There’s a reason it’s called Paradise Island. The Atlantis Resort in Nassau, Bahamas will be a vacation that your family will never forget. With white sand beaches, crystal clear ocean water, abundant marine life and an extreme waterpark, this place has it all. It’s a guarantee that your kids will be asking to return year after year.
Planning a family trip can be A LOT of work, so I’ve made it easier for you by providing a list of 10 tips you should know before travelling to Atlantis, Bahamas! Get organized and feel more prepared to make the most of your visit with kids. Plus, get a tour of the hotel and see all of the activities that are offered in our YouTube video montage! Don’t miss this post!
Experience our Vacation!
Vacationing in one of the most beautiful places in the world can be a once-in-a-lifetime trip. I wanted you to be able to truly experience the magic of Atlantis, so watch the highlights of our 7-day family vacation by watching this video montage! You will get to see everything that this resort has to offer:
- Cove Hotel room
- beach cove
- “The Dig” aquarium
- shark waterslide
- shark and eel feedings
- Aquventure waterpark including rapid river and children’s pool
- dolphin excursion – shallow water interaction
- interactive sea turtle and stingray feeding
10 Tips for Traveling with Kids to Atlantis Bahamas
What’s Included
There are five separate hotels that are part of Atlantis: The Reef, The Cove, The Royal, The Beach and The Coral. All guests staying at Atlantis have full access to “Aquaventure”: 11 swimming areas, 11 water slides, the Rapid River tube ride, the Paradise Lagoon, The Dig (the aquarium), The Predator’s Lagoon, all of the marine life habitats and ocean beach area. Outside visitors (cruise lines) will pay $150 to use the waterpark for the day.
Airport Transport
Travel easily to and from the airport by taxi. The Atlantis is about a 30-minute drive and it will cost you $50 each way. Car seats are not required for transportation so if you’re comfortable, don’t lug them along. You can also call ahead and reserve a taxi with a car seat or reserve a shuttle bus. Caution yourself against a shuttle bus as we saw long lineups for people waiting for their transportation and it is a lot more pricey to pay per passenger.
Meal Plan
Atlantis is not an all-inclusive resort, meaning food and drinks are extra. Although, they do offer meal plans for their guests. Choose from three different dining plans from $85-$145 per adult per day, which includes breakfast and dinner. Kids 6 and under eat free with each adult plan. We went with the casual dining plan for our family and it was well worth the value. All restaurants offer children’s menus and most do not require reservations. We ate at Poseidon’s buffet every morning in The Royal Tower and headed to the Marina by shuttle bus for a good assortment of restaurants in the evening. We usually purchased food by the pool for lunch. If you go with a Gourmet or Premium plan, try and make your dinner reservations prior to or as soon as you arrive!
Costs
Atlantis is expensive! Just be prepared for that when budgeting your trip. Research excursions and make reservations before you go so that you can get a good idea of what to expect. Pack smart and save yourself a lot of money in the long run. You won’t need to bring much cash as everything on the resort is charged to your room key card, even meals and drinks. At the end of your trip, upon checkout, you’ll be given a print out of your tab. Make sure to review it to make sure all the purchases are valid. We had a few of our meals that had not been removed because of the meal plan and there was a difference of almost $400!
Water Park
The Aquventure waterpark in fantastic for both kids, teens and adults. If your kids are keen to ride the tube waterslides or test their courage on the Leap of Faith/Shark slide, they must be 48″. They are very strict about this! If your little one is too small, they can enjoy the rapid river ride by pairing up with an adult on a double tube. There is also an amazing children’s waterpark (as seen in the video) and lots of smaller waterslides without height restrictions. Life jackets and towels are provided and accessible everywhere in the park so don’t take up extra room in your suitcase and leave these things at home. Park and pool hours are 10am-5pm.
Free Activities
Pick up the daily one-page newsletter at the front desk or kiosks to get useful information on daily activities. There are daily marine life feedings all over the resort that are worth taking in. If you are keen for a more interactive approach, you and your kids can feed the stingrays and green sea turtles for free in the Coral Tower. Our whole family really enjoyed this but many people we met didn’t even know about it! There are also fun workshops and movies for children happening daily but if you don’t pick up the schedule, you’ll miss out!
Excursions
Excursions at Atlantis are extremely expensive. If you approach it with the mentality that these are once in a lifetime opportunities or bucket list items, you may be able to justify it a little more. The Shallow Water Interaction with dolphins is one that my boys and I will never forget. Children three and under are free! There are plenty of other cool options to check out. Another thing to keep in mind is that if you are looking to purchase photos from the photographer, budget for another $100.
Walking
One thing you may not realize prior to your trip is that this resort is HUGE. It will be a lot of walking for you and especially your children. I highly recommend staying at The Royal or The Cove towers so that you are closer to the waterpark and pool areas. Bring a stroller or wagon for your kids as it may be too much walking after a long day in the sun! The hotel shuttle is great for travelling between towers and the marina in the evenings. However, there are much longer wait times during the day and you may end up waiting longer than it would have taken you to walk!
Kids Club
Need a break from your kids? Atlantis Kids Adventures provides fun morning, afternoon or evening activities for your kids so you can relax for awhile! There is also on-site babysitters if you’d like to have a date night out. There is also an arcade area if you need something to do indoors.
Packing
Wondering what to pack? Check out my previous blog post What To Pack for Atlantis Bahamas. There is a must-read packing list that provides everything we brought for us and our two boys. I’ve laid out some great money saving tips to make your trip more affordable.
Questions? Comment below!
Love,
Kiki
We keep saying we want to go to Atlantis, so glad you shared these awesome tips! !
Looks like a fun trip! We’ve been dealing with serious illness in our family, and this looks like the perfect place to go relax and celebrate when it’s all over and done with. Thanks for the detailed information…we’ll start saving up now!
Oh my gosh I’ve always wanted to stay in that hotel! I’ve been on a few cruises to the Bahamas and of course we always see it. It looks like so much fun! Thanks for the info. on the kids size and rides. Mine will still be too little to go anytime soon, will have to wait a little to take them there! I guess that leaves some time to save up some money for a vacation fund. 😄
You forgot to bring me with you! Haha this looks insane!! I would love to take my family here someday, your photos and video are awesome! Looks like the picture perfect get-away! So glad you had a good time! XO
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Its seems to a paradise called Atlans paradise Islands and there kids are easily and exactly adore it. The Atlans where we feel very chic and adult-oriented. Because it’s fine with tween and teens.
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What was the cost to purchase bottled water on the resort? Any tips as to where it could be purchased at a reasonable cost is appreciate!
It’s expensive to purchase on the resort. BUT the water is safe to drink and we brought water bottles from home and would fill up with filtered ice water from the buffet every morning after we finished breakfast!