PLUMMETING down a tunnel that plunges you into a pool of ominous-looking sharks isn’t my normal idea of fun.
Yet at Atlantis Bahamas, holidaymakers queue down a winding set of stairs every day for this experience.
This is Leap of Faith, a sheer-drop flume and one of the most famous attractions at this fun-packed family resort on Nassau.
Of course, you are protected by a clear plastic tube as you hurtle at speed through the shark tank — but that doesn’t make it any less frightening when you catch a blurred glimpse of the Jaws-like fins
This is exactly why families visit, though.
After all, where else can you swim with sharks, gamble in a Vegas-style casino and pet dolphins, all while sunning yourself on a balmy island in the Caribbean?
The holiday spot is so plush that A-listers including Beyonce, Jay-Z and Oprah Winfrey have stayed here.
And to top it off, last year The Royal, one of five hotels on the 400-acre Atlantis resort, celebrated its 25th birthday with festivities and a blow-out bash featuring performances by CeeLo Green.
My friend Floss and I were staying in a twin room at The Royal hotel, a few floors below the famous $25,000-per-night Michael Jackson suite, named after the singer who opened the resort 26 years ago.
Our spacious room had a Juliette balcony overlooking Nassau’s port which welcomed a new, mega cruise ship each morning for us to ogle.
The balcony also gave us an excellent vantage point for sussing out the site, or at least some of it — the scale of this place has to be seen to be believed.
With just shy of 4,000 rooms, it occupies a huge chunk of Paradise Island, just off of Nassau, and completely dwarfs other resorts on the island.
Each area is themed and some spots are limited to certain guests, like The Cove with its beachfront cabanas — a celeb hotspot — and The Reef, more of a residential area with one and two-bedroom suites.
Both of these come at a steeper price than Atlantis’s other hotels, but I would save your cash and opt for The Royal — which sits in the main hub, central to the resort — or The Coral, the most affordable of the lot and best suited to families.
One visit to the swim-up bar at The Coral pool, which serves frozen cocktails topped with glace cherries at any time of day, and we instantly sunk into holiday mode.
For a sip of something local, make sure to try a Bahama Mama, made with two types of rum, pineapple juice and orange juice.
When our waiter saw our drained faces the next day he simply laughed and advised, with a knowing grin: “Be careful! The rum is strong here”.
Barely a day passed before we decided that strolling the resort by foot was a waste of energy in 30C heat.
There are many options for those that want to dip their toes into Bahamian culture
Instead we opted to use the River Rapids as a mode of transport around the vast site.
The floating water ride begins at one end and loops round to the other with multiple entry and exit points so you can grab a rubber ring, hop on, and bob to your desired destination.
It is safe to say life is incredibly laidback at Atlantis Bahamas, which is just one of the reasons so many American holidaymakers visit year on year — that and its proximity to the States.
You won’t be surprised, therefore, to hear that there are several Starbucks joints dotted all over the resort, as well as a Shake Shack and Ben & Jerry’s ice-cream shop.
And, of course, there are many options for those that want to dip their toes into Bahamian culture.
Feeling fancy? Order a tasting menu at Fish by Jose Andres, which serves up local delicacies like conch, a tropical sea snail which you can sample cold in a salad or warm in a gooey fritter.
If you are missing home and European food, then head to the marina region.
The area, which could easily be mistaken for a pretty port town on the Spanish coast, acts as a border between the public section and multi-million-pound yachts docked in the harbour.
The boats haven’t been staged purely for aesthetics, though.
We were told that a lot of wealthy travellers, including pop star Nick Jonas, dock here when sailing the West Atlantic.
Grab a spot at one of the many restaurants’ outside tables and spend the evening noseying at the shiny ship decks and glittering lights.
Just when we thought we had discovered everything the resort had to offer, we stumbled upon a new route back to our room via a huge underground aquarium.
The Dig is home to 20,000 deep-reef fish and you can watch feeding sessions there for free.
If you are keen to get up closer to some of the finned creatures then little ones aged three to six can head to the free Sea Squirts school.
There they can learn about marine life and hand-feed baby stingrays, while brave adults can squeeze themselves into a wetsuit and bubble helmet to stroll the length of the shark tank’s floor as the sharp-toothed fish circle above you.
We barely scratched the surface of the vast and strange range of activities on offer here in our six-day visit.
How can I best describe Atlantis Bahamas?
I suppose, if Disneyland and Sea Life had a baby, this would be it.
GETTING THERE: British Airways flies direct from Heathrow to Nassau, Bahamas, from £588 return.
The airline has a sale until May 14, offering discounts on flights in 2024 and 2025.
See ba.com.
STAYING THERE: Rooms at The Royal Atlantis cost from £282 per night on average, based on a four-night stay in August, including up to $300 resort credit.
A family room at The Coral Atlantis costs from around £187 per night, based on four sharing.
See atlantisbahamas.com.
