Why go
Blue Lagoon Island is a small private island a short boat ride from Nassau and Paradise Island, built around a mix of beach time and marine-animal encounters. The operator, Dolphin Encounters, runs the island as a day-trip destination: a sandy beach and aquapark for anyone who just wants a swim, plus separate, higher-priced programmes where you can get in the water with dolphins, sea lions or stingrays.
The appeal is the contrast with downtown Nassau: no cruise-port crowds or straw-market hawkers, just a short crossing to a quieter stretch of water and sand.
Visiting: hours, admission, booking
The facts box on this page shows the island’s daily opening hours and the starting price for the Island Beach Day package, which bundles the round-trip ferry, beach and aquapark access, and a buffet lunch. Ferries to the island leave the Nassau/Paradise Island marina at 8:30 am, 10:30 am, 1:30 pm and 3:30 pm, based on availability, and every programme includes that round-trip transfer, so you cannot reach the island independently.
The dolphin, sea lion and stingray encounters are booked and priced separately from the beach day on the operator’s site; check current availability and prices there before you plan a visit around a specific animal encounter, since the beach day admission alone does not include them.
Getting there
You reach Blue Lagoon Island only by the operator’s ferry from the Nassau/Paradise Island marina; there is no independent or public-ferry access. Book your ferry slot and any add-on encounters in advance through dolphinencounters.com, especially in high season when the earlier departures sell out first.
Nearby
Paradise Island’s other big draw, Atlantis Paradise Island and its Aquaventure water park, sits back across the harbour and makes a natural pairing with a beach day here if you have more than one day on the island. For the rest of what Nassau offers, see the Bahamas things-to-do page.