2nd September to 30th September 2016

When we first arrived into our apartment we were in awe of our view and that didn’t leave us the whole trip, it was truly beautiful. (Price is king for us so we don’t often have much of a view)

We had the news in our last accomodation that my sister Claire and her hubby Mike had booked their flights to come and see us in Roquetas De Mar for a week at the start of September, we were so excited, they were the first of our family to join us on our travels, so we took that time off work…we were desperate for the break, we all had a wonderful holiday, packing in as much as we could as well as leaving plenty of time to relax around the pool.

The Pool

The View

I literally wanted to pack this view away and take it with us, everyday was beautiful and there was something going on, whether it was kayakers, paddle boarders, jet ski races, yachts or just swimmers, our balcony was the best place to watch it all from..

The Panda Restaurant

On the day Claire and Mike arrived we walked to The Panda Restaurant, as Mike was really keen for a Chinese meal, it took us well over an hour to walk it, we took drink breaks and Ice cream breaks as it was a good but very hot walk, the promenade goes for miles..

The Panda Restaurant was delicious, great staff and divine food…

The food was so delicious, that we had to go back, we did try ordering the second time as a take out but apparently we were too far away to deliver, so we all jumped in taxi’s and headed back, this time we sat inside and Claire and Michael treated us as a thank you…

Aquarium ‘Roquetas De Mar’

Claire and Michael wanted to go to the Aquarium and Mike was really keen on doing the Shark cage dive that was advertised, we went down about an hour before he booked his dive, we walked around the pretty small but lovely little Aquarium, said hello to Dory and Nemo, stroked the flirty sting rays and watched the Sharks being fed..leaving the best entertainment last..Lucas was so excited about seeing his uncle in the cage, it took ages for them to get sorted, but finally the cage was lowered, Lucas was waving away..we didn’t think Mike would be able to see us as we thought the inside was mirrored but he was waving away back to Lucas..

Going down in a cage with Sharks was one of Mike’s dreams, now he is keen to do it in the ocean 🙂

 Drinking Session on the balcony

Night out ‘Angel Hotel & Bar’

The Angel Hotel was literally next door to our apartment, every night we would hear the Spanish tunes, so we headed there for a few drinks and a dance..we had a really fun night.

 Roquetas Market

This Market is on every Thursday morning and starts around 9.30 to 10am, by which time the sun is in full force…it was scorching and blinding, aside from the heat it was a nice market, gorgeous baby clothes, lots of sweets, cooked chickens and warm bread…cooked green peppers, fresh fruit and veg and a great selection of spices..

Walk to Aguadulce

Claire and I were enjoying our walks, so talked everyone else around to taking a walk to the left of our apartment.  We told them that we would stop and take drink breaks along the way….there was nothing, no cafe’s at all but it was a beautiful walk…if a little longer than expected, it was nice bonding time 🙂

At the end we did find a nice little cafe on the beach and all sat down for a well deserved drink.

 Bike Hire

The promenade is so long with such great cycle lanes we just had to hire bikes, we all wanted to cycle to the Nature reserve, hoping to sight the Flamingo’s only to be told that day that they are only there during the winter, although we were a little disappointed that we couldn’t get to see these beautiful pink birds we had the most wonderful day.

First we stopped in at the castle, it’s only a small little castle but the bay just below is stunning, the ocean was Crystal clear.

We jumped back on our bikes, Claire spotted some little dogs and had to have a cuddle, she was very tempted to buy all three little baby Chihuahua’s…

We carried on from there all the way to the nature reserve and despite there being no flamingos, it was so peaceful, we were all cycling in going ‘wow’….it was a fun spot to cycle around very flat and spacious, with even Lucas was shouting ‘I love this’…we cycled around, took a ton of photos and watched the sunset..

We then headed into the Urbanisation area to find somewhere to have dinner, we checked a few restaurants, all looking good but decided on ‘Restaurant Europa’ as it had a really extensive menu…the waiters were fun, but this up beat banter faded and they seemed a little fake, but still  we had a great night and the food was good…

Second Day Bike Hire

Claire and Michael did a day trip to ‘Mini Hollywood‘ the wild wild west theme park.

We decided that we would do another bike ride before having to take the bikes back…so we headed back the same way as it was such a nice bike ride, we had to go back to the restaurant that we had been the night before to pick up something that we had left behind, the ocean all along the front was so calm and so clear, we actually took the better camera this trip and managed to get some good shots of us…

We hired our bikes from ‘Chron Bike’s‘, the 2 guys were very helpful and really accommodating especially due to a miscommunication,  we thought they opened from 1:30 till 4.30 on the Saturday but really they closed at 1.30, luckily he came to open the shop just for us on his Saturday at 4.30, this was a classic case of only knowing enough Spanish to be dangerous 😉

Beach in front of the Apartment

The view from our apartment was stunning, the beach was lovely and never busy at all, it wasn’t sand, it was small rounded stones and even though I’m a soft sand lover, we actually started to love coming down and searching for the perfect stone, they were so pretty and the water was so clear..

Swim out to the float in front of our Beach

Castle Santa Ana Beach

Some agile locals

We wanted to get a disposable Barbecue but nobody seemed to stock these here, so we improvised our own one using a foil baking tray some charcoal and firelighters, it worked fine for roasting our marshmallows. At the end we doused it with sea water and once it was stone cold disposed of it in a bin leaving no mess on the beach.

BBQ on the Beach

We wanted to get a disposable Barbecue but nobody seemed to stock these here, so we improvised our own one using a foil baking tray some charcoal and firelighters, it worked fine for roasting our marshmallows. At the end we doused it with sea water and once it was stone cold disposed of it in a bin leaving no mess on the beach.

Storm on our last few days

Airbnb Apartment

Airbnb Roquetas De Mar The location of this apartment was great, the view was stunning, the pool was huge and the beach was clean and really pretty.

We had everything we needed in the apartment and the local area, it was a 10 min walk to the Gran Plaza Mall, we had restaurants and bars all around us, and a choice of super markets.

The promenade went for Miles and had a really good cycle lane, that took you all the way to the Nature reserve, where in the winter you can view the Flamingo’s. You could also cycle to Aguadulce in the other direction so definitely recommend bike hire here.

I loved our time here and would totally recommend family and friends stay in this amazing apartment in the really lovely Roquetas de Mar.

Cost for 28 nights total $1385 NZD