Family Trip to the Beach, Avillion @ Port Dickson

It must have been the longest period since we last had a family holiday. Now that baby Claire is 9 months old and can understand simple instructions, we decided to bring the duo for a short family trip. A few destinations were in our considerations - Langkawi, Club Med Cherating, Penang island.. but we finally settled with Avillion resort at Port Dickson, for a few reasons:

it's within 2 hours driving distance, so it is manageable for us and not too stressful for baby. Traveling with 2 young kids has a lot more constraint than traveling with one, so we decided it's best to leave long distance travel for later, perhaps when baby has learnt to walk.

It's recommended by many mommies for family vacation due to it's children friendly facilities.

It has a special 3D2N kiddie package on it's website for the water chalet during the holiday season. Besides, it will be a good experience for my boy who has hardly see the sea apart from TV screen.

The siblings enjoying the beach

My summer baby, all ready for the beach!

I'm glad we had chosen this place. We had an enjoyable stay, good food and the duo thoroughly enjoyed themselves.

These are the things we like about Avillion resort:

It has a mini pet farm with pigeons, chickens, peacocks, rabbits and it's opened to public feeding at 10:00am daily. Ethan and all other kids were having fun feeding and patting those fury animals. Even Claire was excited to see all the noisy animals. From the colorful shiny feathers on the peacocks and roosters, we can tell that these farm animals are in good care.

It has a Kid's Cabin where little ones are allowed to play at the outdoor playground or indoor play area that is equipped with kids furnitures, padded flooring, TV, building blocks and cushioned seating area. They offer art and craft (water color painting and T Shirt coloring) and play station game with a fee. We brought the kids there when we need to a little rest and Ethan enjoyed playing blocks with other kids there while baby got to crawl around freely.

Baby Claire enjoying herself at the Kid's Cabin

The private beach is within walking distance - about 5 minutes walk from the water chalets. It's clean, equipped with plenty of benches, beach umbrellas, free hotel towel and has a security guard watch nearby. We felt safe even when we were there for night walk. Unfortunately there were quite a lot of sandflies, but LO were not bitten as I've shielded them with mosquito repellent, I was the one who fell victim to the flies.

Little Ethan helping daddy to build a sand castle...

Baby Claire tried to help too..

There is a queen size day bed in the room, little ones can sleep and play there without disturbing us.

There are 3 water pools that are pretty well planned: 1 adult only pool (Cochin Pool in Balinese style pool, surrounded by greens), 1 large family pool right next to the restaurant, 1 decent size 0.8 meter deep kids pool with a long slides. Many kids were crazy over the slide but unfortunately not Ethan as he got scared when he fell into the water as he sledded off

Nice landscape that makes walking and jogging an enjoyable affair.

Most of the staffs are friendly, courteous and helpful, which really made the stay more enjoyable.

Of course there are other activities such as water sports, fishing, complimentary tai chi, free shuttle service to the town etc offered by the resort, since we did not used any of these I'll not make any comments.

However, personally I would think the place could be improved to make it more child friendly:

There's too little toddler toys in the Kid's Cabin, baby Claire only had a shape sorter box and beads to play with although she never complained :)

While the restaurant provides baby chair and offers kids menu, it's lacking in kids cutlery and plastic cups. Ethan was a bit clumsy with the adult size stainless steel cutlery and tall drinking glasses.

Anyway, all in all it was a good trip and all of us came home happy.


Useful Tips for the Parents / Caretakers!

1. To ensure the trip is more enjoyable, I've packed along the following for the trip. These are my recommendations for a typical family trip:

Simple snacks to keep the tummy filled - water bottles, finger biscuits, fruits, individual pack organic rice cereal etc. You don't want get stuck on the highway with a hungry baby, do you? :) Below are some of the food I packed for my little ones.

Finger food and instant organic rice cereal for baby

Emergency kit for little ones:
- Paracetamol / Ibuprofen for fever
- Rescue / antiseptic cream for bites, cuts and burns
- Eucalyptus oilment (如意油) for stomach discomfort
- plaster
- torch light

Travel size shampoo, washing gel, body lotion and dish washing liquid for baby's bottles and feeding spoon.

Books and simple toys to keep the little ones entertained. I continued with the bedtime reading routine every night even though when we are on travel.

2. Some additional items for beach visit:

Protection from mosquito and sand flies: Mozzie bite spray and soothing lotion

Combat the sun and heat: hat, sun block lotions, sunglass (for mommy :)

Beach and Pool toys - bucket, spade and barrow for building sand castle, beach ball, water guns etc. I got the items below, including the little Owl beach bag, from Toy 'R Us

Some of the beach toys. I love the beautiful Owl plastic bag from Toy 'R Us.

3. If you are taking little one for night walk at the park, dostop by the tennis court and you'll noticed each of the lamp post has a peacock resting on it.

4. IMPORTANT: When playing with sand, keep a close eye on little ones to ensure they do not rub their eyes with hands full of sands. Bring a small bottle of water to wash their hands and a towel to wipe.

The satin lanterns welcoming us at the resort, swaying under the soft sea breeze..

Longing for a trip too to the beach too?
For more information on Avillion resort, you may visit their homepage below:
http://www.avillionportdickson.com/
Their Kiddie Treat package
http://www.avillionportdickson.com/pages/kiddiestreat.html

Have fun! :)



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