The Bahamas (officially the Commonwealth of The Bahamas) are made up of more than 700 islands, surrounded by beautiful coral reefs in the Atlantic Ocean. More than 30 of the islands are inhabited. The economy of the Bahamas is dependent upon tourism, tax havens and other financial industries. The 2016 Bahamas Leaks are also well known (files that expose tax evasion practices and the creation of front companies.) Our Domain Island Tour set off to explore the attractions in and around the capital city of Nassau. The ccTLD for The Bahamas is “.bs“.
◆Where are the Bahamas
This Caribbean island nation is located 800 km from the Florida Peninsula, with Cuba to the southwest and Haiti to the southeast. It has a population of approximately 410,000 (as of 2022), and the land area is 13,880 km², which is about the same size as Fukushima Prefecture. The currency in use is the Bahamian Dollar. The exchange rate is equivalent to the U.S. dollar, and it’s also possible to pay in U.S. dollars. The official language is English.
*As of March 2024
= Table of Contents =
◆Exploring Nassau
◆Pirates of Nassau Museum in the Location of Pirates of the Caribbean
◆A Queen’s Staircase Built by Slaves and a Cryptocurrency Coworking Space
◆Real Paradise Found at Huge Resort on Paradise Island!
◆A Bowl of Miso Soup for Y1,470! What to Eat in the Bahamas – Fine Dining Edition
◆Finding .bs Around Town
◆How to Purchase a SIM & Test the Internet Speed
◆Exploring Nassau
We arrive at Lynden Pindling International Airport.
The airport taxi-stands. We’ll take a taxi to the capital city, Nassau.
Like in Nauru, (the country famous for only getting 3 Japanese tourists a year) there are many off-leash dogs.
We arrive in Nassau after X minutes.
The Bahamas were a British colony until they gained autonomy in 1964, and today they remain a member of the British Commonwealth. A strong British influence can still be seen in many of the buildings.
They are often “compact” versions due to it being a small island nation. This somewhat large building was “The Lands and Surveys Department” building. You can do things like register land here.
In the harbor, we saw several large cruise ships docked as Nassau is a popular stop for Caribbean cruises.
In the foreground there is a sunken boat. It seems to have been abandoned.
We come across a Starbucks. There are 14 Starbucks in Nassau.
They were also selling limited edition mugs.
◆Pirates of Nassau Museum in the Location of Pirates of the Caribbean
From 1706 to 1718, Nassau was called The Republic of Pirates and was a base for local pirates. A real-life Pirates of the Caribbean! Let’s check out the Pirates of Nassau Museum, where we can learn more about the history of pirates in this area. It’s located in the heart of Nassau.
It cost us 14BSD to get in.
The inside looks like the Pirates of the Caribbean set at Disneyland! The wax figures are impressive!
The displays include sound and light so all of our senses are involved and we feel like we’re back in the Nassau of that time period.
An imprisoned pirate. It doesn’t really look like he minds it too much.
A unique aspect of this museum are the True or False quizzes found as you go around. For example, this one asks “Pirates often made their victims walk the plank – True or False?”
You turn back this black piece of material to find the answer. The answer to this question is “False”. You’d imagine it was a common practice since we see it a lot in movies and stories, but apparently it has only been documented once. I learnt something new!
We left the museum before these pirates, who were relaxing outside, could spot us.
◆A Queen’s Staircase Built by Slaves and a Cryptocurrency Coworking Space
A 10-minute walk from the museum and you’ll find the Queen’s Staircase. The Queen in this case means Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom. It was named in Queen Victoria’s honor, because it was her reign that ended slavery in the British Empire.
It was carved by hand by the slaves of that time period. I counted 66 steps.
It’s wide enough for two women to go up side by side.
As we were looking at the steps, a man suddenly ran up.
He told us that he runs up these steps every day for exercise.
Next, we head to Crypto Isle, a coworking space for those working in the cryptocurrency field. The Bahamas used to be famous for being a cryptocurrency paradise. After the Digital Assets and Registered Exchanges (DARE) Act came into effect in the latter half of 2020, it became the center of cryptocurrency business. According to their website, Crypto Isle’s “mission is to stimulate economic and cultural growth in the Caribbean through blockchain technology and cryptocurrency”.
