The San Simon Izola, or Simonov Zaliv (the Simon's bay), as some of the people call it, is the most famous beach in the city of Izola. The place is situated about one kilometer out of the Izola city centre, and it is easily accessible by walking – the path goes just by the sea. Or, if you prefer to jump into the water right away, there is a parking space just above the beach. It is payable ( but not very expensive, two Euros for the whole day ), but there is a guard all the time, so the cars are secured, and there is shadow. However, in August, especially on weekends, this parking is always full, so a lot of people are leaving their cars elsewhere, for example by the road ( even if it is prohibited ), or in the centre of Izola, and they walk back to the beach.
Another option is a tourist train, which will take you from the city centre of Izola, almost right to the entrance of the beach, but it is quite expensive ( three Euros one way! ) and always crowded. But, even if you have to pay for parking, the entry to the beach is free! And, right after the entrance, there is a small shop, named Aquasplash, which is selling beach stuff – swimming costumes, pareos, towels, inflatable water animals and things like that. All the things that are sold there, are made in China, so they will not last for long. I once bought an inflatable dolphin as a part of a bet with my friends, and it already had a hole in it, so we could not even inflate it.
There are no supermarkets right at the beach. The closest one, called Interspar market, is situated just five minutes of walking away from the beach. Even if you parked your car at the beach, it does not make sense to drive there, because it is so close. How do you get there? From the beach entrance, you just have to walk in the straight line, until you reach the shop, which will be on your right.
There is a big, rocky pier, that divides the beach into two parts. The bay, where the beach is, is natural, however, the sand is not. Every year, they deliver the yellow sand, so the beach looks like some Caribbean paradise. But I would prefer the rocky beach or anything else, because after the day at this beach, the sand is literally everywhere on you and your belongings. And the water looks like a mud pool, because a lot of people play in the water and they lift up all the sand.
On the other side of the pier, almost unbelievable, but true, the water is crystal clear. You will probably notice some people snorkelling there, and occassionally, there are real divers, too. The water on the right side is also deep enough for jumping in from the pier, but you have to be careful, because boats, that operate watersports, often go by. The water on the left side is definitely not deep enough to jump, because at the very end of the pier, it is less than one meter deep.
There are always two lifeguards on the pier, to ensure that everyone at the beach is safe.
Up the hill, there is a hotel village, which consists of the following hotels: Haliaetum, Myrtha, Perla, Palma and Sirena. If you would like to go to an indoor swimming pool, have a massage or go to a sauna, you can do so in any of the mentioned hotels, because all of them offer these options. And, if there are not many visitors, you do not even have to book in advance. It depends on the hotel, how much you will pay, because they are a different quality and therefore the price range is not the same.
What can you do in Simonov zaliv?
The beach has all of the necessary facilities that you need to spend a quality summer day at the beach. Read more below.
One word: watersports! From mid of June to the beginning of September, the watersports centre is operating at the right side of the pier on the beach. They offer everything – from waterskiing, tube rides, banana boats, to jet ski rentals. And everything is actually pretty cheap! A jet ski rental costs fifteen Euros for twenty minutes. Although the area, where you are allowed to ride a jet ski, is not very big, it is still big enough to draw a huge smile on your face. Tube and banana boat rides costs ten Euros for a ride, and waterskiing costs fifteen Euros for ten minutes.
Waterslides! There are two tall waterslides, that operate, the same as the watersports centre, from mid July to the beginning of September. One of the slides is red and one is blue, and a few years ago, they were known as the tallest waterslides in Slovenia, until they built a taller one in Moravske Toplice. One ride costs one Euro, and even if I am 22 years old, I still love to go there whenever I have a chance. The only thing that you have to be careful about, are the slippery stairs. This is not a problem if you walk slow, but smaller kids usually rush to be at the top fast, and always someone gets injured.
Every day in July and August, or at least when the weather is nice and there is enough people, there is a free aquatic exercise in the morning, and in the afternoon, it takes place on the lawn just behind the beach. I simply loved it, the movements are slow enough not to sweat too much, but still fast enough to move up your lazy summer bones. :) About seven or eight years ago, when I still used to go there with my parents, they had daily themed exercises, for example, one day, it was for elderly people, one day for teenagers and so on, but, because of the lack of interest, they are only doing it for all age groups together now.
