Bulgaria Sunny Beach 2023 - Day 1

Back in 2020 before the World went mad putting us all in to lockdown we were actually booked to go on a summer holiday to Sunny Beach in Bulgaria. Obviously this was cancelled in 2020 and subsequently in 2021 as well and we never really got around to re-booking as we did some UK holidays and then Florida / Vegas etc. Anyway this year we couldn't decide where to go for holiday and the prices for all inclusive family packages had gone through the roof. So we decided to opt for Sunny Beach again as we had already researched it back in 2020 and the prices were still reasonable (in comparison to most places in the med).

I was a little worried about this holiday as the last time we did a beach/pool all inclusive type of holiday was probably a good 4 to 5 years ago and the two boys are much older now. With Joshua being 16 later this year I was really concerned as to whether I could keep the two boys entertained day in and day out for 2 weeks. As it turned out I really didn't need to worry as we had an absolutely amazing time and keeping the kids entertained was not in the slightest bit difficult. Simply jumping waves, throwing balls and messing around in the water kept us all entertained for hours. We had a few days out and some excursions which I will talk about on later blogs.

The flight to Burgas airport went really quickly as it is only about 3 hours and then our transfer to the hotel was about 30 mins with 5 other stop offs first. The only nightmare at the airport was waiting for our cases which seemed to be the very last out and was on a different conveyor to what the screen said.

Just before arriving in Burgas it turned out Sunny Beach had a torrential downpour and all the roads were flooded. The transfer coach wasn't the greatest, the roads were poor, everywhere was flooded and I could see Tina and the kids looking at me as if to say "where the hell has he brought us?". It got even worse as we drove through the South end of Sunny Beach by the night club end as the hotels look really dodgy and the flooding was getting worse. However, again we needn't of been concerned though - as we slowly got towards the North end of Sunny Beach we arrived at the quieter end of town and with much better hotels. The resort we had picked was called DIT Majestic and it was absolutely beatiful with 3 swimming pools and its own bit of private beach.

We arrived late afternoon and the clouds from the big downpour slowly started to break away and the sun was breaking though. After the long day of travel the kids were very keen to just jump in the pool and the sea and thus we had a quick beer and ice-cream, familiarised ourselves with our surroundings  and then got changed in to our swimwear. After a couple of hours in the pool and sea we dressed up for our first dinner in the Majestic restaurant and then took a brief walk along the Sunny Beach strip before realising we were all shattered and went back to the room for a sleep. 

We had a twin room with the middle door unlocked so that we were all together. For the first night Joshua and Brandon slept in one room, me and Tina had the double in the other room and Holly was on the sofa bed in our room. These sleep arrangements changed several times over the 2 weeks as there was a major problem with the volume of Joshua's snoring!!!

Our Boeing TUI plane landed in Burgas to a very overcast sky looking a lot like England!

Tina and the kids didn't seem too convinced when we first landed.

Burgas airport is nothing special, but it is interesting trying to interpret some of the Bulgarian alphabet.

Still cloudy when we arrived at our resort but this was the view over the fountains and pools to the beach.

The Majestic fountains looking back on our hotel. We were on the 3rd floor with a pool/sea view.

The seagulls seemed to love cooling down in the fountains.

We familiarised ourselves with the hotel and soon the clouds started to break up.

Before long the sun was beaming through scorching hot and the kids wanted to hit the water.

But after a long day of travelling it was beer-o-clock first.

No beer for the kids, but making the most of the all inclusive they were straight in to the ice-cream.

Yes Josh in a thick black tracksuit earing ice-cream in near 30 degree heat.

Time to cool off in the hotel pool.

The pools weren't heated but were actually very refreshing given the ambient air temperature.

Brandon and Holly playing nicely in the pools.

Day 1 of holiday and no tan yet for B and H.

Brandon giving Holly a piggy back in the water.

And then diving backwards to dunk her.

In she goes.

Tina being Tina and just chilling by the pool.

Holly absolutely loving the resort.

Brandon about to launch the rugby ball.

Holly ready to return it.

We also took a walk to the beach which was literally a 200m walk out of the back of our resort across a lovely sandy beach.

Initially Holly was concerned about jelly fish but we couldn't see any so she was soon enjoying the sea and the waves.

The sea temperature was actually warmer than the pools.

Holly launching herself in to some waves.

You can see the DIT Majestic in the background. We even had a beach bar as part of our all inclusive.

Holly decided to make some snow angels!!!!!

When we got back to our hotel, sand was everywhere as Holly stripped off for a shower!

All dressed up for our first dinner in the resort.

Then as night started to fall we went for a little walk. The hotel slowly start to light up.

And the fountains light up and look amazing.

The kids all dressed up for an evening walk.

The moon looked amazing and was casting a beautiful reflection on the black sea.

Picture of the moon shining through some palm trees.

The DIT Majestic looks absolutely sunning when lit up of a night time.

We definitely picked a good hotel for the 2 weeks.

 

The pools were supposed to close at 6 each day but they didn't seem too strict on this or police it at all.

Even the pools are illuminated really pretty of a night time.

The Majestic fountains again.

On our walk we passed lots of souvenir shops and Brandon found some of the magnets very amusing!