Talk On Travel

Ice cold in the sun, at Benalmadena on the Costa Del Sol

by Emma Muhs on 19/12/08 at 5:30 pm

Last summer we visited the Costa Del Sol (Benalmadena to be exact), just along the coast from Malaga. My family and I have been going there for about 11 years now, but its never boring as there are always changes and new things to explore. We have made friends with many of the people who live out there, and love visiting them each year.

The beach is about a ten minute walk, which is fabulous, and the pool is just a minute walk as it is in the same complex as the apartments. We always stay in a block of apartments that are on a time-share basis. Each apartment has a kitchen, bathroom, living room with sky television, and two balconies - both with great views over the sea.

I think we had one day of rain throughout the two weeks, it was still about 40 degrees but raining hard all day.

Everything is within walking distance, but you never realise how far you are walking. One day we walked up to the market which was about a 30 minute walk. We then headed back down but along the beach, which was really nice and took about an hour.

There is a Water Park about ten minutes by car from Torremelinos, which is great for the kids and adults alike. You can rent a rubber ring for the day, and there are the famous camera people walking around taking pictures. There’s also a big pool to do aerobics in (you can keep fit and have fun!) and it’s the worst music you’ve ever heard. However, you must be careful as you can get sunburnt just walking around. We went to the waterpark a few days into the holiday, once we already had a bit of a tan.

There is also a theme park, Tivoli,  further inland - about a 10 minute bus ride away. I would say this is more for the kids but there are a few adult rides including the Detonator, and the House of Terror – where real people leap out and make you jump.

The night life is great. There is a square full of bars and pubs next to the apartments which all stay open until the last person leaves. Most of these bars are English, and very welcoming. There is also the Marina which is about a ten minute walk from the apartments we stayed in. The Marina has shops, bars, clubs and pubs all of which are open until the early hours. We found a fab bar called the Ice Bar; everything in there was made of ice (apart from the floor) and it was like a walking into freezer. It could only fit about 20 people at a time, and you got some sexy ponchos and gloves to wear.

There are many restaurants in the area offering all kinds of cuisines, including Spanish (funny that), Thai, English, Dutch, Chinese, Indian and many more. There is a Lidl ten minutes walk down the road to stock up on bits if you go self catering (and its cheap), or there is a local supermarket ten minutes in the opposite direction.

The Looky Looky men are great, walking around selling DVD’s and CD’s, and they hang around the Promenade (next to the Marina) in the evening braiding hair and selling goods. But watch out, if they see a policeman they will disappear very quickly!

All in all a great place for adults and children, and it’s never boring.

Tags: Benalmadena, Costa Del Sol, Lidl, Malaga, Spain, Tivoli