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peek for this week's episode. I'm Scott.
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And I'm Alyssa.
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And we are the Sunshine Travelers. Our passion is travel and sharing our experiences with those who enjoyed as much as we do, or those who want to learn more about travel, or even those that just want to live vicariously through our travel stories. No matter where you fall along that journey, get ready to hear about our firsthand experiences as we visit some of the most interesting and amazing places on earth. In this week's episode, we are going to fly a short distance off the eastern coast of Florida to the island of New Providence in the Bahamas. Many of you will recognize this place as Nassau, Bahamas. Nassau is the largest city and capital of the Bahamas, so many people refer to the island as Nassau. Join us as we discuss the couple of different ways that you can visit the island, and we'll share our tips on where to stay, what and where to eat, along with some of the must-do activities while you are there. So grab your passport, pack a bathing suit, and let's get started.
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passport, pack a bathing suit, and let's get started. So Nassau is only a short flight from the East Coast, making it a quick beach destination from a lot of East Coast airports. And even though we had a connection in Atlanta, we still made it there in time for
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Yeah, so that was really nice is when you have a connection and you can still get somewhere really quick. So Nassau is also a popular cruise port destination. Most three and four night cruises leaving out of Florida, maybe a few other places are going to make a stop here. When we were here in October, there were anywhere from four to six ships in the port on a given day. And they told us that that's not even their busy season. So their busy season then is like Thanksgiving, Christmas, and then into January, February as well. They've also added a new larger port recently. And so that really is like why they're able to have that kind of capacity. Chances are, if you're taking one of those cruises, it's going to stop in Nassau. So when we were thinking about what would be the most helpful thing to tell you about Nassau, We wanted to keep both of these types of visits in mind. So we decided to talk mostly about what to do and where to eat so that if you have one day here, there will be several options for you to choose from. And if you have several days to a whole week, and we had several days, hopefully you will enjoy several of these.
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know what it's going to be like in that town of Nassau when, you know, you start seeing more ships come into port, because there was a lot of people, I thought, roaming around that day with just a few ships.
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Yeah, there really was. And so I think just like anywhere that you go when it's in like a cruise port, right? And the people in that visit, you know, during the day on the cruise, like you just have that limited amount of time. And so it really is a different experience if you can, you know, have the early mornings or, you know, have the evenings and stuff like that. But today we're going to share ways that you can enjoy it either way, right? Because sometimes are some people you might just want to come on the cruise ship and that's enough of Nassau. And so that's really why we wanted to kind of just break it down
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this. So let's talk about why did we visit Nassau again? Just today we were talking about that that was our third trip we had done two cruises and one trip that where we flew down when we talk about nassau it's not one of those places that we keep on our list of oh we've got to come back here often right
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i think we have other places that we are beach destinations that we enjoy that say, oh, we would return there again and again. But some people do that for the Bahamas for various reasons. So that, that is true. And that just, I think is just a preference thing. So in just a second, we're going to tell you about the first couple of trips and what we did, you know, on those cruise one days there. But on our most recent trip, we stayed for four nights. And like you mentioned, it wasn't necessarily somewhere that we had said that we would return to. But I had always said that I would like to stay at the Atlantis Resort and take a ride on the iconic Leap of Faith water slide that was, to me, popularized by the Mary-Kate and Ashley Holiday and the Sun, which was loved by our daughter. And she actually reminded me of this. She said, oh, do you remember when that movie came out? And we just used to watch that. And so I think that was when that resort opened. And that was really unbeknownst to you that that was something that I thought, oh, that would be fun to go stay there and do that water slide. So that was the allure. So let's talk about why though, like how that stay came about. So we had the opportunity to take advantage of a free stay and some casino credits, thanks to a series of status matching. So I had told you when you were staying, so this is kind of funny, I guess, and you reminded me of this today. I had told you when you were staying. So this is kind of funny, I guess. And you reminded me of this today. I had told you when you were going out to Caesars in Vegas for a couple of work trips, I was like, oh, you can status match your Marriott to the Caesars status. And I think what I had in my head was that you could status match to the MGM. And then if you've seen this in the news recently, like MGM is kind of becoming part of like Marriott. And so they were going to do some things, but you had to do it in like you had to do it in person then. And now you'll be able to like take advantage of those. And so I had told you this. And so you just went and you were like, hey, here's my. Well, I guess talk about that. Who did you have to talk to and all that good stuff? So
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I went to the the members desk there at Caesars and I told him, I said, hey, I am a titanium elite with Marriott and I want to do status matching with you. And so he's like, well, we don't do that. I was like, yeah, yeah. No, you're about to start doing it. I know, because my wife told me about it. She's been reading about it. And the lady's like, I don't think so. I don't know anything about this. And I was like, yeah, I'm pretty sure. And so, she went off to the back and she talked a little while to somebody. And she came out and she's like, we're going to make an exception. We're going to status match you. And so they did. They status matched me. And so I think the moral of the story there is don't be afraid to ask and maybe just act like you know what you're doing and it'll turn out in your favor. Well,
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what I always say. You know, sometimes when you're just like, you know, like especially if you walk into a hotel or resort, like if you act like you belong there, you act like you know what you're doing, you can like go in and go to the bathroom or, you know, go whatever. So that's a good point. So that has really worked in our favor then, because as we've talked about previously, not only did we do this, but we also did that cruise on Holland America. So we have our episodes about our Caribbean cruise on Holland America, which was also because of the status match. So they status matched that casino match. So good job, Scott. I have to tell you, this is actually really funny because Scott would never, if I hadn't convinced him that that was the true thing, like you would have never gone and said, oh, this, but I was so sure, you know, that's what it was. So, so that worked out in our favor. So then what you see
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you see how much I trust her. I just didn't, you know, went and told the lady. I was like, oh, my wife knows all about this. And so,
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it worked out. So that's, that's great. So the thing was that also when and Caesars matches to some other things right so if you don't have that marriott specifically but they may match to some other things because a lot of these casino places match so like scott said just try and so then the caesar's diamond status gave it gives you a free stay at atlanta so we are going to link that in the show notes because basically what you have to do is you go online, they've got this website, and then you submit your status. It lays out everything. So different seasons, you get different lengths of stay. It gives you a little bit of resort casino
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taxes and fees. You do have to pay the resort fees, and we'll talk about this in a minute. So we had to take advantage of that by the end of the year because that caesar status was only good until the end of the year or you had to re-earn it so we just decided to take advantage of the opportunity and found four nights that we had available that we also worked with them and i had to go like you have to call so if like if you're not into like calling and doing stuff like that it wasn't like i could book this online i had to call and say this is what we have you know what are the dates and she gave me all the details and and all that good stuff so thankfully we also had enough sky miles on our account to book the flight so truly making it pretty much a quote-unquote free trip but stay until the end because we are going to break down what we actually spent at the end of the day as well. So we ended up booking the trip for the end of October, ending on Halloween.
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a risky time of the year, honestly, to be going down into the Caribbean because of the hurricane season. Now you're right at the end of the hurricane season then, but, you know, in any given year, there could still be some hurricane activity down there.
