We checked another state off the old travel map last week as we hit the road with the kids for Spring Break down to Camp Gulf in Miramar Beach, FL (just a few minutes away from Destin). It was our first time visiting this RV resort, but definitely not our last! Read on for our full review of our stay at Camp Gulf.
If you’re not familiar with Camp Gulf, it’s one of the few RV campgrounds that allow you to pull your rig right onto the beach. That’s right, directly on the Emerald Coast’s white sand just steps away from the ocean waves. That perk alone helps to justify the much-higher-than average daily cost to stay there.
But once you recover from the sticker shock (it’s still cheaper to stay here than at one of the higher end hotels in the area), you start to relax and just enjoy the surroundings.
We stayed one row back from the beach (site 703). This is as close to the beach as you can get and still have a full hook up. The beachfront sites do not have access to a sewer line, although Camp Gulf does offer a daily pump out service for $10 per day. They do have electric/water/cable connections, though.
The resort is large, starting at the beach and spanning all the way back to the road entrance on Highway 98. The non-beachfront sites all include level concrete parking pads, and the ones towards the entrance are very shaded. (The beach sites, obviously, do not offer much shade. Something to consider if shade is important to you, or if you’re visiting in the dead heat of summer).
Also, the sites are pretty close together, especially closer to the beach. When our awning was full extended, it almost touched our neighbor’s RV. You’re also sitting almost on top of your neighbor’s sewer line connection. It wasn’t an issue for us, and candidly, we didn’t spend too much time sitting right outside our camper – we tended to be on the beach, around the resort or exploring Destin.
There are two pools on the property, one of which is covered with a dome making it accessible year-round. The other has a fun waterslide feature!
There’s a large activities area, including a basketball court, corn hole set, casting pond and other yard games available for use during your stay. This is a really family friendly RV resort – kids riding bikes and playing everywhere. This was great for us since we have two boys – but something to keep in mind if you’re looking for a more adults-only vibe. We liked it because it was lively during the day, and then pretty quiet at night.
The bathrooms were really nice – better than your average campground. Each “stall” has its own standup shower, sink and toilet – which would be a really nice feature if you were helping young children get showered up while you’re in there with them. There were always staff around cleaning, as I can imagine the sand build up is massive if not cleaned up frequently!
Other amenities include a laundry facility, cabins for rent (if you’re not staying in a RV), daily group activities (face painting, Low Country Boil night, a visit from Bubba’s Alligator Show were just a few we saw while we were there!). You can be as involved or not as you choose.
The WiFi signal is not great. There is a free WiFi signal available to you, but it’s not strong enough to do any Netflix streaming, or things like that. It was hit or miss depending on how close to the beach you were parked. If you depend on WiFi to work during your vacations, you might consider bringing your own equipment to help boost your signal.
Camp Gulf is very pet friendly! We saw lots of people walking their dogs around the property, and there are dog clean up stations with disposable bags around the park. *Walton County law states dogs are not allowed on the beach – so know before you go in case your Fido was hoping to catch some waves.
The beach access from Camp Gulf is easy – there are access archways on either side of the property, with a shower/rinse off station at one end. The beach area is not large – meaning, at peak season when everyone is out on the beach, it can get quite crowded.
The two neighboring condominiums on either side have signs posting “Private Beach,” so you’re limited to parking your chairs and umbrellas in a finite spot. If large expanses of beach are your goal – I would suggest trying to visit in the off season when crowds might not be as much of an issue. Or, get to the beach early and set up your chairs for the day (which is what we did).
There are plenty of grocery stores (Publix, Walmart and Winn Dixie were all within a few minutes drive of Camp Gulf) so if you run out of anything, it’s easy to stock up. Camp Gulf also has a small store of trinkets and other small necessities you might need. You’re also close to tons of restaurants, shopping and other fun things Destin has to offer.
I mentioned above how we like to check states off of a travel map we have on the outside of our travel trailer – this trip added Florida to our RV decal map! We’re slowly but surely checking new states off the list – only 40+ to go!
If you like to check off the states where you travel, too, check out this RV decal map of the United States. You can place it inside or outside of your RV, travel trailer or motorhome. The one we like is shown below. You can purchase it directly off of Amazon! (**Disclosure, the link below is an affiliate link, meaning, at no additional cost to you, I will earn a commission if you click through and make a purchase).
You can find this decal map of the U.S. on Amazon – it’s a great way to show people everywhere you’ve traveled in your RV or camper!
We really enjoyed our first visit to Camp Gulf – it’s one of the few places we have put on our “must return” list! Have you visited this park? If so, we’d love to hear your reviews, as well!
Check out a few more photos from our trip!
