Sunsail, sun sea and sand, does what it says on the tin (Sunsail Holidays)

Member Name: thomas999

Product:	Sunsail Holidays
Date:	24/06/09 (45 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: great locations and superb staff and facilities

Disadvantages: turkey resorts have a few teething problems (nothing horrifically bad however)

I have been on three sunsail holidays now, all to different resorts. Once to Marverde (turkey, this has now closed down), once to Phokai (turkey) and once to the flagship resort, Colonna in Antigua in the west indies. All three were absolutely superb holidays and i would not have traded then for anything.
I went to my first holiday as a complete novice, i had never been in a dingy but i really wanted to learn. I went on the RYA 1 and 2 courses in the two weeks i was there and the teaching was superb, i picked it up really quickly and had a fantastic time in the beginner dinghies.
my second holiday was even better, i wanted to advance my sailing and went on the Multihull course so i could sail some of the Hobie 15s they have. This was the best week of my life. I did this in Antigua, the wind was superb and the teaching was second to none, the Antiguans were so welcoming and helpful and the english beach team were equally as superb. I had some great moments and can now sail multihull with confidence.
My third holiday i did not do any further courses, instead i spent the two weeks sailing just about every boat they had, including the fantastic new ones which included the Hobie Pacific and the Topaz 16CX, both of which are Multihulls with a spinnaker which offer a great challenge to the more advanced sailors.
So, the sailing is superb, all the resorts i have been to have great wind.
Marverde was the lightest and great for beginners (now closed)
Phokai was stronger but a bit more irregular with more wind shifts so it was more of a challenge
Colonna was by far the best, the wind always came from the same direction, it was cross shore so meant it was easy to get in and out of the beach and it was such great fun, by far the best.

The resorts
I will ignore marverde as it is closed

Phokai - Fairly large in comparison to the others, but not too big, a good large. there is a 50m swimming pool and a nice large restaurant which serves buffet food morning and dinner/lunch, (one meal a day is not catered for, this gives you a chance to get out and explore the culture of the area, this is the same in all resorts). The food is of high quality and there was lots of selection, there is also a kids tea which is at 5 every day so young children are always catered for.
Breakfast is the best meal of the day with pancakes and omelets made on request by the chef on a griddle infront of you (you queue up to get them but the queues are short). there is also lots of fruit and cereal and yoghurt.
the food can get a bit familiar after a while but there is enough that you don't have to have the same thing every day and the main option changes every day.
The general cleanliness was superb and the rooms were well maintained and of good quality, not that you spend much time in them.
However, last year, when i went there were lots of wasps around, this did rather ruin mealtimes however they were taking measures to control and eradicate this problem so it may well be sorted now.

Colonna was by far the best, it had the same positives about Phokai but the food was better with lots of fresh fish. the fruit was superb and everything was of very high quality.
the people were nice and the service was second to none.
the resort was clean and tidy and the views from the rooms with a sea view were really excellent.
there is also a spa and adult only gym area with hot tubs.
there are many walkways and nice areas to sit and watch the beautiful sunsets.
the beach is fabulous and sandy and there are plenty of sun-beds, both by the pool and on the beach. there are two separate beaches, one for swimming and one for the boats and these are nicely separated by a spit which is a great place to sunbath and watch the boats go in and out.


overall, all the resorts are fantastic and i would love to go back again.
the drinks are all reasonably priced, unlike some other similar companies such as mark warner.
A really nice touch in colonna was that they had free water which meant you spent a lot less on drinks, another touch which shows why it is the flagship resort.

Overall, a great holiday, the facilities are great, the flights out with first choice are very good and there is plenty to do for every person whether they like sunbathing or sailing.

Summary: Great holiday, if you can, go to Antigua, by far the best resort.