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The Reef on Paradise Island in the Bahamas Review

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Nov 15, 2005
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The Reef on Paradise Island in the Bahamas Review

Here is a review that is long overdue and hope it helps anyone looking for information in the future.

We went to Atlantis in mid-September and stayed at the Reef. There were 3 couples and we all had toddlers under 2 years old.

The Reef

Beautiful building, it was a mix of condos and hotel rooms. All our rooms had kitchens and were all on the same floor. Before you enter your room, there is a solid double door which opens up to 2 other doors leading to rooms on the left and right hand side. This replaces the door that is normally in the middle of the room that separates the 2 rooms.

The kitchen was a life saver, with each couple having toddlers, it's too much work to get them ready at the same time to go for breakfast. The kitchen had a stove top, washing machine and sink. One of my friends found a grocery delivery service and we had them deliver everything and it was waiting downstairs by the time we checked in. This was an economical way to pick up staples such as water, fruits, pastries, etc. There was also a starbucks downstairs for those needing their fix.

The other thing we really liked was this building was quiet. We barely heard anyone on our floor except when we were all in the hallway. Royal Towers and the one connected to it was a lot more busy. I would've stayed at the Coral and Beach Tower in my university days, it had more of a party atmosphere to it.

Resort Grounds

Paradise Island was humongous and there is a lot of walking for those that enjoy it. To get to the main tower, Royal Towers, it was about a 10 minute walk. It does seem further when you look at it on the map but it was rather enjoyable as you walk through the Cove and get to see the pools and Water Park. There is also a shuttle that runs between the different resorts that come pretty frequently, I would say every 5 minutes.

Attractions

The main ones we visited were:

Water Park: AMAZING. It was a huge water park with many different rides from the lazy pool to the water slide that goes through the shark tank. I would go again just for this. We went mid-morning, after 10 am and again after 2 pm and it wasn't extremely busy, to the point where I had to wait more than 10 minutes per ride.

The Dive: This was located under Royal Towers and was a gigantic Aquarium with 15 foot glass. They made it into an adventure where it seems as though you were visiting an archeological dig of the lost city of Atlantis. I enjoyed it as much as my 2 year old.

Shark Tunnel: This was just outside of the Casino in Royal Towers. It was a couple of long walkways that were located under a shark tank. We took some beautiful photos here.

Village: It was a little village area right where the private yachts were docked and was part of the Atlantis resort grounds. They had a collection of souvenir shops and restaurants such as Ben and Jerrys, Johnny Rockets, Starbucks. There was another strip mall across the street from this one that had a Dunkin Donuts, grocery stores and souvenir shops.

Downtown: It was a 10 minute taxi ride downtown. The downtown district was very commercialized, it had brand name watch places in addition to high end designers such as Gucci. They had a nice in door market place with vendor stalls that sold small arts and crafts, I would definitely suggest haggling with them if you are interested in something.

Food

Since we didn't opt for the food plan, this is entirely up to you as to how much you would like to spend. A lot of the places were closed due to it being low season, I would say about 70% of the restaurants.

The high end places we enjoyed were excellent from the buffet at the Coral to Bobby Flay's Mesa Grill. We loved the entrees at Mesa grill but would pass on the dessert sampler if we go there again. For those nights that we didn't feel like sitting down, the pizza place was very good.

Weather

We went at the tail end of hurricane season and the weather was not the greatest. It probably rained every day we got there and we stayed for 5 days. There were a couple of days that it was torrential, I'm talking about heavy, heavy rain for about 3 hours straight. When the storm clouds roll in, they shut down the water park.

General Comments

We would definitely go again. Even with the crappy weather, the couple of hours a day I spent at the water park and the Aquarium were worth the price of admission. You also don't have to worry about carrying cash anywhere on the resort as you could pay with your room key.
18 replies
Deal Fanatic
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Jan 14, 2007
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Glad to hear you had a good time. We've now been to the Reef twice (the most recent trip was late January of this year) and still love it. Will most likely be going again early next year. With Baha Mar opening later this year, it's our hope that pricing will come down a bit. The Aquaventure is also now likely to be less busy as Atlantis no longer sells day passes. Cruise ship vacationers now have to purchase as an excursion via the cruise company, and guests from other hotels in and around the area simply cannot purchase passes at all (this is all effective March 1st).

