I am taking a two week vacation begining August 17th with my wife and 11yr old daughter. The first stop is Orland area. We are staying 11 days at the Liki Tiki resort (which is a hidden gem. Increadibly inexpensive @ $70/night 1bed room condo w/full kitchen, multiple pools, and small water park for kids. Also pretty darn clean. We have staid there years in a row.) and will be doing everything Disney. This is an anual trip for us, were we do one week @ Disney then usually a Cruise. This year we have decided to skip the Cruise and fly to Atlantis in Nassau Bahamas. We will be staying 6 days at Atlantis. My question is what is there to do outside of Atlantis? What are some good tours, excursions, etc? Are there any good boating charters that you would recommend? Are there any boat rental places, if so, is it a safe/good idea to be out boating alone? We plan to spend a majorty of our time at the Atlantis Beachs and Water Park, but it would be nice to do somrthing away from the resort. Also what is outside of the resort for food? I have heard eating at Atlantis is more costly than my room........ Is it safe to venture away from the resort after dark? We have been to Nassau once before, however it was on a Disney Cruise and we basically went to Atlantis for the day, so really didn't see much. Thanks in advance for the help.

My Sister and her Husband frequent there, They eat at a place where when you order Conch Salad, A dude jumps in the water, swims out and brings back the conch and they make you a Very Fresh Conch Salad. I'll see if I can get a name

If you want to do a very nice/expensive/fancy dinner, the greystone in Nassau is sweet, ask for a tour of the wine cellar. For regular pub grub food that is reasonable, there is green parot bar across the street at hurricane hole marina. And yes, Atlantis is very expensive for food. The one hot tub on the property is at the pool next to the entrance to the marina from the harbor (it took me 8 weeks to find it). Cable beach is a descent cab ride, but it is cool to check out. If you do rent a boat, pack up and just pick an island to go explore, there are many within a few minute boat ride. We just beached the boat and hung out. They Have the normal party boats, boat sailing and power that leave from the area and go on a few hour cruise around Nassau. You can also get the ferry and go to Spanish wells, really cool old town on the water, little fishing village. I also heard about a new program that started in New York where you can meet locals and they will take you around the bahamas. It is called Big Apple Greeter. Sounded cool in the article.
Either way, there is a ton of stuff to do, and it is quite safe there. Get off Paradise Island and explore, it is a pretty cheap cab ride and worth exploring. We used to get great deals from the limo drivers waiting outside the casino at Atlantis, for not much they would take you back to Nassau while they waited for there ride to be finished in the casino.

I don't think we will be doing any fine dining while in Nassau. First we have our 11yr old daughter with us. While Atlantis does have a "kids club" (babysitting service) if we do that, it will probably be to hit the casino for an hour or two. We don't spend much time away from our daughter... I know shocker, this day and age I see couples my age dumping their kid ever chance they get. We are the opposite, we do our best to as much as possible with our daughter. We are taking a 4 day Royal Caribeen cruise in November, that will be our first trip without our daughter. That will be weird... But anyway back to Atlantis. We aren't much for fine dining anyway. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy a nice meal. But I haven't ever been much of a fancy restaurant or jacket and tie kind of guy. Besides at Atlantis I heard the deli is at fine dining prices so looking for restaurants on the cheap. Since this stay in Nassau will be after 11 days of Disney.....

My daughter and I like to snorkel so if there are any really good ones, I would really be interested in that.

Look up Stuart Cove for snorkeling/diving. http://www.stuartcove.com/

Like Jon/Josh said, Greystone is amazing, drop by for a cocktail and have them roll you a custom cigar. The patio at the Marina at the base of the bridge to Paradise Island has great food and lots of transiting yachts to look at.

Atlantis is great!! You will have access to anything u want there but don't leave your wife & child alone in Nassau at night. Stay on the Atlantis grounds & book trips from there. It may be more expensive but you should be more safe.

Senior frogs is not bad.but its not fine dinning.

we did a snorkeling trip on a sail boat.....not a big fan of sail boats, but we had a good time, anchored off an island and got to spend a little time on a private beach which was cool. Water Taxi is a pretty cool thing as well. We also went to a fisherman's wharf or something like that where there were a bunch of restaurants in a row and that was actually the best food we ate. Conch Salad and Conch Fritters are a must, can't wait to go back.

Check out Powerboat Adventures : http://bahamastourcenter.com/exumas-...FeoWMgodpzkAiA The reviews on Trip Advisor are excellent. They have been doing these tours for years and know their stuff. On my very first trip out to Allen Cay to see the Iguana's back in late 90's I followed them out there in my then Formula 419. They are still doing it. I think it's something your daughter would enjoy doing as well. Take along some grapes as the Iguanas will come down to the beach and eat them. All the best.

Bob

We are leaving for Atlantis next monday - thanks for the tips