Can anyone recommend camping in Spain with Canvas or similar?

[Mercedes]

Hi

I was looking at Camping La Siesta with Canvas which is near Palafrugell and I wonderd whether anyone has been here or on a nearby site?
I noticed that on some Canvas sites the kids Club is only part time - how does this work? We've got one dd aged 6 and she likes going to the clubs but I wondered whether the part time option is limiting?

We went to Northern spain with Canvas in 2005. We stayed at the Nautic Almata campsite in Rosas for a week and then went to Tamarit Park near Tarragona. Both campsites were really nice.

DD was 6 at the time and really enjoyed the Wildlife Courier at Nautic Almata. She didn't bother with the kid's club at Tamarit Park as there was fantastic surf for body boarding there and that's all she wanted to do.

We had a great holiday and would highly recommend Canvas holidays.

Hello Mercedes

We stayed at Camping La Siesta this year and thought it was wonderful! We went with Camping Life and I was a little worried before we went as we have been with Canvas 6 years running and been to France each time. I was a bit worried that Spain would be too "British" for my liking but it wasn't at all. The British probably made up about a quarter of the people on site with French and Spanish making up the majority. It is a very Spanish resort with loads of Spanish and French taking their holidays there.

The site is beautifully kept and in a wonderful location. If you walk out of the back gate of the site you are in a street lined with apartments and you can walk into Calella in 10 mins. However when you are on the site you are surrounded by pine trees and feel like you are in the country. Calella de Palafrugell is stunning. The beaches are very small(and not sandy) and get crowded but they are beautiful. There are lovely walks around the cliff paths too.

If you walk in the other direction when you come out of the campsite you end up in the next resort along called LLafranc which is lovely and with a much bigger beach. (15 min walk) We hired a car this year but I don't think I would again as you can walk everywhere and the campsite supermarket is excellent and reasonably priced as it is a franchise and not owned by the campsite. Also you are in walking distance of a reasonable choice of restaurants so we ate out quite a lot.

As for the children's clubs my children aged 10 and 6 weren't interested in them but they met very near our mobile home so we could see what was going on. They did seem to do a lot of the same stuff but the children who went obviously enjoyed it as several of them went twice a day.

What time of year did you go to Camping La Siesta, and how big a site is it? I went to a very commercial site in south west France this year at the end of August, and it was a nightmare. Crowds, travel jams, sardines at the swimming pool, weather rubbish which didn't help. Unfortunately I have to go at the end of August so looking for a smaller campsite, in perhaps a less commercial place. Also looking at Spain, as been to France the last 4 years.

I think Camping La Siesta has around 800 pitches which was double the size of the next biggest site we had ever stayed at but it didn't feel that big. The pitches are smaller than most sites I've stayed on but then we have tended to go for inland countryside sites before.
We went the last two weeks in August and it was busy (but not unpleasantly so!) There are 2 swimming pools - the large one was very busy and it was often impossible to get a sunlounger (often due to people putting towels on loungers at the start of the day). However we preferred the other, smaller pool and we were always able to get sunloungers there. We are not really into campsite entertainment and whilst you could hear it we were not bothered by it.

I am also thinking of booking a 2 week holiday at Camping La Siesta August 2008. I am either going to book with Canvas or Camping Life; has anyone used either of these 2 companies. If you have could you advise of the accomodation you stayed in- I am looking at a Jubilee 29 Midi or a cottage style mobile. What did you think of the accomodation, reps etc??

We used Camping Life on La Siesta as they had 3 bedroom mobile homes and Canvas didn't, however, we have been with Canvas for the 6 years prior to this on different campsites in France. The Camping Life 3 bed mobile was spacious but not as well equipped as the Canvas 3 bed (the Century). We've stayed in Jubilee 29 Midis in France and to be honest, found them a bit of a squeeze (there are 4 of us). If you get good weather though that shouldn't be a problem as you will probably be outside most of the time.

Oh and I forgot to say the Camping Life reps were brilliant. Canvas and Camping Life are owned by the same company and for the kids club they tended to join together.