Atlantis Resort Bahamas Review: An Honest Look at What to Expect on Your Stay

Our goal with this post is to give you a fair Atlantis Bahamas review. We were not paid by Atlantis Bahamas to be here. We did everything at our own cost. Let’s jump right into it and see if Atlantis Bahamas is the dream trip you’ve been waiting for and if you’re ready to experience the amazing Atlantis Bahamas Aquaventure Waterpark.

Where is Atlantis Bahamas?

Atlantis Bahamas is located on Paradise Island. Paradise Island is just one of over 700 islands that make up what is collectively called, “The Bahamas”. About 30 of the islands are inhabited by people.

Getting to Atlantis Bahamas

You fly into Lynden Pindling International Airport [Airport code: NAS ; It used to be known as Nassau International Airport so sometimes airport codes do make sense if you look deep enough.]

From Lynden Pindling International Airport it is about a 30 minute cab ride to Atlantis Resort, about 18.5 kilometers or 11.5 miles. Needless to say, it’s pretty darn far to walk, let alone with baggage in tote, so plan on needing to spend for taxi fare.

How Much Does it Cost to go from Lynden Pindling International Airport [Nassau] to Atlantis Bahamas [Paradise Island] via Taxi?

The taxis on Nassau do not use meters. The taxi rates are set by the Bahamian government and are posted. Still, you should talk to the driver before getting in the taxi to be sure you agree on what will be charged.

Most of the Nassau taxis look like personal vehicles owned by the cab driver. They are branded as a taxi service however.

There are normally lots of cab drivers at the airport waiting to take someone somewhere. There is a sign posted at the airport in the taxi area that tells the prices to go from the airport to different zones around Nassau.

There is signage posted with a blue background listing various costs to travel from the airport to other places on the island. (Google: “photo of taxi fares at NAS airport” and you should see photos of what we’re talking about.) When we visited Atlantis Bahamas, the cost from Lynden Pindling International Airport to Paradise Island was listed on the signs for $38 USD. However, once you read the fine print at the bottom of the sign and you’ll also see that, “Note: Fares are based on first two (2) passengers. Each additional passenger pays four dollars ($4.00). First two (2) bags free. Each additional piece [of luggage] is two dollars ($2.00). Large or oversized bags are three dollars ($3) each. Other charges may apply.”

Now if this seems a bit unclear, it’s because it is. There is nothing to tell us what exactly is a “large” bag. Also – what makes a bag “oversized” ? Does a backpack count as a “bag” ?

Basically, you are going to want to talk with the driver before you leave the airport so that you and the driver both have a good understanding of what the expected pay for the trip and your bags is going to be.

We thought we’d be charged $38 when we arrived at The Coral hotel at Atlantis Bahamas, but we were charged more than that. The driver had it in their head that our backpacks counted as bags. Therefore, we already filled the spots for our “two (2) bags free”. We were charged additional for our two suitcases. We also gave a tip because we think it’s still proper to do so for good service so all in the taxi cost us $50 USD for the two of us and our luggage. And this does not include the toll for the bridge which we’ll talk about next.

Toll for Crossing the Sir Sidney Poitier Bridge

In addition to the taxi cost, there is also a toll for crossing the bridge from Nassau to Paradise Island. You will be expected to pay the toll for the taxi you are traveling in. The cost is currently $2 USD to cross the toll bridge.

Be aware, there are five different hotels on the Atlantis property, all of which are close to the Atlantis Bahamas Aquaventure Waterpark,  so make sure you tell your cab driver which hotel you want to be dropped off at so that you don’t end up having to take a long walk after all.

Also – rideshare apps like Lyft and Uber are not available on Paradise Island. So you will need to use a taxi service or rent a car (which can also be expensive as we’ll see next.)

How Much Does it Cost to Park at Atlantis Resort?

According to the Atlantis Bahamas website, Valet parking is available at The Coral hotel and The Royal hotel for $20 USD per day (VAT inclusive).

The Atlantis Bahamas website further mentions that Self Parking is FREE. But only for limited hours and NOT overnight. So this is not going to help you get a good night’s rest. The self-parking garage located east of The Paradise Island Police Station is available for FREE from 6pm – 2am.

Basically, it’s just going to be expensive to have a car at Atlantis Resort due to having to pay valet fees to get the car in and out each time you want to use it.

There is also a FREE shuttle service that runs from the lobby of each of the five hotels at Atlantis.

While we love the freedom of having a rental car to explore, we determined it was not worth the cost on this trip.

What are the 5 Hotels on the Atlantis Bahamas property?

Listed in ascending order of cost, the five hotels are: The Coral, The Royal, The Reef [residential style accommodations with kitchens], Harborside Resort [full condo type units with full kitchens], and The Cove [no kitchen at all. No microwave either and somehow still commands around $700 per night].

