How to balance your holiday with activities and downtime

Neilson holidays are also designed to suit your ability or fitness levels. If you’re a beginner, or just fancy dipping your toe into a new sport, then expert staff are on hand to make sure you're happy at all times. Our tennis coaching, for example, is designed by Mark Petchey, a former international competitor and coach to Andy Murray. Mark has used his world-class know-how to make the coaching and lessons accessible to players of all levels. And the same is true across our sports and fitness timetable – the only guarantee is that you’ll enjoy yourself and improve. 

Activities are scheduled, but this is no timetable to stick to, and the only targets are those you set yourself. We know this is especially important for families, who want to forget the schedules and deadlines of school runs and have unlimited, unregulated time to spend together having fun. 

There’s a lot to enjoy and to explore on a Neilson holiday, from world-class water sports to first-class sports coaching, but the key to making your activity holiday both a rewarding and enjoyable experience is balance. Our staff and the design of our activities are all there to help you get that balance right. 

If your perfect holiday means challenging yourself, then you're able to do just that, packing in as many activities as possible. If you’d rather take it easy, and paddle a kayak now and again or jump on a bike ride to the local village for ice cream then that’s perfectly OK too! Our activity planners should be seen as menus of what-ifs rather than schedules of I-musts. Here’s how we think you can get the best out of everything that's available to you. 

First of all, make the most of the fantastic team. Activity managers and instructors are knowledgeable enthusiasts and can really add some depth to your understanding of what each activity can deliver.

The Activity Manager can help you design a week that works for you, and the welcome meeting on the first full day of your holiday will give you a great idea of what to expect from each class or activity. You’ll also get a chance to meet our instructors, and for some people establishing a personal rapport with a trainer adds another dimension to their experience. 

You can then browse the planner. If you do have a particular focus – tennis, fitness, sailing, cycling – then sign up for those activities first. If that leaves you with time on your hands then you could dive into something else. There is a lot to try, and our expert, experienced instructors know how to make beginners welcome in our classes, all of which are available for guests of different ability levels. 

The keyword at Neilson beachclubs is flexibility. That’s why we offer such a broad range of activities, whilst also offering the chance to take any single activity to an advanced level. You can dip into a range of things or dig deep into your passion for tennis, sailing or cycling for example. 

Our kids’ clubs are drop-in and drop-out with a variety of activities throughout the day, so your children can pick and choose what they would like to do. This is great news for families, most of us live busy lives that are very managed, and free, unstructured time together is as precious as it is rare. The last thing you need after a year of rushed school runs and stressed-out commutes is a holiday club that treats you like a cog in their operation. 

There are plenty of activities you can do together as a family, or with a group of friends – and our experience is that you’ll soon have lots of new friends. So, alongside the heavy hitting of our one-on-one coaching, Neilson tennis courts are accustomed to the sound of laughter in our social tennis sessions or a booze and balls evening. The kids can take in some water polo in the kids’ club before meeting up with mum and dad to jump on stand up paddle board and an easy, fun paddle in the calm sea.  

From the beach to the ocean to the yoga mat, Neilson activity holidays are all about variety, choice and flexibility. 

Beautiful settings and super high-quality facilities – in your room and the restaurant as well as in the gym - help to set the scene for relaxation and enjoyment with as much of a challenge as you want to give yourself. And whether you’ve spent the day busy doing nothing or breaking PBs, there’s a whole world of fantastic food, friendly socials and local adventures to complete your perfect day. 

Neilson provides the framework, but you design your own Neilson holiday experience in the way that fits you best.