All facilities are close at hand on the Dona Lola complex ....several bars & restaurants, shops, cafes, 3 swimming pools, tennis-courts, and leisure centre with heated pool, fully-equipped gym, sauna, steam-rooms and snooker room. The outdoor pool begins at a shallow end safe for youngsters, and then just meanders right alongside the sea for 270 feet and under 2 lovely white bridges before reaching the deep end. Dozens of loungers and umbrellas surround the pool, and it's a lovely place to relax, with the hypnotic sound of the waves lapping up the beach and against the rocky outcrops providing snooze-inducing background music. There's an area around the pool for the youngsters to gather, with pool-tables. Our sheltered over 18's swimming pool offers a quieter facility at peak-times. There are loads more loungers & umbrellas here, and you're within easy reach of the bar / bistro in a lovely sun-trap amongst waterfalls & ponds. There are beach bars nearby, and within a couple of minutes walk from the apartment there are several more good-value bars & restaurants - including English, Chinese, Indian, Spanish, and a reasonably-priced 'open-all-day-buffet-restaurant'. Within a short driving distance there are theme restaurants at Cabopino, and more upmarket restaurants towards Marbella. There is a very useful mini-market on the complex offering very reasonable prices on a large variety of produce, and two larger ones just across the main road. There are tennis courts on the complex, and there are snooker, pool, and table-tennis tables in the indoor leisure centre. There are good places in the sea close by for snorkelling. On beaches within easy reach of the resort you can try water-skiing, jet-biking, sailing, and wind-surfing. Dona Lola is very much a family resort, and as such children and teenagers are very well catered for. In the summer months there is a children's club with a really nice Spanish events organiser. A great variety of activities are arranged for all ages throughout the day, from 5-a-side football, tennis / table-tennis competitions, French Boules games, and paella-making demonstrations. There is free evening entertainment throughout the year. From Dona Lola you can walk along the beach for as long as you want in both directions. Walking right for thirty minutes will bring you to the attractive harbour village of Cabopino, with it's cheerful beach-bar, a few up-market restaurants, and beautiful beach. Walking left will take you to La Cala, a more typically Spanish sea-side fishing village, with another nice beach, and lots of bars and good-value restaurants. You'll pass beach-bars (or not! as the case may be) within ten minutes in either direction. You could jump on a bus if you don't fancy the return walk, or get a taxi. In short, there's everything on or around Dona Lola that you could possibly want from a Spanish holiday at whatever time of the year. If you want to explore the Costa del Sol more thoroughly, Calahonda is the perfect place to be based as it is ideally situated Fuengirola and Marbella, both about 10 minutes drive away. There's an an excellent bus service along the coast, with buses running every 25 minutes to Fuengirola and Marbella, stopping off at lots of beaches, villages, and attractions on the way. If you wish to travel further afield in the Malaga (Easterly) direction, a train will whisk you along the coast from Fuengirola to Malaga (only 25minutes away) via such tourist hotspots as Benalmadena and Torremolinos. There are many attractions in a westerly direction emminently worthy of serious exploration including elegant Marbella (where every day is a fashion show), Puerto Banus (up-market marina surrounded by restaurants of every nationality, theme bars and designer shops), the lovely unspoilt town of Estepona (glorious beach & characterful tree-lined promenade), Selwo Adventure Park (where else can you observe hundreds of wild birds of all sizes & species, and from many different countries, as you walk through a stunning semi-tropical valley .........with a net over the top ! ), and Gibraltar (where you can enjoy magnificent cliff-side & ocean views from a cable car, meet the Barbary Apes, explore miles of rock-tunnels, and save serious money on drinks & cigarettes.) The attractions of the Costa del Sol are not only lined up along the coast. You need only to drive into the mountains inland to discover what some refer to as the "real Spain", those characterful "white" villages hidden away within folds of rock. The nearest, and I think the prettiest, is Mijas, just 15 minutes drive from Dona Lola. The views from the very reasonably-priced restaurants there are nothing less than breathtaking. It just NEEDS to be visited ! And if you decide not to hire a car, which isn't a necessity here on Dona Lola, but you want to see more of the Costa del Sol, no problem. Just book a space on a coach at the Dona Lola reception. There are many organised trips to such spectacular places as Ronda, Nerja, and Seville, and to the less-spectacular, but interesting nevertheless, Tangiers ! You can often partake in a FREE reception trip to Malaga or Mijas, or to the market at Fuengirola.