However, the collapse of the virtual currency exchange FTX in November 2022 and the arrest of its founder and CEO, Sam Bankman-Fried, triggered the collapse of the cryptocurrency in the Bahamas. When we brought up the subject of cryptocurrency, the previously friendly and chatty taxi driver asked us if we were connected to FTX and then wouldn’t talk about it any further.
Crypto Isle is the only place related to cryptocurrency that we can gain access to.
We’re here. Let’s look for the main offices.
We were able to chat with a woman who is one of the operators of Crypto Isle. Unfortunately, since the FTX incident, many cryptocurrency-based projects have had to close and as an industry, they’re not doing well.
After enjoying the views of the marina which are raved about on Google Reviews by Crypto Isle users, we head to our next destination, Atlantis Bahamas, a huge theme park and resort.
◆Real Paradise Found at Huge Resort on Paradise Island!
Atlantis Bahamas is not on Providence Island, where Crypto Isle is located, but it’s on neighboring Paradise Island. It’s about 1km from Crypto Isle, or just 3 minutes by car. Just across this toll bridge, Atlantis Bridge.
We’re here. Atlantis Bahamas is modeled after the ancient city of Atlantis and has over 2,500 rooms. It’s massive. It’s so huge that it’s impossible to fit it all into one photo.
It’s right next to the ocean and can be accessed by boat. Celebrities might come here in their private cabin cruisers.
The reception area looks like an art museum.
Beyond the reception area is a spacious and comfortable lounge.
The glowing blue in the previous photo is a huge aquarium. Many fish can be seen swimming around.
Outside there is a large pool that families can enjoy visiting, with turtles and sharks. This is one of the sharks.
That reminds me, the marlin seen in this welcome sign in downtown Nassau is also used in the design of the 50-cent coin, issued in The Bahamas in 1969.
Blue marlin are abundant in the Caribbean Sea and it has been embraced by the Bahamas as a national symbol.
As we continue to explore outside, we find a water park. There are a number of activities to enjoy, including water slides.
There’s also a souvenir shop. Let’s take a look inside.
It was full of rum and rum cakes, rum being a specialty of the Bahamas.
There were no loose dogs roaming this area, but we did come across the odd cat.
We take a quick look at the casino connected to the hotel.
We discovered Pac-Man in the game corner. Japanese gaming culture is impressive!
Incidentally, the Holiday Inn Express & Suites Nassau IHG Hotel where we stayed cost $317 BSD per person per night. We were surprised by how expensive things are in The Bahamas.
◆A Bowl of Miso Soup for Y1,470! What to Eat in the Bahamas – Fine Dining Edition
We’re feeling hungry. Let’s have dinner at this restaurant next to the casino. It’s called NOBU. This fine dining restaurant can be found in 30 cities across five continents. In the waiting area, some people were dressed casually, while others were dressed more formally and had “celebrity-like” auras.
Sushi chefs working at a posh-looking counter.
The lavishly decorated interior includes stylish chandelier-style lighting.
The bar has a calm and relaxing atmosphere. In a single restaurant, these completely different atmospheres coexist in harmony.
All dishes come at premium prices that would be hard to imagine back in Japan. For example, this miso soup was $10 BSD! It tasted like normal miso soup.
A Bahamian specialty – Conch Carpaccio ($28 BSD) The chewy texture was absolutely delicious!
For the sushi, we went with the Chef’s Omakase Course. While it came to a hefty $65 BSD (about 9,500JPY), the quality was high, like nothing you usually find outside of Japan. This sushi hadn’t been modified to suit the Western palate, instead it was classic sushi that you’d find back in Japan.
Next, we went with our waiter’s recommendation – grilled lobster ($70 BSD). We were surprised by the size of it!
◆Finding .bs Around Town
We saw it being used by the Ministry of Social Services.
This is an architectural company.
◆How to Purchase a SIM & Test the Internet Speed
We used eSIM’s Airalo Connect.The speed was 15 Mbps.
■For “.bs” domain details here
