Last September, four of my close friends and I went on our first girls holiday, more specifically an 18-30 holiday to Kavos. Since our return, I've been itching to share my experience with my readers and have finally, six months after getting back from our trip, got round to completing my blog post-hoorah.
Where to stay in Kavos for a girls holiday.
Having paid less than £190 each for a weeks' stay, flights and insurance, I wasn't expecting much from our accommodation however I was (pleasantly) surprised. If it's a cheap, friendly place, central to the strip (right by Buzz bar!) that you're looking for, then the Afrodite Complex is ideal and it was! Considering this is a 2 * accommodation, we were made to feel at home- especially being a group of 5 eighteen-year-olds, and felt safe and welcome at Afrodite, a relatively small complex – you could say we perhaps got a little bit too settled into Kavos life!
The five of us stayed in what I like to call our 'granny flat', on the doorstep for the pool and pool bar - a five bedded two storey room with two small bathrooms and a spiral staircase. It was basic and suited our need for somewhere to crash after a night on the strip. The rooms are basic but cleaned often. I’d also, if choosing to stay at Afrodite, strongly encourage you to pay the €40 for Air con as I don’t know how we’d have coped without it. It’s also worth taking a spare towel with you, and old bed linen if you are wary of your deposit, so you don’t get the hotels towels and bedding covered in paint, fake tan or booze. We brought spare towels and received all of our deposit back. On a similar, note, pack spare loo roll as you’ll be provided with a limited supply, otherwise it is sold fairly cheaply at supermarkets nearby.
The pool area is clean, well-lit at night with a large number of sunbeds that are available all day – plenty for everyone without having to get up at the crack of dawn to save them. The staff were friendly and would do anything for you. The pool bar was also clean and serves a wide range of good, quick food - toast and sausage baps were a god send as a hangover cure! Music is also played around the pool so you’ll likely only have a couple of hours -5.00 -9.00 am most likely- in peace.
How cheap are the drinks in Kavos?
I’ll cut to the chase here – your main priority for booking an 18-30 holiday will likely not be for the beautiful Greek cuisine or tranquil beaches, though these are great, you’ll likely want to hear about the nightlife and booze! If you’re looking for ridiculously cheap alcoholic ‘cocktails’ in a hot country, you’re looking in the right place. The strip is packed with bars, which employ annoying-but-persuasive PRs (staff that’ll go to great lengths (even chasing you down the strip) to try to get you into their clubs (all open fronted and open every night aside from your big names like Future, Trinity and Atlantis that open only for the big club nights) with the promise of the lowest priced drinks and the best value. When in Kavos we always started at JC's Bar (close to Buzz Bar and Snobs) as DJ Mad F***er, the resident DJ who’s also part of Afrodite, always had great Indie songs and would have a laugh with us and play our requests. JC’s is great and definitely the only place you should go for a Haribo HeadFu**er (a Kavos special containing 6 spirits and gummy bears. Most places will offer HeadFu**ers for €5 or 'all you can drink for an hour' also for €5 so it's worth bargaining with the PRs. Also, Rodney’s Bar / TKD’s offered another Kavos special ‘the Watermelon’, TKDs also offered great food and their burgers are great – a little pricier on the strip but definitely worth it. We also visited the TexMex restaurant which sold tasty Mexican Food. On the other hand, Olympia, though it may sound attractive with its bargain full English, is one to avoid.
EVENTS
When you arrive in an 18-30 destination, or most hotels really, you will get the usual selling tickets thing from reps but we only received the speech once through the trip – we’d already bought tickets for events online so didn’t opt for the all in wristband that was priced at £220 and. It’s also worth noting at this stage that where we had no problem booking tickets for the Kavos Cruise through ClubbingAway.co.uk, the foam party advertised was no longer running when we visited in September and the Pool Party we’d bought tickets for wasn’t well publicized if it was even running.
If you’re not fussed about events, however, you can still have a great night out without buying tickets for anywhere– though the Full Moon Party was fab (and you get a free top!) along with the Kavos Cruises Boat Party which was fab and included food!
THINGS TO DO IN KAVOS
If you find yourself at a loose end in the daytime, Pedalos are available on the beach for around €3/4 per hour, and are a fun way to ease the hangover and the beaches are kept fairly clean too. Faster water sports are also found up and down the beach and cost around €30-40 a turn.
CONCLUSION - Is Kavos good for a girls holiday?
All in all, Kavos was a brilliant place to spend our first girls holiday- the drink was cheap, nightlife was great and we all felt safe while we were there. You need not learn Greek, and contrary to holiday horror stories, be ‘responsible’ and you shouldn’t end up in a foreign medical establishment. Kavos was an experience that I’ll never forget and one I caught the bug for when I didn’t expect to – if you’re up for a good laugh and a lot of dancing, a holiday to Kavos will be ideal!
If you have any questions about my experience, what I packed, spending money etc. please leave them below.
