Nassau/New Providence (2012-2014)
On March 1, 2012, we left Great Harbour in our 4788 Bayliner named, “On The Hook”, heading to Nassau on New Providence Island in the Bahamas. Before entering Nassau harbor, when within a mile or so, all vessels must first get permission to enter the harbor by calling Nassau Harbour Control on VHF 16. They will ask you to shift to working Channel 9. They will ask for your last port of call, request boat documentation and your intended destination. (You also have to call them before leaving the harbor, for permission to do so, when they will ask for your destination.) Nassau Harbor is the waterway between New Providence Island and Paradise Island. After receiving permission to enter the harbor, we passed the Atlantis Resort and the cruise ship docks and proceeded to the Nassau Harbour Club at Latitude: 25.07462 – Longitude:-77.31256.
Modern Day Atlantis
Cruise Port
The Nassau Harbour Club Hotel & Marina is located on East Bay Street on the New Providence side of the waterway and across the street from the Harbour Bay Shopping Center which has a Fresh Market, liquor store, bank, Starbucks, a couple of fast food restaurants and more. The Dockmaster’s name is Peter Attaloglou. He can be reached via e-mail at peter@nassauharbourclub.com. The marina has 67 boat slips and can accommodate vessels up to 150 feet in length. There is no fuel available at the marina, but you can get fuel nearby.
Nassau Harbour Club Aerial Photo
Just down the street is a very popular restaurant called the Poop Deck. The Poop Deck’s East Bay Street location overlooks a marina and the harbour and has been in business for over 40 years. They specialize in fresh seafood. They are open daily from 11:30 a.m. to 10:30 p.m. Prices range from $15-$42. They have a second location at Sandyport near Cable Beach. FYI – When we were in Nassau in October, 2014, the East Bay location was closed for remodeling.
The East Bay Street location of the Poop Deck Restaurant
We enjoyed lunch one day at a Greek Restaurant called the Athena Café. It is described on their website as follows: “Casual dining in the heart of downtown Nassau, featuring ‘authentic’ Greek and Mediterranean Cuisine and conveniently located upstairs at the corner of Bay Street and Charlotte Street, with a choice of indoor seating or a relaxing outdoor patio capturing all the excitement, sounds and views of the street activities below.”
We have been traveling to Nassau, by one means or another, for over 40 years. And, we are very happy to see that it has “cleaned up” in many ways, but, I am sorry to say that Nassau has become a “big City” with a commensurate crime rate. Be very street-wise. The crime rate is high (not only for theft), so take care where you walk, especially at night, and secure all your property as best you can. Locking your boat securely at night and when away from it is a must, as is locking your dinghy and outboard when tied to the boat and ashore at a dinghy dock. Even with 24-hour security at Nassau Harbour Club and our doors locked, a thief was able to open one of our windows and steal some of our cash. Rick actually caught him in the act. The thief identified himself as “Jack Sparrow” – the pirate played by Johnny Depp in the Pirates of the Caribbean movies.
The City of Nassau was originally named Charles Town. It was burned to the ground by the Spanish in 1684. When it was rebuilt, in 1695, it was named Nassau in honor of the Prince of Orange-Nassau who became William III of England. By 1713, over 1,000 pirates lived in Nassau outnumbering the 400-500 legitimate residents.
We returned to New Providence Island on May 9, 2012. This island is mainly known for Nassau and Paradise Island, but we chose to go to a fairly new marina on the southwest side of the island, some distance from Nassau. Albany Marina is in the settlement of Adelaide and is located at Latitude: 25.00434 & Longitude: -77.5062. In 1807, the British abolished slave trade and resettled thousands of Africans liberated from slave ships at Adelaide Village and Gambier Village, Over-the-Hill and Bain Town along with other islands in the Bahamas. Adelaide has remained a small farming community. But Albany Marina is very modern and Tiger Woods is said to be part owner. The facility has floating docks and was recommended to us by another boater at Highbourne Cay. The dock master, Derrick, was very helpful contacting someone to come to work on our generator. We shared the rental of a car one day and drove into Nassau with Fred from the S/V Rhombus. We had a nice lunch at the Green Parrot in the Hurricane Hole Marina on Paradise Island. The Hurricane Hole Marina is a 90-slip, full-service marina accommodating yachts over 200 feet in length. The Green Parrot is their waterfront bar and Grille which is located adjacent to the swimming pool. Hurricane Hole also has a fuel dock which is conveniently located on the waterway between Paradise and New Providence Islands.
