Small Oasis

28/08/2023

Aww Louise - we are so glad that you had such a great time! You've given us some ideas of what to do on our next Spanish adventure too! I can't believe how much you've done in the time - cycling to Marbella too! You know there is a very good motorway right? 🤣

We'd love for you to come back sometime - thanks for being super guests and looking after the place ❤️ lovely pics too xx

03/08/2023

We were very excited to welcome our first ever guests for a 10 day stay and thrilled with our first AirBnB review as a 5*! 🌟 super exciting!

You definitely need a car as it's only 1km from the beach and nearest chiringuito, but up a very steep hill! The plus side is unbelievable views of the mountains and sea 🌄🌊

02/08/2023

This is on our 'To do' list for next time 👍 we've tried Nilva white wine before and it was super 🥂 so keen to try the wine tasting tour and stock up! Manilva is about 10 minutes away so probably easy enough to book a taxi for after plenty of tasting! 🤪

24/07/2023

If any of you are looking for a last minute holiday, we've just had a cancellation at the start of September so there is a slot from 26th August pm onwards. Just time enough for a quick bit of Spanish sunshine before the schools go back ☀️👍 Let me know ASAP if you're interested 🏖🇪🇸

18/07/2023

What to do on a hot day? How about a water park just a 30 minute drive away? 💦

It was a super fun day out - the fact it was dinosaur themed helped too 🦖. Great pools, slides and activities for our 8, 6 and 3 year old, and plenty of slides for bigger kids too! 😎 Reasonable entry price and food with next to no queues even though it was busy and peak season. There were lifeguards and staff everywhere to keep play safe. You don't have to rent the inflatable rings unless you want to avoid the 2 minute wait to get one before each ride! Opens at 11.30am with free parking and you are allowed to take in your own food and drinks. It's €7 to rent an umbrella and 2 sunbeds for the entire day. One of the best days out we've had on the Costa del Sol ☀️

Remember: in the apartment, we provide a cool box, ice packs and beach towels for your use.

17/07/2023

Today started with breakfast in The Dolphin in Puerto Duquesa, followed by a dolphin spotting excursion with Norton Charters (ticket stall and boat harboured in the port). Sailing along the gorgeous Manilva coastline, we could even spot our apartment! We weren't very lucky with dolphins, but we did see a mother and baby right next to our boat which was a really beautiful experience. Even though the dolphins were a bit on the quiet side, it was an enjoyable experience nonetheless (apart from the 3 year old pouring a cold can of coke down my back! 🙈)

16/07/2023

Our new favourite beach - the sand is softer and whiter here (much of the coast is volcanic sand). A smooth slide into the sea with few pebbles. Wider and quieter than other local beaches. Excellent playpark for kids and an inflatable water park for bigger kids (there are many of these along the coast during the summer). A couple of chiringuitos too. Kids were on scooters and we ran along Sabinillas promenade until we arrived here for a pit stop.

15/07/2023

Sunrise at Aldea beach, followed by a walk to visit the Roman baths (it's free, but you need to book a time slot in the summer), then just up the road to play crazy golf at the quirky Roman Oasis. Lots of fun and far more competitive than it should have been! 🤣

14/07/2023

We had a lovely day exploring Gibraltar and the rock! It took 30 mins from our apartment to parking at Fo-cona car park in La Linea (€13 for the day), then we walked through border control (remember your passports!). We bought tickets in advance online for the cable car and nature reserve as it was slightly cheaper and you can skip the queue a bit. We got there early (opens at 9.30am) so we barely had to queue, but the queue was down the street when we came back down the mountain at 15.00ish. Being a bit stupid, we decided to walk to the cable car station along Main Street - it took a good hour in the heat with a 3 year old - when we could have got a free shuttle bus with our ticket 🤣🙈 We know for next time! Definitely get the shuttle bus 🚌

The cable car was great - super speedy as it only took 6 mins each way and super views. We went straight for an early lunch at Top of the Rock restaurant. I had a really lovely focacia and chips and there were the usual kids' meals, which included an ice cream; all of which were reasonably priced for its location and stunning vistas. Clear plates for all of the kids too!

The kids loved the Barbary Macaques and they caused much hilarity! We saw lots of babies hanging onto their mothers too, which our kids really loved 🐒 we also saw huge butterflies, lizards and all sorts of birds.

However, be warned, it was A LOT of walking up and down hills in the heat. Bring plenty of water with you. As an alternative, there are guided tours available and you can go up via a taxi.

One of the definite highlights was seeing St Michael's Caves, where the stalactites were illuminated beautifully and there was a light show in the auditorium every 7 minutes. It was also cool in there so a welcome relief to visit in the middle of the day.

There are some WWII tunnels and other war attractions, but they are right the other end of the nature reserve and the tunnels are currently closed. So we left those this time, but we'll definitely go back and visit them next time. There is a hop on hop off bus to explore the rest of the peninsula including Europa Point; you'd need this - it's not really walking distance.

Shattered but happy kids; we also had a fabulous day, we're just going to ache tomorrow 🤣

23/06/2023

This is absolutely one of our favourite places to visit in Duquesa Port! Just the best ice cream, tons of choice, reasonably priced and supporting a local business.

https://g.co/kgs/gNMonV

14/06/2023

This was an enjoyable way to spend an hour or so - and it cost us less than €10 for a family of 5! Massive array of unusual orchids and the kids felt like they were exploring a jungle 😆

09/06/2023

24/05/2023

https://air.tl/VSa6251T

Here's our AirBnB link with tourist license and a more detailed list of the facilities and photos!

Book through Air BnB or contact us for direct pricing - now taking bookings for this summer!

Small Oasis 3 bed with sea view

10/04/2023

Welcome to our little bit of heaven on the Costa del Sol. In a less touristy area, yet close to beaches, restaurants and plenty to do, our apartment at Small Oasis is a great base to discover the wonders of the Manilva area 🇪🇸
✈️ 1 hour from Malaga airport, 30 minutes from Gibraltar airport
🏖 1.2km from the nearest beach (plenty of beaches nearby)
🌄 stunning sea views from a hilltop vista
🍸☕️Plenty of restaurants, cafés and bars
🏊 swimming pool
🚵‍♂️🏃‍♀️ stunning mountain and sea front walks/cycle routes
⛳️ golf - including Valderrama (and other top class golf) within 10 minutes
⛵️ near a beautiful port, boat hire, dolphin watching 🐬
🐒 Gibraltar 30 minutes away
🍷vineyards and wine tasting
🏛 explore historic towns
🚗 we can give you recommendations for reliable car hire/airport transfers