Regardless of where you're staying -- even if it's at New Providence's most remote hotel -- you'll want to visit this lavish theme park, hotel, restaurant complex, casino, and entertainment center. It is, hands down, Paradise Island's biggest attraction. You could spend all day here -- and all night, too -- wandering through the shopping arcades, sampling the varied restaurants' international cuisine, or gambling at roulette wheels, slot machines, poker games, and blackjack tables. And once you're here, don't even think about leaving without a walk along the marina or a visit to The Dig, a theme-driven marine attraction that celebrates the eerie, tragic legend of the lost continent of Atlantis. During the day, you can wear casual clothes, but at night you should dress up a bit, especially to try one of the better restaurants. The most crowded time to visit is between 9am and 5pm on days when cruise ships are berthed in the nearby harbor (usually every Tues, Fri, and Sat). The most crowded time to visit the casino is between 8 and 11pm any night of the week. There is no cover to enter: You pay just for what you eat, drink, and gamble away (and that could be considerable). Ironically, it's illegal for Bahamian citizens or residents to gamble. That restriction, however, most definitely does not apply to visitors from other countries. Except for the price of the liquor, entertainment within the bars -- which usually includes live salsa, Goombay, and calypso music provided by local bands -- is free. Spa Serenity -- The 2,323-sq.-m (25,005-sq.-ft.) Mandara Spa at Atlantis is a Zen-inspired enclave of calm and serenity designed to make guests feel like gods and goddesses. Services include exotic body scrubs and wrap treatments with names like Caribbean Coffee Scrub, Tropical Coconut Scrub, and Sunburn Cooler. Spa guests also get to take a dip in Poseidon's Thalassotherapy Pool, a beautiful open-air natural seawater pool. Prices, however, are not likely to encourage serenity.

Copyright: Excerpted from Frommer's Bahamas 2009, (c) 2008, Wiley Publishing, Inc.

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