Paradise Island (Bahamas)
| Paradise Island | ||
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| Waters | Atlantic Ocean | |
| Archipelago | Bahamas | |
| Geographical location | 25 ° 5 '0 " N , 77 ° 20' 0" W | |
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| length | 6.3 km | |
| width | 1.055 km | |
| surface | 2.77 km² | |
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Paradise Island is an island that belongs to the Bahamas . It covers an area of about 2.77 square kilometers. The island is located 440 meters off the north coast of the Bahamian main island New Providence and is part of the municipality (electoral district, supervisory district ) Montagu of the state capital Nassau . Paradise Island is known for the large hotel complex Atlantis Paradise Island and its numerous water parks, pools, beaches, restaurants, casinos and aquariums.
history
Before the Second World War, the island was still known as Hog Island and was the private property of the Swedish industrialist Axel Lennart Wenner-Gren . In 1959 Huntington Hartford , an heir of the A&P empire, traveled to Hog Island to purchase the island from Wenner-Gren. He changed the name to Paradise Island and commissioned the architect John Volk to construct various buildings and areas, including the Ocean Club and Café Martinique . Hartford also bought a 14th-century Montréjeau monastery that had been dismantled by William Randolph Hearst in the 1920s and eventually had it rebuilt on his island. He recruited golfer Gary Player and tennis pro Pancho Gonzales for the island's sports fields. The opening of his resort was discussed in high-circulation daily newspapers such as Newsweek and Time magazine . The fireworks for the opening ceremony were flown in by Hartford from the south of France. The Paradise Beach was printed on the Bahamian dollar notes of the 1966th
In the 1970s, Hartford finally met Jim Crosby, won him over as an investor and received the Paradise Island gambling license. Jim Crosby and Jack Davis founded Resorts International to accelerate the development of the island and the resort. Through the company, they built the bridge between New Providence Island and Paradise Island and built large hotels. Shortly thereafter, the first casino was built and brought the company a profit of over 300 million US dollars in the first year. The resort's stock rose from an average of one to three dollars to over $ 200.
In the 1980s, Paradise Island was sold for $ 79 million, after which entertainer Merv Griffin bought it for $ 400 million. Most recently, it was sold to the South African hotel magnate Sol Kerzner († 2020) for 125 million US dollars . The current value of the resort is estimated at $ 2 billion.
structure
Nowadays, the north-west and north of the island in particular are characterized by large hotel complexes , and there is also the Atlantis Lagoon belonging to the hotel complex of the same name . In the west of the island there is a spur two kilometers long and less than 100 m wide, on which, in addition to wild growth, there are also private villas with boat docks. Approximately in the middle of the island, between the Atlantis complex and Lakeview Drive , there is a small nature reserve with an artificial lake, to the south of which two retail areas have been built. South of the Atlantis Hotel is the artificially created Paradise Lake , which primarily serves as a marina , has a waterway to the bay in front of Nassau and is on the edge of the upscale retail arcade Marina Village . In the south of the island there is, on the one hand, a private, secure residential complex with brightly painted houses and, on the other hand, a stop for the passenger ferry of the Bahamas Fast Ferries , which connect the island with the main island. The east of the island and the area south of Paradise Island Drive are characterized by private residential complexes, and there is also a large golf course here . There is a second marina in the southeast of the island. On Paradise Island Drive there is a reconstruction of a medieval cloister with French Cloisters .
Officially there are nine beaches on the island, some private, some public. From southwest to east: Casuarina Beach , Colonial Beach , Paradise Beach , Cove Beach , Sunrise Beach , Cabbage Beach , Arawak Beach , Smugglers Beach , Victoria Beach . Most of these beaches belong to the hotel or residential complexes, but there is public access to Casuarina Beach in the south and Sunrise Beach and Cabbage Beach in the north.
traffic
Paradise Island has been connected to New Providence Island by a pedestrian and traffic bridge since 1966 ; a second bridge was built in the late 1990s, and since then there has been a bridge for both directions. For road traffic, a fee is charged when leaving the bridge after driving on the island, which is usually around US $ 1 (equivalent to around € 0.75).
Picture gallery
Bridge to Paradise Island
The Royal Towers of the Atlantis Hotel
Pool area of the Atlantis Hotel
Aquarium in the Atlantis Hotel
Paradise Beach with the western branch in the background
Private residential complex in the south of the island, with the Atlantis complex in the background
Individual evidence
- ↑ Shopping: Marina Village , accessed November 19, 2013
- ^ Planning a trip to Paradise Island on frommers.com, accessed November 19, 2013