If you haven't already, post your review on TripAdvisor.
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Nov 15, 2005
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Yes, I just posted on tripadvisor as well. I hope my review helps people, when we were searching, there was a mish mash of reviews. I separated it into different categories since that was what I was looking for when I was researching.

We ended up getting a good deal since we booked separately rather than doing a package and was able to take advantage of flight rebates.
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I thought 5 nights were sufficient but the spouses felt as though 7 would be perfect. It also depends on when you go. If you go when the weather is good and all the restaurants are open then 7 would be better.
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When we were there a couple of months ago we spent six full days there and we all wished we had booked a longer trip. The weather was perfect though so that certainly makes a huge difference. Our first trip the weather was quite poor, and we were there for four nights and it was sufficient.
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Jun 5, 2007
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Toronto
What's the average price for 2 ppl in this place during low season?
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Nov 15, 2005
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We paid about $2100-$2200 for the 2 of us, our son was free.

This didn't include food and you can get it for cheaper if you stay at royal towers or the coral or beach resort.
Deal Addict
May 25, 2009
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I have been wanting to go to Atlantis for a while so it is nice to read your first hand account. We are actually going to be on a cruise that stops in the Bahamas in December and are planning on doing the excursion to the water park. It will be nice to get a feel for the place and decide later on if it is a worth while vacation destination.
Newbie
Mar 9, 2006
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I wanted to chime in here as we also love the Reef. We've been twice now. The first time for 7 days with my wife and 3 year old. We had such a great time that we went back the following year for 10 days. We plan on returning again this year (now with a 6 year old and a 1 year old) and will definitely stay with at the Reef once again. I too am hoping that with the grand opening of Baha Mar (now delayed into May), prices will fall at Atlantis. Keep in mind that there is now a mandatory daily resort fee ($50 USD) so plan on including that in your vacation planning costs.
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Aug 16, 2009
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Toronto
Bumping this thread up since we are starting to plan for a family vacation (2 adults, 4 yo, 1yo) for later this year (early December) or early next year (January). Are these 2 periods considered high/mid/or low season? Does opting out of the plan save a considerable amount of money? The vacations we've taken the past few years were typically down to the islands and all inclusive for 5 days ranging from $2500-$3500. Would Atlantis be around this range?
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We just went for a third time this past January. I suggest looking at pricing via WestJet vacations as they always seem to have the best package pricing of any operator (plus, their price is all fees included, so no surprises at the end of your stay).

Pricing in December and January is high (the Christmas break is a huge premium of course), but it does get more expensive in February.

For us, the meal plan is a huge rip off. We are not crazy eaters, and with two young fussy kids, making food in the room if need be is a huge plus. The meal plan may make sense depending upon what kind of food you require and how much of it. If you're cool with casual food (burgers, sandwiches, pizza, pasta, etc.) then you can easily feed all four of you on around $120 USD per day (we did it for less). If you're into the all you can eat buffets, want to mix up the food with Asian cuisine, etc. then the meal plan may be worthwhile. Note however that even with the meal plan I believe lunch is not included.

If you have any specific questions PM me and I'll do my best to help you out. We're already planning our fourth stay at the Reef for later this year!

Edit: With respect to price, I'd be shocked if you can do 5-7 days at the Reef for under $3000, and that's without any meals!
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Aug 16, 2009
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good points! My daughter only wants to eat fries so I guess we can opt out of a meal plan (lol). I did a quick check via Westjet Vacations and it's around $4800 from Jan 6-11 and $3300 from Dec 5-10! We'll do more research on our end and will reach out with more questions. :) Quick question, are all the attractions and activities (waterpark, etc..) inclusive in the pricing?
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Nov 29, 2005
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I went with Westjet vacations last year: arrived Jan27 (1pm)-departed Feb3 (2pm) and really enjoyed it. I was watching the prices for a few months prior and ended up jumping on the cheapest/longest option i could find which was for 7 night (8 days) at $2515 CAD for 2 at the Beach Tower which was had king bed ocean view with large fridge, etc in room. It may have been cheaper due to being booked during the Superbowl weekend. Package included all taxes/fees airport shuttles, etc. Room was pretty nice given it was the “cheapest” option but was very clean and quiet (couldn’t hear anyone else) and we didn’t spend much time in there aside from eating breakfast on the patio and sleeping. For food we packed our suitcase with food before we left and ended up taking a cab to a local food market (similar to a Sobeys) and stocked up on basic food (sandwiches, case of water (which is super expensive at the resort), lots of fruit, salads, cereal, canned chicken, etc..) We did go out for supper 2 of the nights at a fancy restaurant and enjoyed some superb fish/seafood and had lunch on the mainland. We have gluten allergies so we wanted to make sure we always had an assortment of food in our room to snack on at all time. The resort itself is super expensive (we are very frugal travelers).