We stayed at The Coral which is the least costly of the five hotels but still had access to the full resort grounds and the Atlantis Bahamas Aquaventure Waterpark. We did not have a kitchen, nor a microwave, but the room did have a mini-fridge. We still managed to not eat out for most meals during our stay. Keep reading to find out how we accomplished this and saved hundreds of dollars on our food budget for this trip.

Packing for Atlantis Resort

In our research prior to the trip to Atlantis, Angie read many posts about the exorbitant prices in the Bahamas, particularly at resorts like Atlantis, for food. In addition, the general feedback was that this extremely expensive food was not really special. Think chicken fingers and pizza for gourmet food prices.

Consequently, we packed a suitcase of food for this trip. We flew Southwest back when Southwest still allowed 2 free checked bags per person for no additional cost, so we did not increase our travel cost by doing this. It’s a bummer that free checked bags are now a thing of the past and there are now no U.S. airlines that offer free checked bags, unless you happen to have status with a particular airline or hold the right credit card(s).

However, even factoring the cost to check a bag for your flight, you’re likely still going to save a ton of money by bringing a suitcase of food with you.

We typically pack light in just a backpack and carry-on suitcase each for our travels. The food suitcase was definitely worth bringing despite having to manage the extra bag. It saved us hundreds of dollars of additional out-to-eat costs. We’ll say it again for emphasis, food is expensive here.

We would have loved to bring fruits and vegetables, but most countries do not allow you to import fruits and vegetables. So we had to make do without them. Some might say this is not very healthy and we agree as our diet at home is largely made up of fresh produce. But, the counterpoint to this is: “Would we be eating any healthier if we were going out to eat everyday of the trip with chefs preparing meals with copious amounts of butter, cream, etc.?”

All that along with the “break the bank” cost of eating out for all meals makes taking the suitcase of snacks and food a great option. We included some special treats so that we still felt like eating the suitcase food was fun and not a boring sacrifice.

We also used this suitcase to bring a large bottle of sunscreen and aloe vera gel. Both are expensive to purchase at the resort. The sun in the Bahamas is intense and it is very easy to get sunburned so we recommend having both with you. We went through most of the sunscreen and aloe vera gel on this trip. Also – a pro tip – purchase a sunhat and a 50 SPF long sleeve sun shirt prior to your trip so that you have some relief from the sun.

Even with the careful application of sunscreen regularly, we both found ourselves burning more each day and were thankful to have water-friendly, 50 SPF shirts to protect our skin, especially towards the end of the trip. Here’s our list of items we recommend you pack to make the most of your trip.

Atlantis Resort-Our Stay Experience

We stayed in a 5th floor balcony room facing the resort grounds with a glimpse of ocean view in the Coral Tower. We had heard this building was newly renovated and our room was very nice, so it seemed to be true.

Our room overlooked the turtles and stingrays. We enjoyed our balcony with two chairs and a table which we used to enjoy several meals during our stay from our suitcase of goodies. We were able to see the cruise ships coming into port on the horizon, docking downtown each morning and heading out to sea each evening.

Our main entree for meals on this trip was peanut butter and jelly sandwiches to keep the food costs down. (Yep, we’re still kids at heart and while we enjoy fancy meals too, this worked just fine, especially to avoid the high food prices at Atlantis Bahamas.) We had packed a new jar of peanut butter, unopened jar of jam, and a loaf of bread into the food suitcase to foil those high restaurant prices for mediocre food.

It might have just been luck of the draw, but our first night a highly intoxicated man passed out on the floor of the hallway near our room. We would have been completely unaware of this, but we, along with guests in several neighboring rooms, were awoken to the sound of another hotel guest attempting to help this person back to their room.

We called the hotel front desk to ensure they were aware of the issue and security was sent to address the situation and assist the guest and it was resolved quickly after this. This was the only incident like this during our stay and at first made us question if this was more of a party hotel atmosphere than we prefer.

We mostly saw families staying at the resort, so concluded this seemed to be an isolated incident.

Another incident that happened during our stay was an interruption to the water supply in Coral Tower one evening. We had both just finished our showers after coming in from a day at the on site waterpark, Aquaventure, and soon after found the water at the bathroom sink was only a trickle.

We called the front desk and were told they were aware of the issue impacting our tower and they were working on it. We were both thankful this was after our showers for that day. We heard grumbles from other guests that this happens periodically. The water was back on a few hours later.

Drinking Water Taste at Atlantis

The resort fee at Atlantis came with two metal reusable water bottles. The resort offers refilling water stations throughout the waterpark grounds and on certain hotel floors. Jeff drank this free water from the refilling stations, but Angie hated it.

