Cabaret at the Beach | Restaurants with Entertainment

Not all of us want a 'designer' beach experience - some of just want a nice, non-pretentious, reasonably priced, beach restaurant, serving good food, with a good atmosphere and possibly with a bit of entertainment. Marbella has these types of beach restaurants and chiringuitios in abundence. It's simply a case of getting to the beach and choose the one you fancy first. To get you started here are a few recommendations:

Heaven Beach Club, near Estepona
A very popular family beach with both expats and local Spanish people. Heaven, which is not at all fancy, is a Sunday lunch must do (and probably good any day during the week in the summer months). If there's a Spanish festival - say Noche de San Juan, and as a tourist/expat you want to get in with the buzz, then Heaven is also a good bet - although you may need to book tickets/reserve tables. On Sundays they also have a superb and very loud Jazz band. Visit their website at www.heavenbeachclub.com

Vista Del Mar, Playa Miraflores - towards Mijas Costa
Why? Beach side restaurant offering a summer programme of cabaret acts including a Spanish themed night with Flamenco Dancers, Guitarists and Spanish food on Wednesday nights. Open every night except Monday night, other acts include a Big Band Era and 60s Nostalgia Night, Ambient Jazz and Chill Night, Rock and Roll Night and Broadway Hits Night. Visit their website www.playamiraflores.com for full schedule plus you can read a restaurant review here.

Beach Bars in Marbesa - east of Marbella

Marbesa is a beautiful residential area of Marbella and its beach front feature a bunch of really good, old fashioned, characterful beach/sea front restaurants, namely Rama's Restaurante (952 83 24 38), Restaurante Club 200 (952 834 992), plus two I haven't been to are The Triana and Restaurante Papillon. Click here to read the restaurant review of all four restaurants.

Buddha Beach | Boutique Chic on the Beach at Nueva Andalucia

Just launched this summer and only open a few weeks now is the new Buddha Beach, “Marbella’s first boutique beach club”, located in the former Moosh-Moosh beach club on the beach, close to Puerto Banus.

Buddha Beach is a small beach club which includes two champagne and cocktail bars, a comfortable al fresco restaurant, swimming pool, boutique and sunbeds right on the beach. There's also a rock pool jacuzzi - an area that can be hired by groups for an indulgent - and cool - day at the beach. The club is attractively designed in an Asian style, with serene looking Buddhas, wooden decking and teak beach beds and cabañas around the pool and beach. The venue's atmosphere is more chilled out than full-on party, champagne spraying holiday time.

Open just for lunches, the menu has an East meets West theme and includes such delights as Sushi, Chicken Satay skewers and Thai Green Curry plus serves succulent seafood platters and great looking salads.

At weekends the volume and the tempo are cranked up with regular party nights planned from the likes of Kinki Malinki and Miss Moneypenny, as well as Cuban extravaganzas with live salsa, it looks like Buddha Beach will be a fun venue close to Cumbres del Rodeo. Large plasma screen TVs are there for sporting events.

Buddha Beach is easily reached on foot from the Nueva Andalucia Roundabout. Park your car up and then walk under the underpass and take the turnoff with the barrier, then walk for 5 mins to the bottom of the road where you will see a entry way to the club. Closer parking is difficult and access may be limited by the barrier. Alternately, walk from the beach at Puerto Banus heading west, past Ocean Club.

Buddha Beach, Urb. Villa Marina, Nueva Andalucia. Tel: 952 813 882. http://www.buddhabeachbanus.com/

Castillo de Monda | Musical Entertainment Programme for July and August 2008

Monda is a small town with a population of less than two thousand, beyond Ojén and about a 20 minutes drive into the Sierra de la Nieves (mountains) from Marbella. Crouching into a mountain valley at a height of 1,200ft the town is dominanted by the Monda Castle (el Castillo de Monda) built on the towers and walls of an Arabic fortress. The castle, now a hotel, is sumptuously decorated in Moorish style and offers good accommodation and cuisine.

It has also just announced its musical entertainment programme for July and August 2008 which includes a selection of operatic and classical musical performances, perfect for a summer evening, whilst viewing the magnificent views over the Guadalhorce Valley. Click here to view more details or contact the hotel directly for dates, restaurant reservations and accommodation.

