Atlantis Water Park-Bahamas

[outbackjack]

This week I had the opportunity (at the last second) to go to Atlantis. I didn't see it listed so I thought I'd provide a report, though it's only a trip report, no photos.

 

At the last second, my wife decided we should skip our original excursion and pay the $$$ and go to Atlantis. I couldn't have been more thrilled, regardless of cost.

 

I was unprepared with the camera, so hopefully my words will give you an idea of the park.

 

While it's $680 for two adults and two kids through the cruise ship, we heard from a casino dealer (of all people) to take the water taxi there and just pay for a day pass.

 

The water taxi was $8 a person (round trip) and a neat 10 minute ride with a hilarious guide, who pointed out celebrity homes on Paradise Island...the tiny island is primo real estate, and it includes Atlantis and just a few residences (Nick Cage, Mick Jaggar, Sidney Poitier and Sean Connery, among others).

 

After the ride, it's a long walk through the Atlantis property, past breathtaking yachts and extremely cute shops, kind of reminded me of a small Disney area.

 

We finally reached the massive main building, and were directed through the casino (yes, with my two little kids) to the guest desk, which is smack dab in the middle of the casino. Pretty obvious we aren't in America now.

 

We paid $430 for all 4 of us to get the day pass. Time to hit the park, I couldn't wait.

 

After another long walk through the hotel, we reached the aquarium, which is more like a walk through well themed attraction. You've all seen aquariums, some of the neat things in this one was the biggest sting ray I've ever seen and the eel area. It was themed like a lost city (duh), and the eels were so cool. Vibrant greenish yellow, just popping out of holes, backing back into them, and THICK. I thought they were more like snakes in size, but while they might have been 4 to 8 feet, the thickness was amazing. Everything else was normal aquarium stuff, but it was so cool to be the walk through to the water park. Once we got there, it's really more about the entire resort than the water park. The beach has waves that are incredibly powerful, the pools are huge and unique (one is massive yet the entire pool is 3 feet all the way through). Other pools has mall slides coming in at crazy angles, and finding the walkways to each little hidden slide is very challenging. It was really a cool set up. The slides are around 2 major buildings, the Power Tower and the Mayan Temple. All major slides connect to these two structures, while there are more kid/medium slides just in obscure places ending in the swimming pools.

 

The Mayan Temple is the one everyone knows, with the steep body slide shooting through the shark tank. Way too fast to even consider seeing anything, still a fun slide.

 

The other main slide from that one is the Challenger, a simple double down that races and provides good speed and airtime.

 

But the most fun slide on the Temple is the tube ride, a simple tube slide in the dark, but you know the exit into the shark tank is coming.

 

I know that I'm safe and the layer of protective glass is plenty thick, but there's still something disturbing creepy about being in water, floating in a tube, and having sharks swimming directly at you and 5 feet above you. Maybe it's me, but it's a completely different feel than looking at sharks, standing on the ground dry and in your clothes. It was even creepier as you know you are getting close, and the light begins creeping into the dark tunnel.

 

But the real treat was the Power Tower. I been to plenty of water parks, certainly not as many as the bigs on this board, but I've been to a fair number. And this had some of the coolest features I'd ever seen.

 

First off, I'm a lazy river freak. Absolutely love floating in them. Never miss a lazy river. This one was just incredible. It was more a rapids ride than a lazy river I guess. And it is 1 mile long. You begin in a simple lazy river, then twice enter caves in which the water runs slightly down and has really fun rapids. You definitely need to hold on and can get flipped. In between each rapids section the water just floated nice and easy. Then came the coolest feature I'd ever seen. You drift along, and pouring into the river is a wave machine. Every 7 seconds, it dumps a good deal of water down a slope entering the river, causing rough water. However, the sides are now about 10 feet high, and the river is maybe 20 feet wide. The wave has nowhere to go but continue down the river. So when it first hits, it's a tad rough. But it builds and builds. I guess each wave carries 100 feet, seemingly growing more and more as it carries along. The sides are high and it goes high. Through this part, the river has tight turns and therefore you cannot see far back up the river. You are just sitting, and BOOM, here comes the wave and it's big. Person after person were flipped, I learned that the left side (the outside part of the turn) really took the brunt, and it gets near the top. The inside side was where my daughter insisted on staying, high but not near as dangerous. I seriously cannot imagine anything this rough in America, as I was viciously flipped at the rock wall, completely losing my bearings for a few seconds. And yes, my tube was long gone, no big deal in Bahamas I guess. The wave would finally crest and crash right before the next entry section, and I was able to get a new tube.

 

This seemed dangerous yet SO FUN, and I will say there were plenty of lifeguards standing on the sides watching everything.

 

Soon after, the river comes to a conveyor lift in a cave. Completely awesome.