At checkin we got a wine and dine pass (free drinks, free appetizers, free sushi, etc. from some restaurants)
Wifi was expensive so I picked up a BTC SIM card for $20 and added 1 GB of data for another $10. This was great for googling places to see on the go, checking in for the flight home, etc.

We spent 3 days enjoying the waterslides and walking around the park. 2 days Sun bathing on the beach. 1 day took ferry to the main island. 1 day took a private island tour which was great (included food, reef snorkeling, private beach/hammock time).

In my mind 7-10 days is ideal depending on what you want to do. We normally alternated a busy adventure day with a relaxing day to give us a nice balance of downtime. Lots to do and see there. The feeding schedules were a bit hit and miss but we did manage to catch a few of them and hand feed some baby stingrays/sea turtles (missed the shark feedings).

Will definitely go again.
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Jun 15, 2015
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Toronto
michiebaby wrote: Bumping this thread up since we are starting to plan for a family vacation (2 adults, 4 yo, 1yo) for later this year (early December) or early next year (January). Are these 2 periods considered high/mid/or low season? Does opting out of the plan save a considerable amount of money? The vacations we've taken the past few years were typically down to the islands and all inclusive for 5 days ranging from $2500-$3500. Would Atlantis be around this range?
I've been to Atlantis a few times... First time Feb 2005 second time Feb 2010. 2005 gorgeous warm weather but in Feb 2010 it was freezing (ie the water at the park is not heated... Standing in line was cold for water slides, couldn't go on the beach and used our towels as blankets). I personally wouldn't go to the Bahamas again in that part of the winter. Ofcourse the weather can be amazing but you truly take a gamble.
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Jan 14, 2007
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michiebaby wrote: good points! My daughter only wants to eat fries so I guess we can opt out of a meal plan (lol). I did a quick check via Westjet Vacations and it's around $4800 from Jan 6-11 and $3300 from Dec 5-10! We'll do more research on our end and will reach out with more questions. :) Quick question, are all the attractions and activities (waterpark, etc..) inclusive in the pricing?
Hi, if you stay anywhere on the Atlantis property (including Comfort Suites), you are issued wrist bands for all registered guests and this allows no charge access to all water park features. Note that access is also sold to cruise ship passengers via certain tour operators, so the water park can get crazy busy when multiple ships are in port. There is a website you can go to check which ships will be in port on which days. It's also not so busy when the park first opens and closer to closing time as the cruise ship passengers have a much smaller window of available time on the island. For these times, we just retreated back to the sanctuary of the private pool and beach for Reef/Cove guests.
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Nov 18, 2012
45 posts
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Greater Toronto Area
Hi, I was just about to create a thread asking for suggestions and I'm glad I found this one.

My wife and I are planning to visit Atlantis for 4 nights at the end of May/early June, and we're planning on staying at the Coral Tower. Couple questions for everyone with experience:

1) We've read on various websites that Coral might be a little grungy...is this a valid concern?
2) How far in advance should we be booking activities? We'd like to do the "ultimate trainer for a day" program (among others). Also, do pre-booked activities get refunded if the weather's bad and they shut the activity down on the day of?
3) We've heard resort food is overpriced/over-rated. Is this true? Also, any suggestions off-resort for dining? We'd like to try "Bahamian cuisine" and are adventurous foodies.

Thanks!
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Hi, in short:

1) Coral towers is old and quite dated, but perfectly fine. Great location (you're close to all of the attractions).
2) I'd look into booking them immediately after you've booked your hotel/airfare as they can sell out quickly. You're going off peak so supply will hopefully not be an issue.
3) Food is crazy expensive.....a burger combo by the pool will run you $20 USD easy. Eating at one of the buffets will cost you $75 USD per person for dinner, plus mandatory gratuity and VAT.

A great resource would be the following: https://www.tripadvisor.ca/ShowForum-g1 ... hamas.html
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Nov 18, 2012
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Greater Toronto Area
Thanks professor,

Any recommendations for conch, on or off resort?

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