Is Paradise Really There?

Bahamas Pics

The Bahamas comprises 29 islands, 661 cays and 2,387 islets, but its most well known piece of real estate is Paradise Island, home to the mega-resort Atlantis. What many don’t know is that the isle was once called Hog Island and used mostly for farming until it was purchased in 1960 by Huntington Hartford, the A&P supermarket heir, who gave the island its current name.

Paradise Island is only 4 miles (6.4 km) long and 0.5 miles (0.8 km) wide, and is dominated by Atlantis, the sprawling resort that is the most expensive place to stay in the Bahamas, occupies 97 acres, offers 2300 rooms in three different towers, and contains 20 million gallons of lagoons, pools, waterfalls and aquariums. Talk about gigantic.

But mammoth though as Atlantis is, I soon realized that something was missing, and it wasn’t an erupting volcano – it was character. Tourism accounts for about 50% of the Bahamian GDP, and of the two million plus tourists who come to New Providence Island every year (where Nassau, Cable Beach and Paradise Island are located), 85% come from the US. It shows…Atlantis feels a lot like a tropical Vegas, and I had to remind myself every now and then that I was in the Bahamas, not in the US.

Paradise to me is a place that inspires wonder, lifts the spirit, leaves you elated. While Paradise Island is an ingenious, well-executed endeavor that offers the ultimate in comfort, it feels so contrived, so artificial that it becomes faceless. Paradise Island didn’t make a memorable impression on me precisely because it tries too hard to be grand, and therefore fails to create a connection.

This is not to say that Paradise Island shouldn’t be visited. There are enough pools, slides, activities to give anyone hours of fun and thrills. So if you’re looking for a quick 3 or 4-day tropical escape near the US that won’t require a lot of planning, by all means, come to Paradise Island. But look elsewhere if you want authenticity. That I fortunately found in my June destination, a place of extraordinary character and charm. It is coming up next.