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But what was interesting about this, like I didn't have to put down a deposit though, or give them a credit card or anything. It was just booked and they sent me the information and stuff like that. So, I mean, of course we had, you know, booked the flights and stuff like that. So before we get into the list of what to do and eat and all the good things, let's talk about the Bahamas in general. So you can understand a little bit about, you know, why Nassau and, you know, some different places that you may have heard about. So the Bahamas is actually an archipelago consisting of about 700 islands. And then there's also 2000 like rocks and keys, which are just like small little tiny pieces of land, but only about 30 of the islands are actually inhabited. And the vast majority of these islands are uninhabited either as ecological preserves or they're privately owned. And so you've heard about people having a private island in the Bahamas, whether that be celebrities or like cruise ships and stuff like that. So the islands that are inhabited are very diverse in their offering. So in Nassau, which is on New Providence Island, and in Freeport on the Grand Bahama Island, you're going to find more of like a bustling city. And then places that are more tranquil and remote, like Laritha, the Exumas. And you may have seen those on shows such as like the Bahama Life, which is like that House Hunters Island Life show. That's where a lot of those people, you'll see them go, you know, look into those. So there are just like neighborhoods, but it just isn't quite as populated. So Nassau, like we mentioned, is located on New Providence Island. And then Atlantis, where we ended up staying, is located on Paradise Island. But there's a bridge that connects those two. And then there's some other things on Paradise Island, some other resorts and marinas and just different things like that. So cruise ships often make their stops, of course, in Nassau, like we've talked about, but also on their own private islands or beaches. So Carnival in Holland, America has Half Moon Cay, Disney Castaway Cay. They're having a new one called Lookout Cay. And then Virgin actually has just a private beach on the island of Bimini, which you can also visit. So a lot of these that they have like their private islands and their private beaches. But when you go there, it's very like, it's just like the cruise ship, right? So the cruise right? ship, So the cruise companies are going to run the little shops. They're going to run all the excursions. They're going to have food there for you if they have extra things that you pay for, like renting a little cabana or this or that. But it's all cruise ship. It's not like an authentic, I mean, I don't always say authentic experience because it's a beach. It's a touristy thing like some of these things are, but it's not like being a part of a town or a community or supporting local people per se, right? That would be the difference.
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Not like if you go into Nassau and you shop there or things like that, that money goes back to the local people.
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Right, right. So, that would really be the difference. So Nassau is a combination of beautiful beaches, luxury resorts, does have culture because that's their house of their government and a lot of history and stuff too. But then you're also going to find recreational activities and nightlife. So it's an attractive destination for lots of travelers, families, honeymooners, people of all ages as well.
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know, that gives you a good eye overview of the Bahamas. So we're strictly talking about Nassau, though, in this episode, New Providence Island and Paradise Island, here with one exception on the what to do list. And we'll talk about that in just a minute. But let's start with what to do, because whether you come on a cruise and you're just there for a day or you come and spend a few days or a week on a beach vacation, you're going to need to know what to do during your time here. So if you have one day from the cruise, you can pick from, you know, one of one or more of these different activities that we're going to talk about. one or more of these different activities that we're going to talk about. But if you have several days, hopefully you can enjoy many of the activities on the list of things that we'll talk about today. So
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we wanted to share what we have done and then on the different trips. And then we wanted to share a few other ideas that we saw people do or we've seen recommended as well, just to give you some more ideas. So first of all, what we did on our first trip, we were on the cruise. It was a carnival cruise. We went to the famous straw market and then we took a taxi out to Paradise Island and enjoyed the public beach there. I think after that, we just like found a taxi and said, take us somewhere like we want to go to the beach for a little while. And so they, the taxi driver suggested this place and took us there because you said you remembered like going through. I remember like the way that we drove out, you said you remembered kind of going through part of Atlantis. There's some places in Atlantis where they're picky about you having the armband and stuff like that. And then they do have a public beach there. And then we went back to the cruise ship and showered and dressed. We walked around Nassau a little bit. And then we ended the day before dinner going to see Norfrogs for a little while, which is down near the port. So we kind of, you know, did the beach thing, walked around a little bit, did like a touristy thing. So that was really our first trip. On the second trip that we came to Nassau, we were on a Disney cruise with lots of members of our family. And so we actually booked an excursion through the cruise line on that trip to swim with the stingrays. So I don't remember, like, I don't feel like we did anything else in Nassau. You said we may have gone to Senior Frogs or back to the straw market for a little while, but like we didn't get out.
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I believe that we did the swimming with the steam rays first i think
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so too and i don't remember the weather being particularly nice either it was like november it was a thanksgiving cruise it was pretty overcast yeah so it wasn't like a particular beach day on that day plus the draw and what you're paying for on the disney cruise is on that disney cruise
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either it was
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so, and so if you are looking for a beach day, you do have a couple of options. So the draw for the beaches in the Bahamas is the crystal clear water and the white sand. And so you can walk from the port to Junkanoo beach. There will be beach vendors set up with chairs and umbrellas. There's some food options, some beach side bars, just know that like the chairs, the umbrellas. There's some food options, some beachside bars. Just know that the chairs, the umbrellas, you're going to need to pay. And probably have U.S. cash dollars there. I think because they have so much cruise, you can spend U.S. cash dollars. And just know that there's probably going to be people that are, hey, you want to do this? You want to do that? We have jet skis. We have parasail. We have, you know, it's going to be, yeah, all, it's just going to be constantly there's a lot of people just
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it's going
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though there's going to be people there trying to sell you weed and stuff like that oh
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weed i thought you said we because i was saying we oh i gotcha okay yeah that's true so we saw lots of people we walked by that junkanoo beach on this last trip after our tour when we were in nassau that we're going to talk about in
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to talk about in a second and by the way just junk canoe is like one of the smaller beaches so you know and it's the closest one to the cruise port so there's going to be a lot of people that just are looking for that free option to go to the beach and they're going to walk there and so smallest beach that's where you're going to have a lot of people
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yeah and you can walk and i didn't write down the name of it you can walk a little bit further and you if you just keep walking you'll see it you can walk a little bit further and there's a larger beach there's like a beach park and you can just like keep walking along the road it takes you all the way to like the fresh fry so i think it was like arawat beach or something like that to the fresh fry which we're going to talk about in a second as far as a food option but that is a beach option for you most
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most people are going to stop there at junk canoe a lot of little bars right there by the by the ocean and so you know they just they draw you right in like this is the beach this is where you're coming so you know bring you right into that space.
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Yeah. So that is something that, you know, it's not going to cost you anything more if you want to get a chair and an umbrella or whatever. But that is, you know, like a free option to enjoy the beach. You don't have to take a taxi anywhere, etc. So and
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could. Well, just a point of clarification. If you want a chair and umbrella it will cost you more oh yes
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yes yes but i mean if you just want to go to the beach and plop your stuff down on the sand and have the beach and whatever it's gonna be yeah you're not gonna pay for an excursion you're not gonna pay for a taxi and which
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gonna pay for an excursion you're not gonna pay for a taxi and which is what we did that first time when we went to the beach you know but we did take a
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we did take a taxi we
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a taxi there but we you know i think had taken the towel from the cruise line and we just laid it out there on the beach we went swimming and then came back and grabbed another taxi and headed back into town right that's
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Yes, we did. Another option is that you can head to Paradise Island. You can walk through Atlantis just to see, you know, the parts that are they're not going to like hassle you about an armband because then it does connect to a public beach. You can enjoy the beach there. Let's
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talk about that. What is part of the that you can just walk through? And that's basically the lobby of the hotel. They have some food options there and then the casino. And then, you know, there's a stretch that goes between the different hotels. But that's about all you can go without having that armband. But
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you can go out to, you can then go out to that beach. Yeah. Because then there were signs as you come back to the pool past this point, you need an armband. So you're right. You could go out to the middle and then walk out and then just go straight out to the beach. Now I will also say, so those beaches are also, or part of those beaches, I guess, are public beaches as well. And you aren't going to have as many vendors, but you're going to see the same thing. There were lifeguards, but we did see there were some like beach vendor type stuff set up in the public part. And then when on the day that was nice, that didn't have heavy waves, people were, they had their jet skis out there and stuff like that. So you are still going to experience that. And
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of that's going to be the your experience is going to be the time of year that you go when we went there earlier in the year beautiful white sands clear waters i mean it was great swimming you know situation down there but when we went then end of october a lot of seaweed, the waters were rough. And so we wouldn't have gone out there and swam in the ocean.
