Tip: When you check dates with us - if you have flexibility of a day or two as to when you arrive and/or when you depart and if the apartment of your choice is also available for these wider dates, this can help you find the best value flights - - Almeria is the closest airport (85 kms), Murcia (San Javier) is next (around 130kms by new toll motorway - and due to be replaced by a new airport Murcia Corvera sometime during 2012 - about 150 kms by the free E15 motorway). Alicante is furthest, but still only about two and a half hours drive (210 kms). The past couple of years has seen a reduction of flights into Almeria but there are some from Gatwick (Easyjet), Stansted (ryanair) and Birmingham (Monarch) in 2012 and Ryanair has announced flights to Almeria from East Midlands from April 2012. There are lots of flights into Alicante throughout the year. It is yet to be seen how many flights there will be from the UK to the new Murcia airport at Corvera which opens during 2012.

2. Book your flights and once these are confirmed please telephone or e-mail us immediately to confirm your reservation - you can use the Enquiry Form again if you wish (If you haven't contacted us within two days of asking us to provisionally reserve an apartment, that reservation will lapse). We will then hold the reservation for up to 5 days whilst you send us the Booking Form and payment.

3. Print out our Booking Conditions and Form (Click here). Read it, complete it and send it to us together with your cheque for the deposit or full payment for the apartment rental (depending how imminent your holiday is).
Why do we charge a Key/Security Deposit and require a signed Booking Form? When you book with us, if it is more than two months beforte your holiday you pay a booking deposit of £100 at the time of booking and then the full rental not less than two months beforehand (If you book two months or less beforehand, you pay the full rental + £100 Key/Security deposit when you book). We hold the £100 booking deposit as a Key/Security Deposit until after your holiday and then, provided the keys have been returned and there has been no loss or damage at the apartment - we don't worry about the odd glass or plate - we refund the deposit in full. We do this to protect us and maintain the high standards of our apartments. We find it works well - our visitors are invariably nice, responsible people who look after our apartments as they would their own home - and we have never, yet, had to withold or deduct anything from the Deposit. So it works well for us and for our visitors who benefit from the care exercised by previous visitors.

4. We will acknowledge receipt of your booking and confirm its acceptance. About two weeks before your departure we will send you directions to help you find your way from your arrival airport in Spain to Vera Playa/Bahia de Vera. The journey is pleasant and straightforward - by motorway - from all the airports - from Almeria it is about 50 minutes (85 kms), from Murcia, about 1 hours 20 minutes ( 130 kms by new toll motorway) and from Alicante about 2 hours 15 minutes (215 kms). (If you are coming from Murcia airport you can also use non-motorway roads closer to the coast - which is very scenic but longer in time as it includes very tortuous roads over mountain passes). There will also be details of how to gain admission to the Bahia de Vera urbanizacion - depending on when you are arriving you may be admitted by us or by our caretakers, or we may send you a key.

Tip: Car Hire - Book your car on the internet, don't wait till you arrive - that will be much more expensive. We recommend you check round the internet brokers such as www.doyouspain.com , www.drivespain.com , www.allinclusivecarhire.com or www.carjet.com - you can get an on-line quote, then book the car of your choice, and you don't pay for it until you pick it up.. Car rental rates during 2011 decreased from the high levels they went up to following the Credit Crunch and winter "headline" rates appear at first sight to be as low as they have been for many years, but this is misleading - see our comments about insurance surcharges below. Availability can sometimes be a problem during popular periods so book early (as soon as you've booked your flights - you don't have to pay for car rental until you pick up the car). Car insurance used to cover most things but recently the Spanish car rental market has become more like the American one with the car rental price only giving you basic legal cover (3rd party, fire and theft - and you could be lumbered with a big bill for car repairs if things go pear-shaped). This seems a ruse for the car rental companies to bung up the charges compared with the advertised rate - to be sure you are fully covered will cost you a surcharge of something like €2 to €3 per day on top of the advertised rate. Some of the companies have a maximum of €30 or €40 for this surcharge for longer rentals but others don't. You can take out an annual excess policy in the UK but these policies were designed to cover exclusions (such as glass, wheels and tyres and underside) and there are increasing doubts as to whether an excess policy would really cover all eventualities now that the insurance companies only build in the legal minimum third party, fire and theft cover within the actual rental charge. You may feel that to be on the safe side there is little alternative than to pay the rental companiy's insurance surcharge.

5. Once you are at Bahia de Vera: In your apartment you will find a folder of useful information about the apartment and its equipment, about Bahia de Vera and its facilities and about local shopping, restaurants, places to visit etc. It also explains what to do with the keys etc when you leave at the end of your holiday. If we are at Bahia de Vera ourselves at the time of your visit you can, of course, ask us for any information or about any problems which arise - if we are not there ourselves our caretakers normally are. We shall also give you contact numbers to use in emergencies if neither we or our caretakers are available on-site - as does inevitably happen sometimes!

6. Lie back and enjoy the sun and freedom of naturist Bahia de Vera!

Next step? Send us the Enquiry Form or telephone us
on (UK landline) 02476 679322 or (UK mobile) 07710 730 450

Most recent update: 27 December 2011