Children and grown-ups get to play all day on this Sail, Surf and Cycle holiday. Last August the family Parker headed for the sun as David Parker reports.
Finnikounda, in Greece's south-west Peloponnese, is an ideal location for a family activity holiday. If you want to encourage anyone to go sailing, this is the place to do it. The hotel is next to the beach, the boats are on the beach, and the village is a short walk away along the beach. And just above the beach is the swimming pool. It's a very nice beach by the way.
The activities on offer are dingy sailing, windsurfing and mountain biking. There are children clubs which cater for babies and youngsters up to 13, and there' s tuition for all the activities on offer. RYA qualified instructors supervise the sailing and windsurfing and you will, if you want to, finish this holiday with an RYA qualification. This is also a very safe place for a family holiday. As one guest put it, "the reason we came back this year is that this is the safest place I know to bring my children and where they can have the freedom to do their own thing."

Club land
This type of activity holiday has a great deal to offer singles, couples and families. We looked at it mainly from the latter perspective and the children's' clubs were a major factor for many families when deciding on this particular holiday. The Starfish Club is for little ones four months to two years, costs £150 per week and the club aims for a service of one qualified nanny (NNEB or equivalent) per two children. It's an optional extra and the basic cost of taking a child under two on one of these holidays is an administration fee of £25.
	The Sea Urchins Club, which caters for two to five-year-olds, and the Surfbusters Club (5-13 years) run 9.30-5.30, six days a week, and are free. For a supplement of £90 (£135 for two weeks) there's also an optional Hot Shots Club for those 8-13 year olds who want to learn to sail or windsurf. Qualified instructors who can take the youngsters through to RYA Junior awards run this. Babysitting services are available and children's' trips are organised in the evenings once a week if parents want a night out alone. Our own children Elena 5, Jack 4 and Amy 2 were in the Sea Urchins, the youngest group. We thought this was an exceptionally good club capably run by Sue Maidment who took time to get to know the children and gain their confidence from the start. The crèche is well equipped, cool and spacious. Our children couldn't wait to get to the club every morning where they had alot of fun and were extremely well looked after.
Part of the daily routine includes swimming in the pool and in the sea, going to the park and having ice creams and treats in the village. The crèche has off-road pushchairs including a single and double buggy. For 'quieter' times in Sea Urchins - and to get out of the sun - there are videos to watch or creative indoor activities such as making fancy dress costumes. There's one development we'd like to see and that's a play park on site at the hotel- i.e. a climbing frame/slide/swings. This would be a real advantage because in the heat of the day it can be quite a long walk to the park in the village. Some parents felt that, initially, youngsters who could swim and who weren't in Hot Shots weren't getting out on the water enough. Marion and Guy Jones from Winchester have two children, Hannah 10 and Liam 8. Guy commented: "The first week here our children went out onto the water once. We complained about this which took the edge of the first week. It's only since the beginning of the second week that they've actually been doing what we thought they'd be doing all along. The staff now seem to be putting an awful lot of effort in with the children and they seem to be enjoying themselves a lot more." But all the parents we spoke to agreed on one vital aspect of this beautiful location with its non-tidal waters. The hotel, beach and village felt very safe for children day and night. In southern Greece you can also rely on the weather and shorts and tea-shirts are all you'll need.

Busy relaxing
While the children are being looked after, the adults can take full advantage of the RYA tuition at this RYA approved centre. Nigel and Suzanne Brown have two sons Nicolas 10 and Andrew 4. Suzanne particularly liked the informal hands on approach of the holiday. "With other charter companies we've been with they rig everything up for you and send you
	off, then de-rig it. The benefit of the RYA courses is that they make you do things for yourselves which means you learn more." Nigel also pointed out that at this centre everything is extremely convenient. "I like it all being together - at other places we've seen that the hotel is away from the beach or the sailing centre." Also because everything is close-by it's easy to keep an eye on the children if you wanted to pop in and out of the clubs between sailing sessions On this holiday you can qualify for your level one and level two dinghy sailing or level one and level two windsurfing. The youngsters in the Hotshots club can get RYA Junior levels stages 1-3.

