Help - Going to Mojacar and need some info

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pali
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Help - Going to Mojacar and need some info

Postby pali » Wed Sep 26, 2007 10:28 am

Hi, Thanks for reading.

My wife and I are due to arrive in Almeria 7th October late night (Sunday) for 10 nights and will be staying at Best Mojacar Hotel. We are both 29 and basically want to just relax, nice meals, a few dirnks, sight seeing, enjoying the culture, sampling traditional cuisine etc etc. Some questions please:

TRAVEL TO HOTEL AND CAR HIRE

I think cheapest would be to hire a car from Almeria Airport and drive to hotel in Mojacar. Keep Car for 10 days, so can drive around during the day. WOULD YOU AGREE ? Hire of a medium size car (Ford Focus, 1.6l - works out to £185 for 10 days. This includes normal insurance as well as the extra one for wheel damage etc etc

*** Is it cheaper to just hire a car from the airport or should I pre book from here.
*** What is the driving journey like at night – we arrive at 10.00PM - is it safe to drive (roads / lighting condition etc ) and how long does it take?

**** Or am i better off to get a transfer and rent a car from Mojacar itself.


2) HOTEL BEST MOJACAR / BEST OASIS TROPICAL
Reviews of hotel (food / accommodation beach) seem good but there is no info on location. Shops, supermarkets, restaurants, bars – what is around in walking distance ?

3) MOJACAR
What restaurants, activities and sights would you recommend?

4) AROUND MOJACAR
As I will have the car – what do you recommend to go see outside Mojacar. Restaurants, sea food, activities, cultrural sights etc etc.? I am ok driving upto 2 hours each way.

5) OCTOBER WEATHER
We are staying ther from 7th to 17th October – What is weather like and what clothing do you recommend.

6) OTHER
Laundrette – any around available?

Clothes / Fashion Shopping – Anywhere within 2 hrs driving ?

7) TIPS / SUGGESTIONS
I will be brushing up on my Spanish – any other suggestions ?

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Cassandra
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Postby Cassandra » Wed Sep 26, 2007 11:04 am

Hire a car from the airport and book it in advance as booking through one of the internet companies is much cheaper. It'll cost you at least €75 each way in a taxi so hiring is generally cheaper or not much more if you hire a larger car plus you have it available at all times. We used to hire a small car and were nearly always offered an upgrade at no extra charge so you might want to consider that if you can manage with a smaller car.

The journey from the airport is very easy and is motorway most of the way, should take you about 45 mins to 1 hour at the most. The car hire company should give you directions but I can pm them to you if decide to hire.

Restaurants depends very much on what type of food you like. The hotel is halfway between Mojacar & Garrucha so you'll have a good choice, everything from cheap & cheerful (?) Brit bars to upmarket Italian restaurants and a good few inbetween. Garrucha has the best seafood restaurants and much of the fish is local, you can see it being brought in at the harbour there, but check the restaurant prices carefully as some are very steep and prices for some items can be by weight not per item! There's also quite a lot of Chinese and a couple of Indian restaurants as well.

You'll only be 2 hours from Granada if you want to see the Alhambra Palace. Nearer to base there's Mini Hollywood with an old western film set and a conservation zoo, I think it may have recently been renamed Oaysis if you want to look it up. There's also the Cabo de Gata natural park if you want to get away from it all, wonderful for photography. Mojacar pueblo is worth seeing, some touristy shops but also lots of unique arty type shops and some excellent restaurants but leave the car and take the bus up as it can be very difficult to park up there and the pueblo is quite a walk (uphill) from the car park.

There's a launderette on Mojacar playa but might be worth asking if the hotel have a laundry service.

For clothes/fashion shopping you'll need to travel. Lorca is about an hour and there's a big new shopping centre at Murcia about 1½ hours but there are several local companies organising coach trips to there for about €15 per person.

Weather can be changeable but generally mid twenties day time although you'll probably need something warmer for the evenings.

Don't worry too much about your Spanish, it'll be useful if you do a bit of touring but Mojacar playa has been well and truly invaded by Brits so there's a lot of English spoken there.

If you want some more recommendations for places try costaalmeria.com, not allowed to put a link!, it's a non-commercial forum, very friendly and mainly deals with Mojacar and the surrounding areas so you should get good information on there.

pali
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Postby pali » Wed Sep 26, 2007 3:30 pm

Wow, thanks so much for your comments - i really appreciate them - right done deal - i will hire a car from the airport - i was getting transfers for £45 total, but as long as the roads are safe, im happy driving at night.

thanks so much

JAWG
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Postby JAWG » Wed Sep 26, 2007 3:37 pm

But book it in advance, as Cassandra advised!!!!
John G
Ottawa, ON, Canada

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Ian Steel
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Postby Ian Steel » Sat Sep 29, 2007 7:00 pm

Pali

The roads are fine just be carefull, it is about a 45 minute drive and the hotel is pretty easy to find.

