ATLANTIS RESORT, PARADISE ISLAND, THE BAHAMAS, CARIBBEAN

Spending 6 hours at Atlantis sounds to me a bit like flying to Las Vegas for a cocktail, or taking your lunch break at Disneyland. You’d be there just long enough to fully appreciate exactly what it is you are missing. Just a tiny sip of paradise that would leave me wanting to turn the faucet on full blast to guzzle the whole thing down.

One half of the hotel swimming pool family got to do just that, as part of a shore excursion on a Spring Break cruise to the Caribbean islands. Time was so limited, they barely had time for photos!

They arrived early in the morning, before some of the attractions opened and had to be back on their bus to the ship about 4 hours later. They spent most of their time in the water park. Highlights included:

The Current, where guests are propelled through lush, tropical foliage along a mile-long river in inner tubes  (a mile long!) via rolling waves and rapids.  You never leave the water as you are propelled back up the slide tower via water conveyors.

They were a bit disappointed by the in-water elevator, propeller system. You get to the end of the current tour and a big line forms. You get lifted up in a way that resembles a roller coaster lift. Only the slide on the other end is nothing. The way the people are lining up and the lift itself makes you think you’re being set up for a very nice loong drop. But really, the mile-long current starts again without you having to get out of the water. There’s no “ride” other than the lift itself. Sounds really cool to me, but I guess when you are there, it isn’t as great as it sounds.

They also liked Serpent Slide: Guests travel on a tube at high speeds through the darkness of the Mayan Temple’s core. The twisting and turning ride culminates with a leisurely pass through a clear acrylic tunnel submerged in a shark-filled lagoon.

It wasn’t all that dark, and even our fearful 8 year old handled it like a champ, sharks and all. This is the one she wants to bring her brother back to try.

Next time they want to try the Leap of Faith water slide: A 60 ft. almost-vertical drop from the top of the world-famous and iconic Mayan Temple, propelling riders at a tremendous speed through a clear acrylic tunnel submerged in a shark-filled lagoon.

There were several other slides they missed, along with the lazy river (different than the current), the lagoon, several pools and the snorkeling excursion.

When I dream of Atlantis, as I often do, I imagined we would need 3 to 5 days to fully appreciate it’s hotel pool glory. Turns out my better half thinks 3 days would be plenty–enough time for the kids to check out all the water attractions, us to enjoy the casino and all 4 of us to be completely Atlantis-ed out.

Have you been? Please tell us what you thought! How much is enough time there?

Here are the few measly photos they brought back (apologies for sounding ungrateful, but c’mon, this is our mecca. At least some photos of the water elevator?)

Click for more hotel pools in the Caribbean.