Trip Report
Club Med Columbus Isle
San Salvador, Bahamas
August 21,-28, 1999
(this is the 2nd time I've been on a Club Med vacation)
I traveled to this club Med by myself at the end of August. I am a female,
30.
The Club Med charter flight left JFK airport (New York City) at 7 a.m. and
this direct flight was only 2 hours. The airport in San Salvador is the
size of an outhouse. Only 30 people debarked from this flight and it
continued to Club Med Eleuthera.
We were greeted by Club Med reps and taken in mini-vans to the resort,
which is only 2 minutes away. Per usual Club Med style, we were taken
into the open-air auditorium, given refreshments and then guided to our
rooms. Luggage is brought separately a short time later. This club has a
suite arrangement for solo travelers. You have your own bedroom but share
a bathroom with another guest of the same sex. You enter into a small
foyer and straight ahead is an area with a sink and vanity on each side.
Beyond this is a shower room. There is a separate toilet off to the side.
There is one bedroom on each side of the vanity area. The rooms are small
but absolutely immaculate. The floors are white tile, there are 2 windows
in each room, a phone, t.v., closet, safe and a full size bed. For a solo
traveler this is a good way to meet another solo traveler. I got along
very well with the person sharing my suite and we participated in meals
and other activities together throughout the week.
We had a problem with ants in the sink areas for which we were given a can
of insecticide. This is not the Club's fault. The weather is very hot and
moist and that's the way it goes. There are also many lizards on the
property (not indoors).
The premises:
I tried to take a bunch of pictures of the resort premises itself because
the setup was so exotic and unusual, in a style I can only describe as
Bahamian Gothic. The rooms were clusters of brightly colored bungalows.
The main building was a long annexation, accessible through terrace doors
(I nearly walked into several full-length glass windows because they were
so clean I thought they were breezeways). This housed in one long strip
with glass on both sides: the dining hall, gift shop, piano bar, a series
of living rooms and sitting rooms, meditation rooms, all with lush velvet
couches and statues and art from all over the world, reception area, rest
rooms, and open air auditorium. Note, the public restrooms by the dining
hall and disco were sumptuous.
At the other end of the property was the Sea Center, which housed 2 annex
restaurants on the 2nd floor; the terraces over the water were amazing.
Downstairs was the disco, open air bar, fitness center and huge boardwalks
with benches and tables. Part of the bench was built into the porch
railings. This was my favorite place to sit. I went pretty much every day
before dinner. I watched the hurricane approach. My arty pictures just
came out dark and blurry. There were a lot of Asian and Indian influenced
statues in this section. With the lush landscape of palm trees, coconut
trees, pine trees, hibiscus and wild plumeria (the breeze smelled
incredible), the statues seemed all the more exotic and appeared to jump
out at you from shrubbery as you passed them.
The property is large-I'm not sure of the acreage-but there were plenty of
places in the gardens and on the beach for privacy.
One problem I had was that the rooms on this huge property are not
arranged in chronological order. At night I got lost several times trying
to get back to my room from the disco. The numbers jumped from the 300's
to the 60's, and there was not a lot of night lighting.
Club Med Columbus Isle is laid back to the extreme. The G.O.'s don't
frolic and participate with the guests as much as at other Club Medusa,
and there are much fewer organized activities around the pool. The makeup
of the guests while I was there were 80% French families and couples.
There are no children's clubs here so the resort isn't overrun with kids.
There were some American, German and Italian families and couples. There
was a smattering of solo travelers from U.S. and Germany. We gravitated to
each other immediately and I met some really fun people on this trip. The
most prevalently spoken language is French. I had to bust out my high
school French and did very well. It was fun and an adventure. C'est bon.
Drink prices at this club run from $4.50 U.S. for beers and up to $7.00
U.S. for mixed drinks.
The nightlife at Columbus Isle is so-so; it's what you make of it. The
disco was frequented by people travelling alone, young couples, and
teenagers who've escaped from their parents for the night. The music was
the same each night with an obsessive focus on Will Smith.
