If you follow my Instagram account you will have noticed that we went to Dubai over the Easter holidays, I can only apologise for the holiday spam! Dubai is a truly great family holiday destination. If you’re after guaranteed heat and don’t want a 12 hour flight to the Far East or the Caribbean, Dubai is the perfect option. Everything is super-sized, man-made and generally pretty impressive. Tourism and entertainment is the main focus in this crazy, fun filled city, which makes it a great place to bring kids. One of the main attractions in Dubai (and high up on our to do list) is the iconic Atlantis, The Palm Hotel. It’s actually much more than a hotel, so although we weren’t staying in this world famous hotel, we did spend the day there enjoying some of it’s marine based attractions.
The Atlantis really is as big and impressive as you’d imagine. As we walked into the main building Lili took one look around and said “this place is swwwish”. And she was right, it certainly was! The Atlantis is an amazing entertainment resort located at the top of The Palm (a man made island) in Dubai. It’s a totally unique ocean-themed resort featuring a variety of attractions including; Aquaventure Waterpark, The Lost Chambers Aquarium and Dolphin Bay. It’s also known as a major culinary destination in Dubai, with a collection of world-renowned restaurants including; Nobu, Gordon Ramsey’s Bread Street Kitchen and Ronda Locatelli to name a few.
The Waterpark : Aquaventure
Once we arrived we headed straight to Aquaventure, which is an impressive waterpark consisting of several extraordinary water slides and river rides with cascades, tidal waves and rapids. Lili was the only one of the children tall enough to attempt the five main water slides but we were all able to relax and enjoy the river rides and the ‘water fun house’ you can see in the images below. The lush tropical landscape of Aquaventure is beautiful, which really adds to the luxurious feel of the place. We also spent a small part of the morning at Dolphin Bay, a dolphin conservation within the park that provides an opportunity to swim with dolphins and learn more about these beautiful creatures. Although we didn’t get a chance to swim with the dolphins it was amazing to see them close up.
Buffet Lunch : Kaleidoscope Restaurant
After a morning on the slides at Aquaventure we got (dried and) dressed and went for a late lunch at Kaleidoscope, an international buffet restaurant within the hotel. Now if I’m honest, I’m not normally a massive fan of buffets but this was not your average buffet restaurant! This was a buffet like no other, this was a buffet that will stay in my mind for a long, long time! You name it, they had it on offer. There was a Mexican station, freshly made pizzas and pastas, sushi, an Indian station, a Chinese station, salad bars, a sandwich bar, every fresh fruit you could imagine and then there was the puddings! We could have stayed there all day and still not tried everything on offer. If you’re a buffet fan you’d be in heaven!
The Lost Chambers Aquarium
After a very long lunch we headed over to The Lost Chambers Aquarium, which is an amazing mazes of underground tunnels and passageways that brings you close to the magical and colourful underwater world. Along the way, you can touch tanks filled with starfish, pencil urchins and horse shoe crabs. Special exhibits are dedicated to different sea creatures, such as the delicate Moon Jellyfish, busy lobsters and glittery anchovies. This was such a calm and wonderful experience after our adrenaline filled morning. Every single tank was captivating in different ways, some were scary with sharks, some were beautiful tiny neon coloured fish but they were all wonderful and so interesting to watch.
As you can see we had an amazing day at The Atlantis. From thrilling water rides, to an unforgettable lunch, and an entrancing underwater adventure, this is a magical day that will stay in our memories for a long time. If you’re headed to Dubai a visit to the Atlantis Hotel is an absolute must!
Disclaimer: We were invited to spend the day at The Atlantis and did not pay for this visit in return for an honest review. All the above pictures and opinions are my own.
We love the Atlantis! We stopped there last May and it was one of the best holidays we’ve had with the kids. Jemma x