Atlantis Travel Guide: Atlantis Bahamas Travel Tips & Tricks

When I was planning our first trip to Atlantis, I found it to be fairly overwhelming. This resort is huge, there’s a ton to do, and I wanted to make sure I was making the most of our time.

If you’re planning a vacation, a lot of time and money goes into planning.

So it’s natural to want to make the most of our time! This article is meant to help you have a great time and make the most of your trip!

Atlantis Location

Atlantis is on a small island called Paradise Island. It’s connected to New Providence (where Nassau is) by bridge.

And tucked in between Paradise Island and New Providence is where the cruise port is located. Cruise ships will be there every day because it’s a really popular port!

And if you are visiting Nassau on your cruise, you can get day passes to Atlantis.

Accommodation

Atlantis is huge, which can be intimidating. Even just booking your hotel room at Atlantis gives you a bunch of choices.

So let’s start with where to stay at Atlantis since that’s more than likely going to be your first plan of action.

There are actually several different buildings within Atlantis to choose from:

• The Royal Towers– the iconic towers you see in most of the advertising for Atlantis. They are centrally located (aka near all of the action). Atlantis is huge but the towers make it so that nothing is super far away. The casino and The Dig (the huge marine habitat) are both located within the Royal Towers as well.
• Harborside Resort – This is part of the Atlantis property but is located outside of the main property. It’s waterfront with villas for families or larger groups. The villas come with full kitchens or kitchenettes. It is walkable to Atlantis and the shuttles on the property also go here. It’s very close to the Harborside Marina, which is a fun area to wander around with shops, restaurants, and bars.
• The Coral – the Coral is next to the Royal Towers and is also close to the Harborside Marina. The Coral is where you’ll most likely find the most affordable rate. The rooms are newly renovated. The Coral also has its own pool area and swim-up bar, a teen nightclub, and ice cream parlor (anyone staying on the property can use these amenities)
• The Cove –the most upscale, luxurious hotel within the resort. The resort overlooks the Cove Beach, which isn’t supposed to be accessible to people with day passes (and therefore tends to be less crowded). I say “supposed to” because according to social media, it seems like some days they enforce this rule and some days they don’t. It also has its own pool; the Cove pool is adults-only. This resort is also more tucked away so it’s a bit more quiet.
• The Reef –not as upscale as the Cove, but more luxurious than the Royal Towers or the Coral. This is where we stayed because it comes with residential-style suites and studios, including a full kitchen. We really wanted the kitchen since we were traveling with two toddlers (check out our Atlantis vacation packing list for toddlers here). This is a great option for families! We also had an ocean view with a really nice balcony overlooking Cove Beach.

How to Get to Atlantis

To get to Atlantis, you will fly into Nassau (NAS).

Atlantis doesn’t have a free shuttle. We’ve always grabbed a taxi from the airport. We have never pre-arranged transportation and we’ve been to Nassau via airplane many times.

Even when our flight was delayed and we got in late at night, there were taxis there waiting.

Our taxi was around $35 one way, but the rates depend on the number of passengers and how much luggage you have. The taxi ride is around 30 minutes from the airport to the resort.

You can also arrange transportation ahead of time. Cheryl’s taxi is a popular option.

You can also arrange transportation directly through the resort if you’d like. The rates vary because they have different options from a private shuttle to a bus. Generally the taxi is cheaper.

If you’re arriving by cruise ship, you can grab a water taxi or a regular cab to get to Atlantis. Most cruise ships also have the day pass to Atlantis as an excursion that you can book directly with the cruise ship.

Cost

There is no gentle way of saying this – Atlantis is very expensive. We previously visited Baha Mar so I was prepared, but even though I was prepared for costs to be very high, prices were still shocking at times.

I have an entire post dedicated to how to save money at Atlantis, but a few quick tips are:

• Book one of the cheaper accommodation options like the Royal Towers or the Coral
• Bring your own snacks

Food and Restaurants at the Atlantis Bahamas

Atlantis is not an all-inclusive resort, so you’ll be paying for your meals. There are over 20 restaurants on the property, so there are quite a few food options.

We aren’t picky and overall found the food to be mediocre. We didn’t dislike anything we had but definitely wouldn’t crave it, either.

While there are plenty of fine dining options, we personally didn’t try any of them because we’d heard a lot of people say it wasn’t worth the price.

We also stayed at the Reef, so we had a full kitchen. We made our own breakfasts and were able to cook simple meals which did help with the cost of meals, though it made our accommodations more expensive.

Things to do at Atlantis

There is so much to do at Atlantis.

This can be a good destination for a multi-generation group trip, couples, friends, a family vacation, or basically any group you could think of.

Here are some of the things you can do at Atlantis:

Casino

The main casino (which is huge) is located in the Royal Towers. There is also a smaller casino in the Cove.

The casino is a pretty big draw for a lot of people. And if you gamble a lot, it’s not uncommon for Atlantis to offer free night stays.

Marine Habitat

The resort has tons of options to see marine animals.

The aquariums are quite large and spread throughout the resort. The main areas include The Dig (where we noticed a new type of marine life each time we walked through) and the Predator Tunnel (where you can walk through a shark tank that’s actually a tunnel!)

