Five Days and Four Nights in the Bahamas - Nassau, Atlantis, and Pig Islands Leisure Tour Summary

Because of this trip, I couldn’t finish “Year After Year” a year ago. After all, it’s the tenth year of “Year After Year,” so I wanted to think it over carefully before writing it (I can really find reasons for the delay, lol).

Closer to home, I spent five days and four nights in Nassau, the capital of the Bahamas, plus last year I went to Puerto Rico next door (portal), I feel that the evaluation will be more objective and fair. The overall feeling and scenery of these Caribbean island countries are almost the same. Compared with Puerto Rico and the Bahamas, the experience is even worse. I don’t know what Cancun is like.

In summary, the Bahamas is a place worth visiting once. The attractions are very unique, but from the perspective of service and other tourist experiences, it is not worth going a second time. When I left, I even felt like I was escaping. The people and prices of this country gave me the feeling that it was a pill.

I won’t upload too many photos here. If you are interested, you can follow my Instagram account.

Overall impression - the world of black people, skyrocketing prices, skyrocketing taxes

Since I didn’t do any strategy, I was really shocked when I came to the Bahamas. They were all black people. You can understand it as a kind of discrimination. After all, we avoid black people in American cities. Based on this subconscious mind, I was very vigilant.

As time went by, I realized that I was worrying too much. Although 95% of the people in the Bahamas are black, it is still considered a developed country. The black people are very warm and friendly, which is completely different from some black people in the United States. When you leave the airport, you are greeted with a welcoming smile and enthusiastic directions. The people on the road are also very polite, especially the people in the resort. The gentlemen are better than those in the United States.

But compared to the beautiful scenery, what impressed me most was the service, prices and taxes.

Although the resort (Paradise Island) feels very good, once you leave (Paradise Island is very small), there are many problems. They are lazy and unaccepted. For example, this time we have never had a meal that lasted less than 2 hours (even fast food). After you sit down, you usually have to wait more than ten minutes for someone to help you order. After ordering, you have to wait 40-60 minutes for someone to come slowly. During this period, they basically will not take care of your life and death, because they are really too slow to move and have no sense of service.

When it comes to service, I found that they don't care much about the feelings of tourists and do not maintain the image of their tourist city. The restaurant has almost no service, but there is a mandatory 15% service fee. This may also be the reason why the waiters are not enthusiastic. After all, the service fee has nothing to do with their service.

Another unacceptable thing is the price. The price here is basically three times that in the United States. A dish is basically around 30-50, and the expensive one is even 80. The per capita consumption of a meal is very high. This is not only the same situation in restaurants, but also in hotels and small shops. I guess it is because this island relies on imports, so the prices naturally cannot go down. But why is Puerto Rico so much better?

Chatting with local people, I learned that the tax here has only started to be collected in the past few years, and there is a high increase every year. It was originally 8%, and it has reached 12% since 2018, and it will soon reach 15% in 2020. I have never seen a tourist city charge such a heavy tax, and I can't help but think about the reasons behind it.

This vicious cycle could destroy the island nation.

Travel guide – Atlantis (water park), Pig Island and other island groups

After talking about the questions, let’s take a look at the scenery. I have to say that this place is very suitable for vacation (leaving aside the price factor). The hotel group and water park of Atlantis on Paradise Island can be played for several days. Coupled with the various surrounding islands, if you have time, there is no problem in staying there for a month.

This time our itinerary is (one arrow day):

Arrival + route survey around Paradise Island Hotel -> Snorkeling -> Pig Island -> Water Park -> Nassau City Center + Return

天堂岛、atlantis（水上公园）

Although Nassau is the capital of the Bahamas, it is a very small island, and the only places you can visit are around Paradise Island. Paradise Island is smaller, basically a resort, and you can walk there. However, it is far away from the airport (30 minutes’ drive). We rented a car this time, but we thought it was wasteful. It might be more economical to take a taxi.