Boats for all
The centre is well equipped with over thirty boats, fifty windsurf boards (plus seventy rigs) and twenty mountain bikes. I counted twelve Picos, six Laser 1s, two Laser 3000s, one Laser 2000, two Topper Buzzes, one Hobie 16, two Dart 16s, two 505s, one Laser Stratos and three Wayfarers, plus a 2000 and a Hobie under repair. Although quite old, the Wayfarers are all serviceable, and most of the other boats are new and reasonably well maintained.
	Groups on courses take priority for boats, but in practice we found that there were plenty to go round, and all the guests were usually able to sail what they wanted to. I managed to sail all the boats during our fortnight, and most enjoyed the Hobie and the Wayfarer - my wife, Jenny, preferred the Picos.
The variety of the activities on offer also means older children can go off and do their own thing giving them independence while still being on a family holiday. Nathan and Ingrid Blau with son Stephen aged 14 came to Finnikounda last year. This is the first
place they've ever been to twice. They're particularly impressed with the standard of tuition here and the fact that there's something for everybody. "But if you don't like the activities you can still have a standard beach holiday," said Nathan. As parents they felt happy for their son to go into the town at night with other youngsters. "You can let young teenagers loose and not worry," said Ingrid, "it's the ideal thing about Finnikounda."
For Terry and Collette Francis with sons Martin 19 and Peter 16 it was also a return trip to Finnikounda from the previous year. The main reason they also came back was because of the safety of the resort. The centre's moved up the beach since they were last here which they say has reduced the sailing area and launching area - which can get a bit congested. They recommend putting a lookout tower on stilts - the 'Beach Boss' is at sea level and a raised observation point would expand their field of view. There are, though, enough support and rescue boats on site and sufficient staff to man them.

Dedicated staff
One thing all the holidaymakers we spoke to enthused about was the terrific staff Neilson had running the activities. "I'm amazed at the outstanding quality of the people who run this," said Mark Blatchly on holiday with his wife Julia. "The staff are genuinely
	enthusiastic and really do love being here and being helpful." Julia thought the holiday would be a good way to introduce her husband to watersports. He became a proficient windsurfer during his time here and both enjoyed the mountain biking. They told us as soon as they got back they wanted to book the same holiday for next year. However, as a GP Julia highlighted one
problem brought up several times during our interviews. "For people who need
antibiotics or any form of medical attention it's virtually a whole day out to one of the larger towns," she said. "There have been two or three people who needed changes in their medication. It might be useful to have medical expertise visit the site." With the vigorous activities on offer a physiotherapist or masseur would have certainly have been a very popular visitor to this hotel.
I hurt my ribs one day and most people could proudly show you a few cuts and bruises from the day's activities, some had cuts which got infected. Pico-knees were a favourite - not a Chinese dog but something to do with sand in the bottom of a little yellow boat. Julia had badly blistered hands from trying to hoist jamming spinnakers. Neilson point out in their brochures that it's a good idea to bring sailing gloves. Also we'd recommend that before going out in any of the boats you check them thoroughly. Equipment gets used heavily and is not always left by previous users in prime condition.

