Updates about Sania Plage and the area...photos August 2015 by PaulH
Sunset after a beautiful sunny day
Ceuta View
Pool Views
Beach
Gardens
Plants to close off Pool area
Perimeter Plants
Pool Access Gate - wristband required!
Shop
Photos 2012 (by frank)
Visited August and the complex was looking good, and much work had taken place since my last visit. There were many apartments in use, and certainly quite a few front line people have also now taken over their apartments. All the paths have now been paved, along with the beachfront plaza area. A set of steps on the far side of the complex which was washed away in the winter floods has still to be repaired. Whilst we were there, it appeared that the pump to one of the pools packed in - again! The pool quickly turned dirty and was put out of use. It was being cleaned every day to get it back up and running. Anyway, there was always the other pool and the Med to use...The weather was pretty warm - as expected, but it was great to swim in the Med. I don't have aircon (as yet) so looked forward to the chance to cool off each day. I tended to go to the beach about 4pm - as I am not a fan of being baked.
ReplyDeleteThere were a few new light displays on the way to M'diq - and some of them are moving light displays. These are quite large installations on roundaboutsand at the side of the road - at this rate they could rival Blackpool in the future.
Across the Road from Sania Plage, they have built a restaurant above the general store. This only opened in August and we used it a few times - the food was good and reasonably priced less than 40 Dhm for a meal: Burgers, kebabs, pizzas, tagines etc Limited choice at the moment, and the bill is written on a napkin, but quality was excellent and another option to the garage if you don't want to go too far.
Whilst on the subject of food - we had a meal in the 'Meridiana' and that is one of the best restaurants I have found so far in the area. Really smart inside - if you fancy a treat - go there! They also serve wine...so a glass of red wine with a really nice filet steak (with pepper sauce of course) went down well. Steak was about 140 Dhm - just over £10. Expensive for the area, but well worth it if you fancy treating yourself!
Part2
ReplyDeleteRamadan started whilst we were there. There was quite a big change in the area - it was still busy, but went noticeably quieter during the day. It seemed to get really busy after 9pm and at midnight in M'diq you would find that the shops and markets were very busy and there were even people on the beach and swimming in the sea! This area is quite traditional in Ramadan. We went to Asillah on the Atlantic coast one day, and because that is more of a European tourist haunt we found it MUCH more relaxed and could get lunch with a beer sitting outside the restauant. We found a really nice beach close to Asillah, and it was good to see the sunset - as you don't really get to see sunset properly at Sania Plage.
Thankfully you can still get alcohol in Marjane during Ramadan - if you can face the 'walk of shame'. Basically you need to ask (until someone says yes), if you can be let into the beer and wine section (which is locked by a shutter, and hidden behind a stack of non-alcohlic drinks like fruit juice etc.). You need to show security your passport, and they will open up for you - taking a note of your passport number, whilst people passing by take a little interest in what you are up to. Then you have to be prepared to scan the items yourself, as the check-out person may not want to handle alcohol during Ramadan. We went to one till and the check-out girl looked quite perturbed that we were approaching her! We swerved the trolly to another till and the bloke at that desk had no problem, and even scanned the items himself.
Went to Tangier for a visit. What made it more interesting, is that we had watched the 'Bourne Ultimatum' on DVD the night before. If you have not seen it there is a lot of exciting action set in Tangier, and we were able to find some of the places used in the film. I was surprised to find Tangier a great relaxing place provided you do not drive around in it too much). I had read a lot of negatives about Tangier - but I can only be positive about Tangier - seemed a quite friendly place, until things kicked off...whilst we were sitting on a bench in the Grand Soco by the fountain, a taxi driver managed to knock a man and a boy off their bicycles. The man, got up quickly and, through the window, punched the taxi driver in the head Jason Bourne style.. within seconds a big crowd had gathered to watch the commotion, and the police who were supposed to be directing traffic on the roundabout were there to sort it out. Nobody was hurt and the only damage seemed to be a bent wheel on the bicyle...
Will be there from 21st to 31st Ocober.
Just returned from 10 days in Morocco. Weather was great, and it seemed to be about 24 degrees most days with a good deal of sunshine. Autumn certainly arrived back home while we were away!
ReplyDeleteJust managed to do a few days work on the apartment, putting up light fittings, hammock etc. Based on Niks comments I also did a bit on the security of the apartment.
