Marton Mere Haven site near Blackpool

[AnthonyNornIreland]

Hi All,
Anyone been to this site recently?
Am thinking of booking for July this year for two weeks, if anyone has been, what are your views.
Will be sailing from Belfast to Birkenhead
Thanks in advance,

Anthony

 

[CHESHIRECAT]

Have you won the lottery ! two weeks at haven is bad enough but two weeks in Blackpool, Hope you know what your letting yourself into

 

[forestgump]

is it a stag doo or hen night lol.

 

[raccoon]

Hi Anthony, we were there for a few days last year. The site is placed about three miles outside Blackpool itself. The access is easy into the site and to blackpool itself with a lot of parking but expensive. The site was fairly clean considering the amount of tourers that use it. There are three sets of toilet blocks and are usuallt pretty clean but sometimes it can be hit and miss on that score. As with all Haven sites the stuff you buy in the centre is expensive. If you like a drink on a night then just take a walk out of the site and turn right, go to the top of the hill and across the road to the pub there. They do good meals and have a good beer all with a good price tag to match. If you keep checking the haven website then you can get cheap deals even in summer.
If it is just Blackpool you are wanting to see then I would sugest looking at the site down "Hampton Road". It is called Hampton road caravan site and has a club on the site. From there it is only a five minute walk into blackpool as it is just at the bottom of the town and there are bus stops just at the top of the road. If you use www.ukcampsite.co.uk and look for sites around Blackpool you will find a few that are better than Martin mere. If this is your first time to Balckpool then I think you might be a bit dissapointed at what you see. In my eyes it is getting more run down and the streets behind the sea front are getting dirty. There is nothing for children to do other than spend money as there is no free entertainment for them anywhere. Once you have been to the pleasure beach and the tower then thats it really. There is only the shops and a few amusments arcades. You can save a few pounds by buying a wrist band for the rides at the pleasure beach before you go.
Hope this helps you. Enjoy your visit to the west coast. If you have time come over to the east coast we have some great sites there and we wash our beaches twice a day even if they are not dirty.

 

[AnthonyNornIreland]

I take it I wont be smiling like a Cheshire Cat at the prices , hope the site wont end up a Croc Of ..

And as for Raccoon, thanks for the tips, we stayed in a static in Haven, Devon cliffs for a number of years and, yes your correct about the prices on site.
This will be our first time out of Northern Ireland with our tourer ,so wanted to pick somewhere that would appeal to all age groups, we will be bringing three of our 4 kids, ranging from 16 years to 11 years, so hard to keep them all happy, but Haven Devon seemed to work well.
But reckon we should have a reasonably good balance, between the seafront,pleasure beach ( 2 day max), tower, zoo, golf etc etc, and perhaps a trip to Anfield etc, as the oldest lad is a Liverpool fan.
Shopped around, and the pitch fee, and sailing from Belfast to Birkenhead worked out not too bad.
Not the cheapest Holiday compared to staying at home, but with my work I see all sorts, lives cut short etc, so I am determined to give my kids as much of my time, in places they will remember for years to come, just like my parents did for me.
with my shift pattern, we aim to get away for approx 7 weeks in total this season, with most all-ready booked, so fingers crossed.

 

[raccoon]

Hi Anthony, thats great you have the kids with you, I think thats what caravaning is all about. Mine are grown up and have their own lives now. I take the grand kids as much as possible and what a difference it makes just to hear them playing on an empty field with just grass and maybe a soft ball.
The site is ok at Blackpool, I dont want to undersell it to you, we have had only one complaint in the times that we have been there and that was about the staff standing outside at the back of the entertainment centre making a racket. All other people were curtious. If you go onto google maps and look at the layout you will see that there is a big bird reserve on the bottom end of the site and this is great for a lot of visiting birds and has a great walk round it.
If possible try to get a pitch that has the water and drainage on it (super pitch I think) the other ones mean a walk for your water and toilet waste.
ONE THING TO TAKE WITH YOU..........................a plug in water adapter, the type you have with your hose pipe that is a push fitting, they dont tell you that it is needed. There are two types and I cannot remember which one it was. A green on and an Orange one.
There is a bus service run from the site into Blackpool and is a good price and runs all day into the evening.
Hope there is something there to help you make you holiday better.
Stewart

 

[topshelf]

Hi Anthony, I stopped there last year, with my 4 year olds, small pitch sizes, Haven entertainment was on par as the other Haven sites we have been too, The tower was worth a vist, check out the prices of the pleasure beach befor you commit to going there, and there is a water world opposite it , we stayed for 5 days and that was enough, but as one of the other posts says look for the special deals,

 

[forestgump]

hi anthony why not try river dart adventure your kids will love it also a nice part off the world ashburton area,M y trip to black pool was the first and last it was dirty run down and stank off horse sh,t and p,ss drunks every wear ,havens to busy for me (personal oppinion)only.

