Best Choice for Nassau Activity?

sgentile914

Earning My Ears
Joined
Feb 7, 2010
We were wondering what to do on Nassau, wanted to save the beach day for Castaway Cay.

We saw the submarine ride on the Disney site, any input?

What about the Sea Lion encounter? I have done the Dolphin Encounter and loved it, was looking for something a little less pricey.

What do you think of the glass bottom boat or semi-sub?

Any other ideas??

Thanks!:goodvibes
 


Didn't Disney discontinue the Segway tour?

We went in July 2009:confused3
I did read that all Nassau excursions were canceled for a while after some problems, but wasn't sure if it was permanent.
Either way I thought it was something that could be booked on your own:confused3
 
We are doing sea lion interactions at Atlantis next week. MUCH less expensive than the disney excursion prices and it allows our DD5 to participate too, and from what I've read, a lot easier/quicker to get to as well.

You can book directly with Atlantis via their website or 888 numer. Their animal encouters take place at "Dolphin Cay." Atlantis phone staff are VERY helpful and nice.

Good luck and have fun!
 


We would love to hear about your sea lion experience when you get back!

That Taste of Nassau tour looks great! I also noticed the Blackbeard's Cay and Sting Ray Tour, anyone do it?? We are definitely interested in one of them!
 
We went in July 2009:confused3
I did read that all Nassau excursions were canceled for a while after some problems, but wasn't sure if it was permanent.
Either way I thought it was something that could be booked on your own:confused3

There was the armed robbery of the segway tour a short while ago. I'd still be a little leery.
 
We went in July 2009:confused3
I did read that all Nassau excursions were canceled for a while after some problems, but wasn't sure if it was permanent.
Either way I thought it was something that could be booked on your own:confused3

Only the Segway tour was unavailable on our Dec. 6, 2009 cruise.

I enjoyed the historical city tour on my first visit to Nassau (through DCL), and twice I've taken the water taxi to Paradise Island on my own to see the Atlantis resort.
 
We did the Sea Lion Interaction at Atlantis on 2/15/10. Loved it, loved it!

We took the water taxi to Paradise Island. I would NOT suggest that unless you want to 1) move on Bahamaian time (slow) and 2) walk a bit. I would suggest getting a taxi to drop you right at Dolphin Cay (as we had been told by the Atlantis staff when we booked).

Got there and they had very nice restrooms, showers and changing facilities. All towels and lockers were provided at no addtional charge. They also gave everyone a drawstring bag with the Dolpin Cay logo on it and free drinks (water, pop and juice) afterwards.

First we got a behind the scenes tour of Dolphin Cay. I would suggest you wear your shoes for this - we didn't and wished we had had them. We got to see the medical facilities, food freezers, holding tanks for the dolphins and sea lions, etc. Then we got into an empty holding tank and they brought in a large male sea lion (300 lbs or so). He was super cute. He did a few tricks. We got to pet him, feed him, hug him and get kissed on the cheek by him. We were a group of 8 - and we were the only ones in our group. So, it was like we got our own private tour. Love it! Everyone enjoyed it. The youngest in our group was 5. She didn't want the kiss from the sea lion, but participated in everything else and loved it all! We would do it again. We could see all the dolpin encounters in action at Dolpin Cay too. The groups were larger, but everyone seemed to like them a lot too.

We could not take our own pictures. And, that was the only thing not included. The photos were expensive. It might have actually been more cost effective to bring someone along that was not participating and pay the "watcher" fee, just for them to be able to get pictures for us. Just an idea for you all....

Hope anyone that does this, has just as great of an experience! Enjoy!
 
How much was the sea lion interaction? Did you book directly through Atlantis?

It was $89 per person, regardless of age, and there are no taxes. Yes, we booked directly through Atlantis, using their 1-800 number. I tried to do it online, but got error messages the day I tried. Although, it appears you can book online as well.
 
We would love to hear about your sea lion experience when you get back!

That Taste of Nassau tour looks great! I also noticed the Blackbeard's Cay and Sting Ray Tour, anyone do it?? We are definitely interested in one of them!

We did Blackbeard's Cay a couple of years ago and it was just so-so. Be careful of wich one you book there are three or so diffrent excursions there. We booked the snorkeling one, the snorkeling there sucks. They basically say that they have hidden little bags with "treasure" in them and the first person to find a bag gets a prize. Then you snorkel on your own, really sucky no fish. We went over to the sting ray side of the bay and weren't even questioned. That was a little cooler but the kids were freaked out by the swarm of sting rays that come at you when feeding them. The best part was that you got to hold a really big sting ray and get your picture taken with it. The price difference was like $8 between the two excursions and had I known how bad the snorkeling was I definately would have paid the difference.
 
If you want to do Aquaadventure at Atlantis the best bet is to book a room at the Comfort Suites adjacent to Atlantis and you will get passes for your party. Worked like a charm in December and saves quite a bit of cash.
 
We did the Sea Lion Interaction at Atlantis on 2/15/10. Loved it, loved it!

We took the water taxi to Paradise Island. I would NOT suggest that unless you want to 1) move on Bahamaian time (slow) and 2) walk a bit. I would suggest getting a taxi to drop you right at Dolphin Cay (as we had been told by the Atlantis staff when we booked).

Got there and they had very nice restrooms, showers and changing facilities. All towels and lockers were provided at no addtional charge. They also gave everyone a drawstring bag with the Dolpin Cay logo on it and free drinks (water, pop and juice) afterwards.

First we got a behind the scenes tour of Dolphin Cay. I would suggest you wear your shoes for this - we didn't and wished we had had them. We got to see the medical facilities, food freezers, holding tanks for the dolphins and sea lions, etc. Then we got into an empty holding tank and they brought in a large male sea lion (300 lbs or so). He was super cute. He did a few tricks. We got to pet him, feed him, hug him and get kissed on the cheek by him. We were a group of 8 - and we were the only ones in our group. So, it was like we got our own private tour. Love it! Everyone enjoyed it. The youngest in our group was 5. She didn't want the kiss from the sea lion, but participated in everything else and loved it all! We would do it again. We could see all the dolpin encounters in action at Dolpin Cay too. The groups were larger, but everyone seemed to like them a lot too.

We could not take our own pictures. And, that was the only thing not included. The photos were expensive. It might have actually been more cost effective to bring someone along that was not participating and pay the "watcher" fee, just for them to be able to get pictures for us. Just an idea for you all....

Hope anyone that does this, has just as great of an experience! Enjoy!

Thanks for the info! So you did the one with Atlantis, I noticed that there is one at Blue Lagoon also, I did the Dolphin Swim there a few years ago and really liked the facility.

What is the difference between the two? What about transportation to the Blue Lagoon dock and the one for Atlantis?
 
Thanks for the info! So you did the one with Atlantis, I noticed that there is one at Blue Lagoon also, I did the Dolphin Swim there a few years ago and really liked the facility.

What is the difference between the two? What about transportation to the Blue Lagoon dock and the one for Atlantis?

The one at the Blue Lagoon was offered through DCL and much more expensive. From what I understand, it is a lengthy trip to Blue Lagoon as well. Atlantis is much closer and gives you more time in your short docking time in Nassau to enjoy shopping, beaches, etc.

Blue Lagoon you HAVE to take a boat to, but Atlantis is accessible by taxi (which would have been super quick for us, had we gone that route).

I don't know the details of the Blue Lagoon ones either, but imagine the encounters are quite similar.

I do not know about booking the Blue Lagoon ones independently, but I'm sure it's possible. Once I found out that it eats up so much time to go to Blue Lagoon, we settled on Atlantis immediately.
 

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