Club La Santa – for soul and health
Club La Santa makes you sing this: “There is a place that you can always go to” by Wild Roses.
This is how the familiar song starts, which can only mean one thing; you are minutes from arriving at the world’s largest playground, Club La Santa. Club La Santa is a resort on the Gran Canarian island of Lanzarote, close to the coast of Africa, making the flight an approx. 5 hours of pleasure. Club La Santa was founded by a major Danish travel agency and is still in Danish hands today, which means that almost all guides, instructors and guests are Danes and they do speak fluent English. And then what is La Santa sport, as the place is called in the public? In short, it is the world’s best playground and a sports mecca for children of all ages. If you enjoy being active during the holidays with the courage to try new things, this is the place. I myself have been there 14 times as a child and young person, and this is probably the holiday I have loved most and which has created the biggest post-holiday depressions when the trip is over. However, other things will also be strange as you get a gentle stream of adrenaline, endorphins and dopamine every day.
Bring a Club La Santa newbie, that’s okay
It was with pleasure that I expected to go back there with my husband, who was Club La Santa newbie. After a fine flight and a three-quarter bus ride, the well-known La Santa song was put on, and you could really start looking forward to a week of sports, competitions, challenges, socializing and, above all, loads of fun. In 2014, La Santa underwent a major renovation, which, in addition to several amenities, offered renovations of the old apartments and newly built luxury suites for the more discerning guests.
Club La Santa – room with a view
We stayed in one of the old charming apartments and it was perfect for our needs. Lovely bedroom, nice bathroom and toilet as well as terrace and kitchen so you could cook yourself. After a quick check in and lunch at the pool bar, it was time to explore the many options offered by Club La Santa. This is done via a very clear and well-thought-out App, where you can, besides watching the day and week program, sign up for activities and book courses. Each guest gets 260 points in the app and when you book a course or a popular activity with a maximum number of participants, it costs points. When the hour is over, you get your points back so you can book again. This is pretty well thought out as La Santa thus ensures Say that people do not just book everything that can be booked on arrival and that everyone has the opportunity to try the popular activities with max number of seats.
Club La Santa has sports and well-being for everyone
Enough about the technical and let’s throw ourselves into the facilities and opportunities. Club La Santa has nothing less than – and now hold on – 10 tennis courts, 5 paddle tennis courts, 4 squash courts, 2 badminton sports gyms, gymnastics and handball, 5-a-side artificial grass pitches where dancing, stepping, yoga is practiced a lot more, fitness center, climbing wall, bike center with mountain bikes and racing bikes, an athletic stadium with a grass football field in the middle, boxing, dance studio, beach volleyball courts, two swimming pools with 50-meter courses, a large family pool, a wellness and spa center and last but not at least a fantastic water sports center with paddleboard, kayak and all kinds of windsurfing equipment. In addition to the sports facilities, La Santa has a handful of restaurants, a sports bar, supermarket, beach club and a disco. In short, nothing is missing.
The instructors at Club La Santa are simply so good!
Although many people think that Club La Santa is only for those who love competition and can find out about sports, this couldn’t be more wrong. La Santa is for everyone regardless of level, age or sporting ability. Apart from the wide range of activities, the hours and competitions are divided into levels so that guests receive instruction and compete with and against guests at the same level. There are also social tournaments, which are age-appropriate, where people look out for each other and where the social is in focus. In addition, both men’s and women’s tournaments are held so that everyone can feel at home.
The site is also ideal for families with children, as the guides (the so-called Green Teams) organize entertainment and sports for different age groups every day. This means that the children can find playmates of their own age and the parents can practice their favorite sports. Much of La Santa Sport’s success depends to a large extent on the Green Teams who will lead the battle. And you have to say they deliver! All the times I’ve been there, the concept has seemed rock solid, and the instructors have been extremely professional, accommodating and had a great radiance. Every hour or instruction, the Green Teams have had a radiance that says, Shut up I just have the world’s best job! You feel comfortable throughout and you can always reach them if you have any questions or are curious about a new sport. In addition to instructing and performing various assignments, the guides also provide a weekly show consisting of great dance numbers and comics, and guests are also allowed to showcase their talents in a children’s / guest show.
Club La Santa – Tons of activities
Sports, sports and again sports
Then it’s time to talk about the week and the activities my husband and I participated in. Each day started at 8 p.m. 00 am with a great game of morning gym at the large family pool. After the morning gym, there is the opportunity to walk or run with the guides, so the day just gets off to a good start. However, we chose to start Saturdays with a game of paddle tennis followed by aqua jogging, which is really fun and hard to run in water with minimal strain on the knees and joints. The pace and challenge continued as I signed up for the very popular, and for me new concept, trampoline fitness. Each participant was given his own little trampoline and then stood and breathed like hell while bouncing to music and trying to follow along as one’s heart rate ran galloping. As a stiff-legged footballer, I may not have avoided looking involuntarily funny, but damn it was fun. The afternoon was spent playing tennis and dancing in pairs, where the instructor was phenomenal to make one feel good enough, although it was clear to everyone that we looked like some stiff-legged ostriches rather than a couple of rolling swans.
Club La Santa – Activities
Sunday, the famous second day, where you can really feel the body, resulting in a day of relaxation consisting of morning gymnastics, paddle tennis, tennis instruction for the lightly practiced for the man and a well-deserved game of Stretch and Relax for both of us in the late afternoon, and finally a mini-golf tournament before dinner and head to bed.
Monday was the day we had been looking forward to a lot, and after the mandatory morning gymnastics, it was windsurfing for beginners. Windsurfing is for all ages and I have not yet experienced that guests have not surfed the first time. Not only do you actually learn to windsurf and get on the water quickly, after finishing instruction you have the free time to borrow equipment for the rest of the week, so you can windsurf at your convenience. This is a brilliant concept and there are boards and sails for all conditions. Since you are surfing in an enclosed lagoon, you are never afraid to drift offshore, and if you feel you have come too far away, you can either just paddle back or jump in the water and walk along the beach. After the windsurfer’s success, it was time for the 5-aside social soccer tournament, followed by a 30 minute Aqua up session where it relied on strength training in the water with inflatable dumbbells. Again a really good activity for people with bad joints or knees. As I romped in the water and swam a few lanes, the man was once again a tennis instructor, this time in a double. After that we met for a game of paddle tennis.
Tuesday we romped with tennis and then instruction in paddle tennis, swimming, running, strength, another game of trampoline fitness and today’s three new trials; one hour of soccer fitness for women, half an hour of total ABS and one hour step for easy practicing. Especially the last two activities were difficult, and again you have to admire the guides’ desire to teach, get everyone involved and lead the way.
After the morning gymnastics, we again moved down to the water sports center to receive half an hour of technical instruction on a paddleboard. After that, the man was for a tennis tournament, while I again went to the 5-sided course and an hour’s instruction in barefoot fitness. After lunch, it was windsurfing again and the day ended with half an hour of hula-hopping and an hour of tennis.
The last full day was Thursday. And before being let go of the sports accidents, morning gymnastics, running, tennis, windsurfing, aqua up, paddle tennis tournament and the best way to end an active week; an afternoon in the spa with steam room, sauna, two kinds of spa and ice bath. The best part, though, was our evening session, where we had signed up for one of the most population was on the agenda every day.
The status is that after a week with total sports engagement, there was no doubt about the outcome, and the enthusiasm was also total when my husband suggested that we made it an annual tradition to go to La Santa sports. So thank you La Santa for delivering, as you’ve always done, see you again!
Go to Club la Santa’s website
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Intro article on vacationtalks.com to active holidays
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