10 metres down. There was another unexpected Canadian connection. Our tour boat captain received his nautical training at Holland College in Charlottetown.

Our glass bottomed boat captain. Trained in Charlottetown

The Bahamas has had tourism offices in Canada since 1968. With the addition of non-stop flights from the Maritimes, the Caribbean country is more determined than ever to give Canadians a friendly, safe vacation alternative.

A few more photos from our trip. Click to enlarge and start a slide show.

Photo Credits

All photos by Sandra and John Nowlan – All Rights Reserved

Recent John and Sandra Nowlan Articles:

• Direct Flights to the Sun. The Bahamas Awaits.
• Culinary Cruising on Regent’s Seven Seas Grandeur
• Fredericton – Cosmopolitan, Cultured and Quirky
• Orlando and Northeast Florida – Beyond the Theme Parks
• Viking – A European River Cruise… and More