The exhibits are impressive. We have season passes to the aquarium in Clearwater Beach as well as to the aquarium in Tampa. We visit often and yet we were very impressed with the marine habitats at Atlantis.

There are also several lagoons with other marine animal such as sea turtles throughout the property, which is really cool to see!

Animal Interactions

If you want to have a more hands-on experience, there are options for that, too. You can have an encounter with sting rays, go snorkeling in the lagoon, walk with the sharks, and swim with dolphins at Dolphin Cay.

Each of these experiences are an additional cost.

Aquaventure Water Park

The biggest draw to Atlantis for most people is the Aquaventure Water Park. It is massive, covering 141 acres.

There are water slides, a mile-long river rapid (not to be confused with a lazy river because there’s nothing lazy about it!), twenty swimming areas, a kid’s area, and more.

One of the slides takes you through the shark tank. It’s probably Atlantis’ most famous ride and has been covered a lot in the media through the years.

Beaches at Atlantis

Atlantis has pristine white sand beaches that you’d expect in the Bahamas.

There are 3 main beaches, Cove, Atlantis Beach (the main beach), and Paradise Beach. There is also a beach on the lagoon in the middle of the property which is appropriately called Lagoon Beach.

Cove Beach was our favorite and also where we spent the most time since it’s also the closest beach to the Reef. Day guests technically are not allowed in this area, though I think it kind of depends on whether there is an employee checking and/or enforcing this rule.

Atlantis Nightlife

Atlantis also has plenty to do once the sun goes down. Of course, the casino is always an option but if you’re not a gambler, you can also check out the comedy club or the nightclub, Aura. There is no cover charge at Aura if you arrive before 11 pm.

The cover charge for Aura varies but is generally but generally around $25 to $40 for men and free for women.

There are several other bars sprinkled throughout the property as well.

Movie Theater

There is a movie theater on the property which is actually free of charge! They show a lot of kid and family-friendly movies. You can check out what they are playing here.

Shopping

There are a handful of shopping options throughout Atlantis. I personally loved window shopping at Marina Village. This area is a really cute outdoor market-type of area with clothes stores, restaurants, and souvenir shops.

There are also upscale options. One of the main areas is the Avenue of the Gods in the Royal Towers. This is where you can find some high-end shops and luxury brands.

The Royal Promenade is also in the Royal Towers with more luxury and high end options.

Kids Club

There is a kids club at Atlantis for ages 3–12. You’ll need a passport for the child for identification and kids need to be potty trained.

We didn’t use this service, so I can’t personally speak to it, but it’s nice to know that it’s available.

They have various events such as cooking classes, mermaid parties, foam parties, and more. You can check on Atlantis’ kids events on their website. You can register your child there, too.

It looks pretty fun for kids – they have a dollhouse play area, a wizard-themed area, a play grocery store, and Legos.

If you’re traveling with a toddler, we have an Atlantis packing list for toddlers here

Nassau Cruise Ship Schedules

Nassau is an extremely busy port for cruise ships. Passengers on cruise ships can book Atlantis day passes where they come to the property for the water park and beaches.

When we visited, we were very surprised that we actually didn’t notice a difference when the cruise ships were in port and we never felt that it was overcrowded. But most others do mention a big difference.

We were also visiting during a slower season (early May before school got out) so I do think that contributed to our experience as well.

Navigating the Resort

We traveled when we had a 1.5 year old and a 2.5 year old and since we stayed in the Reef, we were pretty far from everything. The resort has shuttles, but we’d rather walk longer than fold up our double stroller to get in the shuttle.

We brought our trusted travel stroller, the Zoe (read all about why we love the Zoe in this blog post). Even though it’s a double stroller, it’s built to fit through double doors. We’ve never had a problem traveling with this stroller before, but did run into a lot of roadblocks with it at Atlantis.

We constantly ran into things being placed in a way we couldn’t fit the stroller into standard doorways like we usually can. Things like maintenance items (like tons of tools, paint buckets, etc), displays, and things like that. We had to physically lift the stroller to fit through certain pathways or find another way around. We made it work, but someone in a wheelchair wouldn’t have been able to.

We also had to walk way out of the way several times to get to the elevator if we didn’t want to carry the stroller up and down stairs. We often had to ask employees how to get to an elevator or how to get to a certain place with a stroller and every time we asked, they either didn’t know or gave us wrong directions.

If you download the Atlantis app, there is a map there. You can also set the map to be handicapped accessible. But we didn’t get good cell service and the internet at Atlantis is not very reliable so this wasn’t always an option for us.

Shuttles

Technically, everything is within walking distance but some spots can be a long walk, especially if you’re not staying at the Reef and/or it’s really hot.

The resort does have shuttles that go to various spots throughout the property. This can be really helpful if you’re staying somewhere a little farther out (like Harborside or the Reef). They run every 15 minutes or so and are really easy to catch.

Don’t Try to do it All

If you’re like me, you will want to see every inch of the resort, do every single ride, and eat at every single restaurant.

Unfortunately, unless you practically move there and also have unlimited money, you probably can’t do that.

I recommend prioritizing what’s most important, doing those things, and then fitting in more if you can.