I have been taking my 5.5 yo daughter to the swimming lessons for 2 weeks. They do swimming lessons…read more(group and individual), beach camp for kids and surfing lessons. My review is for the swimming lessons. The good: If you miss a day (or more) the staff is always helpful to reschedule an other time or an other day on weekends. In 2011, the swimming teacher is/was Pierre. He has a great contact with kids. We liked his way of teaching swimming and my daughter is now completely autonomous in a pool. She can even do back stroke. Next year we are taking our youngest daughter (she is too young this year). In 2011, the staff is Nicolas (pool and beach camp) and Aurore (surfing). They are both very friendly and helpful. Swimming lessons start at 4 yo. Surfing lessons start at 6 yo. If you take a 10-day program you will get a discount. Start with 5-day program and if you like it the staff will apply the discount on the 2nd week. The not so good: The pool water is a bit cold. But they provide kids wetsuits (shorty). Summer 2011 was a bit rainy and cold, so I would guess pool water temp is usually warmer. The bad: None I can think of.

The Public pool in Biarritz is a salt-water pool with 2 basins (the one for swimmers is 25 Meters…read morelong) and 1 whirlpool. There are also some lounge-chairs from which you have a great view of the beach. Sauna and a Hamman are also available but I didn't use those. The entrance fee is dead cheap (2,50€ for a single adult, 10 entrances cost 18€) but the entrance system is needlessly time consuming. After paying they give you a plastic card with your entry code that you then feed to the entry turnstile literally half a meter next to the lady behind the counter, the card is then gone and has no more use - even if you buy ten entrances you still go through this procedure every time you arrive. You show your paper that says 10 entries to get and electronic card and It takes quite long to charge these cards for each customer. It would be a lot faster to just "buzz" people through the turnstile than do what they do with these cards. Lockers use 50cent pieces. Changing rooms and showers are separated for men and women - but there are only few individual changing cabins (at least on the men side) and those who are there are quite small. The Changing area and the showers are dimly lit, quite old and not welcoming. The basins are in good shape and the pool hall is a nice place to be. The (salt)water was a tad too warm for my taste though. Overall a nice small pool (that could do with some modernizations) that you can go to when the weather doesn't permit to swim in the ocean.

After writing review after review of my eating habits in Spain, which on a given day, will include…read moreenough ice cream, magdalenas, empanadas, and wine for 6 people, I have a confession to make: I always exercise while visiting. It's closely related to my other addiction in Spain: shopping. The clothing at Blanco runs small by American standards, and we all know (Laura A. especially) you can never have too many dresses or jeans from Blanco. Health clubs, gyms, and yoga studios have the tendency to be expensive in Cantabria. Therefore, I was happy to discover that the Hotel Real in Santander offers free gym access for its guests to Thalasso Real. The buildings are adjacent to one another; all one needs to do is walk through a parking lot. Thalasso Real is first and foremost a day spa, with massage services, a sauna, and waxing services. I cannot provide any opinion or observation on these amenities because I have not used them, but according to the price list, everything seems very expensive. The gym itself is alright; it is definitely not on-par with the grandiose marketing that the spa uses for its other services. There is one treadmill, a stair master, and a few exercise bikes, a small rack of free weights (nothing above 10kg - apologies to all of the bodybuilders out there), and one of those Bow-flex type weight machines. The view from the fitness room is lovely though; the stretches of beaches and little houses that dot the steep terrain along the Bay of Santander are beautiful and make you forget that you're sweating out all of last night's overindulgence.