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No, there was one little bay part that you could have, but again, seaweed. And the other thing that we have learned since living at the beach is how much a beach changes over time. And I don't know that you know that or realize that if you visit a particular beach at the same time every year, because that has so much to do with it. So just know that. You don't really know exactly what it's going to be like. So those are a couple of options. So I did want to mention, so you taxi back and forth, or there is a ferry that takes you from the port over to Paradise Island, but then you would still have, what would you say, Scott, like a 15, 20 minute walk because it docks kind of near where the Margaritaville is. And so you're going to have to walk like 15, 20 minutes. And I wouldn't say that it's that much cheaper. I think it was seven or nine dollars to do the ferry per person each way. And so, and then you're going to have to like wait for it and, you know, make sure you catch it in certain times and stuff like that. So we did not, we have not taken the ferry. I want to clarify that, but we did see, did see that. So if you want to experience that Aquaventure water park that's at Atlantis and do the leap of faith that I talked about, you can book a day pass. And we saw lots of people who did that. It was obvious that lots of people came from the cruise because it was very not busy. And the hotel, like there was people, but like on the off hours, like not a ton of people, like tons of empty beach chairs. Of course, like we mentioned, this was November. So it was kind of the off season. But then during the day, it got very busy from that time that that, you know, people would have time to come from the cruise and then, you know, before they had to leave. So you can book that day pass ahead of time. I do think that they sell out in busy seasons.
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Amazing, because I looked up the price for that day pass. price for that day $255 for adults pass. and like
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over. that's Yeah, especially expensive, if
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four hours, five hours until, you know, sometimes the ships, they do, you know, they vary when they go back out. But if that ship leaves port at 3, 334, like you're going to have to head back. So that is a lot to spend for the day pass. We did see people doing it. They may offer that as part of the cruise. You might want to check that as well. I don't know. But you also might come out cheaper booking the cheapest room you can find for the night so that you're not paying per person. Because, like, for example, we mentioned we had to pay a resort fee. It was per night. And for us, the resort fee was like $70.5 per night plus tax. So I think it came out to like $80, whatever, a little over $80 per night. That was for two people not having, you know, to pay separately for that water park. So that might be an option, just depending. Might want to see, you know, can you check in and just use that and get your armband and go enjoy that for a few hours. So let's real quick, what is Atlantis? If you're not familiar with that. So the Atlantis Resort on Paradise Island in the Bahamas is an ocean themed resort. And it's famous for luxury accommodations, extensive water parks, unique marine habitats. And you've probably seen those iconic buildings, including the Royal Towers and it has the penthouse bridge across it, which is famous as the Michael Jackson penthouse there. which is famous as the Michael Jackson penthouse So most recently there. they have, I don't know if it's really added or renovated a section to be the cove. I don't know because that was our first visit there. So part of it looks like it was kind of like there before, but anyway. And so that part, the cove is an upscale five-star section that is adults only. And so then the resort has the water park, which is called AquaVenture. It's a large water park. It has slides, a mile long, not lazy river. We thought it was a lazy river, but it's a river rapids river float thing that was pretty wild uh and then of course the thing that i was most interested is which is that leap of faith slide that drops 60 feet near vertical drop you literally just have to make yourself like get on and go and just like i mean you would see lots of people at the top be like chicken out you just have to make yourself get on and go. So if you like that kind of thing, it was really fun.
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if you
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Literally, when you look out, all you see is air. There's no slide in front of you. When you go off, you're literally dropping straight down. I think it's like five stories or something like that.
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like that. Yeah, yeah. Well, 60 feet. So that would I looked be, it up. That's, you 60 know, I think feet. that's roughly about five stories or something yeah yeah it's well 60 feet so is that would be i looked it up that's you know i think
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five stories or something yeah yeah it's well 60 feet so is that would be i looked it up that's you know i think that's roughly about five
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yeah and so it just basically go down almost instantly like the first time you do it we had to do it a second time because it was just like oh that went by that really went by so fast right and you don't even so well let's talk about so it goes through at the very bottom then you you go through. Let's
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through. Let's clarify though, you're not just free falling in the air. You are on the slide, but when you look out and you take that leap of faith, I guess, it feels like you've just jumped off of a building. But you're on the slide and, you know, you can tell because you can feel the slide underneath you, but it is quite quite a
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very fun if you like that kind of thing really was very fun and definitely worth doing but here's the thing so at the bottom it takes you through a clear acrylic tunnel that's in a shark filled lagoon now you go through that very bottom part so fast that you don't see like you can't even open your eyes like it's splashing in your face like you're not going to see that but it's the idea of when people are watching that right that there's sharks around that tank but it's not you
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splashing in
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recommend that you have your GoPro ready for this because you're not going to see it in real time. And you're going to want to watch that video as you go back and see. Yeah.
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So we did not take our GoPros on this trip, but we should have.
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learned on the first path down, I didn't cross my feet. And that was a mistake because by the time you get down to the water, you know, basically displacing a lot of water when you get into that tunnel. But then the second path down or the second time going down, I did cross my feet and I was able to keep my eyes open and see that tunnel. But I think it's more of the novelty that you're going under where the sharks are because you go through it so fast that you don't actually see the sharks.
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Yeah, that's true. And so that was that was the one thing like the rest of the water park. We enjoyed everything else. We honestly went. I think we went twice for a couple of hours each. We tried to avoid the times when the cruise ships were going to be in the port just so we wouldn't have to like, you know, wait in lines as well. Scott laughed. He had no idea that this was something that was on my bucket list to do but that was fun i mean i'm definitely glad we did it it was fun landis also has the world's largest open air marine habitat over 50 000 marine animals 250 species the property also includes a casino a golf course a spa numerous dining options from casual to fine dining, super family friendly, lots of stuff for people of all ages to do as well. So Melissa,
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Melissa, let's stop for just a minute and, you know, tell the story. You talked to the guys who were doing some cleaning and stuff like that around the resort one day. And you asked a question about the turtles, because there are a ton of sea turtles and you know living here at the beach turtle nesting season it's a big deal protecting the sea turtles and then you always want to be able to go out and maybe see the sea turtles return to the water but here they had just these tons and tons of sea turtles.
