Worth packing my own pedals/shoes for the riding?
Wakeboard conditions?
Sailing conditions?
Nearest beer shop to stock the room fridge?
Etc?
TIA.
Been a few times.
Amazingly enough not been off-road there, but the road biking is great and there are plenty of hills
When we've been there in may, the sea is flat as a pancake early morning so book on early. Gets choppy later on and they stop running the boat
Sailing wise depends what you want, both time I've been there it's windier in the afternoon (like most of Greece) but not consistently windy.
Great place though and neilson holidays are good, especially with kids and the kids clubs are amazing. Couldn't get ours out of them.
Going back this year can't wait.
Borrow a bike to ride to town for the beer
Sounds ideal, ta! Flat early conditions remjnds me of the Anastasia (no longer on their books), chop and wind later on is perfect for me, catamaran time!
Yep
Took road bike and borrowed a HT mtb as well.
Great mountains about 1 hr away to the east, and nice rolling countryside all around the resort.
Quiet roads, well maintained. Typical Greece though , alot of people doing nothing all day ,sitting in cafes with syrup coffee
Wind wise , thermal breeze in the mid - late afternoons . Flat water before breakfast so book the wakeboarding early. Enough wind for planing on a large rig ( windsurfer) most days.
Oh , and dogs . Alot of dogs . They all have 2 , an energetic yappy one that wakes up the hunter killer. They then run along next to you on the other side of the fence , which you hope doesnt end and continues round their property
Get a taxi from the resort into Kalamata , and go to Lidl. Stock up on alcohol there as its super cheap. Resort didnt seem to mind as long as you kept it in your room.
Gets very , very hot mid summer . I went in late september and it was was still hot then
Garden rooms worth the extra , if with family.
Mtb ride out to waterfall is a good one to do
Road ride up to anciant Messini also a good climb.
Been once, going again in 3 weeks. We went end August last time, excellent waterski conditions early in the day, and pretty windy every afternoon we were there- perfect cat sailing conditions, fully honking on full rig laser or big board/8m sail windsurfing. Road riding was excellent with good guiding. Don’t ride if it rains, the roads turn lethal when wet. Take your pedals and shoes. Didn’t try mtb but tennis facilities were also very good. Massive buffet was kids lasting memory.
Ticks many boxes for us apart from the open water swimming which is as dull as hell. It's a shame because the clubs like Sivota which are great for swimming never get useable wind. I appreciate this is a niche positive.
Whilst it sounds a great holiday, I'm having a little trouble with the idea of CFH going on a package holiday. I thought his class had a "man" or a "maid" to provide for private needs rather than a "G.O." (see Club Med for translation).
Convert, the water at Sivota must have been great for open water swimming. It's where I learnt to waterski, with the legend that is Andreas! "BEND SEE KNEES UND STRAIGHTEN ZEE ARMS!" ringing out and echoing back from Goat Island! He insisted I learn to ski before board, and he was right. (Saved the day when in Barbados a few years later, when the bindings on my board broke, got a lovely long tow on skis as a result)
Apart from that, the sailing at Sivota was soporophic at best, and Ido rather likely a bit of fast dinghy fun
Oh, and those steps at the end of the day...!
Went last year, and rode most days (MTB) both in group rides and then latterly on my own. Group rides very stop start. Terrain is hilly, dusty and dry and challenging in parts. I'd give it a 5 our of 10 on the technical, it's only the steepness that makes it more challenging. Trek hardtails are a bit grim if yoy ride anything better, with Deore groupsets and 120mm forks. Well maintained, but thats about it. Took pedals, shoes, helmet, backpack last time - if we went again then I'd be more inclined to take a bike as carriage with Neilson was cheap.
Watching this thread with interest. We’ve just booked for a fortnight in August. First ever ‘package’ holiday but seems perfect for the kids. I’m plannig to rent one of the nicer road bikes and will take my own pedals/shoes/lid. We're a bit concerned about the heat but sleeping through the afternoon isn’t a bad option, it is a holiday after all.
I've been on few Neilsons holidays and the kids seem to have a blast,I can honestly say I don't think I've ever seen one look unhappy. I'm not one for sitting around so these holidays are perfect for us. Don't be put off by the sign up palaver, the first time we did it we thought it was like the first day of comprehensive school complete with the timetable!
My advice - try a new sport as well as cycling as they are used to taking complete beginners, we've taken up tennis due to Neilsons.
As regards too hot in the afternoon, take up windsurfing - all I did was fall off in my first week !
Sorry Flashie, messini is one of the few ones I haven't been too. Friends are there at the moment though so will get a report for you upon their return
No apology needed! No problem is this morphs in to a general Neilson thread for the summer, actually! 😁
Sturmey, I've been lots of times without kids, this will be the first time we've taken them though. Sont worry about the heat, you'll be on/in the water, or playing tennis, rising, whatever else and you just won't notice!
I'd echo the above on trying stuff out though. RYA in a week, for example? Mrs CFH learnt to windsurf (as a long time dinghy nut, I almost dumped her!) and we both learned to ski/board with Neilson. She's a much better tenniserist than me, so she does that while I ride/sail. Pretty sure our kids will lap it up. They're already better at tennis than me!
Update from our friends
Short transfer was brilliant, they were in a basic room and it was fine (they've had at least 3 room swaps since we've known them).
Some of tennis courts were looking a bit tired but there are a lot of them
Wakeboarding/skiing - good conditions early
Sailing/windsurfing - they have fairly consistent winds later in the day
Cycling was good but our friends didn't do that much
The main problem was the lack of stuff around the resort, 2 to 3 tavernas and that's it.
Kalamata was a 25 euros taxi ride away. Our friends are usually very good at finding the local supermarket for beers but I'm not sure they even managed it on this trip.
You can see the Lidl from the transfer bus. If you take a look out of the right hand side oof the transfer bus.
Its about a 30min bike ride away , but you cant leave a bike outside , so take an accomplice
Thanks, all.
Re bike to the supermarket, on previous Neilson holidays, I've taken a cable lock with me, for that very reason! 😎
Just back.
Impressed. Very much what I expect from Neilson.
Bad bits?
Erm, oversleeping and missing a wakeboard tow.
The usual steep(ish) bar prices, but we expected that.
The surrounding area is a bit scruffy, sadly.
Bit too much litter left around by the teenage guests. I blame the parents, but could do with a few more bins.
Room layout a little odd, with the shower sort of overlooking the room. Hard to explain, but a bit odd.
Good bits?
Millpond conditions for the 0730 tow. Boat team were great, really got my confidence back.
Great wind later in the day. Best conditions were this morning, flat water and big breeze. Catamaran lunacy ensued! Beachies were doing sterling work launching and landing boats in some big swell on other days.
Kids Clubs - The Nanny team are just superb, and made it a magnificent trip for the small ones.
Flat. No steps, like at Sivota!
Nice ride to the supermarket along back roads and trails.
Short transfer, and BA operated flights so no scrum!
Of the local places (walking distance), the first you'll come to is the Phoenix. Don't. Overpriced and food average at best. Keep going until you see either Ble or Golden Sands (round the bend on the right). Ble had a lovely garden on the beach, cheap and tasty quaffing wine, and tasty grub. Golden Sands is just a shack on the beach, but great food and similar wine! Those are the two you should go to.
Do they have decent wakeboard boats?
Yep, up to four boats depending on schedule.
They're mixed use Nautiques, a couple tuned for ski/mono and a couple with a bigger wake. Not massive wake, but enough for decent air!
Either way, the mono oddballs seemed happy, and us tea tray bashers were happy as well! The Retreat is still the best for towing, I reckon. They have a phatter 211.