I was quite impressed by the number of workers on site - the gardens were well tended and looking good. There still appears to be problems with one of the pools which got drained while we were there, and there seemed quite a few security people about too.
Apart from the diy had a full week just chilling. Getting to know my way around the medina in Tetuan now, and am getting quite good at getting rid of the touts that always seem to approach me.
Tried the restaurant El Reducto just inside the Medina, and was very impressed...and they can do beer/wine with the meal. Also off the main drag we found the Restaurant Restinga (read about it in the rough guide) which was good for lunch (and you can get a beer there too). Another retaurant we tried for the first time was La Ferma (ok - yes they do beer there too) - the lamb tagine was good but the rest was just OK. Couldn't resist going back to the Meridiana for a steak au poivre and the good write up I gave it last time remains. If anyone knows of other good restaurants to try let me know. Someone recommended Tamouda Fish in M'diq - hopefully will get there next time.
A useful tip is to use a Moroc Telecom sim while you are out there - the sim card was 20 dirham - which gives you that amount of credit. I took 3 old phones out there - 2 to get unlocked from Orange (so they could accept the Moroccan sim)and one to get fixed as it needed a new screen. Got them all sorted in M'diq for less than £30 which seemed great - that way we were able to have a few moroc mobiles on the go to keep in touch when we were all out and about very cheaply. I ran up £80 on my uk mobile when out there last, so this time I left a voicemail on my UK phone with the moroccan mobile number for people to get in touch - AND THEN SWITCHED IT OFF. It's amazing how few calls you get abroad when the person calling is paying!!
Getting there this time, I tried the Ryanair route Liverpool - Tangiers via Milan, only due to the low price when I booked it...came back with Easyjet via Madrid. Really could do with some direct flights from the North to Tangier!! Had some family stay with us this time, and they used Monarch on the Manchester to Gibraltar route which they said was good.
Have been advised that the weather proofing failed on our block during heavy rains 3 weeks ago, causing water penetration through ceilings of bedrooms. Just wondering how many others suffered the same problem?
ReplyDeleteHoping to visit at the end of March and currently looking at flights Dublin-Paris(BVA)-Tangier. However, there is a connecting time of 2 and a half hours and I'm a bit worried if this is long enough to allow for any delays that might occur. Has anyone used this route - I'd be grateful for any feedback?
Just back from 10 days out there, will post something later - as I have just lost 20 minutes worth of typing my update on this blog, so do not have the patience to type it all out again just now...GGGRRRRRRR
ReplyDeleteThe weather on our visit was out there was fine, about 24 degrees (just like the UK!) couple days were cloudy and others windy – more about that later.
ReplyDeleteThe Liverpool to Gibraltar with easyjet was great (for me anyway), I was surprised that it was only a short 5 minute walk from the airport to the taxi rank in La Linea in Spain. A brand new much bigger terminal is being built in Gibraltar, so they are planning to expand significantly the number of flights coming in. Left our bags at the airport and wandered into Gibraltar for a look round – inevitably ended up in Morrison’s buying odd things like: HP sauce, Pork Sausages and Hammerite paint to take to Morocco.
Gibraltar airport is not a good place to land a plane at the best of times. Both ends of the run ways end up in water, and a busy road runs through the middle, there are also usually high winds that the pilot had warned us about when we took off from Liverpool. As we were coming to land, a gust of wind hit the plane and it appeared to fall causing everyone to give out a loud yelp. We took a taxi to Algeciras and when we arrived we found all the Ceuta fast ferries were cancelled due to the high winds. Fortunately we were able to get a normal ferry to Tanger Med. It went up and down and side to side a lot – like in ‘the perfect storm’.
Sania Plage is looking good. The exterior painting is looking well overdue, the tennis court seems to be coming on at a pace – I would imagine it will be ready for the summer. Again they had done an excellent job clearing up after yet more major floods this winter. Had some flood damage in my apartment due to the heavy rains which came in from the terrace. Thanks to Brian (who looks after my apartment) the damage was limited and I did some DIY to sort the damage out whilst I was there. I added extra drainage to the terrace and thresholds to the external doors – Thanks to Adrian for loaning me the tools and helpful advice.
