By Land and Sea - Nassau & Paradise Island Bahamas
Exciting Bahamas activities on land and sea are available to visitors of all ages
WHAT-TO-DO - NASSAU, CABLE BEACH & PARADISE ISLAND - JAN 2003 EDITION
Activities in Nassau and Paradise Island are limited only by the imagination. Nassau is blessed with a plethora of arenas for adventure, both on land and in and on the omnipresent ocean. Some people find their excitement walloping a little dimpled ball 280 yards down a well manicured fairway. If you're a golfer, a day on Bahamian links is heaven. Horseback riding is a serious trip back to land-based adventure. You can explore the pine forests and trails of southwest New Providence with Coral Harbour's Happy Trails Stables. They'll even pick you up at your hotel and bring you back after a 90-minute morning ride that also includes secluded beaches, some accessible only by horseback.
Appaloosas and Arabians
Happy Trails has 16 horses, eight of which are used for trail rides and are selected for their calm temperament. The others are reserved for lessons. The stable includes quarter horses, Appaloosas, Arabians, standard and mixed breeds says owner Sue Smith.
The only limits, according to Smith, are that you have to be 12 years old or more and 200 pounds or less.
With 100,000 square miles of ocean and only a little more than 5,000 square miles of land, The Bahamas playground naturally encompasses lots of water.
Semi-subs and catamarans
Seaworld Explorer takes you under the ocean in a 66-ft semi-submarine to explore brilliant reefs and come face-to-face with tropical fish without getting wet. The half day trip includes a 15-minute narrated commute across the harbour from Moses Plaza at Bay and Elizabeth Sts to the Explorer at Nassau's Sea Gardens Marine Park. These daily trips offer a unique opportunity to learn about coral reefs, sharks, barracudas and other sea creatures and the sensitive eco-system in which they live.
Sailing aboard the 57-ft catamaran Flying Cloud is a half day of leisurely adventure that includes a trip from Paradise Island to a deserted Rose Island beach, swimming, snorkelling and beach volleyball, if you're so inclined. Or just stroll the white powdery beach. With Capt Craig at the helm and his professional crew supplying soft drinks and rum punch, the 31?2-hour trip ends too soon.
On Sundays the trip is extended to five hours and includes a barbecue lunch. "The all-day trip on the Flying Cloud was great," says Dee Lopez of Ontario, Canada. "The food was wonderful and on the ride back the staff taught us dance steps. We were having so much fun that we didn't want to get off the boat when we got back to the dock." Romantic evening cruises and charters are also popular.
Sea Island Adventures offers a relaxing cruise aboard Fiesta II to a private beach with a well equipped beach house on nearby Rose Island. Guests enjoy swimming, exploring, snorkelling, and beach games. The six-hour trip also includes the use of non-motorized water sports equipment such as paddle boats and kayaks and a barbecue lunch buffet with salads and white wine or fruit punch. Sea Island's catamaran leaves Nassau Yacht Haven at 10am every day except Monday.
Getting away from it all
Paradise Island Ferry Terminal is headquarters for snorkelling and dive trips, excursions to Blue Lagoon Island and Stingray City and trips to the Exumas.
Blue Lagoon Island is the quintessential get-away-from-it-all island retreat with palm-shaded hammocks, white talc beaches, nature trails, a beach bar, water sports and, on occasion, live entertainment. It is also the site of Stingray City a 31?2-acre protected marine park where you can snorkel eye-to-eye with Southern Atlantic stingrays.
Island World Adventures offers a thrill-of-a-lifetime trip to the Exumas for a day of snorkelling and exploring. A pair of 45-ft powerboats, Tattoo and Ecotime, whisk you at high speed to Saddleback Cay in the upper Exumas. This all-inclusive excursion can include feeding iguanas, sharks, stingrays and barracudas, snorkelling, collecting shells on a secluded beach or hiking a nature trail, with an open bar and Bahamian luncheon buffet thrown in. The boats leave Paradise Island Ferry Terminal at 9am.
Powerboat Adventures is one of the pioneers of all-day excursions to the upper Exumas. Its three 40-ft powerboats, with four 250-hp outboards, zoom southeast to Ship Channel and Allan's Cays in less than an hour. You can enjoy a day of drift snorkelling, fish and iguana feeding, nature walks and hearty surf ?n turf dining. You'll probably encounter a few wild boar on Ship Channel Cay and learn a little about Bahamian bush medicine from expert guides. A complimentary bar is included in a luncheon of fresh fish and marinated steak. You can stroll the pristine beaches of the cay to work off the meal.
A night on the beach
If a day isn't long enough, spend a night on a deserted island under the stars with Powerboat Adventures. Overnight marine safaris feature accommodation at Ship Channel Cay in air conditioned safari tents with queen-size beds and hot showers. There's a bonfire on the beach and a menu of fresh seafood and steaks.
To many, an adventure at sea means diving. New Providence and Paradise Island provide many opportunities for this popular sport.
Nassau Scuba Centre at Coral Harbour offers a complete range of trips including snorkelling, scuba instruction and exciting dive trips to wrecks, reefs, walls and blue holes. This five-star PADI instruction and training facility also offers shark feeding excursions, drop-off dives into the nearby Tongue of the Ocean and, on demand, exciting drift dives through Current Cut off Eleuthera.
Stuart Cove's Aqua Adventures is a multi-faceted diving facility at South Ocean that offers snorkel trips, scuba instruction and scuba diving trips, shark dives, wreck dives and a unique personal submarine adventure. Stuart Cove's also offers wall flying, with scuba gear and an underwater propulsion unit that tows you along at about 2.4mph.
Bahama Divers is one of the oldest dive operations in Nassau. They offer personalized service including transportation to and from the site for pool instruction at Paradise Island hotels and daily dive trips on a pair of 42-ft customized dive boats. Bahama Divers also operates a well-equipped full-service dive shop at its Nassau Yacht Haven location.
Divers Haven's friendly and professional staff can make your dive experience exceptional. This company, based at the Paradise Island Ferry Terminal, offers two dive and snorkel trips daily, to reefs, wrecks, blue holes and the wall. Night dives and charters are also available, and the dive shop stocks a variety of dive equipment, clothing and accessories.
Bahamas Fast Ferries can whip you to Harbour Island on a high-speed catamaran. This historic community is described by many as the prettiest of the Bahamian Out Islands. You can stroll its pink sand beach with full use of beach cabana, changing room, lounge chairs, towels and umbrellas. Enjoy a real down home Bahamian lunch. The newly refurbished Bo Hengy leaves Potter's Cay dock at 8am daily and returns at 6:15pm, like clockwork.
Hug a dolphin
Dolphin Encounters offers a couple of exciting options on three-hour trips to Blue Lagoon Island from the Paradise Island Ferry Terminal. The close encounter enables visitors to pet, hug and interact with the dolphins on a waist deep platform. A swim with the dolphins is a half hour of swimming and frolicking with them in the pens and possibly a free ride courtesy of the unique dolphin "foot push."
If physical outdoor excitement isn't your game you might want to try some of the indoor mental games designed to stimulate the brain cells and adrenaline. Step into one of the modern casinos for roulette, blackjack, craps or high-stakes poker.
Action on New Providence and Paradise Island comes in many forms. Grab a piece of it.
Disclaimer: The information in this article/release was accurate at
press time; however, we suggest you confirm all details and prices
directly with vendors.
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