As well as the castle Monda is a nice little town with lots of bars and restaurants, so worth a short drive out. General driving directions: Take the roundabout at the shopping centre La Canada and follow the signs to Monda along the C-337 road or visit the hotel website, http://www.castillodemonda.es/ - for more information. Telephone 952 457 142

Review | Whilst in Spain Read About Spain

I love reading a book about the country I'm visiting so if you're visiting Spain then here are three great books I can strongly recommend to you.

Queen of the South is a novel by Arturo Pérez-Reverte and is a brilliant, contemporary novel about a poor Mexican narco's morra who flees Mexico on her boyfriend's murder, to Spain and eventually high society Marbella, via the Spanish enclave of Melilla. This story is based in Andalucia, with Morocco, Algeciras, Gibraltar, Sotogrande, Marbella and Sevilla all featuring. The story focuses on the rise and rise of the novel's anti-hero Teresa Mendoza and the world of drug smuggling, as told by an anonymous Spanish journalist who is researching a book on her life. Read review here or purchase online from Amazon.

Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon is a magical story based in mid-century, Barcelona and begins with the 'cemetery of lost books', a labyrinthine library of obscure and forgotten titles that have long gone out of print. To this library, a man brings his 10-year-old son Daniel one cold morning in 1945. Daniel is allowed to choose one book from the shelves and pulls out 'La Sombra del Viento' by Julian Carax. But as he grows up, several people seem inordinately interested in his find. Then, one night, as he is wandering the old streets once more, Daniel is approached by a figure who reminds him of a character from La Sombra del Viento, a character who turns out to be the devil. This man is tracking down every last copy of Carax's work in order to burn them. What begins as a case of literary curiosity turns into a race to find out the truth behind the life and death of Julian Carax and to save those he left behind.
Read review here or purchase online from Amazon.

Winter in Madrid by CJ Samson is set in Spain, September 1940. The Spanish Civil War is over and Madrid lies in ruins while the Germans continue their march through Europe. Britain stands alone as General Franco considers whether to abandon neutrality and enter the war. The story centres around three British men in Spain, one a reluctant spy, the other a shady businessman and the third a passionate communist who joins the International Brigade. This novel is a wartime thriller involving espionage, plus provides an historical window of an important time in Spanish history.
Read review here or purchase online from Amazon.

Andalucia and Morocco Excursions and Tours

Do you fancy being a tourist, doing something different, leave the car and just enjoy the views? Then visitors staying in the Marbella area might like to check out 'Viajes CostAfrica' who offer regular daily excursions and tours of Andalucia and Morocco. They have 1 and 2 day tours to some of the Costa del Sol's favourite cities including Gibraltar, Granada and the Alhambra, Ronda, Cordoba, Sevilla, Nerja, El Chorro and the Lakes. Or if you fancy further afield then they have 1 to 7 day tours of Morocco including Tangiers, Fez and Marrakesh. Prices for the short tours are in the region of EUR 30 to EUR 95 and can be booked via the small travel agency, Viajes Ardasa, situated next to the H-10 Andalucia Plaza Hotel, 2 minutes from the Nueva Andalucia roundabout. You can telephone them on 952 281 32 96 or email viajesardasa@jazzfree.com.

Chiringuito Las Cuchis, La Playa Fantastica

Looking for a relaxed, beach side dining experience, one that makes you feel 'in the know' in Marbella, popular with Spanish people and regular visitors? Then check out Chiringuito Las Cuchis, La Playa Fantastica - close to Puerto Banus at the start of the Golden Mile (on the beach) - where they serve fine seafood and meditteranean cuisine in a fab Morrocan style, rustic, beach bar restaurant, with a definite upmarket feel. Run by uber glam mother and daughter team, its a great place to people watch, chill and eat real Spanish seafood. Great on a Sunday (and probably any lunch or early evening during the summer time). Mid to expensive price range. For other recommendations check out 'My Top 5 Chiringuitos and Beach Bars around Marbella'.

If Its Sunday it Must Be Lunch at the Beach!

As well as the fantastic designer beach clubs of Ocean Club, Puro Beach, Nikki Beach etc, you might feel like a different kind of beach dining experience and Puerto Banus and Marbella have loads to offer. Best of all they all offer a different kind of experience. Look for the label 'Chiringuitos' for some of my favourites. For other recommendations visit the blog, 'Travels With a Gourmet', written by a food lover and Marbella local, who knows all the best restaurants and food experiences Marbella has to offer.