Первый раз в Абхазии First time in Abkhazia

Hello! We rested with my husband and son 3 years old from August 20 to 28.2011. We studied in advance all the reviews that we could find, and considered the Pine Grove option to be optimal for ourselves. We got by plane to Sochi, we didn’t order a transfer (taxi to Psou right to the border 500r, from the border to the gate of the CP 800r). We crossed the border there (at 20.30) in 20-30 minutes in total (with a visit to DF and smoke breaks), back in about an hour (at about 9 am). We arrived late, on the way we stopped at Gagra in the Continent (local supermarket) to buy some food for the child (which we did not regret very much later), we were instantly settled and even offered to have dinner (we really refused ourselves). We were not escorted to the room (we lived in a high building on the 6th floor, 2-room suite, 2 balconies overlooking the pines and the sea), but it was not particularly necessary. The room is like this: the entrance hall from it has a door to the bathroom (faucets did not leak, fresh good repair, nothing is broken, nothing is broken, there is a basin for washing), then a living room - 2 armchairs, a sofa, something like a dressing table combined with a TV cabinet (shows Russia badly, only R1 and TVC are good), then the door to the bedroom - 2 shifted beds, a refrigerator, a wardrobe, 2 chairs - everything is new (even the film has not yet been removed from the upholstery). Both rooms have a large balcony, air conditioning in the living room. Everything is very good, a sofa is laid out in the living room and 2 blankets are attached to it, if anyone wants to lie there to read or watch TV. There is no kettle, there is 1 plate, 2 forks, a knife, 2 glasses and a corkscrew - everything is actually according to the situation. During the day, the air conditioner was left running (it was cool when they arrived), at night they did not turn it on - they breathed sea and pine air.
Nutrition. It really looks like eating somewhere in the canteen of the middle hand of some kind of management. If you like goulash meat, Stroganoff liver, meat rolls and meatballs, you won't go hungry. In the morning, a big plus is very tasty cottage cheese and sour cream (they actually only had breakfast), they practically didn’t eat soups (I can’t say anything about them) - it was really tasty from what I ate: chicken with potatoes, liver with rice, liver pate, eggplant with greens , vegetable caviar. The rest can be eaten, but without taste joys. From drinks: black and green tea, coffee, various compotes / fruit drinks, cold water, mineral water and lemonade for lunch. Wine was served a couple of times (maybe more often, but we didn’t always go). For 3 days the child picked something on the plate, but practically did not eat, they made porridge for him in the room, bought curds and kefir, barneys and juice (at the bar), then they began to order something for dinner at a local national restaurant and then warm up the leftovers for dinner (I recommend very tasty and cheap khinkali, excellent khachapuri, homemade fried potatoes, good kebabs), but the children generally didn’t eat local food at all (it certainly doesn’t look like homemade, but it will do to feed my husband)))))
Beach. As you enter sand, then pebbles. It is unrealistic to enter the water without slippers (very painful), the exit is steep, if a storm can immediately drag you deeper. Of all the days that the sea was calm, there were 3 days, the rest with waves. On the beach for rent sun loungers and umbrellas (20 and 10 rubles, respectively), it is better to take them from 8.30 to 9.30, otherwise it may not be enough. There are no beach towels.

Weather. Very comfortable weather, only one day was semi-cloudy, the rest is clear, with a pleasant light breeze, the sea is very warm.
Pools. 2 swimming pools - adult and children, visited both. Normal clean, warm. The jacuzzi is plastic, warm, you can set it up yourself (you can triple the strong enough pressure).
The area is very green, walking is a pleasure. There is a playground (3 swings and something else), but so-so. You can buy on the territory: newspapers, magazines, books, something cosmetic and hygienic, some medicines. In the bars, ice cream, soft drinks and alcoholic drinks, and for moderate money (the prices are - good coffee 50r, glaze 50r, mineral water in glass 0.5 40r).
Service. There is a hairdresser, she is also a manicure / pedicure master (and pedicure in her concept is the shape and color of toenails, manicure + this miracle pedicure 700r! ). First-aid post (saw, was not). Bicycle rental (popular, we took a children's bike for our son), ping-pong, checkers. In the evening, an animation program for children, later for adults something like dancing in nature))
How to leave. Taxi Pitsunda and back 400 rubles, also Gagra 500 rubles. There are collective bus trips for 80 rubles but at inconvenient times (9 and 11 am). There is nothing to do in Pitsunda, so if you are just curious and see the local temple, in Gagra there is a larger selection of fruits and souvenirs and prices are much lower (I was offered to buy the same thing for 1000 and 600 rubles, a decent difference). Gagra is also nothing special, a lot of people and garbage, the beach is small and dirty.
We did not go on excursions. We walked on foot to the river and back along the beach, along the alleys from the boarding house towards the highway. My husband has been on a jet ski a few times.
The audience is educated, decent people, many children, everyone goes to bed early and gets up early.

The general impression is that we want to come again next year and take 1-2 more families with children for company. I have previously been to many places (Turkey, Egypt, Croatia, Spain, etc. ) for a change, it’s not even bad - the price of a 2-room suite and a flight for three in August (price peak) was 73tr for us (from Moscow).
The biggest disadvantages are boring food and painful legs when swimming!