And now… one last time… we return you to Sayle Island in the midst of what Columbus came to call:
“Baja Mar” (The Shallow Sea).
The name that ol’ Chris gave to the entire chain has stuck, but “Sayle” has long since been supplanted by the current moniker of New Providence.
In the first two parts of this extended Bonus feature, I took you on a walk around the city that was built by people who were either dragged from or were fleeing other lands. This time around we’ll look at a few of the attractions that are a bit farther a field, a bit more famous, and (as you might suspect) a bit more pricey.
But first… here’s a somewhat of a hidden (and inexpensive) attraction for the more adventurous traveler…
The #10 Jitney Bus
These mini busses take care of most of the transportation around the island and currently charge $1.25 per person. Be sure to have exact change, and pay when you get off the bus, not when you get on. Some other things to keep in mind… first, a bus will typically wait until it's full before departing from the initial starting point (it’s different if you flag one down along the route). Next, some jitneys are air-conditioned; others are not (look for a bus with its windows closed or ask the driver). Third, understanding the various routes can be complex… All #10 buses are going the same “basic” route, but not all stop at exactly the same spots. The individual bus should have its planned destinations painted on the front or back of the vehicle, but there is no standard as they are run by multiple companies and individuals. You may need to ask around for your destination.
You can catch this bit of public transportation in downtown Nassau along West Bay Street and generally take it as far as Gambier Village on the west side of the Island if it strikes your fancy. They are easiest caught near the corner of George & Bay Streets (in front of McDonalds, across from the British Colonial Hilton).
This is also one method of getting to such attractions as Cable Beach, the Crystal Palace Casino, Fort Charlotte, and Ardastra Gardens. There are no set bus schedules in Nassau, but experienced jitney travelers and locals report that it generally shows up at its various stops every 10 to 15 minutes or so. Do keep in mind however, that the bus service shuts down for the day at around 6 p.m. If you get caught out in the field after the last Jitney… you’ll need to find a cab instead (which will be a good bit pricier).
While were on the subject of transportation for hire… here are a couple of photos that cropped up during my research that you might find useful…
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Now for a couple of the spots that can be reached via those Jitney Busses
Cable Beach
Remember that you will be spending time at
Castaway Cay, but if beach time is your ultimate goal, then this is a good place to achieve that goal. This strip of shore line west of downtown could also be called Resort Row because that’s where you’ll find most of the major hotels, and one of the island’s few casinos: Crystal Palace. Taking its name from being one of the land stations for a trans-Atlantic communications cable, this is pretty much the most popular of the Nassau beaches.
It is perfectly Caribbean: white sand, clear water and a sheltered beach, it’s a good place to get lost. There are public access points (and the bus drivers can point them out to you), but a lot of folks will tell you that you can pretty much walk right through the lobby of one of the hotels (so long as you don’t draw a lot of attention or abuse their facilities).
The nearby dive shops offer excursions and also provide training for those who need to learn the basics or sharpen their diving or snorkeling skills. There are also rental shops that provide opportunities and gear for parasailing, jet skiing, and windsurfing. There are a number boat trips and sailing excursions that depart from the shores of Cable Beach and nearby Paradise Beach as well.
On to our next stop…
Ardastra Gardens
The
Ardastra Gardens and Zoo is a 5 acre tropical garden with walking paths throughout. Flamingos and peacocks roam grounds freely and in addition there is a small zoo and a conservation center. There are about 50 exhibits housing anything from macaws and parrots…
…to monkeys and large cats.
One of the center’s highlights is a Flamingo Encounter that is more commonly called the “Marching Flamingos”. This is performed for guests in a small arena where a trainer will entertain the audience while commanding the trained birds to march, turn and stop on a dime. The birds will even strike a one-legged stance to pose for pictures.
The other major crowd pleaser here is the Loray parrot aviary. Guests are invited to enter the enclosure and feed bits of apple to these small colorful parrots. They will fly right up to you, onto your hand or even land on your shoulders, hair, and arms. Needless to say, it’s not recommended if you are afraid of birds, but the photo-ops are certainly a prime motivator.
Another little bit of unexpected entertainment that I’ve read about has to do with a few parrots that hang out on perches near the snack bar. One of these is an African Gray that is known to be very talkative. The other two are entertainers in their own right. If you get the opportunity, say the word “FLIP” and one of the parrots will flip upside down on his perch and do pull ups, or hang by his beak and spread his wings. Having only read about this spectacle and not having seen it with my own eyes… I can’t guarantee that this will occur… but I’d have a video camera ready just in case (‘cause either the bird or the tourist is going to end up looking pretty silly).
Admission is a little pricey at $15.00 per person, and honestly, reviews are somewhat mixed, but I suspect that it’s a lot like most roadside attractions. You’ll get out of it what you put into it and over expectations will likely deflate you experience.
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OK… it’s time to get into the pricier stuff. Nassau’s “premier” attractions are actually to be found on the other side of the harbor in what is now called
Paradise Island.
Before World War II this was known as Hog Island and was a private estate used for raising pigs. It was purchased by Huntington Hartford, the A&P supermarket heir who arrived on Hog Island in 1959. Hartford changed the name to Paradise Island, hired the Palm Beach architect John Volk and then set about building the Ocean Club, Cafe Martinique, Hurricane Hole, and the Golf Course, among other island landmarks. He also acquired and installed
“The Cloisters”. This is a 14th-century French Augustinian monastery originally purchased in Montréjeau and dismantled by William Randolph Hearst in the 1920s. Hartford dismantled it again and transferred the whole thing stone by stone to a hilltop on Paradise Island.
