Atlantis, Paradise Island

After talking to a friend today about how great the Atlantis Resort on Paradise Island is, I decided it needs to have its own post!

The Atlantis Resort is located just outside of Nassau on Paradise Island in the Bahamas. The resort first opened in 1998. Sometime around 2000 or 2001 I saw my first commercial on television for the resort and I immediately became obsessed with it! At the time, visiting this resort seemed like such a dream. I used to think maybe if I was lucky I would be able to go on my honeymoon there someday! Little did I know that about nine years later I would end up living on a neighbouring island!

When I was first offered the job in the Bahamas I couldn't help but immediately think about Atlantis! Finally, I would be able to visit this place I had dreamed about for nearly a decade. Although I wasn't moving to the same island, I figured I would be able to visit the resort at some point. I soon found out that I would be visiting it a lot earlier than expected!

In August of 2009 I was flown to Nassau for a teaching conference before I moved to Grand Bahama Island. Although I knew I would only be in Nassau for a night and would be spending the day at a conference, I hoped that I would somehow make it to the Atlantis grounds - if only for a peak! Luckily, that night along with two other Canadian teachers and some Bahamian friends of one of the Canadians, we drove to the resort and spent the evening walking around the grounds! I absolutely loved it!

During my time in the Bahamas I made two more trips to Atlantis - both for weekend stays at a neighbour hotel that was quite a bit cheaper in price, but allowed its guests full access to the Atlantis.

The Atlantis resort certainly isn't your typical resort. First of all, it's not all inclusive and it's not cheap! Most of the vacation packages offered to Atlantis are only for 3 or 4 nights rather than 7 nights like most resorts. The Comfort Suites is a nice enough hotel directly next door to Atlantis where I stayed during both of my trips. It is much cheaper and they provide a wrist band for Atlantis. If you decide to stay at another hotel, you have to purchase a day pass to Atlantis which last I heard were $110 each.

Although there are some relaxing quieter areas of the Atlantis grounds, it really is geared more towards fun than relaxation. The grounds offer something to see and do around each corner. Of course there are the typical casinos, restaurants and night clubs - but, it offers some very unique amenities that other resorts in the Caribbean definitely can not provide!

The Atlantis houses the world's largest open air marine habitat! Throughout the grounds are aquariums, pools, tunnels, and caves full of a variety of marine life. Whether you're dining indoors or on your way to a tanning chair, you are sure to come across a shark, turtle, stingray, lion fish, or some other species of marine life. Several of these aquariums are interactive. You can swim with dolphins or play with sea lions! You can take a ride down a water slide through shark infested waters, or visit an indoor area where you can handle starfish and sea urchins. You can walk across a bridge with hammerheads swimming below or take a diving trip first hand with some reef sharks!

If the excitement of being surrounded by beautiful marine animals isn't enough, then you can also get a thrill on one of the many water slides. The whole resort is like a water park! There is a lazy river that covers a fair amount of the grounds. It is one mile long and has waves and artificial tidal surges. It definitely beats any water park or amusement park lazy river that I have been to (including the Disney water parks!). The lazy river has several different routes you can take that bring you to various water slides. You know how normally at a water park you have to carry your tube up a bunch of stairs and wait in line in the hot sun? Well, not here! You never leave your tube! There are a series of conveyer belts that bring your tube with you in it up to the top of the slides! You don't have to worry about standing in a hot line... you never leave the water!

Aside from the many beautiful pools (there are over 20!!!) and the amazing lazy river and water slides, the beach is also incredibly pretty with white sand and turquoise waters. If the main beach isn't enough for you there is also a manmade beach which offers a protected environment for the water's inhabitants. Here you can participate in various water activities such as snorkeling or riding a water tricycle!

After a long day in the sun and water you may be ready for something a little more low key. The Atlantis has its own Marina Village with tons of little shops, restaurants and some pretty spectacular yachts to be seen! The resort also has some pretty extravagant nightclubs as well as a huge casino. Make sure to keep your eye out for celebrities as they often stay here! There is always live entertainment and quite often some big name concerts as well. Lady Antebellum was playing during one of my visits - unfortunately, I didn't get tickets!

