Paradise Island tourist information

Paradise Island is a small island located at 25.08, -77.31 in the Bahamas, adjacent to the central island of New Providence (Nassau). It is best known for its sprawling beach resorts, the largest being Atlantis.

Paradise Island is connected to the island of New Providence by two bridges that cross Nassau Harbour. The first was built in 1966 and the second in the late 1990s.

Paradise Island was formerly known as Hog Island. Huntington Hartford, the A&P supermarket heir, arrived on Hog Island in 1959 because his sister Josephine Hartford Bryce lived in Xanadu near Lyford Cay. Josephine was married to Ivar Bryce, Ian Fleming's best friend from Eton and Janet Milford Haven's uncle. Huntington bought Hog Island from Axel Wenner Gren and changed the name to Paradise Island. He hired the Palm Beach architect John Volk and built the Ocean Club, brought the Cloisters over and re-built them, and built Cafe Martinique, Hurricane Hole, the Golf Course and everything on the island. He hired Gary Player to be the Golf Pro and Pancho Gonzales to be the Tennis Pro. His opening of his Paradise Island in 1962 was covered in Newsweek and Time magazines. He hired the staff from Eden Roc at Hotel Du Cap to work off season at the Ocean Club. He had the fireworks for the opening party flown in from the South of France. He had a flag and Paradise Beach was featured on a Bahamian three-dollar bill in 1966 (introduced as a close equivalent to the Bahamian Pound, which was replaced at the rate of $1=7/-, so $3=21/-).

While he owned the Island, his wife Diane had small parts in the movies Help! (starring the Beatles) and Thunderball, which were both partly filmed on Paradise Island. In Thunderball Diane has a small speaking part right before Fiona Volpe (Lucianna Puluzzi) is shot in the back. At the very end of the movie there is a small paragraph thanking Huntington Hartford for allowing filming on Paradise Island. Huntington applied for a gambling license for Paradise Island, the Minister of Tourism, Sir Stafford Sands told Huntington he needed a partner. Huntington ended up choosing Jim Crosby of Mary Carter Paint Company. Huntington slowly and eventually sold off his Paradise Island over next few years to Crosby and his house on Paradise Island to the Irish actor Richard Harris and left the Bahamas. Jim Crosby renamed his company Resorts International Hotel and Casino.

Parts of the James Bond movie Thunderball were filmed on Paradise Island. Casino Royale, the new James Bond movie, was filmed at the Ocean Club on Paradise Island and Diane Hartford has a small speaking part.

Paradise Island was purchased in the 1980s by Donald Trump for $79 million, then sold to Merv Griffin for $400 million, and last re-sold for $125 million to the current owner. Current estimated value is about $2 billion USD.

The Cloisters are located on Paradise Island. This is a monastery originally built by Augustinian monks in 14th century France. In the 1920s William Randolph Hearst bought the stone structure, had it disassembled and shipped to the United States where the stones remained in a warehouse. In 1962, Huntington Hartford purchased them and installed them on Paradise Island overlooking Nassau Harbour.

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