A Fresh Look At The Costa Del Sol

On a recent holiday in Spain, my girlfriend and I were joined by two friends on their first visit to the Costa Del Sol.
I have been holidaying on the Costa almost annually for the last fifteen or so years. It was brilliant to have people with a fresh pair of eyes remind me why I have return so regularly. I had almost grown blasé to all the area has to offer.

The area we were staying in was Calahonda which is between Marbella and Fuengirola. The holiday club that we are members of (Designer Way Vacation Club, or DWVC as it’s known) offer around 1,500 different weeks of accommodation at any one time in the Costa alone. We chose the La Orquidea apartments as there was a special offer running where we got a two bedroom apartment for the four of us (although it could have slept 6) for just £29, and that’s for the apartment, not per head!

The resort was really lovely. There was a main pool in the centre of the complex with a child’s pool adjacent and a deep pool with a shoot leading into it, on the outskirt of the complex there was a single pool that was quieter that we used a few times to get a proper swim. There was a poolside bar/restaurant that served breakfast, lunch and dinner as well as serving drinks and ice creams during the day and had live entertainment most nights.

We had a hire car for the week which I would recommend for this resort as it was up quite a steep hill that was a pleasant walk in the evening but a bit much like hard work in the daytime sun. Because it’s a bit up the hill it wasn’t too noisy at night as it was mostly young families or couples staying, where as some of the resorts I have stayed at before in the neighbouring Fuengirola and Benalmadena coastline had quiet a lot of noise from groups of youngsters coming in from a night out on the town.

The apartment itself was nice and spacious and very well equipped with a full kitchen including even a washing machine. The lounge had a balcony looking out onto the main pool which we sat out on for a nightcap most nights.

My girlfriend and I acted as tour guides for much of the holiday. Our first stop was Fuengirola for a nice meal at an Argentinean restaurant (that I can never remember the name of) at the end of what is called fish alley. They serve the best fillet steak I have ever tasted and the Argentinean crepes are absolutely delicious if you have enough room.

The next day (Tuesday) we headed through to Benalmadena which has loads to offer. We parked just outside Paloma park which has very well kept gardens, a big fountain in the centre and chickens, rabbits, ducks, swans and various other animals running loose.
At the corner of this park was Selwo Marina, a sea life centre with live shows. There were more than enough shows at the Marina to entertain us for most of the day, there was a 3D cinema showing a short computer generated animation where it felt like monkeys were throwing fruit at you and a snake was about to pounce on you. The sea lion show was funny and mostly done in jest. There were scheduled feedings of the penguins at which they also gave informative talks on the various species they had. There was a tropical bird show as well, again done in a light-hearted, jokey manner. However, the highlight of the park must be the dolphin show which amazed me with how synchronised they were and how much they seemed to enjoy putting on the show.

Later that afternoon we walked along to the award winning Benalmadena Port and Marina which was very cosmopolitan with attractive apartments both surrounding the port and in the centre of the port looking like islands with just a walkway linking them to the outside.

The following day we chose just to relax at the nearby Cabopino beach. Almost all the beaches on the Costa are of Blue Flag standard and so are very clean, Cabopino also had a life-guard and two beachside restaurants. The adjacent Puerto Cabopino has a good selection of restaurants and a few bars, we shared a mixed grill for four at Albert’s restaurant which was good but absolutely massive, defiantly a case of eyes bigger than our bellies.

On the Thursday we headed back into Fuengirola to go to the zoo. The zoo is signposted but located right in the middle of a residential area so can be challenging to find. There was a good variety of animals including birds and reptiles as well as the mandatory tigers and lions that always draw the crowds and the primates that I, personally, always find the most interesting. Unfortunately I forgot to bring my camera on this day but I’ve vowed to return next year armed with the camera. I was advised that it would probably be better to return a bit later on next time by one of the zoo’s staff as the animals are more active when it is cooler in the late afternoon/early evening.

Friday daytime we just stayed by the poolside so we had plenty of energy for a night out in Puerto Banus. Puerto Banus is a true millionaire’s playground with some of the biggest names in high fashion’s shops (that my and my friend’s girlfriends dragged us into), absolutely huge private yachts and some very impressive cars.

We had a lovely (but expensive) meal at an Italian restaurant then had one drink at Bogart’s, which is the bar to be seen in, then moved further along the portside to a slightly quieter bar and just watched the parade of people dressed to the hilt in every name you could imagine and the Lamborghinis, Ferraris and Hummers (a grotesquely oversized, American 4x4) cruise by. Puerto Banus is definetaly a must see but is quiet expensive and a late night spot, most restaurants don’t seem to get busy until around nine or ten o’clock at night and the bars don’t get busy (other than Bogart’s) until after eleven.

After a nice long lie in bed we all headed through to Torremolinos (which is the next town along the Coast after Benalmadina) to visit the crocodile park. The crocodile park is right next to the Aqualand water park which was closed for the season. Although it is a small park it can easily keep you entertained for half a day with an in-house expert giving talks/tours of all the different types and age of crocodiles and alligators they have. The first thing the guide did after introducing himself to everyone was jump straight into the crocodile’s enclosure much to our amazement, apparently so long as you don’t invade there personal bubble of 40cm they will not attack (unless hungry), although I wouldn’t fancy testing the theory myself. The only enclosure he did not enter was the one holding the crocodiles aged one to two as there were far too many of them and they are the most aggressive. The park is home to “Big Daddy”, the former largest Crocodile in Europe at over 5 meters long until a fight with a rival male led to him loosing a meter off of his tail.

For our last day we headed back through to Torremolinos to visit Tivoli World. Tivoli World is the Costa’s theme park. I decided it best not to bring the camera in case it got damaged on one of the rides. There are rides for all ages from spinning cup rides for anyone to a huge freefall style ride that the girls refused to go on but my friend and I braved. There were also a good range of restaurants including relatively cheap pizzerias and an elaborately styled Chinese restaurant that was in the centre of a lagoon.

Although we hardly stopped all week we still never covered all the activities available. My friends have said they want to come back within the next two years to visit some of the places and attractions we missed such as the city tour of Malaga, which I’ve done previously and would highly recommend; a visit to one of the waterparks either in Fuengirola or Torremolinos; a visit to Rhonda or Mijas to see a bit more of traditional Spain; a trip through to Marbella and Orange Square which is very cosmopolitan and has nice parks, numerous restaurants, bars and shops; and Selwo adventure park, which is a mix of adventure park, nature park and safari.

Although we had a hire car and would recommend one if you were staying at La Orquidea, the public transport is easy to use with buses and trains taking you right to almost all the places we visited. There are numerous resorts in the Calahonda area and DWVC are offering its members two weeks for the price of one at the Gran Calahonda (may well be our next stop) which looks lovely and is further down the hill.

Anyone looking for a holiday with good weather, lots to do, good value for money and not too far from home (flights from UK to Malaga are about 3 hours long depending on where you fly from) should certainly consider the Costa Del Sol, and with DWVC offering the prices for accommodation that it does (members can also book flights, car hire and even tickets for theme parks), it shouldn’t take long to save up.

Written by Graeme Stevenson. (05-11-07)