PreviousSun-filled activities
DINING & ENTERTAINMENT GUIDE - JAN 2007
Sun-filled activities
Fun for everyone
Your vacation begins once you step outside the doors of your hotel. There are scads of enjoyable things to do around Nassau and Paradise Island. For a full list, pick up a copy of the What-to-do booklet at your hotel's activities desk. And to find how to get there, use the Bahamas Trailblazer Maps. Both publications are free and you can find them at dozens of locations around town.
Sea quest
Getting up close and personal with colourful undersea life is one way to enjoy your visit. Whether you wish to snorkel the shallow reefs or strap on scuba gear to delve deeper into our crystal clear water, there are plenty of options.
Bahama Divers, a PADI five-star facility, offers dives for both beginners and experienced divers. Trips include two-tank morning dives and single-tank afternoon dives to wrecks, reefs, walls and the company's famous Lost Blue Hole dive. For those new to scuba diving, there are daily learn-to-dive classes. Half-day morning and afternoon snorkelling trips are also available.
For a unique diving experience, try the SUB dive at Stuart Cove's Aqua Adventures. The SUB (Scenic Underwater Bubble) is a one-man submersible that allows you to descend 15 feet below the surface without getting your hair wet. Stuart Cove's offers a wide range of snorkel and scuba trips. The Snorkel Bahamas Adventure, for example, may include an excursion to a shallow reef, an underwater movie site, a shipwreck or, for the stout of heart, a snorkel with Caribbean reef sharks. Also offered are wall flying with a submersible scooter along the Tongue of the Ocean' a mile-deep undersea canyon?as well as reef and shipwreck dives.
For landlubbers
If you're a landlubber, consider a self-directed walkabout downtown. Using the Trailblazer Maps, find and check out the pink Parliament buildings at Rawson Square, which date back to the colonial period. Behind the statue of Queen Victoria is the Supreme Court building, once considered the most beautiful building in Nassau. If you walk around that building, you'll see the eight-sided library on Shirley Street, which was once a jail.
Walk west toward the British Colonial on Bay Street and you'll see another pink building on your right called Vendue House, once an arcaded marketplace where slaves were bought and sold. Appropriately, the building now houses the Pompey Museum of Slavery and Emancipation, well worth a look.
Nearby in temporary quarters is Nassau's famous Straw Market where you can find handicrafts, fabrics and souvenirs, as well as Bahamian straw work. At the end of Woodes Rogers Walk, where the cruise ships tie up, is Festival Place, where you can find high- quality crafts and Bahamian goods.
For a small country, The Bahamas has produced a number of first-rank artists. You can gain an insight into the island?s lively arts scene at the newly commissioned National Art Gallery of The Bahamas, a beautiful yellow building on the corner of West and West Hill Streets.
Animal lovers will want to walk or take a No 10 bus from downtown out West Bay Street to charming Ardastra Gardens, Zoo & Conservation Center, located off Chippingham Rd, near Arawak Cay.
Ardastra features a collection of some 300 animals, including indigenous species such as the Bahama parrot, San Salvador rock iguana and Bahamas boa, to name a few. Ardastra is also home to one of the world's few captive flocks of breeding flamingos. The pink birds demonstrate their marching skills, to commands from their human drill sergeant, twice a day.
Land and sea
There are several high-quality boat excursions to choose from, whether you prefer a high-speed trip to the Out Islands or a leisurely sail to a nearby beach for a picnic lunch.
Flying Cloud Catamaran Cruises offers half-day cruises Monday to Saturday and a five-hour Sunday cruise to picturesque Rose Island. There you can enjoy snorkelling, play beach games or work on your tan while relaxing on the powder-fine sand. Flying Cloud also offers romantic evening cruises Monday, Wednesday and Friday; enjoy the sights of Nassau Harbour under the stars.
Or hop aboard a powerboat and speed away to the Exuma cays for the day, courtesy of Island World Adventures. This trip includes a visit to a sandbar in the middle of the ocean and a stop for snorkelling over a colourful reef. Savour a tasty Bahamian buffet lunch or melt your cares away on a pristine, white-sand beach.
CONTACT INFORMATION
E-Mail: Click here
Internet: https://
Disclaimer:
Information in editorial and listings is subject to change at any time.