Hurricane Hole Marina and Green Parrot Bar & Grille on Paradise Island
Later, we went to supper at a very nice restaurant in Lyford Cay called The Mahogany House.
When you come to visit the Bahamas, you go through Bahamian Customs and Immigration. When you fill out the form for Immigration, they ask you how long you intend to stay. Most visitors stay for a week or two or maybe three, but Rick and I stay for months before flying back to Florida. When we returned on separate flights in July and August of 2013, we were both given permission to stay in the Bahamas for only 30 days. So, we needed to get to an immigration office to request an extension before the end of August. This is why we flew on Flamingo Air from Staniel Cay to Nassau on August 19, 2013. You can find out more about Flamingo Airlines at http://www.flamingoairbah.com. The plane is very small and our return flight was full. The pilot had Rick sit in the co-pilot’s seat. (The fare in 2013 was $100 per person one-way.)
Randy Rolle, one of Tucker’s sons who lives in Nassau, picked us up at the airport and took us to the immigration office. We are extremely grateful to Randy for all of his help (we might still be riding around Nassau looking for the office if it weren’t for him!) When we saw the immigration official, she explained that some of the small airports in the Bahamas do not have immigration officials assigned to them. Rick cleared customs at one such airport, in Congo Town on Andros Island. The airport that I cleared through, when I returned 10 days later, does have immigration agents, but apparently there was not one available at that time because my paperwork was also handled by a customs agent. She told us that customs agents are only allowed to give a maximum of 30 days in the country and that is why we both got permission for 30 days.
After receiving our extension, Randy took us out to Cable Beach where we checked into the Wyndham Nassau Resort and Crystal Palace Casino. On December 15, 1988, the most extravagant resort in the Caribbean (at that time), Carnival`s Crystal Palace Resort & Casino, opened at Cable Beach near Nassau. The 900,000-square-foot resort and casino complex had approximately 1500 guest rooms. Rick and I stayed in the Crystal Palace for our anniversary the following October. Wyndham has now sold the Crystal Palace and it will become a part of a huge new development call Baha Mar, a $3.5 billion resort scheduled to open in 2015.
When complete Baha Mar will encompass four hotels (Rosewood, Hyatt, Mondrian and the Baha Mar Casino and Hotel) and 307 furnished private residences.
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Baha Mar will also include:
- An 18-hole, 72-par championship Jack Nicklaus Signature golf course
- 200,000 square feet of combined state-of-the-art convention facilities
- A 2,000-seat performing arts center
- An art gallery with a curated collection of Bahamian art
- More than 30 restaurants, nightclubs and bars
- Two spas, including the 30,000-square-foot destination ESPA at Baha Mar
- Designer retail boutiques
- A beachfront sanctuary with native Bahamian flora and fauna
- 14 distinctive pool experiences
- A private island
We ate supper at an Italian restaurant on Cable Beach called Capriccio Ristorante. This is a family-owned restaurant that has been there for decades. We had a great bottle of Chianti with our delicious meals, after which we shared an order of authentic Tiramisu and a cappuccino. You can sit outside or inside at Capriccio’s.
