As surfers we have a tendency to travel around a lot in search of waves and more often than not we find ourselves staying under canvas on a camping site. Spending time outdoors close to a new surf spot can be great but if you choose the wrong place to stay it can spoil the experience. This unfortunately happened on my last trip a few days ago to Croyde in North Devon.
We decided to stay at "Surfers Paradise" campsite...obviously lured by the name and location close to the beach but the reality didn't live up to the promise. The site is little more than a field and the "facilities" consist of some temporary porta-cabins, which were very poor. The service at reception was awful and altogether unwelcoming and the security on site was non-existant. If the campsite's fees had reflected the standards then OK, but the fees were high and in line with larger sites with real facilities like showers, bars, etc. So the site was set up to take as much money as possible and give as little as possible in return, just exploiting the continuing UK surf boom. "Surfers Paradise" Croyde.....campers you have been warned!
On the flip side we usually stay at Lobb Fields camp site just down the road in Saunton. The facilities are simple but the owners are always welcoming and its a well maintained site, so we often recommend it.
So we'd like to hear of your experiences....can you recommend a great site to stay at or warn us of campsites from hell? Feel free to comment and share your thoughts
*image above is an example of a poor camping choice!
No comments:
Post a Comment