Small, quiet, great bathrooms, no swimming

This is a quiet location with possibly the best & cleanest bathrooms I have encountered at any campground. The area is covered with tall trees so almost all sites have complete shade (I prefer a little sun). Getting into the site was tough for us (we have a 30 ft trailer), this area was definitely not built with larger rigs in mind. The campground does have large fields and a great park for the kids. It also has a nice dock for fishing, but all we caught were sunfish. This location loses marks in my book for poor communication. Swimming is a huge part of camping for my family, and I wasn't the only camper at this site that thought there was a pool (you can't swim in the river). There is in fact a pool at the Pocomoke Shad landing location (20 min down the road). There is no camp store except at the Shad landing location, but this also means that the site isn't as aggressively patrolled as some other state parks (more relaxed atmosphere). All-in-all we had a great time, but due to the lack of swimming we had to travel a bit more than I like to keep the kids entertained. This would be a great choice for anyone with a small-med camp rig that is looking for a quiet trip.

We stayed here in a Travel Trailer.

Private wooded sites, minutes away from Virginia Beach

This is an awesome campground that will unite both the activity and nature campers. The sites are all wooded and provide good separation from your neighbors. All sites are within a few hundred feet of beach access. The campground provides an isolated feel while still being close to Virginia Beach and the many local activities (Beaches, Lighthouses, aquarium and Military Aircraft Museum, to name a few). The campground is very relaxed. You are permitted two car passes per site and there are no fees to set up extra tents, awnings, etc. We showed up at 9 am although the check-in was 4 pm. There were sites available so they let us pull right in. Showers are free and the facilities were clean but a bit dated. We stayed from 23-31 May, even on the Memorial Day weekend the beach was only moderatley busy, the rest of the time there are only a few people on it. Our kids had a great time chasing ghost crabs, collecting shells and swimming. We will be back.

We stayed here in a Travel Trailer.

You will love it or hate it... there is no middle ground

My family and I had a GREAT time at Beachcombers, but it is certainly not for everyone. If you like quiet nature camping, this is NOT the place for you. If you like camping with tons of activities and don’t mind a busy atmosphere, you will love it.
The good:
1. Centrally located between Cape May and Wildwood
2. Tons of activities for kids and adults alike
3. Great beach and pool area: Beach, dock, paddle boat & kayak rental, large playground.
4. Sites and facilities are very clean and the staff was friendly

The bad,
1. It is noisy! here is constant traffic between all the cars and golf carts. There is also a small airport just right outside the campground The sites are small so you can hear your neighbors.
2. Poor administration. Changes to bookings or special requests seem to be hard for them to handle.
3. The roads and site entrances are very narrow, it is a challenge to get into most of the sites.
4. Power fluctuates between 120-130

Misc info:
1. This campground clearly markets itself as a “resort” and has all the amenities you would expect except Wi-Fi. There is only one small hotspot near the beach. Strange for this type of campground.
2. There is daily garbage pickup at your site. This combined with the noise and high percentage of seasonal sites makes it feel like a town not a campsite.
3. 70% of sites are seasonals.
4. Campsites are all shaded with very little sun, good or bad depending on how you look at it.

We stayed here in a Travel Trailer.

Great location, family-friendly, staff quality varies widely

Summary:
If planned ahead, this site could be a gem. We were crammed on a small unlevel site, right on top of our neighbors, but there were plenty of great sites (especiallly the outside sites on the hillside area). The campground is located halfway between Hershey and Lancaster, so there was way more to do then we had time for. The site was generally pretty clean and the playgrounds and pools were great for our kids.

Wireless Internet: Sure they have it, but it is slow and you have to login with a browser every 2 hours.

Bathrooms: Decently clean, but dated

Pool: Awsome... The pool made our trip. There is a kiddie pool and a larger one. The larger pool has a good sized section that is 1 ft deep, great for younger kids.