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Yeah. So the particular section that we were in, which was the coral, and we'll talk a little bit more about that in a second, but I did, I was going to the pool one of the days. And so they had several tanks in that section, one with little bitty turtles, one with bigger turtles, and then one with a whole bunch of stingrays and again like that's a stingray another stingray experience that you can do as well but so i was just asking them some questions about the turtles do they release these turtles and then just about the different sizes and so it was interesting and then i asked them like what their jobs were so these particular guys were like their jobs had to do with the water systems and the water filtration systems and stuff like that. And so, yes, they were basically like, yes, this little pool is the one-year-olds and these are the two-year-olds. And so we basically call this program our Head Start program. And we know from a lot of the education that we had in the Galapagos about the turtles and stuff like that is that it's like a huge percentage of turtles don't live past infancy and then especially the two like so many of them die before two and so they're basically trying to increase the population by having them protected until they're two and then releasing those then moving the babies up, you know, that tank. And they just do this on a yearly basis. So Atlantis is not just for show, right? It's not just about, you know, the water slides and getting in the tanks with these animals and doing these things for show. They actually do have some conservation things. He also went on to tell me about manatees, which is also of interest because we live here in Florida where the manatees, manatees And he are. me about said, manatees which is also of interest because we live here in florida where manatees the manatees are and he said when the manatees get lost and end up in the bahamas we have trained our local residents to leave a hose running for them because they don't have just saltwater they thrive on the like where like the springs come into the sea, right? They've got to have some freshwater sources. And then they know to call and then they come and rescue these manatees. And then they figure out how to get them back into Florida. And they said, we don't want them here in the Bahamas. We don't want a huge population there in the Bahamas because they're not native. And that's going to cause a problem for him. So they do have these conservation programs and they do have ways to like save these animals, educate the local people. Because I just mentioned when he said something about the manatees, I was like, oh, where are they? You know, I didn't know that you had them. Where are they? And he was like, oh, no, that's not part of that's not something you can go see. That's kind of a behind the scenes thing that we we do to protect these animals and save these animals. So I just wanted to share that because I thought that was really interesting to know. It's not just about, we have these dolphins for swim with the dolphins or feed the stingrays, but they do have some conservation efforts going on. And then these guys, their jobs is to, you know, take care of these animals and protect them through these, you know, water filtration
00:31:23 SPEAKER_01
systems. So that's pretty cool. I mean, to know that part of that entrance fee to go to that aqua venture does go back to conservation and, you know, and helping out our seas. So that's pretty neat.
00:31:37 SPEAKER_00
Yeah. So that was interesting.
00:31:39 SPEAKER_01
you know, while you're at Atlantis, another thing that you could do is go to the casino. So if you're looking for something to do during the day and it's really hot outside and maybe you're not a beach person, but you're willing to go in and try your luck, they do have a casino there. Table games, machines, slot machines, things like that. They've got it all. It's a full on casino where you can go and play and try to bet your luck against the house.
00:32:16 SPEAKER_00
Yes. We did hear a couple. Just don't
00:32:18 SPEAKER_01
Just don't bet your house.
00:32:19 SPEAKER_00
Yes. Don't bet your house. And I will say we did hear a couple who was saying when we were there one of the nights and they were saying, ah, this is whatever. It's better to play during the day or something like that. So anyway, so yes, if you are into the casinos and you did your cruise for the casinos and then that's how you want to spend your day, you can definitely, they would be happy to welcome you to do that or just walk around and see the casino and the parts that you can do without the armband. And in the there is like a big aquarium part too, lobby, that I think like where the main check-in you could probably walk around that. is, No problem.
00:32:54 SPEAKER_01
So Atlanta's a lot of stuff to do there. You guys can check
00:33:01 SPEAKER_00
we think, can move on. know, Yes, we've covered that. We've mentioned a couple of other things about like our room and stuff in a second when we get to the where to stay. But so one thing that we wanted to do is to do some kind of walking tour, some kind of historical tour. That was like number one on our list. And so we want to recommend a very specific one to you. want to recommend a very specific one to you. I had read about several of these different food tours and a lot of the reviews were just not so good because they advertise them as food tours, but then they're like, well, they weren't really food tours because you just get a sample here and a sample there. And we've done food tours before or a food tour in Belize that was very good. And so I just wasn't super impressed with any of these, you know, reading the reviews as we recommend that you guys do. And so, but then I happened on one that was called Kind Walk Tours and it was advertised as a free walking tour. And let's talk about that for a second. So these are very popular in Europe, but the idea is that then you pay what you think the value of that is for the person running the tour. So know that going in, that it's not a free tour and it's just going to be free. You need to be prepared to pay kind of what you would pay and then have a tip. So we met Krista who runs Kind Walk Tours. This is her own thing. And it was just a fantastic tour. So we highly recommend that
00:34:34 SPEAKER_00
If you're on a cruise and have some time to spend in Nassau, she does one that's convenient for cruise right? passengers, That's geared toward where you can do it and then get back to the cruise. Or if you're here to stay. There is just so much history on this small island and really hearing it from a local's perspective just made it so much more interesting because obviously she has studied and then she just absorbs and learns so much stuff so let's talk about we visited bay street which is the main street that has all the the shops and the diamond shops and ice cream shops and, you know, the rum cake and all that stuff. We visited Parliament Square, Fort Fincastle. We walked down the Queen's Staircase, which is definitely something to see. And that, you know, you can walk there as well if you walk around. We visited the Greycliffe Heritage Village and several other places. She did take us to all the places that were on the quote unquote food tours that other people were advertising. So we got a taste of the chocolate. We got a taste of the rum. We got a taste of, what was it up at the Fort Finn Castle, the little sample things he had?
00:35:41 SPEAKER_01
was like-
00:35:42 SPEAKER_00
Some kind of rum drink?
00:35:43 SPEAKER_01
Yeah, some kind of rum drink.
00:35:44 SPEAKER_00
So Yeah. we had And that. some of those places of rum drink. some Yeah, kind of rum drink. so Yeah, we had that. And some of those places, they obviously want you to buy some of the stuff. That little fellow was like a bar. So we gave him a tip because we didn't want a whole drink. So get all of that too. And so real quick, I wanted to give a side note about this tour as well. We found it so interesting because the history of the Bahamas with all the pirates that she talked about, there's also a pirates museum too that you can go in if you're interested. And then later slavery as well. It's very similar to where we live in Fernandina Beach and the part of Florida that we are in. So we had the pirates, right? We have the place where the pirates came We have in. a lady right? pirates, We have the place where the pirates came in. We have a lady street in the north part of the island. And then in addition to that, our county is actually called Nassau County. And that comes from the House of Nassau, in which William III, the King of England, Scotland, and Ireland, way back in 1869. And that was due to his impact and significance in European politics and his role in the Protestant succession in England. So this naming just reflects the historical influence that he had there. So I just thought it was very interesting, right? And a lot of the things that she talked about, there's local forts and some historical sites here that talk about the slavery. And she told us a lot about that, right? The diseases that they the people were wiped right? brought, out, And then where the people who live in the Bahamas right? now, What their history is and where they came from and stuff like So that. I just thought that was super interesting. And on this particular day, we were the only two people on the tour with her. So we got to really have some dialogue with her about a lot of different stuff. And she found that very interesting too, because she was like, oh, I'm gonna have to look that up, right? Because I didn't realize, right, in Florida, there's also in Nassau County. And there's also, I think she said New York too, right? And it's all that related history. So that was super interesting. We went by the straw market we didn't go in i think she probably was we had told her we had been before and wanted to spend our time on some other things but we could have gone in if we wanted to but she did say she did ask us one question which was she said what is wrong with that green yellow and black black bob marley bag that you see hanging there in one of the stalls that then says yeah several
00:38:05 SPEAKER_01
then says yeah several of
00:38:07 SPEAKER_00
of the stalls that says Bahamas or Nassau or whatever like she was just asking us like you know what is wrong with that as a
00:38:15 SPEAKER_01
well Bob Marley wasn't from the Bahamas and
00:38:18 SPEAKER_00
colors are Jamaican colors right as well so so many of the items are obviously you know yeah she was talking
00:38:25 SPEAKER_01
about that you know that's not the stuff that is original to the bahamas it's not the kind of crafts that the people in the bahamas would have made and so this is all stuff that they're bringing in from china and just selling there so i think her her point was to say, if you come to the Bahamas, try to find something different as a souvenir because that doesn't give back to the community. That money goes somewhere else.