On a positive note in the area a lot of work was going on – building a series of pumping stations along the coast and huge concrete drains were being put in many places. I can only assume this is to help with the flooding but if anyone has any information let me know. Also, work seems to have started apace on the Ritz Carlton Hotel/Marina/Golf Club across the road. The hotel at Sania Plage is no where to be seen apart from a big hole full of water.
I have sung the praises on this blog before about the Meridiana restaurant BUT this time I found a cockroach in my dinner. I kid you not. They offered me another meal of the menu (…er…something without cockroach in it?), but I told everyone to stop eating and we left 6 filet steaks dinners on the table and walked out. I think they were a bit bemused, not sure if they wanted me to pay for the starters, wine, beer and gin and tonic’s we had but they did not come running after me!
We found a nice eatery in M’diq called something like Kabila by the post office, as you can imagine I wanted somewhere pretty safe and cockroach free to go for my next meal out. This place looks spotless and the kitchen is open so you can see what is going on. The meals were really good and really cheap – I had an excellent beef tagine for 35DH we had 6 meals and drinks (sadly only water) and the bill came to about £15!
Chico’s bar was good as usual, and we did a bit too much DIY for my liking on this visit. We managed without a car for a few days whilst doing the DIY, but found it very difficult to get taxi’s outside SP. The buses were crammed as usual. If anyone has any tips on getting taxi’s with minimum hassle locally please let me know.
Made another trip to Chefchouen, and did a bit more exploring with a hire car from Steve. If anyone can suggest a good place for a day trip apart from Chef’, Tangier and Asilah let me know. Would like to explore further along the Med coast…has anyone been that way?
We are back out there again in about 5 weeks. We met some new faces - Paul and June from P block, and hope to meet more of you in the future.
Hi Hilary - I have not done the specific route you are looking at, but have flown several times into Tangier with flights from Easyjet and Ryanair. I have been via Paris and Madrid.
ReplyDeleteI think I had a connection time of 2 and a half hours the last time, and there was an hour delay on the Ryanair flight out of Tangier, which made it pretty tight...fortunately there was also a delay on the Easyjet flight out of Madrid to Liverpool so we were OK, but it was a bit stressful. Generally though I have found that the flights (particularly Ryanair) run very close to schedule, so have not had a problem.
Just returned from 10 days in Morocco. As you can see from the photo above, we enjoyed a spectacular lightning storm over Sania Plage during the first night there. Just made it back from Chico's before it all kicked off. Perhaps that was the last of the rain before the summer? The weather was great 26 degrees or so during the day and 20 degrees in the evening.
ReplyDeleteTravelled on the Liverpool to Gibraltar route again, and this time there were no problems.
Nothing adventurous to report, just did a bit of relaxing with visiting family and the obligatory bit of diy making mosquito screens.
Good to meet some new people Franco and Lorraine, and others again (sorry John and Karen to only have time for a brief chat in between finishing our meal and you starting yours...)
The development looks pretty finished now, and I understand that the developer hopes to hand over to a syndique in July. Whilst I was there the painters arrived to re-paint white bits of the outside of our block. Hope the blue bits are done for when we are back in July!
Also there seemed to be new hoardings up advertising details for the hotel on Sania Plage, and some activity seemed to have taken place there. The tennis court seems to be in the last stages of being completed...
One pool was in operation and well used while we were there.
The water park and fair was open, but Marina Smir was very quiet (the old MRI office has now been obliterated!!).
Work is really cracking on at the Ritz Carlton Development...this will be a super addition to our locality. Check out the link http://rctamudabay.com/
Hi everyone, i am Brahim, the man who was in charge of Sania Plage for over five years, some of you might already met me known me for a while, i am now working freelance, and would be happy to provide you with my services, that includes snagging, rentals etc..
ReplyDeleteFeel free to contact me at: moroccoproperties@gmail.com or call my associate Mehdi at this number +212669799088
Best regards
BRAHIM
Hi
ReplyDeleteWe had hoped to rent out our apartment summer (July/August) but as yet without success. We have had an e mail giving us amongst many reasons "the major factor as been the condition of the complex itself, hallways covered in black mould, underground car parks full of stench and mud from the winter/spring floods which they are still clearing as we speak, and then to top it all the main sewage pump failed and raw sewage as been spilling out onto the beach."
I was wondering if anyone else found the complex currently as described.
Thank You
Mark (E8)
Hi Mark,
ReplyDeleteI was able to rent appartements. if you need help i full rental managment services do not hesitate to contact me for more information.
