On Christmas Eve, while children all over the world squeeze their eyes closed and try to force sleep to win out over excitement, children in Spanish and Latin American countries will sleep soundly… until the night of January 5th.

Emulating events of the Old Testament, Spanish and Latin American countries give their gifts on the day that the Three Wise Men (Los Tres Magos or Tres Reyes) gave their gifts to the baby Jesus – on the Twelfth Night after his birth, having travelled many miles to worship him. Every year children write letters to The Three Kings (Tres Reyes), Balthazar, Melchior and Gaspar, telling them what gifts they would like and the Kings travel their journey anew, arriving in cities, towns and villages all over Spain and Latin America on the night of the 5th January to bestow gifts on the children.

It’s a beautiful tradition that sees colourful parades of elaborate floats depicting scenes from the Bible and Disney in equal measure, accompanied by the Three Kings or Tres Reyes in their Royal finery. Sometimes the Kings ride atop floats, sometimes in open top cars and often they ride camels.

Throwing sweets from huge sacks into the crowds of excited children who line the route, the Three Kings make their way to the appointed place where the baby Jesus awaits them to re-enact the Nativity scene. Trailing at the back of the procession will usually be seen a float or a cart loaded with coal – the dreaded ‘gift’ which every child is threatened with getting if they don’t behave over the course of the year.  When they awake on the morning of January 6th, a public holiday in Spain and Latin America, the children will find the gifts they wrote and asked for, unless of course they haven’t been good, in which case… Unsurprisingly, every child is always well behaved enough to avoid the lump of coal on Twelfth Night

Traditionally ending in a fireworks display, the Tres Reyes parade is one of the most loved across the Canary Islands and makes for a very special family night out. If you’re on holiday at Sands Beach Resort or anywhere else on Lanzarote around the 5th January, pop along to the route of your nearest Tres Reyes parade and join in the fun. And if you’ll take our advice, it’s worth getting some catching practice in before you go to ensure you bag some of the flying goodies that will come your way.

Tres Reyes parades on Lanzarote will take place on January 5th at the following venues:

• Arrecife, 18.00 – Three Kings Parade beginning at Avenida Vargas before heading down La Marina and Mancomunidad and ending up at Playa del Reducto.
• Costa Teguise, 18.00 – Three Kings Parade.
• Haría, 16.30 – Children’s reception at the harbour. Three Kings Parade through the streets from 20.30, theme is ‘The House of Herod’.
• Puerto del Carmen (Varadero), 17.00 – The Three Kings arrive at the harbour.
• San Bartolomé, 19.00 – Three Kings Parade departs from the High School and ends in Parque Felix Rodriguez de la Fuente with a performance from the group Gimnasia de Aída Santana.
• Teguise, 18.00 -  Children’s musical ‘Christmas in Disney’ followed by the Three Kings Parade, which is themed ‘A Thousand and One Nights’, through the streets of the old town of Teguise ending with hot chocolate in the Museo de Timple.
• Tinajo, 17.00 – Three Kings will be in residence at San Roque prior to their parade at 17.00.

Think of Christmas in Costa Teguise and no doubt the image that pops into your head will be of gently swaying palm trees, blues skies, even bluer seas and a big golden sun ready to wrap visitors from Northern Europe in its warm embrace.

This is the seductive scene that awaits those who have opted to spend Christmas on Lanzarote. The only problem is that it might not sound very Christmassy. And, bah humbugs aside, most of us like to taste that magical festive spirit that comes with Christmas.

However, the reality of Christmas in Costa Teguise is that visitors can still enjoy a festive atmosphere with their sunshine. There’s a packed programme of fun events in the resort to celebrate Navidad (Christmas)…and you even get Santa Claus into the bargain.

Between the 15th December and the 5th of January, there are Christmas concerts, local folk groups, choir singers, parades, exhibitions and all sorts of seasonal goodies to add a festive glow to the sun tan, many within an easy stroll of Sands Beach Resort.

Visitors to Costa Teguise should enjoy the Teguise 40 en Navidad pop/rock concert in the car park at Playa de los Charcos on Saturday 17th December. The concert includes a load of bands and DJs and lasts from 8pm till 3am. Entrance is free.

Younger visitors will be thrilled to see Santa Claus has joined them in the sun at the Father Christmas in the Pueblo Marinero event in the centre of the resort on Thursday the 22nd of December. With concerts, dancing and games & fun for the children from 5.15pm, there’s something to keep the parents and children amused until 8pm when Santa Claus (or Papa Nóel as he’s known in Spain) arrives.

With those sort of ingredients combined with Lanzarote’s fabulous winter weather, Christmas at Sands Beach Resort and Costa Teguise promises somewhat of an irresistible package.

