The path to the courts runs past the Versailles Gardens, where stone steps cut through manicured terraces and the sound of water carries from the lagoon-style pool nearby. A few minutes later, the surface changes underfoot — Har-Tru, freshly reset, and now something else alongside it: padel, marked out under lights, ready after dark.

At The Ocean Club, A Four Seasons Resort, Bahamas, the newest addition isn’t a restaurant or a suite category. It’s a shift in how guests use the property, with the arrival of two new padel courts just off the resort’s existing tennis complex.

It’s instantly one of the top padel destinations in the region, in a part of the world where Pickleball has seen big growth but padel has been slower to catch on.

Where the Game Happens

The courts are positioned close to the heart of the resort, a short walk from the guestroom wings and steps from the gardens that have long defined this corner of Paradise Island. They’re illuminated for nighttime play, extending the hours well past sunset — a practical detail that changes how a day here can be structured.

They join three Har-Tru tennis courts, all recently resurfaced, creating a compact but serious racquet sports footprint. This isn’t an add-on tucked out of sight; the courts are integrated into the daily flow of the resort, within easy reach whether you’re coming from breakfast, the beach, or the pool.

Padel, Now in the Caribbean

Padel has been expanding quickly across Europe and North America, but purpose-built courts in the Caribbean remain limited. That’s part of what makes this addition notable. You can now arrive at a legacy resort — one known for its gardens, its beach, its Jean-Georges restaurant — and find a sport that has, until recently, been largely absent from the region.

The setup here is designed for both first-time players and those who already follow the sport. Instruction is available with Marvin Rolle, a Bahamian player who has represented the country in international competition, including a bronze medal performance at the 2010 Central American and Caribbean Games. Lessons are structured by level, with sessions that can be adjusted whether you’re learning the basics or refining match play.

There’s continuity in that offering, too. Rolle’s father, Leo Rolle, spent more than 50 years as a tennis professional at The Ocean Club, a lineage that shows up in how the program is run — grounded, consistent, and tied directly to the property.

More Than Just Courts

The expansion goes beyond racquet sports. Adjacent to the padel and tennis courts, the resort has added a multi-use sport court with a basketball hoop and a turf field designed for soccer and lawn games. It’s a broader repositioning toward activity-driven stays, where time on property includes structured play as much as time at the beach.