snorkeling off the beach: Blue Lagoon Beach Day or Atlantis Beach Day?

[firstwdw]

young teen would like to do some snorkeling on our Nassau day but we don't want to book a snorkeling specific excursion. Can we bring our own snorkel gear to Atlantis and Blue Lagoon and snorkel off the beach? Which is the better excursion and why? We are not doing the water park at Atlantis. I am leaning towards Blue Lagoon.

 

[GrnMtnMan]

young teen would like to do some snorkeling on our Nassau day but we don't want to book a snorkeling specific excursion. Can we bring our own snorkel gear to Atlantis and Blue Lagoon and snorkel off the beach? Which is the better excursion and why? We are not doing the water park at Atlantis. I am leaning towards Blue Lagoon.

You can't reliably snorkel off Cabbage Beach (the publicly accessible beach at Atlantis) because the surf is frequently too rough for swimming. Plus there aren't any nearby reefs, so there isn't much to see.

Have you looked at this: https://www.atlantisbahamas.com/thingstodo/wateradventures/snorkeltheruinsofatlantis

Here's a promo video for the twilight version:

 

[intricatejewel]

You can bring your own snorkeling gear, no problem. Personally speaking, Blue Lagoon has awful snorkeling. There’s very little to look at and it’s often very crowded. I still find myself going back to Blue Lagoon because it’s one of the better excursions offered for Nassau, but besides the animal encounters, it’s losing its Beach Day appeal. It’s no longer the peaceful ocean oasis that it once was, but much more appealing compared to the Straw Market or Junkanoo Beach. Castaway Cay is your best bet at getting any decent snorkeling in on your cruise.

 

[firstwdw]

You can bring your own snorkeling gear, no problem. Personally speaking, Blue Lagoon has awful snorkeling. There’s very little to look at and it’s often very crowded. I still find myself going back to Blue Lagoon because it’s one of the better excursions offered for Nassau, but besides the animal encounters, it’s losing its Beach Day appeal. It’s no longer the peaceful ocean oasis that it once was, but much more appealing compared to the Straw Market or Junkanoo Beach. Castaway Cay is your best bet at getting any decent snorkeling in on your cruise.

Thanks. This is good to know. I need to decide between going over to Atlantis or trying Blue Lagoon! Looks like Blue Lagoon has more to offer for their beach day.

 

[moremouse]

We went to Blue Lagoon earlier this month (as adults). I wasn't impressed with it. We didn't do any animal encounters, but were just going for a beach day.

The beach was not well-groomed and had a lot of ants. We went a little further down the beach where there are some clam shell umbrellas ($60). They were a must because if you don't get there early enough, all the shaded chairs are gone.

Our excursion came with lunch. It was very basic. It's not a buffet. You go through once and you're done. I found that out by just getting a plain hot dog, then realized I wanted some chips. Negative. They told me I'd have to pay for it.

That was just my experience though. Have fun with whatever you do! We will just continue to make Nassau a "ship day."

(BTW - We didn't see anyone snorkeling that day.)