isle of wight

[runnerphil]

Hi all. Could anyone recommend a caravan site on the Isle of Wight? I'm looking for a lively site with show bars, arcades and in/out door swimming pools. I have three children aged 5,7 and 10.

I'm thinking about park resorts but I've never holidayed with them before, if any one could give me some feed back on their pitches and facilities during peek season it'll be vary much appreciated

Thanks phil.

 

[Damian]

Baldylocks, firstly do NOT go to Thorness Bay. The touring site is a disgrace, the toilets are in portacabins, and not in good condition, and Park resorts are expensive.

I would suggest you look at Whitecliff Bay , it has most of your requirements, but the touring site is away from all the noise.

Everywhere on the Island will be busy in peak times, so facilities will be stretched, and the sites will be full.

Another to look at is Landguard Manor, but again, the site will be full to capacity, facilities used to the max, and very busy.

Whatever site you choose, with the things you want on site, will be booked right up, pitches will be at a minimum, space wise, and expect a lot of noise and disruption, especially after closing time

 

[Steve L]

To be perfectly honest unless there has been a dramatic improvement I'd steer clear of White cliff bay. Yes it has entertainment but the touring facilities are not too good. We were in the over spill touring field two years ago which then had literally one toilet (out door privy) for what could easily of been 60 caravans. The main facilities were a good 500 Yds from us in the main field.

Had it of rained that week i could of seen us in a right mess.

The Island however is so beautiful and well worth a visit. We use the Red funnel offers as they represent good value for money by including ferry and caravan pitches.

Steve.

 

[Icemaker]

i just do not understand why some people insist on saying thorness bay is so bad, i have been for the past two years and found the site to be quite adequate for a large commerciall site. ok the toilets are in portacabins but when i have been they have been spotless no mess whatso ever but then again i avoid the high season as i hate the roudy nature of two week cheap break campers. the club house and entertainment at thorness is above average and the pool is more than adequate although not as big as it should be for such a large site, the sea is only a 5 minuite walk from the touring area and you can walk miles along the coastal path. The touring pitches that we use are large enough for my 27 foot twin axle van and full size awning plus room to park the car (large people carrier) and enough room for the sunloungers and barbi, nobody else can encroach on your space as the pitches are bordered by a low wooden fence. Damien, Where have you been looking for the prices ? two years ago we paid 118.00 pounds for two weeks last year we paid 142.00 for two weeks, the price was for two adults two teenagers the pitch with electric hook up and an awning and two dogs and to top it off becouse we stayed for two weeks the ferry was provided for free. ive paid almost as much on a club site for one week with nothing but a toilet block.

As with all commerciall sites avoid them like the plague in high season when the kids are off school thorness like all others i am sure would be horrible in august.

We visited whitecliff bay whilst on the island and although i have no experiance of the site with the van my first impressions where not good, the entertainment area was fine but the pitches looked very tired. having said this its all down to personal taste and ive read just as many good reports as bad ones.

 

[ERICA1]

if you book Thorness bay through Park resorts the ferry is free if you go for 2weeks. We are thinking of going there ourselves but not sure when that will be.

 

[Icemaker]

like i said above Erica, don't go in high season / school holidays it is just too busy and the staff cant keep up with the damage and mess that the clients leave. you dont get many proper caravanners using these sites at this time of year due to the amount of cheap newspaper package how much beer can we drink in two weeks type camper. its a shame but leave it untill september and the site is great.

 

[Pete4]

Icemaker,

Can you define what a "proper caravaner" is please? I thought you just had to have a caravan.

Pete

 

[Icemaker]

i was relating to the people who book the 20 pound short breaks from newspapers like the sun, they have no interest in caravanning other than for theire three day booze fuelled break in a static usually causing mayhem on site us proper caravanners.

 

[denise_5040268]

couldnt agree more especially at haven sites.What we do is wait till the sun prints the list of camps they can use then avoid them like the plague(think theres a list coming up soon)

 

[runnerphil]

Thank you all vary much for all your input. It has certainly given us food for thought!

I'm looking into Whitecliff Bay at the moment.

What are the roads around the isle of white regarding towing a caravan like? Are they two way from ferry to the site or are they single carriage way with passing places? We live in Cornwall and know all to well what small narrow roads can be like!!

Cheers phil.

 

[Damian]

Phil, the roads on the island are not thatbad really, apart from not being the smoothest surfaces. All the main routes are a decent width, but the driving habits of "some" of the locals leaves a LOT to be desired.

The localcouncil have done their very bestover the years to make driving here one of the most unpleasurable experiences, and the Police have been more than happy to assist this experience by having mobile speed cameras in places you would never think possible, but stick to the posted limits and you'll be fine. Most of the Island is covered by 40mph limits, with the usual 30 in built up areas, and a smattering of 20mph in places of particular visitor interest.

When you have chosen your site, if you post agai, I will give you the best route to it, if you like, as, for instance, approaching Whitecliff, there is a 6ft6" width limit one way, but not the other.

 

[BrianStAlbans]

http://www.practicalcaravan.com/newforums/fm_messages.asp?fo=6&fm=69637 please see this link for my views of Thorness Bay...Brian

 

[runnerphil]

This is what Brian had posted:-

Just returned from Thorness bay site and can honestly say it is the WORST site we have ever stayed on.Sloping ,rutted hardcore pitches covered in weeds.Portacabin toilets and showers that were filthy!(vomit in the ladies showers)When my wife mentioned the condition of the site to the warden he said it was because of the people that stayed on it "they're animals"We had the pleasure of parking next to the warden(nice bloke)but had to put up with his dog p-ing against my awning and sh-ing on the grass in front of it.The ferry over,I was told was 12 noon as I requested but turned out to be 7.45 am so we had to wait 1 hour as we had missed it.The return ticket was for 7.30 am but the site telephoned the ferry company,in front of me, and assured me they had changed it to 1 pm.When we arrived at the ferry at 12 we were told that they had indeed changed the time....to 8.30 pm!!!Put this together with the nightly ritual of the tent campers relieving themselves against the hedge at the back of my van whilst taking great pleasure in shouting to let everyone know what they were doing and the Police arriving in the early hours to arrest two guys for jumping on tents you will see why I rate this site so badly...The Isle of Wight was ,as ever, lovely and we would return tomorrow, but Parc Resorts,Thorness Bay....NEVER!

thanks for your input, Brian, sounds like Thorness bay is one to stay away from. i may well give whitecliff a try the web site makes it look good but im just waiting for the brochure to arive before we book.

phil.

 

[Icemaker]

Baldylocks, read what i put about not going to any of these sites in high season( including thorness bay and whitecliff) and then have a look at when brian went ?. We went to thorness two weeks later than brian and found the site to be nothing like he had described, we enquired about his comments to the warden who stated that they had over two thousand caravans and tents on site at the time of brians visit and he admitted that they just could not keep up with the danage and destruction being caused by the few unreasonable visitors on site. from what we heard from various static owners the weeks brian visited where the worst in the sites history for trouble makers. I think brian as a decent chap was very unfortunate to choose high season for his visit.

 

[BrianStAlbans]

Icemaker, what difference does it make when I went? We paid a lot of money for our pitch.Did it become rutted and covered in weeds overnight?,NO! Did the site take on extra staff to help the warden clean the toilets and showers?,NO! Did the time I was there justify them making us wait 7 1/2 hours in a car park because they lied about the ferry? NO! Thorness Bay remains the worst site I have ever stayed on.