CODA : exploring the Bahamas.
4 February 2025
Atlantis Marina, Paradise Island, Bahamas
Welcome to Nassau Harbour.
Marc- We made it to Nassau motor sailing with light easterly winds (and leftover ocean swells for part of the trip). It was a 5 hour journey from Hoffman's Cay Inlet. Sue was the first to spot land about 2 hours out (she saw high rise hotels first). There was certainly more boat traffic once we approached the harbor but nothing excessive. Actually a harbor freighter that left just before we entered helped delineate the path I needed to take to get in. Another first for me was calling Nassau Harbor Control for permission to enter the harbour. They want to know who you are including documentation number, where have you been, and where you are going. Not a problem. We passed close to the northernmost cruise ship. It shrinks the available space when you have 5 cruise ships in port. I started calling marinas as soon as cellular phone service became available without much success. Many of the older marinas have been refashioned into megayacht only marinas. Sad for the rest of us. The remaining marinas have raised their prices substantially. I eventually called Atlantis Marina which charges $5.00 per foot for smaller boats and snatched up their last slip. The dock master instructed that I needed to back into the slip that was only about 2 feet wider than Coda. Sailboat owners will understand that it's much easier to go bow in to slips. In any case a dock hand came by to catch the lines from Sue and I backed Coda in with the help of the bow thruster running almost constantly.
Great slip with a large swimming pool nearby. We had lunch on board and explored this rather high end resort. First the majority of the boats at this marina are mega yachts. The dock master's office is 1/2 mile away from where they put the small boats (50 feet and under). The hotels and shops and restaurants have a very maritime feel here. The place is patterned on "The lost city of Atlantis" that is rumored to be somewhere in The Bahamas (they did find an ancient roadway underwater here). There is a large waterpark, numerous swimming pools and fabulous beaches. The is even a mega aquarium where you can snorkel and a basin for swimming with dolphins. The marina village includes a Ben and Jerry's ice cream shop (Will Patton was here for sure). Sue and I walked for miles around this place and had time for a swim as well.
There is a sign in the window saying Lil Vermontster. We had to go in and surprise, the prices were the same as in Burlington.
Pool by the marina.
Coda is the last boat on the right (perfectly protected from the mayhem in Nassau harbor).
Chihuly blown glass display at the entrance to the Casino.
Chihuly blown glass suspended above the Casino.
Another Chihuly glass creation just hanging there somehow.
We entered the massive aquarium complex in the basement of the great hotel (Looks like that's how this spiny lobster came in as well.)
These fish certainly did not know where they were headed.
This school of fish knew what direction they all wanted to go in.
A loner fish (wait is that a shark eyeballing him?).
A stingray.
Nasty looking eel.
Mayan temple water slide where you shoot down inside through the shark tank in a glass tube.
Nice seahorse support for the roof structure.
This was a highlight of my visit to Atlantis. Meeting a bird trainer and his bird Coco.
One little whistle and Coco spread his wings. He would fly away on the next whistle (Coco always comes home to his trainer).
Sue found a cat on the way back to the boat.
Sue's sunset over Nassau harbour.
No comments:
Post a Comment