There are aquariums, water parks, beaches, slides and other facilities on Paradise Island, all connected together. If you want to play, just go to the hotel. When you are tired, go back and rest for a while before coming out. In short, it is very relaxing on the island. There are always items in the water park that you like. If you stay at the Atlantis Hotel, you can play for free, otherwise it will cost 90/day/person.

For specific gameplay methods, please refer to this article:https://www.dealmoon.com/guide/890312

The more economical way is to stay at Comfort Suits. It is said to be the only hotel that is not an Atlantis hotel but can also get a wristband (free travel). This hotel is in the IHG alliance, so you can earn points by the way. However, this hotel charges per person, so be careful when booking the hotel. There is also a Marriott hotel in Atlantis, which is said to be more expensive, but very average.

Snorkeling, SUBs, Pig Island Group

Tour projects in the Bahamas are basically independently operated. When you arrive at Nassau Airport, you can get a lot of leaflets. It’s no problem to book by phone when you arrive. Our two main projects this time are: snorkeling, bubble motorcycles and Pig Island Group.

浮潜、泡泡摩托车（SUBs）

You can find many recommendations for this project on the Internet. This time we also combined the recommendations on the Internet and chose one. The experience was very good. Recommendations:

https://stuartcove.com/subs/

After the reservation was successful, they would pick us up at the hotel, very punctually. The place to visit is on the other side of the island, but since there is no highway on the island, it takes about an hour to drive. Snorkeling requires you to be able to swim, allowing you to dive to the bottom of the sea and observe underwater creatures at close range. You don’t need to be able to swim to ride a bubble motorcycle. You can rent a diving suit after you arrive (you don’t have to rent it in summer. In winter, it’s about 70 degrees, the water temperature is still a bit cold. The diving suit has its own buoyancy and has a life-saving effect), and then you will be briefly taught the gestures and operations. There will be several instructors with you when you go into the sea. There are almost no thresholds and dangers.

Those who want to go snorkeling can choose according to their own swimming level, while bubble motorcycles are suitable for all ages. It is recommended to take parents to play.

猪猪岛群（极度推荐）

This should be the climax of this trip. Other scenery can be seen elsewhere, but the Pig Island Group is unique.

The Bahamas is a country composed of more than 700 islands, and Nassau is one of them. To visit other islands, you need to take a plane or a cruise ship. Cruise ships take a very long time, so we chose to fly and we can arrive in 30 minutes.

The specific itinerary is as follows:

Get up early and go to the airport, take the earliest flight (8 o'clock), and after arriving in about thirty minutes, the other party will pick you up at the airport. Don't worry about not being able to find anyone. The airport on the island is just a pavilion. After being picked up, we will take you on the boat and start the tour, passing by Lizard Island, Pig Island, Shark Island (an extra 10 dollars is required to get off the boat), sea beaches, lunch, and snorkeling areas. Then come back and take you to the airport to fly back to Nassau (5 o'clock).

We booked Piggy Island from this hotel this time, and it was very good:

https://www.swimmingpigtours.com/

If you can sail your own boat, it is recommended to live on the island and rent a boat to sail by yourself. We met several people who sailed their own boats with maps. They felt very like explorers. The real experience should be similar to Assassin's Creed - Black Flag. If you are pressed for time, you can use this one of ours:

Because it is a local flight, it is not easy to find reservation information online. The portal is as follows:

http://flamingoairbah.com/

Note: This website often has problems, especially with payments.

As mentioned before, these services are all local. On the surface, they seem very irregular and make you feel insecure. But once you get in touch with them, you will feel relieved. The people are very nice, so please feel free to eat.