She felt it tasted a bit salty and kind of thick in consistency. Jeff admitted it kind of reminded him of Gatorade but refused to stop drinking it because of the high cost to purchase water. On the first evening, Angie bought one ‘box’ of “Just Water” brand water at an Atlantis resort restaurant that was 33.8 ounces and cost $10 USD.

We had to wait until morning for the nearby small grocery store to open the next day. The next morning, we walked just across the street from the resort, near the Comfort Inn and Suites, to the Paradise Shopping Village to visit The Village Grocery Store.

We bought 2 gallons of water for $5 USD total for Angie to drink for the rest of the stay. We were happy with the store price for water, but note this is a very small store, (think small gas station convenience store), and the prices were extremely high on other items. We suggest only shopping for items that are absolutely necessary here, and for us, that was just water.

What Does it Cost to Go Out to Eat at Atlantis?

While staying at the Atlantis resort, we splurged on 2 meals and 1 snack aside from eating what we had brought in our food suitcase. The first meal was at Murray’s Delicatessen. Angie got a club sandwich and Jeff got a pastrami burger, both came with French fries and we both drank table water / tap water, which was included for no additional cost.

The food was good, but not so good that one would excitedly recommend a friend to make a special effort to try the restaurant. The service was very slow, which is typical of island culture that we experienced all over the resort. The bill was $47.50 USD including the VAT and required 15% gratuity. And, this was one of the least expensive food options at the resort.

The other meal we ate out for was a carry out pizza at the Marina Pizzeria. The ordering experience was quick, but waiting for and getting the pizza afterwards was chaos. The day we visited it was pouring rain and so everyone was waiting inside for their pizza which crowded the small space to an uncomfortable level.

In addition to this, the staff was having a hard time keeping track of the orders and people were getting pizzas in front of others who had ordered before them. The chaos of the staff led to the pizza oven becoming backed up and the pizzas smashing into one another and many being somewhat overcooked, which was the case for ours.

They had a sign when you ordered that if you were not given a receipt your order was free. We were not given a receipt, but instead a buzzer like you would get when waiting for a table at a restaurant, but neither of us had the heart to add to the chaos of the staff by trying to collect the promised free pizza for the lack of receipt.

We paid $42.50 USD for our large pizza that was half Greek and half Bahamian. Like Murray’s, it was good but not great. We prefer deep dish Lou Malnati’s pizza in Chicago for this kind of price.

Our snack was from the snack stand nearest the Colonnade Baths Pool, Breakwater Grill. We had read a review that said another traveler was excited to get Dole Whip at this outdoor stand and we were excited to have some as the only other places we have ever enjoyed this delicious frozen pineapple treat was at Disney World and in Hawaii and both have been a long time ago.

In addition, Jeff read there was a cup you could buy for soda refills for that day so he set out to the Breakwater Grill for one of each. He spent $13.75 USD for the Dole Whip and small (12 oz.) soda and we were disappointed to find that this Dole Whip was watermelon flavor, which neither of us preferred.

The soda Jeff did manage to refill several times as the staff didn’t seem to care, but we later learned this was not the right cup to be truly refillable. Oops!

Overall, the food was nothing to write home about and these were the “cheap” options that we tried. We were VERY thankful for the ability to enjoy peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and other treats and snacks in our room during our stay. We can’t imagine how expensive a stay would be here if a family of 4 chose to eat out for all meals for all days/nights of the stay.

Is Aquaventure Water Park Included with Your Stay at Atlantis?

Yes it is! You can learn all about how to make the best use of your time at Aquaventure water park in our Ultimate Atlantis Bahamas Waterpark Guide.

We thought we might get bored on our four night stay but found that exploring the beautiful Atlantis resort grounds, aquariums, and the waterpark/beaches kept us very entertained.

As noted earlier, we stayed in June and found the weather to be pretty perfect from the perspective of two WIsconsinites. It was in the upper 80’s and sunny for most of the days of our visit, but each day, typically in the late afternoon or early evening, thunderstorms rolled in.

They often broke long enough for a sunset stroll around the grounds and then rolled back in to rage overnight. As we were there during the beginning of hurricane season, we were pleasantly surprised with how little the weather impacted our vacation fun.

So, Is a Trip to Atlantis Worth It?

The waterpark at Atlantis is a special place with unique waterslides and massive aquariums so that alone makes it worth getting here to experience it for yourself.

As far as staying on property at Atlantis, we think you can probably do better staying across the street at Comfort Suites Paradise Island which at the time of this writing still includes wristbands for the Atlantis Bahamas Waterpark as part of the cost of your stay.

The cost of a day pass admission to Atlantis Bahamas Aquaventure alone runs between $165 USD to $250 USD per person, depending on when you are visiting, so getting the Atlantis Bahamas Aquaventure passes included as part of the hotel stay offers fantastic value.