00:38:56 SPEAKER_00
Yeah. So, I mean, I get it. A lot of times people want a t-shirt or a hat or something like that. But just like in that case, just making sure it's like more feels more authentic right that it's not a Jamaican thing in the Bahamas and you're going to see that in the next port stop that says Jamaica
00:39:11 SPEAKER_01
Jamaica the people in the Bahamas they're going to laugh at you if you buy that and wear that and stuff like that yeah
00:39:18 SPEAKER_00
we just we just really wanted to share that Krista at Kind Walk she was just a gym and we just had, we just had a great time, you know, learning from her, her learning from us. And like I mentioned, she stopped at all those other places as well and gave us some recommendations for, for eating and stuff like that. Okay. So here's a few more activities. Now, these are not things that we have done. We've seen people do these. We've heard about people doing these. So we did want to share them as just some other options. So another thing that you might have heard about recently is in the Bahamas is swimming with the pigs. Now, I don't know. This just didn't interest me at all.
00:39:58 SPEAKER_01
And I think that's in Exuma, right? It
00:40:01 SPEAKER_00
It is. But I did find one from Nassau that's only a 30-minute boat ride away. So you just have to look and see what's offered and what's available. But I think because this is becoming so popular, like... People
00:40:16 SPEAKER_01
teaching pigs to swim.
00:40:18 SPEAKER_00
Well, I mean, Krista, for example, even mentioned, or they, you know, that they come. Yeah. She even I what are they mentioned, going to do? well, You're mean, offering them all this food. They're going to do whatever to do to get this So it just wasn't something for me. food. I, A lot of people like I reached it. out to another, you know, blogger person that I follow on Instagram and their family had done And it. she said, yeah, it was you a, know, it's a great experience. It was fun, you know, to do once It was a touristy experience. But anyway, so that is something though that you might be interested in. It is available from Nassau. So like I said, you might be able to book that from the cruise. I found one on Viator that you could book. We've had good luck booking tours on our own and being able to save money or book sold out activities. So also, if you're on a cruise, before you take that cruise, be sure to check out episode 19, where we talked about how to plan and save money on excursions beyond the cruise port. That might be useful to you as you kind of prepare for your cruise as well. Another thing that we saw is a lot of ATVs. As we were on that walking tour, because it was a cruise, you know, ships were in port. A lot of people doing just like AV. So covering the same ground, I think that we did, but just on ATVs. I don't know why that's super popular, but we saw lots of those as well. So I also found that if you want to see like more of the entire island, you could book like a private van tour and it would take you to some of these places And too. then when I read and it, it would take you to some of these places too. And then when I read it, like it would take you to a further on a beach, like further on the other side of the island. And then you could just see that. So just like, you know, lots of opportunities, like options and opportunities. You can check Viator out for that as well. So, and then finally, as I was looking on the places to stay, to kind of give you a few other options besides Atlantis, I discovered that you could also purchase some day passes because we. You can also buy resort passes for hotels. And so a few of those that I saw that were available was the Margaritaville Beach Resort and also the newly remodeled British Colonial Hotel in Nassau. So go to resortpass.com and you could check that out. And you might also find that as a handy tool in other destinations that you go to. You're staying here and you really want to visit the pool somewhere else, but you don't want to or can't pay that hotel night. Or just in your own town as well. We have a hotel down the street from us that advertises Book a Day Pass on resortpass.com. So anyway. So
00:43:00 SPEAKER_01
way to book local experiences is through Viator. You can do more with Viator. There's one site, 300 plus thousand travel experiences that you'll remember. We like using Viator because of the free cancellation policy. Plans may change. And so you can receive a full refund if you cancel at least 24 hours in advance of most experiences. Just book your spot now and pay later with their reserve now and pay later feature. And of course, before booking, we always read the trusted reviews. Viator has 4.3 stars from 140,000 plus Trustpilot reviews. Go to sunshinetravelers.com slash Viator to explore and book your next local experience. Yes. And this
00:43:51 SPEAKER_00
actually where we found Krista and Kind Walk Tours. And she has a website, but then her link goes to Viator. And basically the way they do it on there, because I did mention it was a free tour, is you do book like a $10 deposit to hold your spot and then you know and then it goes from there so that she just uses that platform as well and so then the final thing I wanted to mention is as Scott mentioned they have other experiences at Lannis that you could book maybe not walking through the sharks but how about swimming or paddleboarding with the dolphins feeding the stingrays, as I mentioned? So that's just some other options that you could look at as far as animal encounters.
00:44:31 SPEAKER_01
Boy, all this activity has got us working up quite an appetite. So what about where to eat while you're there?
00:44:38 SPEAKER_00
Are you getting hangry yet?
00:44:40 SPEAKER_01
No.
00:44:40 SPEAKER_00
Okay, good. So let's put this disclaimer. The Bahamas is not the cheapest place that you will eat.
00:44:49 SPEAKER_01
I looked it up. Do you know what Bahamas means?
00:44:52 SPEAKER_00
No, I don't.
00:44:52 SPEAKER_01
Bring lots of money.
00:44:54 SPEAKER_00
No, it does not. You're funny. So, but we did find that the food was not cheap at all. And not just like at the resort. So like I had read and seen some stuff like Atlantis and we're not big chain restaurants. Like we like to find local restaurants. We like to ask people for recommendations and you know that from listening. And so we had not planned on necessarily eating at the resort because that does tend to be expensive and not what we were really looking for. But just know that going in is that even in the town was not. And even the places where the locals eat, one of the places we're going to recommend, Scott said to one of the taxi drivers, OK, you know, that was great. We enjoyed it. OK. And it was recommended by a local. And Scott was like, oh, where do the locals eat? And he said oh there and you were like man that was really expensive for to you know eat there so but knowing from we live in a place where tourists go and it's more expensive for us to eat and that's just the way it is and that's true for locals too unfortunately you don't get like a locals discount so that's the way it is so the places
00:46:04 SPEAKER_01
we're going to share with you where we ate and we would recommend plus a few others that were recommended to us that we didn't make it to but you know we can vouch for the places where we went and we would send people there anytime so yes the
00:46:21 SPEAKER_00
places that we're going to mention that we went to is ones that we definitely would recommend. So we actually arrived in time for lunch, as Scott mentioned at the beginning, our room wasn't ready and we really were just going to like chill out at the pool. Scott was going to be working some on this trip. So this was just kind of like going to be our relaxing afternoon. So we just decided to eat at the resort at the outside Poseidon's table. It was fine. For what they, for the options that they had, it was really the only place to eat outside, which we like to do. But we did, I probably got more out of it, was we asked one of the servers who kind of checked on us and asked us stuff. We just asked him, hey, you know, while we're here, we'd like to eat at some local places. And so he suggested.