Playgrounds: The plagrounds were great, the one closer to the pool actually has a shaded patio where the adults can relax while the kids play.

Campstore: Decently stocked, but pricey.

Staff: The staff was a mixed bag. Most were long term campers living on the site. Some were great, others were short-tempered.

We stayed here in a Travel Trailer.

Private sites and a great beach area

My family and I stayed here for four days in early June. We stayed in Ash loop in site 10. We had a great time but no campsite is perfect, so I will try to provide objective comment.

Campsites:

Sites were well spaced with most separated by trees providing good privacy. All sites had a picnic table and fire pit and are fairly level.

Campground:

The staff were friendly and helpful. The bathrooms were pretty clean (3.5/5), and the park overall is well maintained. There is a small aviary and nature center with some animals, nothing amazing, but my toddlers enjoyed them. There are also activities on the weekends, most cost $5.

The beach area is great! There is a good sized beach, a dock, camp store, nature center, playground, canoe/ kayak rental and a snack shack. There is a lot to do in that one area, our family loved it. On the downside, the beach area is really the only play area for kids, so I could see it getting really busy as there aren't any other playgrounds in the park.

One great memory we will take from this campground is the wildlife. We had a doe walk right past our campsite 2 days in a row. There were also rabbits, squirrels, chipmunks, snakes, turtles, frogs and a host of beautiful birds. There were very few mosquitoes, probably because of the number of spiders. The spiders didn't bother us, they were mostly the daddy-long-legs variety...

We had a great time. The park was quiet and beautiful, we will be back.

We stayed here in a Travel Trailer.

Great campsites, clean and friendly..

My family and I visited Elk Neck State Park the first week in May 2013. We stayed in the NE loop (the only one with full hookups). The entire campsite is well-designed, making it easy to maneuver even larger rigs and get into your site. The sites are nicely wooded and give you some space between you and the neighbors.

The washrooms are slightly dated but very clean. The camp store is a decent size and there are laundry facilities right beside it.

There are lots of wooded trails in the area and several playgrounds.

The only con is the requirement to drive to most attractions (the beach and lighthouse), I prefer being a bit closer to water. The is a great beach inside the park 5 min away..

There was also a lot of wildlife in the area from bald eagles to deer...

We stayed here in a Travel Trailer.

Re: Camping Gift Suggestions for Mother-in-Law???

It really depends on the person, but here is my two cents (I tend towards practical gifts):

1. Camera / Camera equipment
2. 30A or 50A surge protector (depending on what her RV uses)
3. Water pressure limiter
4. Pressure washer (mine has saved me tonns of time washing my RV)
5. Does she have satellite radio for her RV? maybe a year subscription or a satellite radio if she doesn't have one
6. Small solar panels are always handy to charge cellphones and the like
7. Crank radio or flashlight
8. eReader...
9. after market back up camera (if her vehicle doesn't have one already)
10. Novelty lights for her awning
11. Lynx levelers
12. A hammock
13. RV Cookbook
14. camco sidewinder
15. Card games / board games
16. Portable games (croquet, bocce, etc)

Well, that's all I got for now.. hopefully an idea or two you like,

Re: Recommendations for first trip

Thanks Georgito,

Jelllystone looks like a lot of fun. We are planning to check it out in late May. I have also booked some other trips to state parks (Elk Neck, Rocky Gap and Assateage).. We are looking to try a bunch of different types of sites / areas to see what we enjoy most. Thanks again for the recommendation!

Recommendations for first trip

Morning all!

After a years of planning and reading, we bought our first RV last fall. This will be our first season and we are excited. Despite all the reading and advanced preparation I have done, I know there will be a steep learning curve especially on our first trip. Does anyone have recommendations for a kid friendly site (I have a 4 and 2.5 yr old) that would also be good for our learning trip? I live near Annapolis, MD. Our trailer is a Rockwood 8317ss

Thanks for your advice!