That's Atlantis from the cruise ship port.
Out of all of the islands we’ll be visiting, Nassau, Bahamas seems to be the most recognizable. It’s one of those destinations that feels like you’ve heard of other people going to all your life. Well it’s finally our turn. The only problem is, we only have 5 hours to enjoy it. How on earth can anyone see or do anything in 5 hours?! I’m guessing it all has more to do with getting the ship back to port according to the cruise lines timetable, I mean we have to get off the boat at 7am after all. Ugh. As I mentioned in a previous post, Nassau seems to have been taken over by the honking North American style resort of Atlantis. You’ve heard of it I’m sure. When you look at pictures of the island, that’s pretty much all you can see. I am going to attempt to find other things that we can do there though, we’ll see how it goes.
If you’ve ever looked into the history of the Caribbean you will know that pirates played a huge role in it’s development. Nassau’s location made it prime pirating territory, and has a museum to preserve that history. Nassau was after all home to the pirate legend Blackbeard. Here you can stroll through a replica pirate ship, or take a pirate themed tour through the island starting right at your cruise ship port. While I love history, I’m not sure this type of tour is my cup of tea. We might however drop in to the museum for a quick peek on our way to other activities since it’s located right downtown.
Now this however is much more mine and Chelsea’s style, horseback riding on the beaches of Nassau. Chelsea and I are both avid equestrian fans. We’ve taken tons of lessons throughout the years and while neither of us are proficient, if there’s a horse nearby we’ll be there! While I was looking for things to do previously I hadn’t seen this activity. Now we’ll have to chose between this or Blue Lagoon, what a choice! The only downside to this activity is the cost. For a 1.5 hour ride it will set you back $150, although it includes a 25 minute drive both ways to the facility I still don’t think it’s in our price range. We’ll have to see if we can save our pennies.
I have very mixed feelings about this next activity. There are two different dolphin encounter programs on Nassau, one at Atlantis, the other on Blue Lagoon island. Swimming with the dolphins was at the top of my list of things to do in the Caribbean; however upon reading further I changed my idea of how cool that would be. If you haven’t guessed yet, I’m an animal lover. I think sometimes that I enjoy the company of my pets more than I do people. Swimming with dolphins would be quite an experience, but, what about the dolphins? To provide people with such an experience these extremely sentient beings are subjected to a life on confinement. Now I’m not saying that the programs on Nassau itself are shady but there are many worldwide that are, with tiny enclosures and unhappy animals that occasionally decide they’ve had enough and attack. As a statement against this type of entertainment, we will be forgoing any type of ‘swim with’ programs unless it is somehow done in the open ocean and the animals choose to be there.
Nassau has a wealth of history, as do most islands in the Caribbean. To prove it Nassau boasts two other museums on top of the pirate one, and a Bahamian art gallery as well! On top of all the museums, all you need to do to steep yourself in Nassau’s history is walk down the streets. With old style colonial buildings everywhere you look you probably can’t help but feel the days of old right there with you. Visit Christ Church Cathederal, built in 1670, and the very first church build in all of the Caribbean, see all of the pink government buildings from the 1800’s, and walk up the 65 hand carved stairs built in late 1700 to see Fort Fincastle.
Of course there is also a plethora of authentic cuisine, and shopping to do, but ultimately I think we’re still going to find ourselves spending our five hours at Blue Lagoon island, we just have to figure out how we’re going to get ourselves there. It has been a dream of mine since as far back as I can remember to visit a place with clear blue water. I think it’s for that reason the Blue Lagoon is so appealing to me. Finally I’ll be able to see those turquoise waters! Maybe while we’re there we can do a little snorkling.
So my previous statement that there really isn’t much to do on Nassau if you forgo Atlantis, wasn’t very accurate. After a little more digging you can see that there’s TON’s to do in the Bahamas, it’s just a matter of choosing.
Adventures in Miscellany 