00:47:02 SPEAKER_01
he suggested a place called the Poop Deck. And you yes, did just hear me correctly. a place called the Poop Deck. And you did yes, just hear me correctly. It's called the Poop Deck. And this one is just over the bridge from Paradise Island. It's in a so you have a great view of boats. marina, We had a table right by the window and had that view of the marina. So it was a really nice location. We learned there that they sell the fresh fish. So as you come in, they show you the fish that's laying out on ice. And that's what they have for their fresh catch for the day. And once that fish is gone, it's gone. But one of the main things that you'll see in a lot of restaurants across the Bahamas is the snapper and and so they serve that as a fried whole fish so you get the head the tails everything on that fish and so you know Melissa I think that's what she ate almost through the entire stay. And by the end, a lady actually commented on how well she cleaned the fish off the bones.
00:48:15 SPEAKER_00
So that's true. I learned how to do it. The first meal I had that, which the first time I had it was at the poop deck. I did a terrible job, just not like knowing. I mean, I've had snapper before, but I don't think whole with the bones. And knowing like where the bones are and then how to take that fish apart. So, yeah, you're right. Like I was picking out bones and then you're right. When we get
00:48:34 SPEAKER_01
right. When we get fish here, we get fillets. We don't usually buy the whole fish and cook it like that. So, you know, navigating the bones in the fish, it can be very tricky sometimes. Yeah.
00:48:48 SPEAKER_00
So thank you. That was quite a compliment. And then also one of the restaurants was like, oh, no, that does come whole with the, you know, everything. And it's like, yeah, yeah, it's good. The other thing that they're known for, though, is the
00:49:00 SPEAKER_01
Yeah. Cracked conch. Yeah.
00:49:02 SPEAKER_00
Cracked conch or probably cooked in the conch fritters, but the cracked conch especially.
00:49:06 SPEAKER_01
especially. Let's talk a little bit about what cracked conch is. It is the conch meat out of the conch shell. And they use a tenderizer or cleaver or something and they beat it to make it more tender. So I think conch is a little bit chewy in its natural state. So they do their best to make it more tender. Because I think conch is a little bit chewy in its natural state. So they do their best to make it more tender. And so that's one of the most popular dishes that you'll see in just about every restaurant is the cracked conch.
00:49:37 SPEAKER_00
Yes. And that fish. So I didn't think that I could eat the conch because I have, well, what we've been calling a shellfish allergy. So, right, I can't have shrimp and crab and lobster. Used to could eat them, can't now. And so we've been calling that a shellfish allergy. But after doing some research, Scott actually discovered that those are specifically crustaceans. so that's a good I don't I still that Yeah, those are specifically distinction. Yeah. know. didn't. However, crustaceans. So that's a good distinction. I don't know. I still didn't. I may have had a bite of your conch, actually. So, but I was really enjoying the fish. So just know that that was just an interesting distinction that maybe somebody else, you might have an aha moment because I can eat oysters. I can eat clams. I can eat mussels, which I love. So So yeah. crustaceans. Great food. mussels, which I love. yeah. So, So crustaceans. Great
00:50:26 SPEAKER_01
Great food, great service at the poop deck. Yeah.
00:50:28 SPEAKER_00
Yeah.
00:50:29 SPEAKER_01
I would say probably more of a dinner location. Like I said, the price on the meal was pretty expensive. So not that anywhere is cheap in the Bahamas, but it just seemed like it would be a pretty hefty tab for lunch.
00:50:44 SPEAKER_00
Yeah, for sure. And so also I wanted to make a distinction. There is a poop deck in the town that's like further away from Nassau called Sandyport. And so like if you look in Google, it'll say poop deck Sandyport. So that's going to be further from Nassau. And so and I think that our server had actually like tell them not the one in Sandyport, you know, the one closer. So just be aware because that's a lot further. And so that was the first place, like I mentioned, had the fish, but it's often served with slaw and then the sweet or the green fried plantains as well. And so the second place that he mentioned was at the fish fry at a place called O'Andros. O'Andros, O'Andres. And so I had actually read, well, I think you actually had mentioned it first. You had read about this fish fry that a lot of people recommended that you go to the fish fry. So it is famous for, like, I think it started out as really like almost like little food stalls, little food stands. These have kind of morphed over time into like full-fledged restaurants now the day we went it was kind of hot we ended up sitting outside they had a they had a little patio with some outside tables i'm sorry we ended up sitting inside it was a
00:51:53 SPEAKER_01
tables i'm sorry
00:51:56 SPEAKER_00
it was also very crowded now this is definitely a place where the locals go again it wasn't cheap or inexpensive but it was definitely way less than the poop deck and there's probably half the
00:52:09 SPEAKER_01
probably half the price of poop deck or and even
00:52:12 SPEAKER_00
deck or and even less huge portions yes like if scott and i had had the same thing we probably could have shared so just like kind of look around and see you know watch what other people are ordering again i had the same thing
00:52:16 SPEAKER_01
like if
00:52:27 SPEAKER_01
the fish again but i think my back we should have just we should have just shared because i would have had the fish if i had known how big the portions were i mean think of a plate and then this plate is just heaped over um in. And it's a lot of, you know, rice
00:52:27 SPEAKER_00
again but i think my back we
00:52:46 SPEAKER_01
So they
00:52:47 SPEAKER_00
So they call them rice and peas, but it's really what we would consider like rice and beans, like almost like
00:52:54 SPEAKER_01
wondering if it's like a crowder pea or something like that. Yeah,
00:52:56 SPEAKER_00
like that. Yeah, that's what I would
00:52:58 SPEAKER_01
compare it to, yeah. Yeah, it's like rice and beans. And then, you know, plantains and then whatever your entree is. And this plate is just massive portions. You couldn't eat it all if you wanted to. Matter of fact, we saw that's what a lot of people did is they would either come in and they would order one plate for, you know, a couple of people or they would eat and then take the rest of it home with them.
00:53:27 SPEAKER_00
Yeah, that's true. And so like, I would say like the fish that I had there was bigger than at the poop deck, but probably like half the price, wouldn't you say at least? And they were prepared a little bit differently, right? And it was like two of them. But yeah, I actually had two pieces there. That's true. And I everybody's mean, going to have their own spin on differently, right? And it's like two of But them. I yeah, actually had two pieces there. That's And true. I everybody's mean, going to have their own spin on right? it, So like the batter was a little bit different, but nothing was ever like heavily battered, right? It's just like lightly and then just like dipped in, you know, and fried that way. So not like, you know, deep, deep, heavy batter either. So definitely go if you can. I would say that was is probably going to be your most local, your most authentic experience.
00:53:41 SPEAKER_01
And it was like two of them.