My Email Adress is:hatim@medlanticproperties.com
my phone number is +212672893711
I hope this helps,
Hatim,
Hi Mark,
ReplyDeleteI was at Sania Plage for 3 weeks late July/early August and do not recognise the description you were given of the site.
SP was very full with a lot of apartments being used – it was actually difficult to find car parking spaces because it so busy!
My block (A block) had been repainted in the entrance and communal areas and has never looked better – any past water damage had been repaired – no sign of mould looked perfect. That being said, I did wander into E block for you, which has not been attended to yet in the communal areas but it didn’t seem so bad. The underground car parks were clear of any water and mud that had been there – they need a clean now, but there was no smell in the car park under my block or your block. Didn’t hear about that sewage situation, but the sea was clean, and there were thousands of people using the beach and sea along that stretch. All in all the site was looking good – and it was good bonus that there were no mosquitos about this summer for some reason! Will load up some pics when I can….
Paul
Hi Paul H
ReplyDeleteThanks for your reply. It is good to hear your positive comments.
Thanks for your help.
Mark
Please, if you wont to receive a news letter, about Sania plage, or Syndic Sania Plage work, contact us by e-mail to: saniaplage@gmail.com
ReplyDeleteIf you wont to receive a news letter about Sania plage or Syndic Sania plage work, please contact us by e-mail to: saniaplage@gmail.com.
ReplyDeleteThanks
Dear All
ReplyDeleteJust to let you know there are at least 4 people on the hotel site with a JCB doing some work plus draining the lake which was hotel foundations.
I don't want to raise hopes but there is possibility that they beinging to do work on the hotel site.
The site looks good with one useable pool, the one closest to hotel which is cleaned every day.
There ahve alos been number of people on site using the complex, which is positive sign.
Take Care
Nik
N16
Nik those people are still at the hotel site working away. I believe the new syndique managed to get something moving on it because it was an eyesore and detrimental to our complex(even though it is not the syndiques responsibility)
ReplyDeleteThe work on the Ritz Carlton is cracking along, and I was told that the apartments and villas there are all sold out.
Hi All
ReplyDeleteJust returned returned from 2 weeks in Sania Plage and thought I would provide you with a little update:
I was blessed with good weather, day temperatures ranged from between 15 and 20 degrees. A couple of days with showers though, otherwise mostly clear blue skiis. Nights were colder (of course), between 5 and 10 degrees.
The new security guards (with their 'smart' uniforms) appears to do a reasonably good job. My identity was requested upon arrival and checked against an 'owners' list they had. I was also stopped by guards a couple of times whilst wondering about the complex.
The pools needed cleaning, but otherwise looked in a reasonably good condition.
However, for the first time during my visits, I did not see any landscaping / gardening work being carried out. Looked OK though. Let's hope it's just a seasonal thing!
I saw no signs of work to the hotel site; in fact it looked as dreadful as ever.
I went to speak to (Ms) Kaoutar Zaoui & (Mr) Abdel Kader in the Syndic's office. The office is open Monday to Friday from 10am to 5pm and Kaoutar will be there doing the 'day to day' administration. They were very friendly and helpful. I manage to pay my Council tax with the kind assistance of Kaoutar. Sadly they seem to be 'up against it' with regards to the Developer who is reluctant (to say the least) to finish off all the snagging . . and there is a lot of it apparently! Some apartments have problems with water and electricity supply. One of the problems they (the Syndic) has is collecting the yearly 'maintenance fee' all the owner's have to pay. Most (but NOT all) non-Moroccans have paid, but there seems to be a significant number of Moroccans that have 'forgotten' or just won't pay! And of course, without everyone paying up, it will be difficult to keep the communal areas in a satisfactory condition. I think the Syndic would welcome any suggestions on how to deal with this problem. As I understand it, there is no straight forward solution to this and the legal system simply isn't effective enough to enforce payments.
Also, I went to Maroc Telecom (again!) to see if I could get a telephone/broadband line installed No luck there
since the complex apparently has not yet been connected up to the street (main cable) yet!!
The Ritz Carlton Project is progressing, lots of workers, lorries & diggers on site. Looks promising.
A new Sofitel is about to be built on the seaside by the roundabout (just before entering M'Diq), the one that has the 'christmas lights' during the summer season and also lead up to the motorway!