You will really enjoy yourself, try the Albatross bar, they do the best beer in Mojacar and if you go lunchtime they do free tapas. The Sardines are just amazing and cooked in an old boat!!!!

Ian

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Chrissie
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Going to Mojacar and need some info

Postby Chrissie » Sat Sep 29, 2007 8:08 pm

Ian Steel wrote: The Sardines are just amazing and cooked in an old boat!!!!
Ian
Well I suppose it makes a change from a frying pan :lol:
The past cannot be changed, but the present can be spoilt by worrying about the future

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Ian Steel
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Postby Ian Steel » Sat Sep 29, 2007 9:35 pm

dont knock it until you try it!!!!!!

and they are cooked by the main man

Ian

pali
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oh ohoo

Postby pali » Mon Oct 01, 2007 5:18 pm

I had originally booked for Best Mojacar in 1 weeks time, but the travel agent just told me that the hotel will be closed. They have offered to move me to the hotel next door, or I can cancel. But I came across this other hotel in El Toyo, Retemar - so I have some queries...


Best Tropical Oasis in Mojacar ( next door to Best Mojacar)

or

The Hotel & Spa Cabogata Garden Hote (which looks amazing)
This hotel is also known as the Cabo de gata Garden Hotel and as Cabogata Garden Hotel. It is in El Toyo, Almeria, Spain.

have you been to El Toyo - Is Mojacar or El Toyo better ? - I will have a car, so I am currently inclined towards staying in El Toyo and doing a trip or two to Mojacar, Garucha and the surrounding areas.

Main thing we want is closeness to the beach and walking distance from restaurants, taverna's tapas bars etc. I can drive to sight seeing spots.

I will be very grateful for your comments. thanks

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Ian Steel
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Location: Hertfordshire

Pail

Postby Ian Steel » Mon Oct 01, 2007 7:32 pm

Hi Pali

Thamks for your message

Hi Ian,

I hope you can help.

I had originally booked for Best Mojacar in 1 weeks time, but the travel agent just told me that the hotel will be closed. They have offered to move me to the hotel next door, or I can cancel. But I came across this other hotel in El Toyo, Retemar - so I have some queries...


Best Tropical Oasis in Mojacar ( next door to Best Mojacar)

or

The Hotel & Spa Cabogata Garden Hote (which looks amazing)
This hotel is also known as the Cabo de gata Garden Hotel and as Cabogata Garden Hotel. It is in El Toyo, Almeria, Spain.

have you been to El Toyo - Is Mojacar or El Toyo better ? - I will have a car, so I am currently inclined towards staying in El Toyo and doing a trip or two to Mojacar, Garucha and the surrounding areas.

Main thing we want is closeness to the beach and walking distance from restaurants, taverna's tapas bars etc. I can drive to sight seeing spots.

I will be very grateful for your comments. thanks

PS: I like your website. V good and v useful.


Glad you like our site, I don't know the area so to be fair I cannot comment, I know Mojacar really well and would say it is a great place.

Try contacting some local agents for rentals, they are great value and most of them are right on the seafront.

Pueblo Diana is really nice and I would give that a rave review, it is centrally located and opposite some great places, Beachcomber Bar, Irish Rover etc.

Sorry but I am not allowed to pm for some reason????????? Contact me through my site though.

regards

Ian

zanuck
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Postby zanuck » Wed Oct 03, 2007 10:58 pm

Or for somewhere quieter, you could try Mamabels hotel in Mojacar Pueblo. small, family run hotel with about 9 rooms, the front ones are built into the pueblo walls and look out towards the coast. We stayed in room 3.
We stayed there for a couple of nights in the summer, and were very pleased with the simple accommodation - not like Best with plastic and Formica, but then everyone has different requirements.......

They have a website, so google them for very attractive rates.

Valencia_Paul
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Postby Valencia_Paul » Thu Oct 04, 2007 1:18 pm

I stayed in Mojacar Playa about 3 years ago. Can't remember the hotel name but is was right on the beachfront and had an indoor pool that the owner was very proud of. The rear terrace and the rear balconies were overlooking the beach. Hotel was also good to walk to all the restaurants and bars.


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