P9607FCmariah
Memorable family vacation in a context with different nuances
4/5 • 12/03/2025We stayed for 10 nights and look back at a memorable family holiday with our two (adult) sons. My review has several nuances though, ranging from 'excellent' to 'needs improvement' and 'avoid'. Let me start with the parts we found excellent. First and foremost, these were the positive-spirited and kind-hearted GO's that made our stay a lot of fun and made us leave with a perspective on Club Med Kani that instigated our overall 4 out of 5 rating. Thank you Daniel, Zoe, Ping and Bianca of the Circus team, Yiseul (Isla), Sue, Dudu and Titi of the Welcome Services/Reception team, Zorro at the bar and GG. Also excellent was all the food served in the main restaurant with an almost overwhelming variety of dishes to choose from. We stayed in two superior rooms and found these extremely small with far to little storage space, but fortunately they did have a decent size bathroom (shower, two sinks and separate toilet). The rooms were also kept clean with housekeeping doing a reliable job every day. The location of our rooms we really disliked: a long walk from the village center, next to two multiple storey buildings that ruin the island feel, big ants crawling on the terrace each night, on a beach without deck chairs available and no possibility to swim as there was a passage for boats. So when you book, consider your location carefully as I do think that where you are located on the island will affect how your review your experience. When we arrived we also had a couple of days with a lot of rain (with one day and night bringing 121 mm during the dry season!). Unfortunately, the infrastructure of the island is completely uncapable of dealing with that (one night we had to walk back to our room in knee-deep (!) water - and this was quite a long walk). Walkways are washed away and activities stop (and do not really have indoor alternatives as there is not a lot of indoor space) and we literally spent a whole day in our (extremely small) room. Of course, new white sand is being transported to the walk ways and beaches to restore them afterwards, but be aware that the unpredictability of the weather can really disrupt your vacation as this resort (unlike some other Club Meds) is not build to deal with it. For us, it felt that we spent the first couple of days of our stay just navigating the bad weather/ entertaining ourselves in our rooms. After the rain had gone, the weather fortunately was beautiful so that the outdoor life, including the White night dinner and party in the sand, could be resumed. One thing that we recommend you avoid is the Coral Garden Excursion. It promised 'an amazing snorkelling experience on a colourful reef with many turtles. Our team will bring you to protected area where the turtles come to feed. You will reach this unforgettable site after 20-30 min. of speedboat then take your time to watch this incredible scenario'. It is a downright scam for which you have to pay a lot of money : no colourful reef, but dead coral, some fish and three turtles in the far, far distance. Before going into the water, 45 min-1 hour of snorkelling was promised, we were called back to the boat after 35 minutes. When I asked where the colourful reef had gone, the guide literally said 'it is dead everywhere because of the warmer water'. They could have informed us about that before buying that excursion. On the way back, the boat stopped and we saw some dolphins in the water, but asking USD 140 per person (!!) for something they knew would be different than they advertised is misleading and a scam of which I am surprised that CM allows it to continue. So, avoid this excursion; the free snorkelling trip every morning and afternoon will give you the same experience.