 

Then, after the next entry pool, the river comes to a fork. You can go to the left (more rapids, and these are nasty and fast) or the right to the Power Tower. We switched it up each time. To the right, another first for me. You slowly drift down the level 4/5 foot wide path. Next thing I know I'm still in my tube, in the que line, just slowly drifting through the path. After a while, the path leads to a conveyor lift (like Wildebeast) of a good 120 feet, all the while chilling in my tube. Once at the top of the lift, you enter a covered cave looking area, and you can just drift into whichever line you want, eventually getting to the front and going down the slide (the best one was one that sent you down then back up with forceful water). Once you exit the slide, you cost down some rapids, right back into the "lazy" river.

 

I spent a good 2 hours in that area, riding slide after slide, rapid after rapid, never once leaving my tube (except when the waves and rapids knocked me out).

 

If I go again, I will surely have my camera.

 

Hopefully some have been there and taken photos.

 

MOD EDIT: I hope you don't mind that I hijacked your thread by adding pictures from my visit.

Edited March 5, 2012 by larrygator

[larrygator]

Thanks for the primer. I'll be going to Atlantis on a shore excursion next Wednesday. I'm doing the waterpark and the Dolphin Encounter, but I'm not bringing my camera either.

 

I'm a sucker for lazy rivers also, but this one sounds more like a crazy river.

[sammmmmy]

I was just there two weeks ago. It's really an incredible place.

[larrygator]

Here are some pictures I took at Atlantis last Wednesday, February 29th. I didn't take a ton of pictures because I was there to enjoy the place.

The main order of the day was Dolphin Cay for a Swim with the Dolphins, the highlight of my trip.

It's a three part encounter. Here participants snorkel with the assistance of a hand held motor. Unfortunately 50 feet into the deeper water my motor died and my mask also filled with water. I freaked out after swimming back to shore for a new motor and didn't return for additional snorkeling.

Here people are instructed on the coolest part of the encounter. You lay on a boogie board and the dolphin pushes you across the cay with with nose pressed against your foot. The 3rd part of the experience is more petting the dolphins, and them doing trick for you up close.

To build upon what the original poster wrote, this is a view of the challenger racing slides on the Mayan Temple.

Here's the other side of the Mayan Temple. Here is the speed slide that goes through the shark tank, but you are moving too fast to see anything.

Side view, and here you can see the shark tank below.

and with this view of the shark tank you can you people that went down the Serpent Slide tube slide gliding past the sharks.

The Power Tower contains four more slides. This is The Abyss, the only slide on this tower that you ride without a tube. It's a speed slide in the dark and was my favorite in the park.

Here are the 3 tube slides on the Power Tower. On the far left is a conveyor belt that takes you from the lazy river to two of those slides. The slide on the far left is a Master Blaster and quite fun.

A close-up view of the Master Blaster start area.

Here is a lazy part of the lazy river.

And here is a less lazy part of the river.

That structure with the four "windows" pumps waves into the lazy river that create the action shown in the previous picture.

Edited March 5, 2012 by larrygator

[jarmor]

I know, I know, a thread from the. . . Dead lol. I went to Atlantis during the week of christmas and was able to enjoy a pretty manageable Aquaventure. While the park is beautiful I have to say, it could benefit from a new tower with more modern style slides as I think their last installation was the power tower. Speaking of that tower, It was definitely my main draw as I LOVE water coasters and the thought of having 3 at my disposal made me so gleeful. That was until I got on the first one. The first (and only) slide I experience was "The Drop". While I have been on several other water coasters, this was the first in a small single tube.

 

So, you start off with a drop in darkness. At this point I have no idea where I am as you canNOT see the slides from the ground level. I felt some turns then I saw some light then another drop then blasting back up into the air. After a few drops you are propelled back into the not-so-lazy river. This is where things went to hell for me. Upon exiting I guess I was going extremely fast and I skidded across the rapids before being slammed into the wall. In this area, the river isn't that deep because well I dunno know why but all I remember was flipping and trying to brace myself but instead dislocating my shoulder. At this point both my knees are bleeding, elbows and all lol. My left arm is just dangling and im still falling as the rapids are pushing me around like a rag doll.

 

I finally gain ground and by this time some other sliders had came down to the sight of my arm just flailing around.They were more concern about me than the "life" guard! I have no idea where the tube I was in went but all I know is I was able to get my shoulder back in place and I limped back to my room as I bruised my hip as well. Needless to say, after the dust settled, I think it was an awesome experience but it did slow me down for the rest of the trip. The next time i'm gonna have to go on the slides in the double tube with someone because I never saw those flip!

 

Has anyone else experience this at Aquaventure?

[Canobie Coaster]

^ I haven't been to the Aquaventure in the Bahamas, but I have been to the one in Dubai. That one also has some single tube Master Blasters. It felt more out-of-control since the rafts spun uncontrollably, but it was never violent.

[DoinItForTheFame]

LOVE this TR! Atlantis is one of my favorite cruise destinations! The water park is both thrilling, and breathtakingly beautiful! Thanks for taking the time to write this up! (And thanks for the photos Larry!)