Nassau

A favorite among Spring Breakers, the beautiful islands of the Bahamas offer long, luxurious days in the sun, and wild nights in the hottest clubs! Located just off the southern tip of Florida, The Bahamas consist of over 700 islands or cays, offering miles of white sand beaches surrounding small slivers of land. If it's the pirates's life for you, this is the place. Once inhabitedby such notables as BlackBeard, Calico Jack and Mary Reed, the island still provides a safe haven for those seeking to escape from despotic academicians.

Spring Break Travel, the leading Bahamian Tour operator is your best bet for finding safe passage. When you arrive on the island, you will discover quickly that there are two different types of beaches.The first is the "activity beach". These beaches are adjacent to the luxury hotels,resorts and casinos. They offer every water sport that you can think of, like parasailing, snorkeling, windsurfing and the like. The second type of beach, is refered to as "the "secluded beach". There are secluded beaches are like sparkling treasures to be discovered by adventerious Spring Breakers of the Carribean. The recommended mode of transportation for these exploits is by moped or scooter, which can be rented by the day or half-day.

So, follow the foot steps of earlier Hollywood pirates like Errol Flynn, by climbing BlackBeard's Tower or retake the Charlestown settlement by conquoring the remparts of Fort Fincastle or Fort Montagu. Then... survey your domain from the top of "Queens Staircase", carved out of the coral limestone of Bennett Hill. (History Majors...On what date did the settlement of Charlestown get renamed to Nassau?)

Not much is left of the later day pirates, or gun smugglers, who ran arms for the Confederacy during the American Civil War. The only historical landmark was the Royal Victoria Hotel. Once the "showplace of the Bahamas" and headquarters for the Bahamian smugglers, the hotel survived until 1971 when it burned to the ground. Today, only the gardens of the hotel remain to "reflect the opulence and grandeur" of this period of Bahamain history. For everyone who has taken Film 101, be sure check out the Versailles Gardens, with it's medieval cloister. William Randolf Hurst, aka, Citizen Kane, who purchased the 12th century Augustinian Cloister in France where it was desmantled stone by stone.

When you get tired of exploring the beaches and gardens, take a day cruise to Blue Lagoon Island where you can snorkel with stingrays and swim with a pod of Atlantic bottlenose dolphins at the Dolphin Encouter. Scuba training, snorkling, and dive packages for individuals and groups are popular and available from any one of Nassau's many dive operators. If you want to expore Nassau's underwater life, but don't want to get your feet wet, you can visit the underwater observatory of the Coral Island marine park or go for a 2-1/2 hour ride on the submarine Atlantis.

Don't forget to visit downtown Nassau, with its winding streets of pastel buildings, it offers great deals on shopping-souvenirs, straw markets, jewelry, liquor, perfume. Beyond the town of Nassau, is the bridge to the island of Paradise, which has been transformed into one of the most glamorous resort centers in the world. Spend a day luxuriating in the exclusive pleasures at The Atlantis, the island's super exclusive resort, casino and waterpark. Remember, you get tired of all the tourist stuff, you can just spend the day in a hammock strung between a couple palm trees.

The nightclubs don't really get started until after 11, so pass the early evening hours recovering from your day on the beach in the cool casinos, and then hit the clubs. The two casinos are the Crystal Palace at the Marriott in Cable Beach and The Atlantis on Paradise Island.The two main clubs to hit in Nassau are The Zoo, and The Waterloo, both are huge, with a maze of different rooms. It is a good idea to go on the featured nights when the major tour operators have scheduled events to avoid heavy cover charges and lines! Whether you're looking for a vacation packed with activities, or to lay around on the beach most of the time, The Bahamas offers both private serenity and plenty of action. A Spring Break vacation here is whatever you want to make of it.