Paradise Island

The island is best known for Atlantis, a very large resort with a water park, marine habitats, a casino and a marina. Around it sit other hotels, time-shares and private homes, a golf course at the eastern end, and Marina Village with its shops and restaurants. On the Atlantic side, Cabbage Beach is a long stretch of white sand that is open to the public, with public access points along Casino Drive.

Because it is so close to Nassau, Paradise Island works well for travellers who want a resort stay with easy access to the city: downtown is a short taxi or a walk over the bridge, and Lynden Pindling International Airport is on the other side of New Providence. It is also an easy base for day trips to Rose Island and the Exuma Cays, since many boat excursions depart from the marinas here and in Nassau Harbour.

The island's modern history began when the heir Huntington Hartford bought much of what was then Hog Island in 1959, renamed it Paradise Island and opened the Ocean Club. Beside the club, the Versailles Gardens climb in terraces to the Cloisters, the remains of a medieval French monastery that William Randolph Hearst had shipped to the United States and that Hartford had reassembled here in the 1960s. It is one of the few sights on the island that is not a resort, and it is free to walk.

The trade-off is scale. Paradise Island is busy, built-up and oriented around large resorts. Travellers looking for quiet beaches and small towns usually prefer Eleuthera, Harbour Island, the Exumas or the Abacos.