When the simmer sun sizzles and temperatures creep above the 30C mark so that even reaching for the bottle of sun cream feels like far too energetic an activity there’s only one solution – water. Cool, sweet water…either for drinking to refresh your insides, or for immersing yourself in to refresh the skin.

At Sands Beach Resort, water babes never have to take more than a few steps to reach the sigh-inducing sanctuary of one of our pools. There are eight to choose from; plus there’s also the option of that big, blue expanse of water right outside the resort.

Plaza Pools at Sands Beach Resort
Each of the six plazas has its own large swimming pool which means that it’s only a hop, skip and a jump from any of the resort’s villas to those inviting azure waters.

Sands Beach Resort Lagoon
This is my favourite watering hole because it’s like being at the beach without leaving the resort and the lagoon is just beautiful. The calm shallow water is great for children and anyone who likes the idea of swimming in the sea but is nervous of waves or currents. It’s also a perfect spot to try your hand at learning how to windsurf. The Oceanside Windsurf School gives lessons at the lagoon.

The Mai Tai Pool
My second favourite spot for cooling down at Sands Beach Resort for a number of reasons. The Mai Tai bar and restaurant are right beside the heated pool and it has a jacuzzi. It’s also the place where the resort’s animation team have a lot of fun with the guests so there’s always something going on there. And for guests seeking a bit of adventure, Calipso Diving hold free scuba diving try-out sessions at the pool each Saturday.

The Atlantic Ocean
If all that wasn’t enough, take a few steps outside of the resort and you’ve got the Atlantic Ocean as a playground and the choice of some super sandy coves between Sands Beach and the centre of Costa Teguise.

With all those to choose from I reckon it’s fair to say that Sands Beach Resort is a pretty cool place to spend the summer…or any time of year for that matter.

Instead of describing how fabulous a place Sands Beach Resort in Costa Teguise is for chilling out in the sun and letting its warm touch massage away any stress, I thought it might be more interesting to show you.

Sunrise brings a golden hue to the resort’s normally brilliantly white buildings. It’s a lovely time to be out and about; very peaceful with only a couple of fisherman and the occasional athlete working out on the promenade path that separates Sands Beach from the sea.

Before anything else, a hearty breakfast is required. I love the décor in the Hacienda Restaurant – so bright and…well summery. I also happen to think that a fried breakfast complements the colour scheme perfectly. It’s just the right combination to bring you round after a comfortable night’s sleep.

Next up is the difficult decision of where to get prone in the sun. From any of the apartments it’s only a few steps to a pool and sunbeds…

…or to the golden sand beside the lagoon if you happen to be in one of the beach front villas.

After a hard morning’s sunbathing, lunch at the Mai Tai restaurant is just the ticket for taking a break from the sun. The animation team are usually getting up to all sorts of things there, providing a side serving of fun to go with lunch.

Then it’s time to hit the sun again…maybe even choosing a different place to lay down the towel in order to enjoy another great view of the resort.

And then at the end of the day as the sun starts to head for the horizon it’s time to swap the sunbed for the shower to get ready for dinner and a night of live entertainment in the resort’s bar. On the other hand, you could linger for a while longer and simply enjoy the sunset: the resort looks magical at dusk…and you don’t just have to take my word for it.

As the Canary Islands continue to revel in their Winter Fiestas or Carnaval as they’re known to the world, the fun, colour, costumes and excitement of the party are heading to Costa Teguise and Sands Beach Resort are pushing the carnival boat out with a very special event.

On 25th March 2011 at 8pm the party will be at the gorgeous Mai Tai bar on the resort’s Paradise Island where a full barbecued dinner will be prepared to be enjoyed in the company of a night of exciting performances and prizes.

There will be entertainment from the wonderful Los Desahuciados Murga group with their costumes, cutting satire and vocal harmonies and there will be a guest appearance by the fabulous Danzarines Canarios dance troupe who this year are celebrating their 40th anniversary. The Danzarines Canarios troupe have collected more awards for their performances than a Hollywood starlet and have been wowing audiences across the globe with their dance skills, choreography and costumes.

As well as the entertainment, there will be fantastic prizes for the best fancy dress costumes with a weekend, half board at Sands Beach Resort for two people as top prize in the Best Costume category, lunch for two adults at the Mai Tai for the Funniest Costume and a basket of goodies for the best Child’s Costume.

At just 18 Euros a ticket (children under 12 years 9 Euros) which includes your meal, drinks during the meal and some of the best Carnaval entertainment the Canary Islands have to offer – everyone’s a winner!

And don’t forget to join the Sands Beach Resort Noah’s Ark Carnaval float in your best animal costume for the Costa Teguise parade on Saturday 26th March.

With carnival in Costa Teguise, or rather carnaval as it’s known here on the Canary Islands, only a week away we felt it was a good time to start to pump up that carnaval spirit in readiness for the fun. So, if you haven’t seen it yet, here’s the brilliant Costa Teguise carnaval poster for 2011.

