Expat Travel Mom

We finally made it to the Atlantis The Palm, something that had been on our bucket list since we arrived. The kids had no real idea what to expect, and honestly, I only had a slight idea myself, gathered from pictures online. My heart was racing right along with theirs. Thanks to Ramadan discounts for families, we scored a package with a hotel room, unlimited Aquaventure access, and unlimited Lost Chambers Aquarium access.

A quick honesty note: this stay was generously hosted by the hotel. As always, everything I've written here reflects our actual experience, the good and the not-so-good.

The Drive In

Getting to the Middle East's largest water-themed attraction meant first driving through the under-ocean tunnel onto Palm Jumeirah. I don't think the kids quite believed we were actually under the ocean, not until we came out the other side and looked back. The island itself is beautiful, ocean for miles, lush greenery, striking architecture, the drive alone was worth it. Right inside the lobby was something else I'd always wanted to see in person, an original Chihuly. The 32-foot sculpture towers over the space, more than 3,000 pieces of colored blown glass, nearly two years in the making, Dale Chihuly's first installation in the Middle East. Breathtaking doesn't quite cover it.

Aquaventure, Day One

After checking in, we changed and headed straight out. There was so much to explore at Aquaventure, we didn't know where to start, so we grabbed a lounge chair, dropped our bags, and made for the rapids in the lazy river first, just to get very wet, very fast. My three kids, ages 3, 5, and 6 at the time, laughed the whole way through the bigger rapids moments, waterfalls and all. From there, the children's playground area, giant water-tipping buckets, climbing structures, rope bridges leading to slides, water cannons, we could have stayed for hours. Our last stop that first day was the Shark Attack slide, where my son and husband journeyed through dark tunnels straight into the middle of the shark tank behind glass. The very last slide was reserved for my husband alone, the Leap of Faith, 88 feet straight down. He survived.

Behind the Scenes at the Lost Chambers

From the water park, we headed to the Lost Chambers for a Back of House tour. I wasn't sure the kids were old enough for it, but as saltwater fish enthusiasts ourselves, we wanted to see how an 11-million-gallon aquarium, home to roughly 65,000 marine animals, actually runs. We fed fish from the roof above the largest tank, saw the kitchen where food prep happens, the hospital for newly arrived or injured fish, and the pumps and filtration keeping it all alive. If you think your home aquarium's filtration is impressive, this will humble you. Afterward, we wandered the public displays, the kids fully absorbed in the tanks' treasures and mystical structures.

Dinner at Ronda Locatelli

How often do you get to eat at an award-winning restaurant? We figured one inside the Atlantis had to be worth it, so off we went to Ronda Locatelli, winner of the Birra Moretti Best Authentic Italian Restaurant Award for the Middle East and Africa. I also happened to meet Giorgio Locatelli, so there was that. Built around a large central wood-fired brick pizza oven, we shared shrimp risotto, a strip loin cooked to perfection, three margherita pizzas, calamari, and refreshing juices, sorbet and gelato for dessert. I still think about how perfect that risotto was.

Kids Club and the Rest of the Resort

Our second day, we put the kids into the Kids Club for the morning session, open to ages 3 to 12. There's a theater room where kids watch movies while viewing the Ambassador Lagoon's marine life through huge circular bubble windows, some kids even climb right into the bubble. A computer lab with PlayStation, Xbox, Wii, and Apple computers rounds things out, along with a play zone featuring a giant pirate ship and rock walls, plus a daily art and craft project in the creative zone. Teens 13 to 18 have their own Club Rush.

While they were occupied, we explored the rest of the resort, the Avenues for shopping, a spa, and a zero-entry pool alongside the calmer Royal Pool. The grounds were immaculate, the staff genuinely pleasant, easily enough here to fill a few days if we'd had them.

Day Two, Round Two

Back at Aquaventure for our second day, the kids got more time in the playground, we rode the rapids twice more, grabbed lunch at one of the park's restaurants, and my husband and son tackled the remaining big slides on the Ziggurat. As the afternoon wound down, we reluctantly said goodbye to Atlantis The Palm. Since the UAE is home for us now, we knew it wouldn't be our last visit, and it wasn't cheap, but it was worth every penny and every memory. Next time, dolphin encounters are on the list, we simply ran out of time this trip.

Coming back to update: Aquaventure and the Lost Chambers (now Lost World) Aquarium are both still very much open, and Aquaventure actually went through a massive expansion in 2023, reclaiming the title of the world's largest waterpark, so there's even more now than what we experienced. Ronda Locatelli's sadly permanently closed in 2022.