The resort is like being in a massive interactive museum or aquarium. There is so much to see! However, if you decide to leave the resort there are some pretty neat places to go in Nassau as well. If you want the exercise you can walk across the bridge from Paradise Island to Nassau. It doesn't take that long! There is also a really short ferry ride that goes every so often. If you decide to do this make sure to visit the market. There are tons of stalls with souvenirs, purses, sun dresses, and so on that you can purchase. While at the market continue walking and you will come across Senor Frogs! This is a favourite of mine - great food and great fun! From here you can see many of the docked cruise ships.

Atlantis is certainly a great place to bring kids, but if you're like me and don't have any - then go anyway (it's probably even more fun without them! haha). Check out other things you can see and do at the Atlantis on their website: http://www.atlantis.com/

The Seashores of Old Mexico ♫

And the third choice country is...Mexico! Ole!

Choosing my third favourite place was ultimately about the vacation and not entirely about the country. It was too hard to choose between places like Germany, Spain and Switzerland.. so I went with a country where I had the most adventure!

Mexico

Yes, it's a classic tourist destination and the obvious spot to go for a sun holiday. However, while the resorts and beaches may be similar to a lot of all inclusive resorts along the Gulf and throughout the Caribbean, Mexico has much to offer off of the resort grounds and thus is a perfect spot to visit for the holidayer who likes adventure!

I know there has been a lot of negative publicity about the safety for tourists in Mexico, but, if you do your research most of the crimes reported are within certain regions that you can avoid. 

My trip to Mexico was a classic seven day all inclusive at the beautiful Valentin Imperial Maya located in the Mayan Riviera. The Valentin Resort is a new resort to North America. The resort originates from Spain which gives it a very authentic Spanish feel in both the architecture and the decor around the resort grounds. 

Due to an amazingly lucky deal found online, a stay at this luxurious resort became a possibility! Of the resorts and hotels I have stayed at, the Valentin definitely tops the list for all categories - well maintained grounds, food, service, rooms, pools, and so forth. There is also some really interesting wildlife that wanders the grounds such as iguanas and coatis (a member of the raccoon family). I was also told by a worker that several weeks prior, a large alligator had wandered on to the resort and was found near a guest bungalow!

When I am on a sun holiday I love to spend my days tanning on the beach and snorkeling in the sea. But, my favourite part of a trip is to explore the country and see first hand how the locals live. 

While in Mexico I did three off resort day excursions. 

Excursion #1:

This included an early morning bus ride into the Mayan Jungle. On the way we passed through many small villages. As we drove deeper into the jungle we came across a small one room school house. The tour guide explained that this was a school for the local children. However, because it is in a fairly remote area with a very small population - there is no teacher for these children. Revenue from tourism in this area has allowed this remote school to purchase a type of Smart Board that can connect to a nearby city where there is live feed from another school. The children then watch the teacher teach through the board and follow along with their learning! 

When we finally reached our destination we walked through some bush and arrived at a cliff's edge. Here we geared up with helmets and climbing ropes and began our descent onto the jungle's floor! Being a little nervous with heights, I found the initial leaning over the cliff's edge pretty terrifying!! But, once you get going it's actually quite fun and not so scary!

After walking through some small caves we then hiked up a path back to the top of the cliff where we then zip-lined across an area of the jungle's canopy!! This was another activity that I feared, but again once you get going it's too much fun to be scared! 

From here we hiked further into the jungle and arrived at an area with mangroves. We all hopped in our kayaks and paddled through narrow water pathways until we reached a dock where we would then continue our jungle trek. (If you are ever thinking of doing an excursion like this one - be sure to wear water shoes! They are great to go from water to land as they dry quickly and are pretty comfortable too.) As we made our way through the jungle paths we eventually came to an area with a Traditional Mayan healer. He performed a spiritual ritual on us with scented oils and lit in-scents. He approached each one of us and said a prayer for our safety (I was thinking this may have been more appropriate to be done before dropping down a cliff and flying over a jungle canopy!)

Next we prepared to enter a cenote (cave system). To prepare you have to rinse yourself off with fresh water as not to contaminate the cave's water. We walked down some pretty steep slippery steps to get to the water (again water shoes came in so handy!) and once at the bottom we were free to dive in and explore. The cave is extremely dark and it is hard to see what is in front of you, yet the water is as clear as glass. There were fish swimming around and some formations of stalactites and stalagmites throughout the cave.

