There's quite a convincing argument that Atlantis was actually a place called Theda (A.K.A Santorini), which can still be seen today below the water. It was part of the Minoan civilisation and it was destroyed by a volcano. The Egyptians knew of Theda and this is who Plato got his story from. According to the Egyptians, Theda, or Keftiu as they called it, was home to a highly advanced civilisation with technology and medicine far ahead of it's time, and was also home to one of 4 pillars holding up the sky. This was lost in the translation and Plato understood it as the land of the titan Atlas, who held up the sky, hence Atlantis, which means Island of Atlas. The Egyptians said that Kieftu (or Atlantis) was in the west. Plato assumed this meant the Atlantic ocean (the ocean of Atlas: makes sense), which is west of Greece (Plato's home), but if we are saying that Theda is in fact Atlantis, it lies to the west of EGYPT, but not greece. The Minoans of Theda engaged in ritualistic bullfighting, as did Plato's Atlanteans, and there are many other similarities between Plato's descriptian and the actual Minoans - Very little evidence of war or weapons has been found in the Minoan ruins, which suggests that they were peaceful, Minoans were known to deal in Ivory and bought many exotic creatures from distant lands to their island, including elephants which, according to the Egyptians, were a feature of Kieftu. Plato described Atlantis as alternating rings of sea and land - the remnants of post eruptian Theda are circular around a deep, wide lagoon with another smaller island located in the center, Plato speaks of white, blaclk and red stones quarried from under Atlantis - The cliffs of Theda are a mix of white, black and red stone. Archaeologists have even found an extensive and sophisticated system of sewers, drains, drinking and bath water pipes in Theda. Private homes had flushing toilets.
So, it seems likely that Atlantis was a lot closer to home than Plato suspected but he got carried away in amazing stories of amazing civilisations (which, you have to admit, is much more exciting - it's one of those mysteries that is so built up, the truth will never satisfy - I for one hope that I am wrong and there is indeed a lost civilisation out there somewhere. How cool would it be if they had all kinds of modern machines and medicine and stargates?)