 

[Big S]

Agree wholeheartedly with Forest. Two weeks is a long time to spend in Blackpool, especially with it being so run down and so full of stag do's, hen party's etc. with all the usual that goes with such activities. OK for a few days but two weeks? As you are arriving into North Wales why not spend a week in either of the two Havens site around Pwhelli and/or Porthmadog or the many other good sites in North Wales. Then you would be able to visit some of this lovely part of the UK.
Personally I prefer Southport to Blackpool and you are only a train or 40 minute car journey away from the hallowed turf of Anfield.

 

[AnthonyNornIreland]

Beer and Horse S@@t ..............................

.

When away we normally hang around site one day, letting the younger kids do their thing, then away the next day to for the bigger lad,to keep him happy, then a "family" trip day, i.e zoo, beach, or in this case tower/wax works, water world etc with a treat at a local pub etc,.We would normally make up a picnic affair, for our days out, eat at the van in the evening, then start all over again.
It seems to work for us, the kids are happy as they know they will have "Their" day shortly, we are happy cause the kids are, and we know we will have a day/evening for us, and with a good wee spot not too far from site, Happy days.
Thanks for the ideas / info so far, and keep em coming, much appreciated.
PS How can a man wearing pink/salmon/peach crocs and socks complain about anything

 

[forestgump]

try river dart as i said look at there web site for the kids ,,,,the crocks are a standing joke thats not even me in the photo its off a webb site and no one will own up to them . but its given some LOL. and theye are red not pink.

 

[Gagakev]

Crocky when you to the River Dart again let me know cos I want to move out of the area during your stay. Its only about 4 miles from me,

 

[forestgump]

thats nice i will leave a crock in your bed like the horses head in the film the crock father.

 

[mayzee]

hi anthony,
we've just booked up for 8 nites in the easter holidays, we've been before and it's just like any other haven, plenty for the kids to do, we've got 2 teenagers and an 8 and 5 yr old so it keeps them happy, only complaint i wld have is the pitch sizes, even a super pitch isn't that big and there's not a lot of room for the car if you put an awning up, we ended up parking our car at the bottom of the row of pitches on the grass, we go 22nd april-30th, will let you know how we get on

mayzee xxx

 

[RobinF]

hi anthony,
we've just booked up for 8 nites in the easter holidays, we've been before and it's just like any other haven, plenty for the kids to do, we've got 2 teenagers and an 8 and 5 yr old so it keeps them happy, only complaint i wld have is the pitch sizes, even a super pitch isn't that big and there's not a lot of room for the car if you put an awning up, we ended up parking our car at the bottom of the row of pitches on the grass, we go 22nd april-30th, will let you know how we get on

mayzee xxx

Mayzee
Did you have any problems booking regarding the tourer length?
I asked Haven which length they used and they said it was the shipping length which means my van at 7.23m is too big for nearly all of their sites! Strange as it was ok last year!
Robin

 

[mayzee]

hi robin
i tried to book online and as soon as i put in that the van was longer than 20ft (sorry don't know how many metres) it wldn't let me book so i had to phone, got a nice lady debbie to give me quotes for various parks and wen i phoned her next day there was no problem, i booked a super pitch that she said was 39ft x 39ft but the last time i was there they were nowhere near that size, unless they've changed since september 2009, we were at haggerston castle sept there and there were huge hobby's there so i hope you manage to get booked ok

mayzee xx

 

[AnthonyNornIreland]

Many thanks Mayzee for your help and look forward to your post after Easter.
When I booked I was advised that they are nearing the end of a major refurb, inc toilet blocks, pitches etc, so I reckon you may have a changed site from the last time you were there.
Hope you have a good break, and all the best.

 

[coopycoopy]

hello , we are from manchester and we have booked for haven at martin mere for the 16th july for a week they have a offer on at the moment 50 % off so i got this week in the school holidays for only £95 for our 20ft tourer up 2 6 people on a super pitch , the site layout looks pretty good and they have just had a revamp for 2011 inc new shower block , also if u join the caravan club , as we have , u get a voucher in there book they send u out for 3 wrist bands for 2 , plus its alot cheaper book it online ... anyways looks like a good site for a family , but if me and the missis go away we just go to a caravan club site , blackpool its self is a good day out , if you want fish and chips theres places on the front u can get them to sit on the beach eating in is dearer , mac donalds is on the front , if you google map it you can take a tour down the front with the little yellow man and see were evrything is b 4 u go .... cheers have a great time .

 

[AnthonyNornIreland]

many thanks for your post, like you I got 50% off, it seems a great offer, and hope the up grades are going to plan.
You never know, we may bump into each other, just look out for the silver Kia carens with the NI plates.

 

[slimseydy]

been there a few times,I like it,try for a fully serviced pitch,not much more than the standard pitches ,save hauling the water carriers around.also the amp is better in the fully serviced,on standard when it is busy the elec trips easily & you have to get warden to switch back on.great doggy walk round the lake ,well kept site,the new slide in the pool is good but the tower you que up in is freezing so dont go when busy if you can,crazy golf course is realy good ,but at £3 a head quite expensive,