The capitol of the Bahama Islands, with a population of around a quarter of a million people, Nassau is the main tourist destination of those visiting New Providence Island.  We reached the main harbour and shipping channel after an easy sail from Eleuthera which was made more exciting by the capture of half a mackerel just as we passed through a channel surrounded by reef on either side.   I was reading in the cockpit when I noticed the fishing line pull taut, sadly however, half our catch was obviously eaten by something bigger and hungrier than us (most likely a shark).  We were so looking forward to fresh fish for dinner!

Our first night was spent anchored in the main shipping channel in Nassau Harbour next to the wharf where all the cruise ships dock.

Each day 5 to 6 new cruise liners exchange berths at the end of the day, so there must be about 10,000 to 15,000 visitors crawling over the town daily and many $$$ spent!

Our main attraction for Nassau was the Atlantis Resort on Paradise Island (a bridge away from the main town of Nassau).

This resort was something the boys had been excited about going to since we first broached the idea of a year away sailing.  We had booked ourselves in for 3 nights at the Atlantis Marina, and with that came free entry to the resort and water park.  Wow – the place is amazing, as we neared the island on arrival, the twin towers of the resort dominated the sky-line (the first high rise we have seen since leaving Florida).  The resort complex spreads over 140 acres and has many hotels within the park, large lagoons with sharks, turtles, sting-rays, fish, a large underwater aquarium, casino and of course, the water park, with many adrenaline rush inducing slides, and at over a mile long, one of the longest water rapids that I have ever experienced.

Needless to say we had a fantastic 3 days looking at the marine life and getting a little bit fit, climbing the 120-foot tower multiple times to do The Abyss – a 6 second free fall into an underwater cavern.  Yoga breathing comes in very handy at times!

We unfortunately had to leave the Atlantic Marina for our final 3 nights at Nassau.  Strong winds of up to 35 knots had been predicted and the marina quickly filled up before we had a chance to extend our stay.  This gave us a chance to explore Nassau a bit further, and as always, restock our provisions.  I’d been looking forward to visiting an organic food market that I’d researched about prior to leaving Australia.  As it turned out, the market consisted of 2 girls and 2 tables with a very small range of produce.  They were very, very friendly and what they had was great quality.  Thankfully, a nearby shopping centre had everything else we needed.

Our final night was a visit to the Fish Fry – a local eating zone on the harbour that promised the best conch and other seafood.  We arrived with our stomachs growling, ready for a great feed, only to find out that none of our credit cards worked and with only enough cash for the taxi back to the boat.  Typically, my phone was flat and Pete’s only had a very small charge left, which ran out whilst in the middle of contacting the bank to determine the cause.  Surprisingly, the kids remained calm whilst we tried another AMT that was weirdly in a very desolate area of the harbour.  Success, problem was the teller not all our cards – cocktails, dinner, and ice-cream all round and home for a good sleep before the next leg of our journey.