Wikipedia:

"A stalagmite s a type of speleothem that rises from the floor of a limestone cave due to the dripping of mineralized solutions. The corresponding formation on the ceiling of a cave is known as a stalactite."

Swimming in the cenote was my favourite part of the day! But, this specific cenote was fairly small so it was later recommended that if we were interested we should do another excursion to an area that has some of the largest cenotes in Mexico - which, we did!

After drying off we trekked deeper into the jungle and stopped for a delicious traditional Mayan lunch prepared by some wonderful Mayan ladies! Everything was very authentic and prepared with all local Mayan ingredients - from the hibiscus juice to the rice milk! 

A full belly later, we hopped back on the bus and made our way to the Coba Ruins. The Coba Ruins is an ancient Mayan city with the largest pyramid on the Yucatan Pennisula. This large pyramid is called Nohoch Mul Pyramid. It may not appear overly tall in pictures, but due to very steep, distant steps and no railing or safety line, the climb up seems never ending! To make your way to the pyramid from the parking area is roughly an hour walk. Due to limited time we opted for a bicycle taxi, which is basically a bicycle with a bench type seat attached to the front for passengers. 

Photo from www.qalasriama.com

On top of the Nohuch Mul Pyra

The Nohoch Mul Pyramid is definitely the "must see" of the Coba Ruins. However, there are many other interesting temples, pyramids and artifacts to be seen. There is even an ancient ball field where Mayan children would play! 

After a long day full of excitement and adventure, it was time to head back to the resort... and book a second excursion!

Excursion #2:

This excursion brought us back out to the Mayan Jungle but in a different location. We took a bus down a very bumpy dirt road that really didn't seem like it was meant to be driven on! Once we arrived at our stop we all hopped on our own ATV and began our ride through the jungle... and what a ride it was!

I absolutely love 4-wheeling, jet skiing, 8-wheelers and all of those fun, fast rides... but nothing I had done before was like this jungle ride! The paths were extremely rough - bumpy, potholes, hills, what seemed like 90 degree drops, huge tree roots to jump over, etc. We rode through the jungle for what seemed like hours and finally arrived at the famous cenotes (some of the biggest in the country). Because it was dry season the cave system only had a minimal amount of water (about waist deep at it's deepest part). Apparently during wet season the whole cave system can fill up in a matter of minutes! 

These cenotes are unreal! They are full of intricate pathways and tunnel systems where one can easily become lost. Some of Mexico's largest stalactites and stalagmites are also found in these very cenotes. After a tour through some of the cave's paths and a relaxing swim in the cave's water it was time to hop back on the ATVs and head back to the camp. 

Excursion #3:

The final excursion on this trip was far less adventurous than the other two, but no less fun! This was a day trip to Playa Del Carmen which is a small city located south of Cancun. While this is definitely a tourist haven, it does offer some authentic Mexican style shopping, restaurants and nightlife. The main street runs parallel to the beach which makes for beautiful scenery while walking along visiting the shops and bars. You do not need to walk far to hear a mariachi band playing music or someone trying to sell you a shot of tequila. This is definitely a party area! However, this was just a day trip for me, so it was more about the shopping and exploring!

The Valentin Imperial Maya is an excellent choice if you're looking for any type of sun holiday! The resorts offers relaxation, luxury, clean white beaches, and a daily/nightly itinerary of activities for its guests, while outside of the resort gates is a whole land of adventure and fun to be had!

The Valentin Imperial Maya is also different from other resorts as you have the option to eat at a different a La Carte restaurant nightly (whereas the average resort puts a limit of three nights). There is much to choose from restaurant wise. There are two typical buffet style restaurants that you can eat at for each meal as well as several snack bars. If you decided to go for a fancier a La Carte meal you have the choice of seven restaurants which include: Italian, French, Japanese, Thai/Indonesian, Mexican, American Steakhouse, and Seafood. The resort also puts on an outdoor Mexican Fiesta one evening a week for a fun meal with lots of great entertainment. 

Aside from all of the delicious options for restaurants the resort also has all inclusive 24 hour room service... which means if you're dreaming of chocolate cake and champagne at 3am - they will make it happen!!!

Thanks for reading! Stay tuned for my next blog on what living in the Caribbean is really like. :)

www.valentinmaya.com