Finally, as mentioned under the 'Who's There' section: I flew with Royal Air Maroc direct from Heathrow and Tangier, return for an incredible £160. On time and no problems. plus no extra charge for luggage, drinks and food. (think EasyJet/RyanAir). Recommended.
I have forwarded a few photographs from my stay to Paul, who has promised to try to upload them to the Blog.
Best
Frank
Hi Frank,
ReplyDeletethanks for your update....
I will tr to add your photos now!
Paul
Hi All from Sania
ReplyDeleteI thought you may wish to know aside from Ritz Carlton being built, a new Sofitel Tamuda Bay is being built just outside Mdiq by holiday camp - http://cabinetziyat.com/projet-5-fr-49.htmlt
Kind regards
Nik
Dear All
ReplyDeleteJust a quick note to let you know that Air Arabia appear to have restarted flights from London Gatwick to Tangeirs with flights out on monday and friday every week.
Kind regards from Sania
Nik (N16)
This sounds interesting as we used Gatwick/Gib on our last visit and found the cheapest way to get to Gatwick was by Easy Bus from Earls Court, Central London at a cost of £4 each - good for all those who live around the London area.
ReplyDeleteIt is really sad to see the last entries were made by ourselves back in November. We have been checking regularly since, but no responses. Has no-one been out to Sania since then or is everyone just not using this site, which is really useful for us owners. Please everyone, use this site or we may lose it.
ReplyDeleteHi Steve and Jan,
ReplyDeleteYes it would be good if we could all keep each other informed more than we do...when I went out last, it was right at the end of August/start of September.
The complex was really quiet - holiday season was over I guess. There were only a handful of people about....
It was good for a quiet relaxing break though, we stayed quite local this time....don't even think I went into Tetuan - only got as far as the Marjane supermarket. The bars and restaurants in Mdiq were busy in the evenings though....I did a few BBQ's this ime, and amazed by how cheap the sardines are over there! I also discovered a pottery dish that holds hot charcoal and you sit a tagine pot above to cook slowly outdoors. Well worth the 50p or whatever it cost! I also did necessary stuff like getting my utility bill payments up to date. The improvements with new building works such as the Ritz Carlton, new Sofitel were also continuing on a pace.....
Hi Paul
ReplyDeleteSounds like you had a great time and will definitely look out for the useful pottery dish to sit the tagine pot on. From what we see, you appear to go out there more than most. We were planning to go in March - Hatim was furnishing our apartment, but due to unexpected problems, we are now looking at beginning of Ramadam. We haven't been in touch with Hatim and our friend who purchased D6, since December, but now things are getting back on track, we hope to remedy this soon and get an update from Hatim.
One problem we found when we visited last year, was the management storing grass clipping and other shrubbery cuttings in the underground car park under our apartment block. The smell was dreadful. If you visit before we do in early July, would you be kind enough to check under 'I' block to see if it is still there. Hatim was working on it, but the management were not particularly co-operative.
Its good to see the Ritz Carlton and new Sofitel are coming along. I don't suppose there was any progress on the hotel or is it still a big hole?
Anyone know what happened to Gibralta airport?
ReplyDeleteIt seems that as soon as they finished building the new terminal....everyone stopped flying there...the Easyjet service from Liverpool is much missed!
Hi I have posted the photos from my recent visit - comments welcome.
ReplyDeleteThere was much improvement on site - with a lot more planting, and the security was very good with entrance to the complex well controlled.
Pools were working well and entrance is with a wristband only. To achieve this they have sectioned off the pool area with planting and entrance is via a gate with security. Underground car parks were also in use.
They was lots of perimeter planting so in time there will be effective screens all around the complex.
There was a really good well stocked shops selling most things you could need - including fresh milk and bread, and also bottled gas.
I was very impressed by the improvements.
The are is the busiest I have ever seen this year - the fact that it is so popular, whilst causing the odd traffic jam, must be a good sign!
ReplyDeletePlenty more improvements on site again - from improved lighting - lots of new blue/LED accent effect lighting, and now lighting under car ports to help light up these areas and surrounding . is a new kids play area by the tennis court. Parking and security seems well organised and the place is improving all the time.....
Hi there! Nice stuff, do keep me posted when you post again something like this!
ReplyDeletebest dining