Candelaria Day is a festival declared to be of National Tourist Interest, the Fiestas de la Virgen de Candelaria is an extremely popular festival on Tenerife. Pilgrims from all over the island make their way to La Candelaria to attend this tribute to the virgin. Along with various parties and processions there is are floral offering, live music groups and even a play.

The party had around 200 children, most of whom went in the balls, a jazz band, dancers, as well as music and the party went on all day.  Walk on Water provided the balls from 12.00 till 3.30 and even had two dancers in for a few minutes at the beginning and then again around 1.45.

Everyone had a great time and the atmosphere around the place was excellent.

Roll on next year!!

Starting with Scotland and Ireland, we have been inundated with hamsters, both large and small trying out their luck with the balls.

In the middle of all this mayhem, we were requested to take part in the opening ceremony of a Spa in Bajamar in the North of Tenerife.

Club Nautico has a huge number of Spas all over Tenerife and the Bajamar had undergone a total refurbishment. The event was attended by various Canarian dignitaries and Walk On Water were asked to assist two dancers as they performed a duet inside the Balls both on and off the water in their brand new outside pool.

The  dancers had never even tried to walk on water and, after a few rehearsals, failed, so they used their initiative and gave a display of somersaults and poses with the results being extremely effective.

Check out the video and see what you think!

The Walk On Water team have been getting busier slowly but surely, except for the days when England are playing in the World Cup. Obviously. But we have had some great days – and some great challengers.

We HAVE  to mention two very special little people, Mia and her cousin Marley. Both aged 3 3/4, they were on holiday from Plymouth and staying  at Laguna Park 1, with their families. They were fascinated with the balls and they watched as we blew them up then demanded a go each. It has to said that little Mia was a natural and ran around the pool like a very tiny hamster. Cousin Marley, although not as proficient as Mia, had the crowds attention for a very different reason. He was stark naked. Now this is not at activity we would encourage, but when you are 3 you can get away with anything! He was adorable. Please note that anyone over 4 years old will not be allowed in the balls naked. We have our standards you know!!!

We also have to mention our very first Hen Party. La Siesta in Las Americas was the host venue for a hen weekend for Sarah, getting married on August 21st. She was over here for a long weekend with bridesmaids Ann and Andrea and fellow hens Tracey, Amanda, Melinda and wannabe hen Animator Joanna (Male!!)

Ann decided that the best way to kick off their celebrations was to pour drink into the bride via an unmentionable straw and get her into a ball. Sarah made a valiant effort but her laughter prohibited much walking!!

We have been assured that all the above mentioned will send us pictures, so we will post them as soon as we get them.

Dee Mani decided that her son Tyler deserved a pool party for all of his friends and that nothing could top having the Walk On Water Team along for the ride.

Although they live in a private villa, the pool is very small, but just big enough to use one ball. What she didn’t reckon on was that the children all thought that the grown ups were completely mad and refused point blank to go anywhere near it!

So it was down to the adults to take on the challenge. Although using a smaller pool makes things a little difficult to control, everyone over 18, except one, had a go. The results were absolutely hysterical and a seriously good time was had by all.

Thank you to Dee (pictured), her husband and all their guests for putting in a valiant effort, we had a great time!

SunWing Resort in Fañabe is a fabulous venue and has a superb animation team, complete with an old friend – Neil, who used to be at both Sunset Bay and Laguna Park 1.

Sunwing is especially great for children as there are activities available at all times of the day, as one little girl who accepted the Walk On Water challenge put it “It is the best holiday I have ever had as there is so much to do”. Praise indeed!

To help keep the kids entertained quiet, the hotel has two furry friends in the shape of the their two mascots – Lollo, The Giraffe, and Bernie, The Bear, who spend their days around the pool teasing adults and children alike.

Although neither Lollo or Bernie are allowed in the Balls, they are way over the 15 stone weight limit and we are certainly not sure they are over 4 years old, they have a fabulous time encouraging participants to have a go!

With this in mind, Ann and Jo Man wanted to say a special thank you to one animation team who have been absolutely brilliant over the past year.

Bottles By Design – Tenerife specialises in making personalised bottles of wine for special occasions such as weddings, birthdays and new babies. Walk On Water asked them to come up with 2 personalised bottles of Cava as thank you gifts.

The recipients were Kate and Gaby, the Kids Club animation team at Garden City, Club Olympus. They have been superb help over the past year, and, as their resort is one of the busiest that Walk On Water go to, their help has been invaluable.

Hopefully they won’t drink the contents prior to water aerobics – the results could be interesting!

Club La Costa venues Monterey and Sunningdale had an extra special treat for their Easter holiday. The Resort Group had booked the Walk On Water Teams twice a week all though the break and even better – it was free for their guests.

Tuesdays were reserved for Monterey and Thursdays for Sunningdale and the adults and children had a whale of a time their luck at walking on Water. It seemed that every guest had at least one go and some went in 3 or 4 times!

The weather was fabulous and highlighted just how beautiful both of the venues are, with help from the animation teams everyone had a great time.

It is impossible to be able to mention all of the participants, but there were a few who really stood out. Pride of place has to go to Richard Lock, aged 42. a guest at Sunningdale,  he was persuaded to dress up in a clown costume and have a go in the ball, as you can see from the pictures, he won’t be winning any Walk On Water Olympics, but he had us all in stitches.

We should also mention Ellie who was a guest at Monterey. Ellie went in at every opportunity and by the end of her break she was outstanding. Not bad for a 4 year old. Whilst Owen, also aged 4, took the youngest participant award at Sunningdale

Gladiator challenges, races and sheer ridiculousness went on throughout our time there, and we loved it.