The daily routine
	The day usually begins with a mountain bike organised for eight o'clock in the morning. Then there's a briefing at ten o'clock after breakfast. Following this people meet up with their instructors for theory talks and to organise the morning's activities which usually go on until 12.30. To get the full flavour of the holiday, Jenny did an RYA level one dinghy course, while I took level two. Some of the theory talks
were brilliant, the staff using inventive ways to liven up subjects. Once you've seen a bucket of water poured over someone's head to demonstrate sail theory you won't forget it. After lunch at two o'clock there's another briefing, followed by an afternoon's sailing and tuition with another bike ride at 5.30. There's never any pressure forcing anyone to be anywhere at any time. It's all extremely relaxed and you can drop in and out of groups as you wish. Most people found it beneficial to join a group and stick with it. Built into the schedule are free days, Wednesday and Sundays, when you can put into practice new skills or try and refine rusty ones ... or just read and laze by the pool. There's also taster sessions where you can try an activity with an instructor to see if you like it. Fridays offered a daysail to a beach, and a picnic, which I joined on the second week with a Wayfarer, taking along a couple who hadn't sailed before - we had an excellent sail. On Saturdays there's normally a regatta, but ours was cancelled because of strong winds - apparently a rare occurrence. Steady 'cross shore' winds rule here, which is good for most dinghy sailing and windsurfing - if anything the breezes area little light for the more experienced windsurfers. Not only are the staff dedicated instructors during tuition periods, they also work hard organising evening trips, après sail activities and entertainment such as lighthearted "booze and betting regattas" on the beach. In general there was a bit of a feeling that while the energetic Neilson staff couldn't do enough for you, the hotel didn't exhibit the same level of motivation, and niggling problems took a long time to get fixed.
Most people were happy with their rooms but felt an extra £20 per week for a fridge was a bit over the top. Guests felt some rooms lacked storage. We also found the hotel expensive for food and drinks. For special occasions, such as welcoming new people in or saying goodbye to the leavers, special meals were organised. However, for a family these tended to be a much more expensive night than going into the town. For example a Fanta and portion of chips for the children at one of these set meals cost £3.00 each! We found you could rely on getting better substantially better value taking the short walk along the beach. Finikounda itself was described to us as being "just the right size and just the right distance away." This sums it up perfectly as it's small enough to retain its charm of being a Greek village by the sea but large enough to offer a reasonable selection of shops, restaurants, tavernas and bars. Take time to explore the restaurants - We'd recommended Pyscho's, Joannhe's
or Mama Tunas - at the latter they'll invite you into the kitchen so you can see what's on the menu. They make children very welcome. The village also has two very good bakeries (great for snacks), a supermarket and smaller shops along the main street.

Take to the hills
The mountain biking is run by Clive Andrews and Simon Evamy and you've got to have a go at this. And watch out for the Clive and Simon show at a mountain near you. These guys should take their bike talks on tour. They are an extremely entertaining double act. If you've been beaten up by a Pico all day, setting off into the Greek hills is the perfect antidote. My own regret on this holiday is that my rib injury prevented me doing more mountain biking than I actually did. We saw all shapes and sizes, all ages and persuasions going on the mountain bike rides. If they can get you on a bike they'll find you somewhere to ride it. The equipment is first rate, and the bikes were much better than most of the holiday makers had been used to back home.
There are beginner rides, intermediate rides or day rides to towns like Methoni and Koroni. The average ride is between 5/10 miles, the longer ones work out at 25-30 miles. Rides could be tailored to any particular group.
	The rides are a great way to explore the countryside and villages by the sea. "We get people who come along for the sailing and end up going home and buying a mountain bike'" said Clive. (He's right - on our return to the UK I bought a mountain bike.) The schedule is arranged so you don't have to choose between biking and sailing, you can do both. If you don't want to go on an organised ride then you can borrow the bikes and do your own thing.
You don't need to be super fit for these rides either but as Clive points out "If you've got a little bit of fitness there are more rides which you might enjoy. Just bike to work a few times before you come here and get a few miles in. " The pace is dictated by the slowest in the group and there are café stops along the way. And it's often not who you'd expect who like to venture off-road into the hills. "You get quite a lot of teenagers coming along who might be up for the mountain biking," said Clive, "then their mums have a look. And they say 'No mum - you won't enjoy this,' but the mums have a go and absolutely falling in love with it." So take your pick. You can Surf, Sail or Cycle. But whichever activity you go for there's one thing you can rely on in southern Greece - gorgeous weather. The trouble is those warm, clear waters are going to completely spoil you for sailing back home …