We were researching and researching a good place to go with kids that was not too far from Ireland on a flight and we stumbled across a little place on in the north east corner of one of the Baleric Islands called Can Piquefort. Now the location was relatively unknown to me at the time. I was in Santa Ponsa once when I was younger but this seemed a more peaceful location which would be ideal for kids. But the hotel was the draw for us because of the sheer amount of kids activities in the resort. The resort is called Zafiro Mallorca and it looked ideal for what we needed.
First of all there was a big kids pool with a pirate ship and this giant bucket that dumps water every 2 minutes. This was to become my favourite place on the holiday for sinister reasons that I will go into later. In the adult pool they had this giant ball which you could climb up and bounce off which was to prove a great activity for anyone between the ages of 7 and 80. The fun in watching a 70 year old scale this thing like they were climbing Mount Everest and when they got to the top , the slippery rubber would cause them to slip , land on their bum and go sliding off into the water far below. Zafiro also had an adults only section where couples could lounge reading their books away from those sniffling families. The hotel was mainly all inclusive but I like trying different restaurants on holidays so we decided to not go this way. I was great in a way because the hotel staffed presumed everyone was all inclusive so they never charged me for the drinks I got every lunchtime or the coffee in the morning. In the afternoon there was a kids club where the organisers would take your kids off you and play different games or do treasure hunts etc. They also did a thing where they would roll a really long rubber mat out on the water like a long yoga mat and the kids would have to run on it and try to get to the other side. Sometimes the adults had a go and they did not last long due to their weight. In the evening each night had a different event so you never really had to leave the resort if you didn't want to.
When travelling to Zafiro we rented a car and there were a number of ways to go to get to Can Piquefort. I recommend taking the motorway and go in through Alcudia. The shorter way is back roads which is not for the faint hearted. It proved to be longer in the end. There are also 3 Zafiro hotels. Zafiro Mallorca, Hotel Zafiro and Zafiro Bahia. We turned up at hotel Zafiro and were pointed in the direction of next door. Both hotels are the same 4 star rating with Zafiro Bahia being a 5 star version. The lobby in the hotel is huge and smells beautiful as they pump their own perfume around the lobby. There is of course a shop , bars , pool bars, restaurants and everything runs like clockwork.
Bring the smallie to the pirate ship pool was good but at first he was scared of the giant bucket that would fill up with lots of water and tip over at a certain point. This became a great laugh as I lay in the pool and watched as unaware grandmothers with their grand children paddling around under the bucket on their 1st day unbeknownst to them and suddenly a giant 5 foot bucket load of water would come down on top of them. I would be rolling around laughing where as the grandmother would be very angry with a crying child soaked in water. This soon became my child watching spot while watching grannies get soaked every 10 minutes.
The town of Can Piquefort itself is not much. There is a lovely promenade walk that stretches goes on for miles. At the end of one is a nudist beach. Lovely. At the end of another is the Marina and some lovely Italian restaurants. Lovely. The food there is quality and we picked out some beautiful restaurants that we went back to twice.
A restaurant called Monaco was one of them and I think I had one of the nicest meals I have ever had there. A pork fillet dish. They also do a nice panna cotta which I have a craving for on holiday.
For pubs after the meal we would go to a pub called Trotters for a quiz which was always funny and there was another pub called the Londoner where the owner would pretend to spill a drink on you which would give you a fright but it would be a fake glass but very funny. There was a Jamaica bar as well where you could get nice cocktails. The hotels and pubs around there did some cheesy impersonation acts and I was passing by watching Wacko Jacko doing his famous moonwalk.
The trouble with Hotel Zafiro is that wherever we go is not as good so we ended up going back there twice. Cambrills is too big and not as good. Albufeira has the Afgahar but Albufeira is not that nice and is too loud. We can't find another resort that is better. For this reason we are thinking of going on a campsite to Italy next summer because we cannot do Zaifro three years in a row. If anyone has been to a resort that has great kids things to do please let me know.
Apart from the Can Piquefort itself Mallorca has alot to offer and we used the car to go to various places. The first place was back to the airport where I had dropped my passport. But while we were there we paid a visit to the Mallorca aquarium. Oh my god. It was awesome and I would highly recommend it. They have sharks. Big ones. Enough said. But it was really good and very interactive. The kids had a great time.
Anyway overall it was a great summer holiday and cannot recommend the Zafiro highly enough and at the moment I am struggling to come to terms with the fact that it cannot be beaten but we must spread our wings a bit further. What if there is?
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