Costa del Sol on a budget

The Sea Life centre in Benalmadena has more than 30 displays, feeding demonstrations, rock pools and an underwater tunnel.

Tickets booked online cost €10 for adults and children, €9 if you visit between 8pm and 10pm. But if you're planning to go to the Bioparc zoo in Fuengirola too, consider buying a combined ticket. For adults a combined ticket's €29.50 (would be €30.50 if bought separately) and for kids it's €21.50 (would be €25.50 separately).

If you're going just to the Sea Life centre, bear in mind tickets can be €6 more if you pay on the day. Again, if you do leave it to the last minute it's worth looking for flyers in hotels, which can knock a few euros off.

It can cost £5+/day to rent a child's car seat while abroad, so if you can, it's far better to take your own. That way, not only will you save, but you know your child will be happy sitting in it. Most airlines will let you check in a car seat and pram for free, on top of your normal allowance. 

There are alternative options – for instance, some airports have stalls like Malaga's Tots Store where seats can be rented at half the cost. 

For some resorts there are direct public transport links from Malaga Airport, but for others you'll have to take a bus or a train into Malaga city and another train onwards.

The other options are to book a transfer or a taxi or hire a car.

To give you an idea of the difference in prices we've compared the journeys from Malaga Airport to Fuengirola, which is about 15 miles away.

• Take the train from Terminal 3. Each way is €2.70 (£2.45) and the train leaves every 20 minutes between 5.32am and 11.42pm (it's slightly less often before 7am and after 10pm). Fuengirola station is not far from many of the hotels. See Renfe local services.
  
  
• Shuttle transfer. When we looked at booking a month in advance, it was roughly £15 return.
  
  
• Private taxi for four. Approximately €33 (£30) each way, though it can be higher during evenings and weekends.
  
  
• Car hire. From £5 per day booked three months in advance, or about £15 per day in peak season. See Cheap Car Hire.

The Malaga Airport and Visitors Guide has useful information on bus or train services to other resorts.

Tourists tend to report being charged higher prices if they hail a taxi at the airport rather than booking one, so it's a good idea to decide how you'll get to your resort before you land at the airport.

Tipping in Spain isn't as widespread as here in the UK – certainly in authentic Spanish restaurants it's not standard.

But it can be a different ballgame in major tourist areas at the height of the season, where tipping is often expected and sometimes you'll even be asked if you forget.

Many expats say they simply round up to the nearest euro, or for meals add a few extra euros on to their bill. But again it varies – in some tourist areas, they may expect 10%.

For services such as taxis or hotel porters, tipping is welcomed but large tips are not commonplace and a few coins should be fine.

We say go with what you feel comfortable with.

As with most tourist destinations, must-haves such as suntan lotion and after-sun are likely to be expensive in the resorts. Here are some tips to avoid getting burnt:

• Before you do anything, check if you actually need any new suntan lotion – to do this, simply turn your bottles around. On the back you'll see the 'Period After Opening' number, which tells you how long you can keep using it for. It'll usually look like an open jar and say 12 or 24 next to it.
   

• If you do need to buy before you go, check out our suntan lotion deals page.
   

• Another nifty trick to save on your luggage weight is to order heavier toiletries to Boots stores in duty-free at the airport (always check if possible first). That means you can stuff it into the one extra plastic bag of duty-free you're allowed to take on board, keeping heavy bottles out of your luggage.
   

• If you're in need of a bottle or two while out there, most MoneySavers recommend heading away from the tourist strips to one of the big supermarkets. Here you'll find Spanish brands in particular are much more reasonably priced.

It's easy to think that the Costa del Sol is only sun, sea, sand and sangria, but the area offers a wealth of history and culture too.

Malaga city offers more than 30 museums, a Gothic cathedral and an 11th century castle, and is definitely worth a visit. The Lonely Planet guide is a good place to start for all the top sights to see while you're there.

Ronda, which is about an hour's drive away, is famed for its spectacular views, the El Tajo gorge and surrounding mountains. Again Lonely Planet has a guide to get you started.

When you get to a restaurant, you'll often find locals eating inside or drinking at the bar, whereas tourists are likely to be outside soaking up the sun.

In some cases though you'll pay more for that premium spot outside. It might be worded as something like a terrace surcharge (you might see it written as 'terraza de pago'), so if you want to pay less, sit by the Spaniards.