Welcome to MARBELLA !

Marvellous Marbella ! ... Port Banus, the not-so-secret hideout of the Rich & Famous.

I was invited to live on my good friend's luxury 46" boat for 2 weeks so I'll share my Marvellous Marbella experience with you here :)

Marbella's famous Port Banus is like Monaco's sister (no, not Monica, Monaco). With it's Ferraris, Bentleys, and rare model Mercedes convertables driving through the narrow one-way street with its trendy pubs on one side and luxury boats moored on the harbour on the other side, it's a tight squeeze, but the only way one can drive to their boat. Believe me you wouldnt want to drive down this narrow street past Sinatra's bar after 10pm ... ya never know who's subtely holding out a key against your car ey !! Sinatra's bar located on the corner of the long narrow street is so jampacked that there are 5-10 times more spilled out on the street & harbourside in front, forcing cars to "crawl" thru, giving posh car owners a chance to "show off" their toy. And thats just the start of this narrow portside street lined door to door with cafes, restaurants, and bars. The street that runs parrallel, the so-called "1st line" backstreet livens up after 11pm and doesnt die down until at least 5am !

In Marbella, like most of Spain, you dont go out drinking earlier than 12. Restaurants are empty until 7pm, and you'd be pressed to find a seat during peaktime around 10pm. The usual routine is to go for dinner around 8 or 9pm after your evening siesta, then 12 hit the bars for a drink or 2 , or 3, .. or 10 vodka-redbulls ! The bars party on until 5am, but most hit the nightclubs from 2am. If its a weekend you'll probably get home just before sunrise around 6am, then sleep until what in the 'normal world' we call lunchtime.

Here's a few tips if you ever plan to sail down to Marbella :)
Meet your friends at Sinatra's bar or any other along the strip like the Mumbai bar, grab some dinner after 8 or 9, then stopby La Habana after 11 for a round of Vodka-Redbulls. If its a weekend, hit The Suite after 2am, then the famous Olivias after 3 or 4am until 6am, and if the redbulls havent worn off yet, you can still party on hard at Dreamers 'from' 6am. Anytime earlier than these times in these top-class clubs is useless. Or visit the newly opened The Panjia; its absolutely stunning and oozing with class ! You may need an invite or know someone depending on the day, but your breathe will be taken away ! Checkout the pix.

After a hard weekend of partying, most trendy guys 'n hot gals hit Nikki beach on Sunday afternoon until late. A picture tells 1000 words, so check out the pix & video too ! Silver champagne buckets next to your sofa-bed propped in sand, openair Egyptian style curtain cabins, lots of loud dance music, and 'hot' people 'chilling' out ! :)

One of the highlights was the dolphins swimming next to the boat. If you go at a fun speed for dolphins and you play the right music, (yes dolphins DO have a taste for music), they'll have a great time swimming and jumping the seas next to you ... but I think we have an even better time watching the dolphins, anyway both sides love watching each other ! Check out the video. One of the beauties of boating.

The term "boat" can be quite decieving, in fact we had an interesting conversation about this with my good friend Martin, who invited me to stay on his "boat". A "boat" could actually be as small as a rowboat, or as large as the Prince of Arabia's massive 100ft "boat", which really looks more like a ship ! But a "boat" is actually classed a ship if its longer than 100ft. Martin's 46foot cruise boat has 3 bedrooms, 2 showers/toilets, living & dining room, kitchen, and a cool upstairs deck for parties, and a suntan area on the front to chill out on. Hidden vodka & gin bottles popped up in all sorts of places making good use of space :)

Anyway more about life living on a boat in hip Port Banus coming throughout November, so stay tuned :)
It's awesome, so if you're ever heading Marbella way, let me know & I'll make sure you hit the right places.