00:54:11 SPEAKER_00
Conk House, Curly's restaurant. So there's quite a few. So I would just say kind of walk around and then see which one like fits your fancy. We actually walked there from downtown. It was like 10 or 15 minutes walk after our tour. And then we took a taxi back to Atlantis as well. So, okay. So let's go through a few other places that we really enjoyed. So now this one that you might think this is really touristy. And at first I thought it was going to be really like this is touristy place. We needed a place, a quick lunch place that was open because Scott was working, right? So on his lunch break, we needed to be able to go there. And it was funny because a lot of the places I felt like at Atlantis were not open for lunch, especially in this little harborside village. So I think they tend to push people toward that water park and then the outside restaurants and stuff like that. So the Margaritaville on Paradise Island actually got really good reviews. I had a lot of reviews and it got really good reviews and we found out why. It's because it wasn't, I mean, I think they may have had their cheeseburger in Paradise, but they had the conch and they had that fish again. And that was where the lady asked me, oh, it's a whole fish. And honestly, if I had to rank them, I think that one was my favorite and so we actually ate here for lunch twice
00:55:27 SPEAKER_01
there you
00:55:28 SPEAKER_00
one was my favorite so don't discount that and just think oh that's a touristy place because it it did have the local
00:55:36 SPEAKER_01
it is a touristy place but it has local food on the menu yeah and it well
00:55:40 SPEAKER_00
you could sit outside that's what I and that's what we always like and you could sit outside and it was open for lunch. And again, it was, I would say the price was in between those two. So yes, for lunch, it was not, you know, again, everything's expensive, but it was, it was a good.
00:55:55 SPEAKER_01
so on the way to the poop deck, I had seen a restaurant it's called C or C front sushi. And so it was just right across the street from the poop deck. We love sushi. And so, you know, one night we were just looking for something different. We didn't want any more fried fish and we wanted raw fish instead, I guess. And so we went to the sushi place. When we first got there, we were worried because like we were the only people there, got there we were worried because like we were the only people there but quickly thereafter the place filled up and really good sushi so seafront sushi if you like sushi we would recommend stopping in there
00:56:37 SPEAKER_00
and so then on the breakfast side of things coffee there's a place called the dilly club that's in the marina village at atlantis and it is the cutest coffee shop ever like it really like just the whole bohemian vibe the wallpaper
00:56:55 SPEAKER_01
instagram perfect coffee shop this is it and at
00:57:00 SPEAKER_00
night well i mean i guess you could order cocktails from the get-go in the morning too but they stay open late at night, well, I mean, I guess you could order cocktails from the get-go in the morning, too. But they stay open late at night as a bar and had pages and pages of cocktails. But absolutely adorable. And the coffee
00:57:13 SPEAKER_01
was good.
00:57:14 SPEAKER_00
The coffee was good. The tea was good. After the coffee, I got a tea to go that was a lemon and ginger, and it was like real. Like it's what I would fix at home, grated ginger and the lemon. So highly recommend that. I think they had a few little offerings. So there's also a Starbucks inside the Atlantis, but go to that Dilly Club. Absolutely love that. And then inside, wanted to mention this for a quick bite, but inside Atlantis, inside that coral, there's a little place called Sun and Ice. And so the day of our tour, we actually grab breakfast and a coffee there, just something quick. And then in the evenings, it kind of transforms into a little ice cream shop. So that's why Sun and then Ice as well. So we did choose one place, Atlantis, that we wanted to eat. So Atlantis also has some things that you might have heard of. Car Mons from New York City, they have an outpost there. some things that you might have heard Carman's of. from New York They have City. an outpost there. They do have a restaurant that is a Jose Andres restaurant called Fish. So his different restaurants then are going to have like different names and have like a different flair. So this is obviously seafood because it's in the Bahamas. You definitely need reservations for this. Thankfully, I was able to get a reservation and it was fantastic. Like it really was. Now this is going to be more upscale. You're going to need to dress for this. It's going to be more expensive. It's located over at the Cove that I mentioned earlier. But the service was fantastic. The food was fantastic. I thought it was great. And then just a couple of other places real quick. So Krista also mentioned there's a little Greek restaurant that the family's been there forever. Own that forever. Right above the jewelry
00:58:45 SPEAKER_01
above the jewelry store. Right
00:58:47 SPEAKER_00
above the jewelry store as you come out from the port. Matter
00:58:51 SPEAKER_01
you have to go through the jewelry store and up some stairs to get to the restaurant.
00:58:56 SPEAKER_00
Yes, that's true. Yeah, she did mention that. Athena Cafe and Bar. Unfortunately, it wasn't opened. Like I guess on on that Sunday it was closed that we were there. We wanted to go to the fish fry anyway and then they closed kind of early. So we just didn't make it back here. But always take a local suggestion if you can make that work. And we read some reviews
00:59:16 SPEAKER_01
And we read some reviews as well that it's pretty authentic Greek food as well. Yeah. So that's
00:59:20 SPEAKER_00
Yeah. So that's near the straw market near the port. So check that out. And then our last taxi driver that took near the straw market near the So port. check that And out. then the last, our last taxi driver that took us back and forth to the sushi place also was surprised that we had not made it out to that Sandy port area. It was just, I think with the taxis being so expensive just to get over the bridge, we thought, Oh, like that's going to cost us a fortune to get all the way out there and all the way back. So we just didn't make it out there. So that the Dilly Club coffee place, bar place that I mentioned has a sister place down at Sandyport as well. And it's called Bon Vivant. And so if you look it up, it's related. And then it's absolutely cute too. But he recommended the Spritz wine bar for pizza. He said his wife, his girlfriend, I can't remember, like loves that place in that Sandyport area. There's also that other poop deck restaurant. So if you're down on that end, or if you make it down on that end, a couple of places that you could check out as well.
01:00:17 SPEAKER_01
Let's talk a little bit about where to stay.
01:00:20 SPEAKER_00
Okay, so again, the only place that we have stayed that we could recommend is Atlanta. So we're going to give you a few other suggestions, but we stayed specifically in the coral part just because that was part of our package. I'd since learned that that part is actually a Marriott part as well. We enjoyed it. I think in the near future, they will probably refresh the rooms. The resort was nice that the lobbies and stuff had been redone and those were fresh. I think, like I said, they'll redo the rooms, but I love the location of it. We were on the first floor, so we didn't have to worry about the elevators. I think the pool at that coral section was really nice. It was away from the water park. You could walk over there, but it was almost like a quieter pool as well. So we really enjoyed that. So check into that coral section as well. So you may be interested in staying in that conic part with the towers and the penthouse as well. So just look at those different sections. But we did notice that if you wanted to stay right downtown, and Scott, as we were talking about this, you said if you were going to stay a whole week, you would split your time between Atlantis, Paradise Island, and somewhere downtown, just so you would have that downtown, not having to take taxis back and forth experience, right? So we noticed that they were renovating a hotel called the British Colonial Nassau. It's a Hilton property that has since opened back up. That would be super convenient to the Junkanoo Beach, to the Fish Fry, just to the right downtown. Looks like a super cute place. We haven't stayed there, so disclaimer on that. And then right at that development, you could also look at the Margaritaville Beach Resort and then a hotel called One Particular Harbor. They're all in the kind of the same development and there's a marina there and stuff like that. And then the other one at Atlantis that might be of interest to people is one that Harborside Resort at Atlantis that is actually a Western property, but they're villas. And so you would get a kitchen in with that. You would get the amenities of being able to use the Atlantis and stuff like that. But there is a pool closer as well. So that's another place. And that was kind of the place that we, because we do use those Weston vacation properties and stuff like that. This is somewhere that we always thought that we would go stay. And we just haven't, you know, we never made it there. So I actually went over there one day just to walk around and check that out.
01:01:35 SPEAKER_01
forth
01:02:42 SPEAKER_01
and check that out. The kitchen would be very valuable there. Yeah there just because how expensive the food is.
