One week just him and I in May over the half term holiday, I found a cheap deal booked through TUI. As you may know, May holiday's begin to get expensive fast. For both of us I got a week for around £500, room only at the Hotel Mariana, 721, Main Street, 290 92, Greece which included transfers. My tip is if you see a deal, book it.
As I saved a bit more than I had expected, I had some spare cash for some trips while we were there. I chose two, a boat trip to the famous shipwreck and water park. No car rental this trip so these were great as they included transport and close enough to walk.
Our boat trip was to Smuggles cove this included a 90 minute coach ride, to Port Vromi where you catch a boat to the shipwreck. The shipwreck landed in 1980, got stuck and stayed there ever since. You spend an hour looking around, chilling out on the beach, swimming in the sea and taking the all important pictures before returning back. On the way back you get to swim in the sea and see Poseidon's face in the rock. You also get to see the beautiful coast line, the exquisite azure blue water. The best time to go is as early as possible in the morning while the cliff casts a deep long shadow as the sun climbs to midday. On your way back, you can take a dip in Stegnitis bay and return by coach.
Boat trips are kind of my thing, I like to sit, watch the landscape and water. I like to take pictures of the ever changing scenery just as much as I liked the opportunity to swim in the sea or go ashore and explore. Who wouldn't want to go to a waterpark when it's boiling hot or explore a shipwreck?
Boat trips are kind of my thing, I like to sit, watch the landscape and water. I like to take pictures of the ever changing scenery just as much as I liked the opportunity to swim in the sea or go ashore and explore.
You're allowed to look around for an hour which is really long enough, you can see there is a shadow from the morning sun and the smaller boats. When you are on the shore in direct sun, it is unbelievably hot so that bit of shadow is a bit of a life saver for everyone, not just the children. About half an hour of landing we witnessed two massive galleon styled ships arrive with party goers on, it was impressive watching them tumble of the side of the boat, music going.
The obligatory picture.
This was without filters, the water is just so incredible, I can't say it was like bath water but it was just fine once you got the hang of it. It's deep, this did play on my son's mind a little however, it was the jelly fish in the water that worried us more. You just had to be careful. Of course the up side is jelly fish mean turtles and we ere lucky enough to see one surface.
Wet ‘n’ Wild Water Village in Sarakinado - Pick up by coach and in half an hour you’ll be there.
The hotel was a three star place but it came with transfers which, as mentioned, was one of the reasons why I picked this holiday as we were staying quite far from the airport. The accommodation was basic, a little run down but not in an unclean sort of way and was a fine base to explore from.
There was a pool there, I wasn't a fan although, any chance to get into some water and my little love is in it like a shot. We didn't use it as we had the beach and trips out to go to. The hotel's location meant it was surrounded by a few fields and a pond area. I wasn't really expecting this as I had booked a beach holiday but during the day it meant we could count the lizards on the way to the beach and hear the frogs calling at night.
We were about a 20 minute walk from the beach, it was quite a distance in the sun but when we got onto Lagana beach it didn’t matter. We liked to build sandcastles, play tap tap, walk along the shore finding shells, swim in the sea and I bought a body board locally for him to play in the waves. The down fall of just having the one child is they get bored quickly, I am fairly active but not as active as him so making friends is really essential. Lucky for me, this is a skill he has managed reasonably well up to now and he had great fun all the same. except the day we lost Ironman in the sand. It was a sad day when we lost him.
On beach days I would either bring some local food to the beach from a near by supermarket or we would get some lunch at a local cafe or restaurant close by. I do tend to stay away from the toasted cheese and ham sandwiches as I don’t think it’s very good quality. Local food is the best sort of food and gave my son an added understanding of Greece. Monkey see, monkey do, so as I tucked in it was a non issue that the food was different.
The first island on the left, more like the middle, is Turtle Island. You can take a tour there but I don't like the whole animal exploitation to be honest, I certainly wouldn't want to be watched giving birth and given that I wasn't able to reliably find out what's good or not, I just decided to give it a miss.
While talking a walk about the seafront, we found a nice place to eat that we went back to a few times. Horizon Restaurant Laganas Beach, Laganas 291 00, Greece. It was raised so you could see more of the bay as well as boasting a roof top bar especially during the evening. Staff were really nice and friendly, we came back one evening for dinner and to see the dancing. Looking at the reviews on Trip advisor (Feb 2019), they still look ever popular and rated highly.
We also made it to the town which was really lovely, some really nice shops, tonnes of souvenir shops. The streets are full of people enjoying a coffee, fairly clean, just nice to mill about. Aside from the souvenir shops you can look at their local produce which is really great if you want something to take home to your kitchen or bar! Local herbs, spices, liquors are really nice to re-taste your holiday when you get home.
Big boys buy jewellery and keep it real by buying a ceramic turtle.
It's a wonderful place to go, if you get the chance to visit or even a small possibility, go for it because you won't regret it.
Thanks for reading
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