Good news for families with kids – the beach offers a free summer kindergarten for kids, so parents can have some of their time together. As a part of an obligatory practice of the touristic high school, that I was attending in Izola, I was working there as an animator, and I loved it. Maybe I was just lucky, but all of the kids I had there, were so friendly and nice. The summer kindergarten is free, however when I was working there, all parents that left their kids there, always brought us either an ice cream or some sweets. The enrollment takes place behind the wooden building (which is actually a bar). On choosen dates during summer, a swimming learning course is also organized as a part of the summer kindergarten, and it is also free of charge!
Another thing for kids (and ordinary people who are kids at their hearts) there are two fun places to visit on the beach: the trampollines and the bumper cars in the water! Both attractions are payable, and they cost three Euros each for ten minutes of fun. If you will go there, you will see many young people on those two attractions, not just small kids. But no wonder, because those bumper cars in the water are so fun. But if you decide to go there, go in your swimming costume, because the water is splashing all around.
Occassionally, they also put the big inflatable trampolins on the water and an iceberg for climbing, and they are for free, but this does not happen every year.
For all of the historical fans: you can check out the remainings of the former romanian Villa Rustica. It is situated on a meadow, about one hundred meters behind the beach. There is fence all around the place, but there is also a path all around it, so you can clearly see everything inside, and there are plenty of informative signs in four languages (Slovenian, English, Italian and French), that will give you all the necessary information about the place, among many of the interesting historical facts. Usually, when I am walking past the remainings of Villa Rustica, I am seeing many people, just regularly passing by, as this place is nothing special, but, in fact, it is one of the most important historical monuments in the whole Slovenian coast!
If you love great views of the coast, and possibly watch a perfect sunset ( you probably noticed that I love watching sunsets), you can 'climb' a Belvedere hill and combine both things. Belvedere actually means 'to see nice things' in Italian language. You can access it from the beach – when you are there, you will definitely notice a walking path, that continues from the beach towards some cliffs. Those cliffs are called Bele skale (white rocks) and below them, there is a very famous wild nudist beach. Well, nowadays, not many people are going there, because a few years ago, a rock that falled from the cliff, has killed one of the tourists there. For some period of time, going there was even forbidden.
When walking towards the rocks, you will probably get wet by the waves that are crashing into the shore. Before you reach the cliffs, you will notice some stairs on your left. You have to turn there, and after 20 stairs, you will see an abandoned parking space. A long time ago, there was a bar that was accessible even by car, but unfortunately, they closed it down. You have to continue walking up, the path is a bit steep, but soon, you will already be able to admire the awesome views. The walking to the top of the hill will take you about half an hour (with stops for taking pictures and admiring the view included). At the top, there is a restaurant, which is often closed down because of the lack of customers, but on their terrace, there are places to sit even when it is closed. To go back to the beach, you can either choose the same way (it will only take about ten minutes to go down) or go through the Jagodje village. There is nothing special to see on this way, so I would recommend you to choose the same way to go back.
If you are thirsty after going up the Belvedere hill, there is a perfect bar back at the beach. As I have mentioned before, this bar is a wooden building, in the middle of pine trees, so there is plenty of shadow there. In the bar, they serve all kinds of cold drinks, and different cocktails, both alcoholic and non – alcoholic. The drinks are not very expensive, so you will definitely have some money left to enjoy the watersports, too. :)
In the third Friday and Sunday in May, this place becomes a place of Čista desetka ( pure ten), which is a famous attraction for students from all universities on the Slovenian coast. What exactly is Čista desetka? It is pure fun! During the day, young people test themselves in various games and matches (football, boccia, volleyball, swimming and others), and in the evening, this becomes a huge party place with a light show, and usually lasts all night. Occasionally, on summer nights, they perform an open – air disco in Simonov Zaliv, which always attracts a lot of young people.
But the image of Simonov Zaliv is completely different in winter time. What is a lively resort during summertime, looks like an abandoned amusement park during winter. But the place itself is still very popular walking spot, especially for couples, and the top of the Belvedere hill is an extremely popular spot for watching fireworks on New Year's Eve.
