What is close to Skanes? -Spas? Oasis? Thrills?

I know that Skanes is pretty much beach and a few other hotels dotted along the coastline, so I know we will have to travel to some extent to do the things we want to do but if anyone could give us any tips for things to do and places to do it whilst I'm there I'd really appreciate it. We don't have a great deal of money so will spend some days at the hotel and on the beach, but we also have a few things we want to do whilst there and they are the following:

A nice massage (me and my girlfriend)
Find a nice oasis that we can swim in
Go quad biking or something similar that isn't a watersport. I know they do ATV driving in the desert but that is too far away since we are only in Tunisia for 7 days so don't want to spend a lot of time travelling - plus I'm not the biggest fan of sand anyway
How much would any of this cost?

We are probably going to goto the water park and the zoo and hopefully go on some sort of boat tour. I think I read on here that a catamaran trip at around 4PM is good as there's a higher chance of seeing dolphins. I've also never been on a catamaran and would really like to so coluld anyone tell me where I'd have to go and how much roughly it will cost to do this? We arrive on July 10th.

Thanks

*PS - would anyone recommend renting a car for a day or two or does it work out cheaper to get taxis? I guess if we had a car, we would travel a lot more than we would if we had to pay for a taxi each time... is petrol cheap? Thanks, Colin

Thanks for the reply

We are in the Ramada Liberty Resort Hotel. There are 4 of us going.

What is an average price of renting a car per day in July and what would you estimate for a week? When I do a search on travelsupermarket, the cheapest quote I get is £318 for a week and the cheapest car with air conditioning is very close to £400! Do those quotes reflect the cost of hire if we were to rent from someone after we have arrived?

There are various car hire offices in Sousse, someone will come on soon with more info or look on older threads on here, put in the search facility. Personally for your first trip I would wait and see if you feel you need a car after you arrive. There is the metro train that runs along the main road by the airport. This runs from Sousse centre to Mahdia about 1-1/2 hour trip up the coast going through Monastir. It is really an old train but so cheap. Also taxis are reasonable especially for 4 of you. Do some research on here If you have more specific questions ask again or message me and will try to help. There are lots of organized trips and for your first trip maybe plan on taking a couple. These are booked in your hotel. Without knowing how you usually travel I wouldn`t want to give more info on transportation. Lots to do and see anyway and wonderful beaches.

Thanks for the reply!

To be honest none of us were planning a summer holiday this year but we seen a great deal for all inclusive. I'm trying to find out as much as possible before I get there but I'm not sure if the other 3 are.

The only reason I'm thinking about car hire is because of our location. A car would allow us to explore the area a lot more than we could if we were sticking to local transports if you know what I mean.

When I was in Turkey years ago we went on a 4x4 tour and we stopped at an oasis. I would REALLY like to find one in Tunisia because I'm not a big fan of the sea.. I find fresh water a lot more refreshing and enjoyable for some reason.

The sea is lovely to swim in in Tunisia. Not any fresh water swimming around the coast that I know of apart from the many swimming pools around the hotels. The oasis that people see as part of the Sahara Adventure trip is many Kms south the first one by Tozeur but not really for swimming in, it feeds the many various fruit trees that grow there.
You will have to decide when you are there about a car. Trains from centre of Sousse, Gare de Sousse are so cheap say to El Djem.

Getting around

Hi, car hire can be quite expensive and it can be quite nerve wracking driving in tunisia. It is much less stressful to take a taxi. i can give you the number of a couple of great taxi drivers if you want who speak good english and will fit in with what you want. El Djem is about an hour away from Skanes, Kairouan the same or Mahdia is nice to visit. You can do a half day trip which means you have time for the beach. Let me know if you want some reliable contacts

regards Sarah

If you go to Mahdia the best day is Friday, market day. You can get the metro train opposite the Skanes hotels directly to the market site, worth a visit.

That would be great! I've travelled in the past using non-english speaking taxi drivers and it's made for some frustration due to either miscommunication or possibly even scamming. Numbers for english speaking drivers would be a great help thanks!

Thanks for the tip! Do you think it would work out cheaper to ravel by metro or would 4 of us in a taxi be about the same? I'm assuming taxi would be a lot quicker so always a bonus.

Hi i was in Ramada Liberty last time i was in Tunisia and every time i wanted to go out we took a taxi to Sousse it cost about 10 o 15 dinars, the best thing is to take the taxi out of the hotel and discuss the price before you go in and from Sousse to the hotel it can be cheaper if you go with the meter will be like 7 dinars...next to Liberty is the Saadia hotel, there is a bus stop there it is the cheapest option to go and you mix with the locals...
In the hotel you got plenty options for excursions, i will recommend the one of 2 days ( 1 day and a half) where you visit El Jem, Matmata (star wars set) and a cave house, oasis with a horse carriage ride, Sahara desert with a camel ride sleeping over in a hotel next to the Sahara, next day you go on the Lizard red train to the foot of the tunisian Atlas and a visit to Kairouan and something else that i can't remember ( all this is worthy a visit) if not i'm sure you can find something all of you will like
Enjoy Tunisia...