Sandy Beach Holiday with Kids - Where?

[OnlyOneBike]

Hi All,

I was wondering if you would mind helping me choose the best destination for a beach family holiday this summer. It has to be mid-late August as DS will be going to reception coming Sept so we are tied to school holiday.

Ideally we'd like an (AI) resort next to a soft sandy beach (<5mins walk), with kids entertainments (don't need a club but kids pools, disco and shows would be good) and a bit of things to do outside the hotel. Ideally within 4 hours of flight from London.

We have been to a few places but none was perfect enough for us to go again.

Corfu - the resort we went to was too expensive for us to go again and we felt stuck in the hotel. Areas immediate outside the hotel looked a bit rough. Went to Corfu town, liked it, but probably wouldn't go again.

Tenerife - perfect for DS but I didn't like the beaches. We didn't manage to swim in the sea at all.

Majorca - ticked all my boxes. DS liked the kids pool, disco, etc but got bored after 3-4 days in the water. We drove to Pollensa to change the scene but the long drive/walk in hot weather actually made it the worst bit of the holiday.

I'm currently looking at Menorca, Gran Canaria, Lanzarote.

Any thoughts? Does the perfect place exist?

TIA.

My favourite beach is playa de muro just along from Alcudia. Lovely shallow water and fab beach. Lots of AI hotels nearby

Thanks @Jakadaal. Alcudia was the place we stayed last time. But DS got a bit bored after a few days so we had to rent a car and arrange a trip to nearby towns hoping to entertain him but he didn't seem to be impressed. Maybe he was too young. I'm hoping to find a place with slightly more to do for kids this time round.

If you go to Majorca and stay somewhere like Cala Millor then you would be within easy reach (bus or car) of Splash World, Sa Coma Safari Zoo, Hams/Drach cave systems, and Dinosaurland.

Otherwise, by and large the stuff to do for 5yo kids in a sandy-beach place is going to be in the kids clubs in the hotels.

Cala Galdana in Menorca
Alvor in Portugal

Both lovely and sandy and perfect for kids. Neither will have that truly unbearable heat.

Honestly Turkey is probably your best bet.

I love Menorca and particularly in the cala blanca/santandria area but the whole island is a bit short on AI.

Plus my DSs have always been happiest jumping of the rocks into the sea.

You also might be better with somewhere like La Pineda on the Spanish mainland where you can access a theme park. Nowhere in Europe does AI as well as Turkey/longer haul imo though.

In what way was your child 'bored'? I can't imagine going to the expense of hiring a car and driving to a different town just to alleviate a 3 or 4 year old's 'boredom' on holiday .
Were you bored trying to entertain him?
We have an only DC & used to go to Eurocamp where there were lots of other DC to play with, kids clubs etc. Maybe your DC would enjoy kids clubs, don't just dismiss them.
On other occasions DH would be the Dad on the beach organising a massive game of cricket or similar!

Ibiza is a good option. Friends of mine stayed at TUI Tarida Beach all inclusive last summer and really enjoyed it.

Most of the daytime entertainment for kids at any of these places is in the kids club. So if your child is 'bored' then that would be a good option.
My son is an only child and absolutely loves the kids clubs. It's where he can make some little friends and then plays with them in the pool in the morning or at the disco in the evening. Gives us as parents 2 hours in the afternoon of adult time whilst he's in the club so I can lay in my sun lounger reading my magazine in peace. Win win all round in my book!

Sirinis country club Ibiza fits your brief - has pools, water park attached shared with nearby hotel, beach the other side in safe bay, was warm to swim. Bus stops outside of you want to explore the island cheaply, proper supermarket in walking distance if you need supplies but was ai anyway. Flight was only 2 hours from Bristol at least, 30 minutes transfer approx

Had a kids programme but as ours were grown up i wasn't paying attention to what

The area is great and I think you need to look for a kids club resort.

Saying that, I loved exploring Majorca, it's a great island and lots to do and see so I wouldn't want to stay in one place anyway.

Ibiza. Tui blue in Port des torrents, holiday village is next door but not as nice imo

What's the budget?

Thanks All for very helpful advice. Cala Galdana is indeed on my list. Someone recommended a Melia resort bearby to us so could potentially go there. Will look into other places mentioned too.
Our kid is an only child too. He wasn't very interested in playing with other kids last year so I wasn't sure about kids clubs previously. But given he started to make friends in the nursery recently, maybe we should think about kids clubs this summer. Thanks for sharing the good experience.

@Ragwort For example, he would say he wanted to leave the beach / pool or became a bit distructive after a few hours there. It was usually just himself playing with sand / water toys or a bit of games with daddy or mummy so I can understand he wanted to do something else. He was quite happy in Tenerife. We rent a car and went to different places every day and only used the pool / beach when we returned hotel too early for dinner.

Gran Canaria Taurito many hotels on site at heart is waterpark which is included. We stayed in May at the Livvo lago
Lovely beach too
Good public transport

3-4000 for two adults and one 4yo.

The price during school holiday is crazy. For the same package, one would only need to pay half the amount from mid-Sept, with better weather and less crowds.

Ok so I would use TUI or Thomas Cook apps as they are the easiest to navigate and look at the AI options for Turkey, they are definitely cheaper than other destinations, however, there are some really high end ones too in Turkey which are very expensive.

Then I'd go on BA with my short list. I found BA cheaper and the flight times are a lot better. (My holiday booked this year was for 5 for AI in Cyprus was 17k on TUI and 14 on BA with better flights)

There were also some decent prices for Greece.

And I saw some availability for Mitsis Hotels in Greece for example.

What I did find is A La carte in some of the Turkey hotels were not actually included so watch that one.