Flamingo Air's planes are very small, with 15 people per plane, and they look particularly cute. Moreover, they often don't come according to the time and leave as soon as everyone is there. It is different from the regular aviation service we understand, and is more like taking a bus. We chose our seats when we booked online, but the actual situation was that we didn't follow that at all. The captain arranged for the fatter to sit in the front. Our flight in the morning was originally supposed to be at 8 o'clock, but the last call on-boarding was at 7:20, and it actually took off at 7:35. I guess it was because the system showed that we had all checked in. It was the same in the afternoon. We finished at 3 o'clock. We originally thought we could leave early, but the plane was late and we had to feed bugs at Liangting Airport for more than two hours.

Introducing the following islands:

• Lizard Island: Wild lizards, just take a photo and leave
• Piggy Island: There are swimming pigs, big and small, that can be petted or ravaged. They are very fun and you can stay for a while.
• Shark Island: It costs 10 knives to get off the boat, but it is highly recommended. You can swim with sharks in the water, take photos, pet them and play with them as you like. The sharks are nurse sharks and are not aggressive.
• Beach in the sea: a great place to take pictures. The beach is in the center of the sea and surrounded by the sea. It’s not too much to use any kind of shooting equipment here.
• Lunch and snorkeling: Lunch is very average. After all, we are on a small island. You can just order some burgers or bring your own dry food. Snorkeling is pretty much the same as before. If you don’t know how to swim, you can take this opportunity to learn.

downtown nassau

It’s surprising that the capital of a developed country is so dilapidated. I originally wanted to take some time to go shopping, but after passing by, I had no desire at all. Moreover, it was deserted at night, and it didn’t look like a commercial center at all.

If you are short on time, you can skip the city center. If you have time, you can go and see the straw hat market and seaside bars. You can see cruise ships coming and going on the bar street.

diet

There is basically no delicious food in the Bahamas. I thought I could eat delicious seafood on the beach, but I was wrong! Basically nothing, the food is ridiculously expensive and tastes terrible, and the key services are particularly poor.

When you open Yelp, you can hardly find a few restaurants, but in fact there are a lot of restaurants, but because they are not very formal, you can't find them online. Even if there are restaurants online, almost every restaurant has a very low rating.

But the good news is,The Chinese food on the island is very delicious! ! ! Highly recommended: summer palace. If you stay at the Hilton, it's right next to the Hilton. If you stay at Paradise Island, it only takes 10 minutes to drive, and parking at night is not difficult. The Chinese food in this restaurant is better than most Chinese food in the United States, and even surpasses many domestic restaurants. We went there several times and ordered different dishes, and each one was very authentic. The only drawback is that the waiters inside are too slow.

The other restaurant on Paradise Island is called Chopsticks. The taste is okay, but the dining environment and price are a bit uninteresting.

In addition to Chinese food, local dishes are also worth trying, although there are no special dishes. But be careful when looking for it on your own. Many stores are not only expensive, but the food is terrible, and the service is so bad that they even charge for water. Not only that, they don’t accept credit cards! There are many pitfalls. I suggest you ask local people before going. Here is a recommendation from a local, and it feels good to eat it yourself: twin brothers.

Summarize

As mentioned before, the Bahamas as a whole does not feel like a developed country. There are flies flying in the restaurants, the streets are dilapidated, and the marks of developed countries can only be seen at the airport and on Paradise Island. The service is not good, the price is expensive, you have to worry about pitfalls when spending money, and credit cards are not available everywhere. These should be must-haves in international tourist cities, but he did not do it well. Coupled with the laziness of the service staff, the overall experience is very bad.

But I have to say that the scenery in the Bahamas is unique, especially the islands I visited on the day of Pig Island. It can be said that the first-class scenery of the Bahamas is dragged down by the third-rate services and facilities. On the Caribbean side, Puerto Rico and Cancun are ranked ahead of him in my heart. And if you have the time, money, and have been to other places, I highly recommend the Bahamas.

The situation in the Bahamas makes me very worried, especially the increasingly heavy tax burden. It is very possible that if the economy cannot bear it, we will no longer be able to enjoy such beautiful scenery.