Whilst many guests were stranded at their resorts due to the ash cloud from the volcano in Iceland stopping all flights across Europe, we tried our best to make up for having to stay on our beautiful island, in the sunshine for longer than anticipated, we hope we made your extended stay a little more bearable!

Club La Costa have decided that they will book the Walk On Water Teams again for the whole of the summer break – so see you all there!

Several of the hotels that we visit are being used by the airlines as a holding place for tourists so, as and when the flights restart, holidaymakers are all in one place.

Bouganville Playa and the Princesa Dácil are two such hotels and were rammed with kids itching to do something! We were mobbed as soon as we arrived at both venues by adults as well as baby wannabe hamsters!

We also had two more bookings at Club La Costa’s Monteray and Sunningdale. All the children were disappointed that they had to finish their sessions, however with all of the trouble with getting back to the U.K, it seems they will get to have another go this week as compensation!

Tenerife Golf & Country Club was as busy as last week and it was great seeing our three superstars again, apologies for not getting your names, but you know who you are. Surprise of the day was when their mum went in for a go in the Ball. She was absolutely great, rubbish, but great to watch. A+ for giving it a go Mum!!

Santa Barbara was also busy with loads of plane refugees, we re-met a lot if last weeks hamsters as well as some spectators who had a go this time.

Laguna Park 1 had one family who flew in from Liverpool on possibly the last flight to leave England. They all took the challenge and had a great time, we also enjoyed meeting Connor who insisted he was the best hamster of the lot, although he was the only one who thought it!!

Mentions should also go to Sol Tenerife, La Siesta, Las Dalias and of course Sunset Bay and Harbour – far too many challengers to mention.

As flights are still not up and running, we look forward to seeing you all again this week. If you are lucky enough to leave before we get to your venue, thank you and we hope to see you again later this year – for a scheduled length holiday!

It felt like every child from the U.K and Spain wanted to take on the challenge, as usual with varying degrees of success.

To manage the numbers we had two teams out and about for four days a week, all doing at least three venues a day, the downside of this means that we failed to get many names, but you all know who you are!!!!

The Princesa Dacil in Los Cristianos gets a special mention as that was the only hotel that tried to get Fred Flinstone into one of the balls. He only failed as his costume wouldn’t fit!

The teams would like to extend a welcome to Kirk, a new animator at Laguna Park 1, he had a go in the Ball, he had no choice as all the children present had a go and felt he should join in. He was rubbish, but thoroughly enjoyed his experience – at least we hope so, he was unable to speak afterwards!!

Bouganville Playa had more than its fair share of children, all of whom wanted to have a go, they were possibly the most organised of all our venues, they organised themselves into a queue and waited patiently, egging each other on. Well done and thank you to all of you.

Tenerife Golf and Country Club was the busiest we have ever seen, with some of the nicest families. An extra special mention goes to Michael who was absolutely amazing in his ball, he just got in and ran around like a demented hamster. All of the children had got together and managed a competition with €1,00 prize money going to the challenger who managed to stay upright the longest! Michael won by a mile – who was paying out the prize remained unclear – but it added an extra frisson to a great afternoon.

We had more sessions where the guests were treated by their hotels – Club La Costa venues Monteray and Sunningdale played hosts for some very long sessions. As expected practically every guest seemed to turn up and have a go. Together with incredible weather, it made for some fantastic afternoons for both guests, staff and the Walk on Water Team.

Garden City – based within Club Olympus was, as ever, very busy and Kate and Gabi – the animators at this venue – were rushed off their feet. We had some real hamsters here and practically every child went in at least twice providing great amusement for the adults who all watched, from the bar!

We should also mention other venues visited in the past week, thank you to Las Dalias, La Siesta, Sunset Bay and Sunset Harbour, Island Village, Santa Barbara and Tropical Park.

We have had a great time of this Easter period, met some fantastic kids and their parents, thank you to everyone who had a go.

Our first special mention for the holiday goes jointly to John, aged 68 and his wife Sylvia, a spring chicken at only 64. They spent their Easter at Sunset Bay and decided that the kids needed to be shown a thing or two about how to challenge The Balls! After having a go John’s comment; “The brain said go, but the body said stop!” Sylvia declared “It was brilliant, I would recommend it to anyone, it is safe and fun” We couldn’t have put it better ourselves!

We visited Laguna Park 1 and were deluged with kids all wanting to have a go, no hamsters, but several brother and sister combinations all trying to outdo each other.After 2 hours we ventured off to Sunset Bay and Harbour where we were disappointed to find it was really quiet. Until we blew up the Balls, suddenly there were children everywhere! incredibly well-behaved, they queued for their turn beautifully, a real credit to their parents, who were enjoying some well deserved peace and quite – at the bar!!

Finally we headed off to one of our favourite venues, Garden City. As expected the pool was packed but Kate and Gabi managed to get everyone organised into some semblance of order and we were off. Special mention at this venue has to go to Charlie who accepted the challenge twice and was a real superstar!

Another day – another venue, or two, Princesa Dacil was first up and we were pleasantly surprised to see so many Spanish children waiting. Although we didn’t have any grown up, the kiddies held their own, including 3 siblings, each tinier than the last who were adorable!

Bougainville Playa was next on our list, although we had some trouble finding a plug point that worked – to many freezers on in the bar! – we finally got going and were amazed at the antics of some of the challengers. We even had one little girl doing hand stands and cartwheels which was a first!

Laguna Park 1 and 2 were filled to capacity, unfortunately meaning that we had to turn some children away, which we hate doing, but most of them are still here so perhaps they will get lucky this week.

Shame also for people waiting to have a go on resorts in Golf del Sur, the wind on Sunday was so strong it wasn’t safe to take the balls out – but we will see you all on Wednesday instead!
Happy Easter to everyone!