Cocody Beach, Holiday Inn, St Laurant du Var - the daughter's favourite beach

Saturday 21st July

Husband flew home last night so daughter and I are at a loose end for a few days until my sister flies out for a week. Under instructions not to shop so decided a private beach would be a good compromise; a controlled expense.





We found Cocody beach by chance a couple of years ago and we usually try and come once or twice each summer. Cocody Beach is part of the Holiday Inn Hotel in St Laurant du Var but you don't have to be a guest to use the beach.

It costs 17 euros for a lounger which comes with a head shade and 7 euros for a child giving them use of the three circular swimming pools. There are various other options for loungers from 12 euros for a basic mattress to 30 euros for a 'VIP Bain de Soleil' whatever that might be. If you are staying in the area with a young family there are also options for buying a season pass for unlimited entry.

It's the three circular grouped pools which are the big attraction for my daughter plus chance of meeting English children. Mostly French there today so she made friends with a young girl and practised her French. I like the loungers with the attached sun shades and the copious glasses of free water.

The loos/showers/changing rooms are fairly respectable too. Overall, it's a relaxed and peaceful place to spend a day, a change going to a real beach resort rather than Nice which is a busy city with a beach attached.

For a family with young children, here or maybe Cros de Cagnes, the next area along, would a be place to consider if you worry about the hustle and bustle of Nice. The children will love the pool, one is a toddler-sized and you are just a short bus trip away from Nice and the fully pedestrianised strip makes it very safe for strolling. The Holiday Inn has a free shuttle to the airport too.

The three pools are enclosed with a glass safety fence and if pool-side life doesn't appeal, then there are loungers, mattresses etc dotted around the rest of the area and uniquely to this beach, it is sandy and attractively laid out with tables/parasols and loungers. The rest of the public beach at St Laurant is pebbles but the Holiday Inn import the sand specially. There are two restaurants, one quite informal, the Transat Cafe, you can stay in swimwear if you like and the other a bit more formal - the Salon Maribou.

From the Transat Cafe, free beakers of ice cold water are available if you can catch the waiter's eye or just go to the bar. You can also buy ice creams etc. The cafe is fairly basic but the portions are generous and it's averagely priced, Nicoise Salads about 12 euros and ham baguettes about 7 euros. if you choose a pool side lounger you can have coffee but not food brought to your table. If you are out of the pool area, you can either eat in the open-air restaurant or have the food brought to your table.

Attached, and with direct access if you wish, to Cocody Beach is Glisse Paradise water sports, offering water skiing, inflatable donut rides, paragliding and Jet skiing.

We went to the restaurant for a late lunch but gave up waiting for even a menu to appear after 20 minutes so we went off and had a cheeseburger from a small fast food bar at the start of the promenade. You don't have to eat on Cocody beach. If you come off the beach, there is a pedestrianised strip with about 15 restaurants all along. You could even walk an extra 5 minutes and be in the food halls at Galerie Layfayettes in Cap3000. Due to our shopping ban, we were avoiding Cap3000 but we have plans when my sister is here...

St Laurant du Var is just the other side of Nice airport. It's like a small holiday resort, no cars, a line of restaurants, hotels and apartments and a strip of beaches and a wide prom for strolling. I think the generic name for the whole beach is Atoll Beach and Cocody is the small sandy part belonging to the Holiday Inn.There is an active sailing/windsurfing school at one end plus the huge indoor shopping mall, Cap 3000. Cocody Beach would be a good place to leave your husband or significant Other in charge of the children or off on a jet ski while you do a little shopping, particularly as the sales in Nice continue.

To get to St Laurant du Var and to Cocody Beach, take the 200 or 52 bus from the Gare Routiere in Nice, 1,30 euros and hop off at Cap 3000 shopping mall, walk towards the sea and turn right at the sailing school and along the prom until you reach the Holiday Inn and Cocody beach, it takes about 5-10 minutes from the bus stop.

Some of the 200 buses don't turn into Cap 3000, you can jump off on the road leading away from St Laurant and cut through the retail estate and approach the Holiday Inn from behind, it's trickier, best get a 200 that goes to Cap 3000, it will say so on the front or ask the driver. Check the time table to see bus times for going back to Nice. This summer, they were every 30 minutes at 16 minutes past and 14 minutes to each hour. We got to the stop with about 9 minutes to spare and managed to jump straight on a 52 on its way back to Nice, very handy.