An Ancient Myth

Once upon a time, there was a beautiful island in the middle of the Atlantic ocean called Atlantis. It has grassy plains brimming with tropical fruits, winding rivers running deep and pure, cheerful birds flying in the skies, and colorful marine animals swimming in the waters.

It is said the Atlanteans were noble and powerful people. They possessed great technical prowess and made wondrous machines; they traveled far and wide trading with distant lands. On Atlantis, arts reached the heights of expression that has never been seen since.

Until one day, the entire island was submerged by a volcanic eruption and all its civilization sank into the deep ocean within one night. Atlantis mysteriously vanished in the blink of an eye 11,000 years ago.

Thus was the tale written under the pen of Plato; thus was the story told generation by generation; thus was the endless fascination of scholars, researchers and archeologists for this lost wonderland.

At the Atlantis resort on Paradise Island in the Bahamas, we visited an excavation called “The Dig.” It is a captivating interpretation of how life may have been in this legendary paradise, and an example of aggrandized human imagination for a fabled world long lost in time…

What I found marvelous about The Dig is that it is a combination of under-water ancient ruins and a modern aquarium. There is an elaborate maze of chambers and corridors representing the ancient city streets of Atlantis, and over 50,000 sea animals representing 200 different species.

Wandering through the maze, I noticed the “well-preserved artifacts,” innovative apparatuses such as georesonant clock and wet cell battery, a crashed submarine, and the navigation system used by Atlanteans for planning their voyages…. There is even a replication of Bimini Road that was claimed as an ancient sunken wall on the sea bed of the Atlantic.

Flowing around the ruins are the world’s most exotic sea animals including fascinating piranha, moon jellyfish, venomous lionfish and much more, presenting an ever changing spectacle of sights, sounds and sensations.

Nobody knows for sure whether Atlantis has ever existed. The Dig is “a place where sea becomes land and myth becomes reality…”

Atlantis, travel, Plato, Bahamas, Paradise Island, vacation