My room at the Royal Towers...upgraded from the old Beach Tower since it is being renovated. (I wasn't complaining!)

Chihuly glass sculpture between Coral Towers and the Atlantis casino

This steakhouse (in the Marina Village) is pretty br00tal! (And so are their prices.)

Came across some people drumming and with extra drums for people to play on, in the Marina Village. Very cool, and they didn't seem to be accepting tips either

Menu at Marina Pizzeria -- the chicken and veggie slice was excellent even for that price. One of the best food values at the resort if you're on a budget like me

Marina Pizzeria menu, part II

One of many sculptures on the Atlantis Resort property -- this one is between Coral and Beach Towers

This is the view from my room facing more east -- Power Tower and Mayan Temple in the distance

This is the view from my room (on the 7th floor) looking more to the west. The water feature right below me is part of The Dig, the world's largest saltwater aquarium.

There was a drone flying around on Sunday. I thought it might have been used by the resort's security people, but it was being used to record promotional aerial videos. Here it is on the ground.

Looking into the Mayan Temple shark-tank; that's the Serpent slide (tube-ride) in view.

Serpent slide tube-ride (in the Mayan Temple), with sharks above the tube near the exit

Helmet-dive participants in the shark tank at the Mayan Temple -- yes, with the sharks. Apparently it's safe.....

Helmet-dive patrons...and one of the many sharks in the tank

Close encounter with a shark!

Another view from my 7th floor room...East Tower

Power Tower to the left, Mayan Temple to the right. The “Leap of Faith” body flume (through the shark tank) is barely visible through the palm fronds

The Dig in the foreground, then the Atlantis Lagoon and its beaches, then the Atlantic and Atlantis Beach

Part of The Dig saltwater aquarium/exhibit below my room

Sculpture between the Royal Towers and the Royal Baths pool

Royal Baths pool in distance

Mayan Temple pool. This is where I dropped my stuff each day. Royal Towers and the Mayan Temple in the background

Menu at Shark Bites, casual eatery near the Mayan Temple pool. The burger and the chicken sandwich were good, and the french fries -- at $3.50 -- are reasonably priced, especially for Atlantis!

Leap of Faith exit on the left, Serpent (tube) slide on the right. The shark tank is behind that wall.

Royal Baths pool. All the pools close when the lifeguards are released (5 pm, when I was there), but I think Atlantis should keep this pool open later since it's well-lit. There is nowhere for hotel guests to swim after hours.

The middle of the iconic Royal Towers structure

A slightly better view

This is the bridge suite. At last report it is $25,000 per night to rent....4-night minimum. Don't all rush the reservations line, now.... :)

This is the footbridge over the lagoon, leads from the Royal Baths and Mayan Temple area to the Lagoon Beach and the ocean beach. The iconic, very pretty Lagoon Grill is in the distance in front of the Coral Towers

L to R: Beach Towers, Coral Towers, Lagoon Grill in foreground, then the casino and upscale shops.

Closer view of Lagoon Grill and the Coral Towers. One entrance to the Predators' Walk (shark-tunnel) is inside the Lagoon Grill

Lagoon Beach on the northern side. This is at high-tide; at low tide there's 25-30 ft of sand visible. Snorkeling vests -- required for snorkeling in the middle of the lagoon -- are free (!) at the white rental center to the right.

View of the casino area from the Lagoon Beach

Nifty sculpture atop the casino (I think). The theming and decor at Atlantis are amazing.

A wider view of the sculpture, with the other side of the lagoon and the beach there.

Royal Towers as seen from the Lagoon Beach. There's a shower and footwash station on the right side, since this is also near the ocean beach

Entrance to Atlantis Beach. Wristbands (i.e., admission to Atlantis Resort) are not required on the beach. Expect to be offered jet-ski rentals, as well as (in my case) drugs. I declined all such offers. :)

Looking back at the resort...and the rain-clouds threatening. Atlantis' water attractions do not close when it rains, but they DO close if there's lightning...which there was, later.

The Power Tower as seen from the beach

Looking down the beach at the Beach Towers in the distance. They are the oldest and least expensive rooms to rent, and the renovation there was sorely needed

Taken from the footbridge, this is the lagoon connecting to the open sea.

Part of the kids' area between the Royal and Reef Towers. It was POURING rain, too.

Another pool in the kids' area...this is on the other side of the Mayan Temple from the Mayan Temple Pool

Sharks swimming in the Mayan Temple shark-tank

Sharks resting on the bottom (shallow, here) in the Mayan Temple shark-tank

Leap of Faith body-flume that goes into the shark-tank. I think it's not as tall as the Cliffhanger near-vertical slide at 6 Flags Whitewater, but of course the theming and design are amazing.

Grotto Pool at Atlantis Resort (and yes, it's still raining)

This is the spot in the Current (river tube ride) where some of the tube-slides exit (there's one in the right side of the frame). To the left the river ride goes into rapids in that tunnel, from which dry-ice fog is coming.

L to R: tube-slide exit, another tube-slide exit, and the main river current flowing into the pool just to the left of the lifeguard stand. The river is closed at this moment because there was still lightning in the area.

Cove Beach. The beach is open to all, but the loungers are available only to residents of the Cove, Atlantis' most exclusive hotel tower.

Rocky area between the outer path and the ocean, between Cove Beach and Atlantis Beach

Mayan Temple Pool. You can sit behind those waterfalls, too.

Please don't climb on the rocks, either.....

Taken from inside the Predators' Walk tunnel. I suspect this water feature at Atlantis is often overlooked, since it isn't mentioned much in their promotional materials, and yet it is the only completely open underwater tunnel I saw there.

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Shark as seen from Predators' Walk

Another shark

Looking directly up at the Lagoon Grill dome from inside.

Manta ray as seen from Predators' Walk

More from Predators Walk

Handrail inside Lagoon Grill. You have to love the effort they put into the decor and theming!

Lagoon Grill menu

Casino complex as seen from the iconic, circular shell-looking Lagoon Grill

Signage under the dome at Lagoon Grill and Bar

Wave coursing down the Current (river tube-ride) from the wave generator around the bend. Probably the most dangerous single area of the Aquaventure water-park. (The ride was closed at the time due to lightning.)

Here comes another wave! They are generated about ten seconds apart

Wave generator about to release another deluge. Behind the employee is where riders float in on their tubes

and here comes the deluge!

This is outside Dolphin Cay. Duh.

A look at Dolphin Cay. You have to pay to get any farther into the complex than this.

Colonnade Pool on the far side of the Power Tower -- I suspect this might be a little less crowded than the more-central pools, but it was hard to tell on this rainy day

Another look at the Colonnade Pool (closed due to lightning), with the west side of the Royal Towers in the background

There are actually two hot-tubs, not mentioned in any literature or map, near the Mayan Temple pool. This is one, the other, next to it, was closed.

Next to the hot-tubs is this kids' slide and a little grotto with waterfalls. The entrance to the Serpent, Challenger and Leap of Faith slides is on that bridge in the background.

Tall wterfall pouring into the area by the kids' slide.

Taken from near the almost-unknown hot-tubs, this is the Mayan Temple Pool.