Hotel Santa Maria Reviews

Didn't know what to expect from this holiday. The hotel was basic but very clean and comfortable and was located 5 mins from the centre of Santa Maria.

The resort boasts beautiful beaches, white sand and turquoise seas which in January had a water temp of 21 degrees. There is a constant breeze which is refreshing and this in turn makes the resort a paradise for wind surfers and kite surfers.

Fishing and building are the main trades around here.

The fishing boats unload their catch of Tuna, Wahoo and Marlin onto the beach and these are transoprted directly ( by wheelbarrow) to the restaurants. We ate fish lunchtime and evening for two weeks it was delicious!! There were meat dishes on the menu should you want them, I did notice however that there was not much choice for vegatarians in the restaurants.

There are several restaurants in the village we found the best on an eveing was a little local one called Compad, we ate here several times and whilst it was'nt posh served good food and resonable house wine. A lt of red wine and 2 main courses was about £13 here. The restaurant on the square( cant remeber its name turquoise tables and chairs) offered good service and was great for a light bite and beer at lunchtime.

There are not many bars ( about 5 or 6 three of them Irish owned!!) but TamTams was the most welcoming and we thought and had the best atmosphere.

There is lots of building work going on and we were'nt bothered by people selling but there were lots of Del boys about who obviously thought they were going to make a quick million with their purchases.
The building didn't interfere at all with out holiday.

I took pencils and crayons which I handed in at the local school. If I go again I wil take small toys and balls for the children on the street as the children did'nt seem to have much and the ones I saw playing football either used a flat ball or empty water bottle.

In the back streets there is a lot of poverty. There is'nt a lot to spend your money on unles you like the woooden carved ornaments and small necklaces.

We hired a care from the beach to tour the island we picked the car up at 10 and had been all around by 2.30. This included a trip to the salt mines which was well worth a visit.

Take plenty books you'll surely come back relaxed.

Prices for drinks generally about the same as in England - we thought it expensive but given everything has to be imported its not too bad.

be aware thoug if travelling back to Manchester the flight took 9 hours as we had to change crew and re fuel in Gambia that was a real drag as there is no in flight entertainment on the Astraeus plane.