The organized entertainment ran the gamut. There were 2 dance performances
I enjoyed very much (Austin Powers and The Fifth Element). But there were
2 shows that were duplicates of what I'd seen the previous month at Club
Med Turkoise. I didn't realize Club Med's entertainment was so
standardized.
The local Bahamian staff is extremely friendly and gracious.
The beach:
This is why Club Med Columbus Isle is famous. The beach is endless. White
sand, warm clear blue water. The area between boardwalk and tide is very
very wide and the beach absolutely sprawls lengthwise. I did not have
trouble getting an umbrella at any time of day on this beach. Continuing
on the beach off the Club Med property is simply more beautiful beach.
This is a sparsely populated small island with only 1 other hotel on it.
There is not much in the way of off-club excursions so I didn't go on any.
But this is not necessary if you are a lover of water sports. The club
offers kayaking, water-skiing, snorkeling, scuba, sailing, windsurfing,
water polo and water aerobics. There are water-skiing, scuba, sailing and
windsurfing lessons for all levels. On land there's aerobics, massages
(extra $$), volley ball, tennis, a gym, indoor bar and board games, and
more that I'm sure I'm missing. I personally went sailing twice, snorkeled
twice and took 2 windsurfing lessons. The conditions for sailing are
glorious with calm water and light breezes. The snorkel and windsurfing
G.O. teams are very helpful and concerned with the welfare of the guests.
I saw 2 different snorkel sites: Jackson's Reef and Coral Garden.
Jackson's reef was a little disappointing because there weren't many fish.
Coral Garden was a jaw-droppingly beautiful grotto. I took an entire roll
of underwater film there.
Unfortunately the last 2 days of my vacation saw a visit from Hurricane
Dennis. Even the day before Dennis arrived, most water sports stopped
because the water got very choppy with strong cross currents.
I have only the highest praise for how the Club Med staff dealt with the
hurricane. Boats were sent to a marina, windsurfs and sailboats were
grounded or locked up. Any lighting and outdoor fixtures that could blow
loose and hit somebody were unscrewed and put away. All beach and pool
chairs and umbrellas were taken inside. A group of G.O.'s dismantled the
docks at 3:30 a.m. so that they wouldn't be destroyed. Kudos to all!
While a hurricane wasn't quite what I had in mind for my trip, I still had
a wonderful time. It was a dramatically beautiful thing to witness between
the trees nearly bent over from wind and the tide coming up and covering
the entire beach.
The Food:
You will never go hungry at Club Med, no matter what your dietary habits.
There is food for every palate from glutton to picky eater. There are
fresh fruits and veggies at every meal. The mango here is outstanding.
There's a sandwich bar, a salad bar, a variety of veggies prepared myriad
ways, unusual breads and rolls. I liked that this Club offered a "late
lunch" option as I tend to breakfast late and am not necessarily hungry by
12:30 p.m. There is one main restaurant and 2 annex restaurants. All have
outdoor seating with views of the beach. I tried both annex restaurants.
Media Luna specializes in grilled meats of all kinds and even serves
lobster. Dona Maria is Italian and very good. The Main Dining hall usually
features one type of cuisine each night along with its regular fare. I was
very impressed with the Middle Eastern night and Mexican night. The Club
Med Gala night is really fantastic, as well.
The day I was scheduled to leave there were some airline-related hurricane
problems. We were brought to the airport and then brought back to the Club
for most of the day as our plane was grounded in Eleuthera. Note that the
security at the San Salvador airport is very strict. They go over each
individual carefully with a metal detector wand. We had to go through this
twice due to the unusual weather circumstances. When we finally departed
at 5 p.m. we had to make an unexpected stop in Miami to refuel. All things
considered, travel was handled as well as could be expected. There were a
lot of cranky people from Eleuthera on the plane, and the stewardesses had
had a long day.
Overall: This vacation was an adventure! From speaking French to dancing
all night long during the hurricane, the hurricane itself, and the beauty
of the island and beach, the charming guests and staff--I had a blast! I
have not traveled extensively but I love the way Club Med handles arrivals
and departures with singing and dancing. I can't help but get weepy as I
leave.