We love it as it captures the spirit and pizzazz of carnaval at Sands Beach Resort and Costa Teguise perfectly. It’s vibrant, full of colour and loads of fun with a hint of mystery.

We just can’t wait for the party to start. Visitors staying in any Lanzarote hotel over the next couple of weeks are about to have a fabulous experience.

If you haven’t been to carnival in the Canary Islands, you’re about to experience one of the most enjoyable and colourful times to really let loose and have some fun in the Lanzarote sun.

Visitors to Sands Beach Resort at the end of March are in for an absolute treat. Not only do you get to wallow in some warm winter sun, you’ll be in a prime position to see one of the highlights of the Costa Teguise carnival, the Gran Coso. This collection of decorated floats, dance groups, carnival queens and dames and hordes of revellers in fancy dress that make up carnival’s most flamboyant parade starts its exuberant journey through the Costa Teguise streets from Sands Beach. So our guests are in the perfect location for getting up close and personal with the imaginative characters in the parade. It’s a wonderful opportunity to capture some unforgettable images on the camera’s memory stick.

For those wanting a full on carnival experience, Sands Beach Resort also has its own float in the parade and we’d love it if guests would join us. All we ask of anyone wishing to join the party is that you embrace the carnival spirit by wearing fancy dress. There’s an animal theme for the float this year so that provides lots of scope for some fun costumes.

The Gran Coso parade takes place on Saturday 26th March, leaving Sands Beach Resort at 6.30pm. From there it sings and dances its way through Costa Teguise to the Poblado Marinero where the fun continues with the hilarious Drag Queen Gala followed by a lively carnival ball to the sultry Latino sounds of the Maquinaria Band at 11.30pm.

At Sands Beach we’ve also got a full carnival programme of partying and surprises in the hotel planned for the big carnival weekend. As always carnival promises to fun, fun, fun and we’re really looking forward to you joining us.

A few days before Three Kings Day, our mascot Buddy went along with members of the animation team from Sands Beach Resort to the Doctor José Molina Orosa General Hospital and to the Insular Hospital Old People’s Home.
Buddy and the team knew it wasn’t going to be easy but we wanted to try to put smiles on the faces of those who really need them and just for a little while, to turn those faces into stars.

We had so much fun with face painting workshops, balloon shaping and a lively mini disco with children singing that it was an unforgettable experience with everyone having a really good time … mission accomplished!

Today we would very much like to thank all the children and the elderly folks whom we surprised with our visit, but who surprised us even more by the affection with which they received us. You all reminded of the meaning of the word humility and of the importance of valuing and respecting all from the very youngest to the most elderly.

From the team at Sands Beach Resort, we send our heartfelt thanks to the staff of both institutions for making us so welcome.

Anyone who’s stayed at Sands Beach Resort will have left with one song in particular going around and around their head. Each afternoon they’ll have heard its infectiously hot reggae rhythms turning up the heat around the pool at Mai Tai bar in the middle of the lagoon.

Shine On by R.I.O. is the ultimate sunshine song and is guaranteed to put a smile on the face and inject fun into your holiday, especially the way our animation team perform it. So for all those people out there who are missing their daily dose of ‘marching to the pool, marching to the pool’ here’s a little reminder designed to keep the Lanzarote sun on your face until your next visit.

Oh, and for anyone who’s planning to visit for the first time, watch closely and learn the words and the moves and from the moment you arrive you’ll be able to ‘Shine On’ with everyone else.

There are a number of ways to get up close and personal with Lanzarote’s dramatic volcanic landscape. The easy option is to take a coach excursion and maybe even bump your way up a trail through the lava fields on the back of a camel. However, the ultimate way for local or visiting professional and amateur athletes to experience Lanzarote’s out of this world scenery is by taking part in Lavatrail Lanzarote 2011 which takes place on 19th February.

A real adventure and test of endurance levels, the most demanding Lavatrail route crosses a challenging 82 kilometres of volcanic landscape, coastal roads and rugged mountainous trails. And just to spice things up a little the route has to be completed within 17 hours over the course of one day. This is extreme sightseeing, Lanzarote style.

There are various Lavatrail options for individuals and groups with the shortest route being 18km and the greatest test of stamina being the 82km extreme challenge.
Registration fees range from €20 to €70 depending on Lavatrail routes chosen and inscriptions should be made online at lanzarotedeportes.com before 11th February.

For anyone staying at Sands Beach Resort who is tempted by the challenge of pitting themselves against the island’s rugged terrain, there’s one thing you can be certain of. Whatever route you choose, by the time you complete the course your bed at Sands Beach is going to feel like even more of an oasis of comfort than usual.