01:02:48 SPEAKER_00
Yeah. Having breakfast and lunch and going out to dinner like we talk about, that's what we like to do in Cancun. So Sandals actually has a resort on the island as well. And that's down closer to the Sandyport area. So if you like all-inclusive, you like adults only, it's called the Sandals Royal Bohemian. So in this case, that might
01:03:08 SPEAKER_01
be a good value, too. I mean, if you've got all your food and stuff like that and you don't have to get in a taxi and you don't have to travel all these different places, that might be a good good use case for staying in an all inclusive resort.
01:03:24 SPEAKER_00
it absolutely might. And then you could maybe pick one day and come into Nassau to check things out or something like that. Because at that, you're going to have your beach. You're going to have everything covered. And then we mentioned the COVID Atlantis, which is adults only and all renovated. There's also a Four Seasons close to Atlantis on Paradise Island. So if Four Seasons is your vibe, there's one there too.
01:03:46 SPEAKER_01
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01:04:34 SPEAKER_00
right, as we wrap this up, I think there's a few things that we want to share with you that you need to know when you visit Atlantis and Nassau. So who is this trip good for, Scott?
01:04:45 SPEAKER_01
Well, it's good for all ages, really. But I would say definitely couples, honeymooners. If you have kids, they would enjoy playing in the pools, especially if you're staying there at Atlantis and able to enjoy that water park. I can imagine as a kid having a week at that water park. Wow. That would be so much fun.
01:05:08 SPEAKER_00
Yeah. That would be a great vacation. You know, not, not too far as far as flights and stuff like that.
01:05:13 SPEAKER_01
say it's probably geared mostly for the adults though. You know, you've got the casino, quiet pools, beach, things like that. So I would say more so geared towards adults, but that water park is splendid.
01:05:30 SPEAKER_00
And then how long do you need if you're not just doing the one day on the cruise? How long do you need in Nassau?
01:05:35 SPEAKER_01
Listen, if you're doing the cruise and you only got one day, I think that's perfectly fine. But four to five days is plenty in my opinion. If you're looking for a relaxing beach vacation extend it out to seven in matter of fact the itinerary that we're going to be putting on our website is for seven days it does have a tab or if you're just visiting on that for that one day on the cruise has some notes and recommendations for you. But, you know, seven days max is probably what you're looking at. That gives you some time to relax at the pool, go to the beach. When we were there, we were able to do all this stuff in between me actually working during the day. I think I only took one day off while we were there. And then we were over a weekend as well. So, you know, we got a lot of stuff done, even with me working.
01:06:32 SPEAKER_00
So I wanted to give a tip about booking transportation from the airport if you were flying in. So I did some research. I ended up pre-booking a shared shuttle from the airport through a company called Majestic Tours. It ended up just being a super easy option that wasn't super expensive either. Lots of people from, they were taking everybody to the Atlantis and they stopped at the different places. They had a little check-in and then you just went right out and there was a shuttle and then they made it super easy. So Majestic Tours really recommended that. I mean, of course you can book privates and you can book limos and all kinds of stuff. I mean, we just didn't want to, you know, spend a fortune. So it's up to you know that that Atlantis resort is absolutely huge. So if you have kids that are going to want to spend most of their time at Aqua venture, I would look at the rooms that are closer to that. And so kind of get a layout and look at that. We were at the coral, which is on the complete opposite end. And so we didn't mind walking because we didn't want to spend all of our time. We would recommend that it also, if you're staying on the property, the water park gets super busy when the ships are in port. So we would take advantage of like in the morning for the ships got there, but really then in the afternoonsons because those ships go out, people have to leave to get back to the ship. And then you could have, you know, a couple of hours to do that, to have the water park and stuff like that. So that was plenty of time for us as well. All right. So let's wrap this up. How much did our free trip cost? And I actually did this because I shared a little video. I shared a reel on Instagram saying this was our free trip and then how much did it cost? So I'm going to put a link to that just so that you can go see the breakdown. But it ended up costing about $2,000. So even though our room was comped. So we had a little bit on the flight, even though we had to pay a little bit of the taxes on the flight. Sometimes you do, and sometimes you don't when you use points. We did have to pay the resort fee of $75 per night. And then we stayed four nights plus a little bit of tax. So between the transportation, the tour that we did, the food, it was about $2,000. So like we said, it's not a cheap place to stay. So just like figure all of that in.
01:08:45 SPEAKER_01
I told you if you
01:08:49 SPEAKER_00
So we have put together a seven-day as Scott itinerary, with links. mentioned, And then you can customize that. It will give you the links to the different activities, to the different hotels and stuff like that just to make it easy. And then, of course, you can customize and pick the ones that you want. That will be available on our website. And I will link that here. As Scott mentioned, it also includes a one day itinerary if you are visiting here on a cruise so that you can look up and book those things. And Scott has done a great job with this. And he's got like, you can just like print out an itinerary or look at an itinerary for each day. Once you get it all planned, you you could, come know, up with some way to like key in you your, your know, budget and stuff like that, if you too, are going to share it among people. So it's very customizable and very super handy. We have started or we this is something that we use for our trips. And this is something that has made our planning super easy for a couple of our upcoming trips. Okay, so.
01:09:46 SPEAKER_01
Let's blow through very quickly a packing list because we need to wrap this show up.
01:09:51 SPEAKER_00
All right, so of course your bathing suits and pack a cover up. So I had read before we went, the Bahamas is very particular about this. And so they did have signs that said cover ups required. I saw this several places. They don't really want you to walk around just in your bathing And so they did have signs that said cover-ups suit. I saw this several places. required. They don't really want you to walk around just in your bathing suit. I think it's just like a modest, modesty thing in the Bahamas. So just be aware of that and have that cover-up handy. Flip-flops, resort wear. I did take some nicer sundresses. You know, some of these places, they want you to dress nicer especially at the resort so short sundresses men be sure to bring appropriate resort attire as well to it is a little what would you say called maybe business casual resort attire type things and then of course your hat sunglasses sunscreen after sun aloe highly recommend when you go on a trip like this to bring a bag to take to the pool to put put in your, you know, books and phones and sunglasses and stuff like that. Bring your passport. And then like we've mentioned a couple of times, but wanted to point it out, we found that they take U.S. dollars. So bring along some of those as well. And, you know, you're going to need those for the taxis, the walking tour, and then the place, the O'Andre's at the fish fry. And imagine a lot of those places at the fish fry, cash only. And one pro packing tip is to pack your swimwear in a carry-on so that if your room is not ready, you can go and change and then just head to straight to the pool.
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you're visiting the Bahamas as a cruise destination or flying down for a much-needed beach vacation, we hope that you will find this information useful. Visit us at sunshinetravelers.com to find the trip itinerary, which has all of the information to help you plan your trip. We also want to hear what you're planning for 2024. Send me an email, scott at sunshinetravelers.com, and let me know where you are going. We are always inspired by your travel stories. We hope
01:11:51 SPEAKER_00
this episode and we'll find some inspiration to help you with your travel journeys. Please consider going on your favorite podcast platform and leave us a review. The more five-star reviews we have, the more likely we are to be featured and discovered by others. Make sure to follow or subscribe to our podcast to be notified of new episodes as they are released. You can find us on Instagram as Sunshine Travelers Podcast. Remember, that's Travelers with one L. And most importantly, share it with your friends and help them catch the travel bug. You never know, they may become your greatest travel companion.
