A Guide To Malia

Malia is one of the top party destinations for your first girl's or lad's holiday, and is it any wonder? Long sandy beaches, cheap booze and clubs open until 6am EVERY DAY. Not to mention everyone's practically walking around half naked (it wasn't THAT hot). I'm sure if you've seen that episode of Sun, Sex and Suspicious Parents, you would have seen the famous Malia strip and all that goes on during a night out. BUT parents, it's not as bad as it looks, I promise!

I went in July 2013 with my 5 best friends and we had such an amazing time, although it has to be said, that's probably my first and last party holiday. In total I spent just under £600 for 8 day's worth of partying and sunbathing.

So here's my guide to how to survive Malia and save money:

• Book with a less known travel company- booking with travel agencies like Thomas Cook's Club 18-30 comes at a premium. If you look around for other travel sites like Sunmaster and HolidayGenie you will find similar hotels and cheap flight packages for a VERY low cost. Our hotel, Malia Mare, was right on the strip and considering we only paid £350 for flight, accommodation and transfers, it was a bargain. Plus, those sites are ATOL protected, so you can sleep easy.

• Forget the multi-activity offers you see- They may CLAIM to save you money but they don't. Here's an example, we got offered entry to a UV party, Paint party and Safari's White party for €30 because they're "exclusive" events. Sounds good right? Until you find out that entrance to the clubs is actually free, and all you paid for was a lousy t-shirt (Wait...we didn't even get a t-shirt. What. The. F***!). On some nights when there is a special guest performing, you will need to pay, but otherwise, skip the offers and go with the flow (unless you really want the t-shirt).

• Skip the fish bowl offers- NO they don't get you drunk. YES they are watered down and YES they are a waste of money. Buy your own bowl and alcohol and make it yourself during pre-drinks at the hotel, which brings me onto...

• Do as much pre-drinking as you can- This was how I saved A LOT of my money. I didn't bring any cash out with me at night because we'd already pre-drank and were as merry as we wanted to be. This meant I couldn't buy more drinks so I couldn't waste my money! As mentioned, our hotel was on the strip so we didn't need any money for transportation to get back anyway. (FYI, I only spent £227 for the whole 8 days, including souvenirs, food, drinks, everything!)

• Quad bikes? Nuh uh- They were just flat out too expensive. Don't get me wrong, if you want a quad bike, get one but make sure you are aware of all of the consequences should it get damaged. I've heard many stories (unpleasant ones at that) so we decided we didn't want to take the risk. Besides, I was the only one who had a full license so actually knew how to drive- just because you have a provisional doesn't mean you can drive! 

• Go on a Booze Cruise- Notorious for being filled with alcohol and sex, not all booze cruises are THAT bad. We went on the official Malia Booze Cruise and it was AMAZING. A coach picked us up from the strip and took us about 30/45 minutes away to where we boarded the boat. It cost around about €30- that included a return coach, as much alcohol as you wanted and lunch (which to be fair was just a hotdog and crisps).

• Go to the old town- I know that this type of holiday generally isn't about exploring (well, exploring the area anyway) BUT you will be extremely surprised with what you find. We took an afternoon stroll through the old town just off the top of the strip and found an AMAZING restaurant. I mean this restaurant was the MOST SPECIAL thing I had ever seen in my LIFE! And I sincerely mean that. The tables had glass tops and were filled with fairy lights, sand and seashells and the trees around the restaurant were lit up with lights and candles. It looked like it came straight out of a fairy-tale. The food was delicious and because we were nice to the waiter, he gave us free drinks, free starters and free desserts! All we had to pay for was the main meal!

• Get a thai massage on the beach- If you head down to the main beach at the other end of the strip, you'll find loads of bars and sun loungers along the beach. Each bar has a cluster of sun loungers (distinguished by colour) and usually charge around €2.50/€3 per person (this includes free wifi though!). Every now and again someone will come along the beach trying to sell you something like hair braids (€12 each), personalised bracelets (€8 each) and da da da daaaa massages! I paid €10 for 15 minutes of total bliss. A massage, on a beach, in the summer- what more could you want from a holiday? 

• Last but not least, Make sure you go to Star Beach- All 6 of us agreed that this was the highlight of our trip. There was everything there you could ever need- games, music, food, watersports, massages, tattoo studios, the lot. If you're a daredevil, you can go paragliding (around €25 for one person, €72 for 3 people). If you just prefer to watch the waves roll in, you can head to the sand and make up base. There was a bus that took us straight from the tip of the strip to the complex in around 20 minutes and wasn't that expensive (a few euros each). BEWARE of the extra costs though. The beach is free to enter but again you have to pay for sun loungers should you want them. Another option was to have a photoshoot on the beach, which would have been €30 each- we opted out of this and just decided to have our own photoshoot!

A tip for the guys- Malia isn't the safest of places- even though there's a medical centre, the nearest hospital is miles away and there are very rarely any police around- so when groups of drunk guys get together it can either end in two ways: you get along, or you don't. Unfortunately when I was out there, two huge fights kicked off, one ending in a fatality. So lads please, if you're going on a lad's holiday, go to have fun, chill and get girls, not to fight.

My last tip, even though isn't a money saving tip, will help you when you're out there. Be nice to the locals. Trust me, it will serve you well.

If you have any more tips for holidaying in Malia, please feel free to comment below!