There are public beaches to be enjoyed on the island as well, specifically: “Cabbage Beach” and Junkanoo Beach (also called Lighthouse Beach). Grab one of the local tourist maps, and they will show you where to find them (generally a 15-20 minute walk from the water taxi boat ramps). You can also take a cab to you destination but be aware that they will expect you to pay the bridge toll as well as the fair (so have cash available). You can buy reasonably priced drinks on the beach and even find jet skiing and banana boat rides.
Well now that you’ve see a bit of the island, it’s time to talk about the biggest, badest thing on it…
Atlantis
Atlantis, Paradise Island is an extravagant luxury hotel and water park rolled into one, this place is mindboggling. Of course the single most important thing going on here is gambling. The casino is massive and everything and everyone will do their utmost best to bring you into it. For some… this is why you cruise in the first place. For Disney cruisers, I suspect you’d like to hear a bit more about everything else. With that in mind, here’s a sampling of what else is available:
Aquaventure is the water park (and after the gamming, it is the reason you’ll come over here in the first place). It combines slides, lazy rivers, and rapids into one large waterscape. The centerpiece of the attraction is the Power Tower, which contains four waterslides known as: The Abyss, The Drop, The Falls and The Surge.
The Current is a mile long, 3-million-US-gallon water ride complete with waves and artificial tidal surges.
The Mayan Temple Slides at the Royal Towers consists of four major slides: Leap of Faith, the Challenger Slides, the Serpent Slide, and the Jungle Slide.
The Dig is a series of aquariums located beneath the lobby of the Royal Towers and is billed as the world's largest open air marine habitat. Hundreds of different aquatic species can be spotted in the Dig's various tanks. You may well see such creatures as angelfish, sharks, manta rays (one of which being larger than ten feet across) and various types of jellyfish. The goal of The Dig is to provide guests with a taste of life in the legendary destroyed city of Atlantis. If one observes the bottom of the floors in the different aquariums, wreckage and debris will be scattered about representing the "Lost City of Atlantis." (Themeing on a Disney scale… we’d expect no less, now would we?)
Predator Lagoon is full of sawfishes, barracudas and stingrays. A 100-foot (30 m) clear acrylic tunnel runs underwater, allowing visitors unobstructed views of the marine environment.
Note that all of this is free
only to the guests staying on site. For the day-trippers and cruisers… y’all have to buy access to the various bits that you want to partake of. You can put this together yourself, or chose one of the packages offered by
DCL.
Another option is to reserve a room just for that day at the nearby “Comfort Suites Paradise Island”. The hotel itself gets reviews that swing wildly from pro to con, but the room comes with a pass to the Atlantis Water Park at a price that is considered to be a good deal. Most cruisers don’t even use the room other then as a place to change cloths. If you head over to the DCL forum on these here boards and plug in a couple of good searches, you’ll find a lot of information on just exactly how to pull that little trick off.
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The last stop on our tour of what’s what in the port of Nassau takes us to…
Blue Lagoon
Blue Lagoon Island is a private island just north of Paradise Island and outside of Nassau Harbor. It is reached via a short cruise on a high-speed catamaran or via calmer boats that leave from the north shore of Paradise Island.
Prior to the late 19th century this island's lagoon was a salt marsh and it was referred to legally as Salt Cay. The Island became a stopover for pirates and privateers who would cull salt from the lagoon to preserve their food and use it as a rest stop while they waited for permission to enter Nassau Harbor. It is now most famous for dolphin encounters…
…but, they also offer opportunities to interact with Sea Lions, and for those that are not quite so sure about the interaction idea, you can get an up-close and personal view of these marine mammals by participating as a Program Observer. All options include an interactive orientation, briefly covering the natural history of our animals, and you can also learn animal training techniques, ocean conservation and “Watchable Wildlife Guidelines”. Guests who purchase either a dolphin encounter/dolphin swim or sea lion encounter also get free access to the beaches and island amenities.
You could chose just to spend the day on their beaches if you’re so inclined and it will still come with the opportunity to observe the other guests that are taking part in the encounters. Food and drinks are available on site as well.
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Well folks… that’s about it for now. Some of these excursions are on the upper end of affordability for a number of travelers. They certainly are for me, but the next time I find myself heading for Nassau, I may need to squirrel away my pennies and give one a try (probably Blue Lagoon since it includes extra boat trips, but… well see).
There is a thread tied into the FAQ section over on the DCL forum of these boards that offers reviews and discussions for a number of these excursions and other offerings around Nassau. Here’s a link to that starting point (you’ll find numerous links to other reviews in Post #1 of this thread).
http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1302995
Here’s a second potentially useful link to the “Nassau Overview” page put up by
Dreams Unlimited and The Dis. This page also lists most of the excursions that you can book directly through DCL…
http://www.wdwinfo.com/wdwinfo/cruise-new/cr-port-nassau.cfm
Thanks for your patience and for putting up with this ridiculously long Bonus Feature. I just figured that a little bit of a closer look at the main port of call for nearly every cruise line’s shorter sailings was exactly want the situation called for. I promise that the next post will (most likely) be related to the actual subject of this here TR (that being our adventures aboard the Disney Dream). That being said… I still can’t guarantee that I wont be quickly side tracked by the next bright shiny thing. As y’all have surely learned by now… that is just part of the price you have to pay for foolishly following along with my ramblings in the first place.