Our next visit to Nassau was in our boat as we were making our way back to Florida. On February 24, 2014, we left Highbourne Cay Marina headed for the east entrance into Nassau Harbour. As soon as we went under the Paradise Island Bridge (heading west), we turned into the entrance for the Atlantis Marina. When you stay at the Atlantis resort, whether in a room or in a slip, you use your room/slip card key for everything purchased at the resort. Also, all of the amenities are available to you. We spent an entire day in their water park, called “Aquaventure” – more on that later. One night, we had dinner at the Café Matisse in Nassau. Our dinner at Café Matisse was very nice. The Café is downtown in an old house on Bank Lane behind Parliament Square, just off Bay Street. We arrived about 20 minutes early, but they seated us very quickly at a table for two on the upstairs veranda overlooking a courtyard filled with lighted trees and about 20 tables of diners. We felt that we had a great location as there were only 6 to 8 tables on the veranda. I ordered pumpkin ravioli and Rick had spicy lobster over linguine Alfredo. Café Matisse is open from noon to 11 p.m., but is closed on Sunday and Monday.
On Wednesday, October 8, 2014, we again approached Nassau Harbour from the west. This time we had come from Bimini around Chub Cay and on to Nassau/New Providence/Paradise Island. We stayed at the Atlantis Resort Marina located at Latitude: 25.08200 & Longitude:-77.32028. We paid $4.50 per foot per day dockage for our approximately 50-foot boat plus electric and water. They also have wi-fi available to purchase for just over $21.00 per day. On this visit, we had our friends, Ken and Jackie, with us on the boat. We spent several days enjoying the water park, called Aquaventure.
We floated down the mile-long river ride with high intensity rapids and wave surges between the Mandara Spa and Cove Beach and slid down a few water slides as well as relaxing on lounge chairs by the pool listening to music and sipping on cold drinks. Entrance to this park was one of the amenities we received as guests in the marina. Every person staying on your boat is allowed entry for as many days as you are there. If you are not staying at Atlantis, for $110 adults or $80 for children, day-trippers can purchase an Atlantis Aquaventure package that provides all day access to pools, beaches and Aquaventure, the 141-acre waterscape containing over 20 million gallons of water. We were at the Atlantis Marina for about a week due to high winds. While here, we ate at the nearby Johnny Rockets Old Fashioned Hamburger Diner several times and enjoyed it each time. FYI – the least expensive hamburger was $12.95. We spent a Sunday afternoon just down the beach from the marina at Viola’s Bar and Grille at the Sunset Beach Resort where we watched NFL Football on their big screen TVs. Monday, October 13th was our 42nd wedding anniversary. Loan Rolle and his friend drove us, along with Ken and Jackie, to the west end of New Providence Island to a restaurant that we had been to once before. Mahogany House is an elegant restaurant that is nestled in the woods near Lyford Cay. All six of us were very impressed with our dinners and drinks.
On our final night in Nassau, we walked across the street from the marina and had a nice supper at Anthony’s Grill. From their website:
“While most restaurants on Paradise Island are located in busy hotels, Anthony’s is found in a charming shopping area across from the Atlantis Marina Village. Many Paradise Island restaurants lack Anthony’s unique atmosphere; we take pride in delivering a casual, fun and lively environment, paired with affordable meals. Open daily from 8:00am to 10:30pm, we serve a full breakfast, lunch and dinner menu, as well as a pizza and pasta take-out menu available from 10:00am to 10:30pm. Breakfast selections include freshly made waffles and French toast and our enormous breakfast sampler. Lunch and dinner provide just as many delectable options, from our famous conch chowder to fresh Bahamian seafood options, as well as our world-famous baby-back ribs. A full breakfast, lunch and dinner kids menu is also offered. Tropical drinks, beer, wine, and traditional cocktails are available at our full bar, and Anthony’s Gift Certificates are also available for purchase. No reservations or jackets needed; we welcome all who walk through our doors.”
Of course the Atlantis Resort has a lot of very good restaurants as well. But, we were there in October which is one of the slowest times of the year for the Bahamas Tourism Industry. Most establishments take advantage of that by refurbishing or remodeling during this time. We found that about half of the restaurants and water park attractions were closed.
