Activity holiday (Neilson) in the heat (July)

[Onatreebyariver]

We are looking to book a holiday early July 2020. Initially we thought neilson to their Croatia resort would tick all the boxes. Kids clubs for the children, leaving us free to sail, play tennis, cycle, fitness classes, etc

Then the mini heatwave came to the U.K. and even spending 15 mins in the sun last week had us sweating and heading for the shade. We are pretty active people but I think the heat/sun might actually kill us if we try and play tennis in it. We are also both pasty white.

Is this holiday the stupidest idea we’ve ever had? Anyone managed to defeat the heat and still hire bikes at a mark warner/neilson type resort?

We both feel we would spend the week hiding in the shade or in the pool which then defeats the point of Neilson.

We just got back from Club Med in Florida and it was fine even though we’re not big sun worshippers. We planned activities where you’d be in direct sun e.g. sailing or tennis for the morning and went straight after dropping at kids club before it got too hot. Then we’d do lunch and in the afternoon typically alternate between the pool and a shady sun lounger with a book and a cocktail. Still worth it and we had time to do everything we wanted. And take a hat, preferably a baseball cap so it stays on if you’re sailing, riding jet skis etc. Fitness classes were mostly in the indoor gym so that might be an option for afternoons if you’re adamant on doing stuff then too. Also, the room had a/c so was nice and cool and we slept well which made all the difference versus a heat wave in the UK!

We've done a Neilson and it is was the best holiday we've ever had. I spent my time either at the pool or on the water sailing and kayaking. DH went on a couple of bike rides but otherwise he did the same. We didn't feel like we'd missed out not doing any other activities.

I would check first your dc will be happy in the kids club - my dc never have - as DS2 just said on our current holiday when seeing the kidd and leader "is that where parents dump their children if they want rid of them " - another pov and yours might not think like this but my dc want to holiday together and do things as a family. I appreciate though with the supervised water sports that Neilsons might be different.

@Leggyfrog it’s not really like that with Neilson, they do all the activities too. The children are keen though I’ve already shown them the website. Thanks for the thought though!

@Instagran did that not make for a very expensive holiday if you didn’t do the activities on offer? It seems to be a lot of what you pay for?

We had big age gaps with our boys 4 years, then 5 years. Neilson holidays were brilliant. They all could do age appropriate sailing/windsurfing. The oldest played tennis a lot with new friends. There were early am and twilight organised bike rides to stay away from the hottest parts of the day but you could go yourselves at other times.

Just thinking about those holidays has brought back many happy memories.

Enjoy!!

@Onatreebyariver No, we got a fantastic deal (two weeks for the price of one)

I feel like we took full advantage of the things we wanted to do there and had a good balance. DH and I both got our RYA level 1 and 2 whilst we were there so spent a lot of time on the water.

The children had a fantastic time in the kids clubs and are desperate to go on another Neilson and DH and I got lots of quality time together. We loved it but it was a few years ago and prices seem to have gone up a lot. We looked at going on a Neilson holiday this year but couldn't justify the expense.

We did a mountain biking holiday in southern Spain in May and it was quite hot (high 20s) so possibly not quite Croatia in July, but pretty hot if you're not used to it.

We did the mountain biking in the mornings or chose forest routes, lunch in a shady cafe and afternoons and early evenings cooling off in the pool.

Might hot countries have a canopy over the tennis courts to provide shade? Can you do lots of water based activities to cool off? And the 'dry' active stuff in the early mornings before it gets too hot? Stick to shaded forests if hiking or cycling.

But yes, unless you are taking part in all the organised activities it does seem to be a waste to pay the high prices for branded resorts, especially as you can often arrange most things locally on an ad hoc basis for less.