Is Bahamas safe to leave resort & visit offsite areas for dining & exploring?

[Guest]

Bahamas: I've been before as a Cruise stop. This time, we are going & staying at The Atlantis. 

Is Bahamas safe to leave resort & visit offsite areas for dining & exploring? If leaving resort, did you UBER or rent vehicle?

Can you access Baha Mar pools when staying elsewhere? Just heard so many beautiful things about Baha Mar & would love to check it out. Is there admission cost for pool access?

We are taking our own snorkel gear, but any other suggestions for activities to do? 

When I googled &

I see many suggest/recommend "swimming with pigs" as an activity

-- I've done the horseback riding then swimming with horses in Jamaica & though the riding on the beach was fun, horses & pee as they walk so swimming w/ horses meant swimming with horse floating on water..... and I said I wouldn't do that again....

-- Could I get an honest opinion on the "pigs on the beach" thing & "swimming with pigs" - is it sanitarily clean? 

Recommendations for "Must Eat" places in Bahamas (Atlantis).

Please share the good, bad, ugly, & favorites of Bahamas (Atlantis) - our first stay here. 

[Jeremy]

Just FYI I can personally attest to Atlantis being a dump. It is just undermaintained, overpriced (I think $16 for a bottle of water, $40 for breakfast buffet, $75 for dinner buffet, etc.) and even the employees were just grumpy and not helpful. I remember a slide was closed all day so I asked a manager if she knew when it would open, and she walked over and yelled at the two employees at the top of the slide to open it, which they did. So it's like they were just closing the slide in order to not do any work.

Anyway we ate offsite and enjoyed the aquarium and the water park...but that's about it.

[Mary]

Def eat off site from Atlantis, Atlantis is $$$$… I just used Uber when there. Bring cash & use it for everything! Or designate one CC only & watch it close! Both mine & my friends cards were hit with thousands of charges by scammers after our trip…. Apparently it’s a BIG thing there!!
Go visit the Queen’s staircase in Nassau!!

[Vanessa]

I’ve never been but it once was a bucket list item for me. Finding out how aggressive the pigs can be (they’re wild and they bite sometimes) is enough for me to pass.

[Amm]

Just returned from Atlantis. They give you complementary water bottles at check in to refill around the resort. Taxi to downtown/straw market is $20 one way or the ferry is $5 per person one way. Chopsticks in the Coral tower was fantastic! And Carmines is a must if you have at least a party of 4 (family style dining). There were no lines for slides. We had a blast! Take snacks or grocery shop for breakfast items. Otherwise there is grab and go at cafes in each tower and lots of lunch options by the pool! Snorkel in the ocean near The Cove. All the restaurants at the marina are great!

[Mindy]

I forgot to add to watch Youtube videos about the Bahamas. They do a nice job of giving you ideas of where to eat.

[Christine]

Atlantis is an experience, but when you get tired of its artificial, crazy expensive, sanitized-for-the-tourists vibe, there's a neighborhood called Fish Fry, not far from downtown Nassau. It's a row of restaurants right off the dock where the fishing boats come in. Good, fresh, authentic, cheap Bahamian food. There's also a zoo/aviary/botanical garden called Ardastra Gardens not far from there. These are places the locals go. We took a taxi to Fish Fry once and walked the second time; it's a 20-min walk along the seaside from the Straw Market.

[Shannon]

You pay for EVERYTHING at Atlantis. Most stay off site and just get a day pass. Go grocery shopping for your room.

[Ashley]

We stayed on property there for 3 days last year as tag alongs to a conference my FIL was attending. For such a short time it wasn’t bad, but I probably wouldn’t choose it myself. The water park was fun, the grounds were pretty, the room we were in was updated and had a nice view, but it certainly wasn’t anything overwhelmingly special. Free steel water bottle at checkin to use around the resort which was nice. We left the resort for one meal that was essentially across the street (that had been recommended in this forum), and it was good but wasn’t any cheaper than eating there. Skip Nobu unless it’s something you really care about, it was entirely overrated. We mostly ate at Olives, the Lagoon Bar, and Carmine’s. Olives was my favorite of the 3 for sure but Carmine’s is better for families. There was also a little shop/restaurant strip by the marina there that has a few good places.

[Mindy]

We just went to the Bahamas in March 2023. We opted to stay at the Comfort Inn Suites, across from Atlantis, because it was cheaper, had a free breakfast buffet, and offered free waterpark tickets to Atlantis.

Personally, I thought Atlantis was nice, but we would never stay there. We just rode the water rapids which were quite fun. The aquarium is nice too. We walked over the bridge and ate at a chinese restaurant. Breakfast held us most of the day because we are not big eaters.