Venue: Surfside Holiday Park
Address: Pertobe Rd Warrnambool, 3280
Phone: 03 5559 4700
Link: http://www.surfsidepark.com.au/
Date Visited: 16/1/15 – 25/1/15
Visitors: 2 adults, 3kids
Rate: $56/n
Review:
OK, review time of our January holiday… A regular jaunt for the likes of experienced forumites @17triton and @Pace, we decided to call Surfside home for little over a week.
I’m going to be honest straight off the bat here… I can’t say that I thoroughly enjoyed myself. And it was pretty much down to one thing, and that was the site we were allocated. On a corner and intersection (J11 if looking on website map) our spot was cramped and couldn’t fit our car on the site without wheels on the tarmac. Also, given the site size, we could only orientate our van along the backside of the site, which meant that hooking up/off meant blocking traffic, and that night time sips were greeted by headlights coming down the roadway. It was a difficult site to live with, and to be honest I felt like I was “eating in the street” each night. For such a busy park, it was a constant hassle.
So… with that out of the way, and all other things considered, I offer the follow review…
Check in was a breeze but we really didn’t comprehend just how big this place is. But it’s signed reasonably well, and tarmac roads throughout helps a lot. Roads are quite narrow and often you need to pull over to let someone else go the other way.
Power and water were easily accessible, but no sullage point meant you are running your waste out onto the sand. Being sand however, it drains pretty well… J Most peoples sites looked of good size and heard no other complaints (other than my own…) whilst we were there. We did notice someone having to negotiate their very large van (21ft+) into a corner spot which brought a crowd. I didn’t stay to watch but a later walk past indicated that he did as well as he could!
As @17triton and @Pace will attest, people come here for a decent stay. More annexes here than I’ve seen before and pretty much everyone was at least a week or two. It gives a reasonably relaxed feel to the place despite the huge amount of people and traffic. The kids were able to make friends and go exploring which makes our time much more enjoyable.
No fires but they’d be a death trap in the Warrnambool Wind!
The amenities near us, despite being a little dated, were serviceable and clean, with the cleaners regularly there keeping on top of things. The doors to the showers and toilets could be a little taller though! There were a number of newer shower blocks though and these were pretty good. Whilst busy, the blocks never got overwhelmed that I saw and could cope with the numbers that were there. Plenty of laundries and BBQs dotted around also, with a very nice camp kitchen that did a roaring trade.
The shop at the front was well stocked and kept the kids well fed with ice creams and other treats. Reasonably priced as well from what I could tell.
There was no pool that I saw, but really… who needs it when you are 30m from the beach! In fact playground facilities weren’t to be seen at all. Once again though, given that there are a huge number of play grounds across the road on Lake Pertobe, there really isn’t a need. Throw in a Friday night market and the Summer Fair and there was plenty to do right next to the park.
Staff were really good, helpful and knowledgeable. Despite being flat out all the time, all queries were dealt with quickly and with a smile on their face.
In terms of location, it’s the absolute pick of the litter. Beach front, lake front, park front… It’s all there. Provided you stocked up, you could easily do without your car for a week. Throw in local sites such as Tower Hill and the Maritime Museum and you’re being greedy if you wanted more. Town is a short walk if you needed as well. Really, other than being all the way across in Warrnambool, it is pretty much perfect in my opinion.
Pretty well priced for that time of year, it shows by the number of return visitors just how well loved this place is. It’s a shame that our site put a dampner on it for me, and I’m trying not to let it jade my review, but alas it has to. I reckon just about any other site would have it scoring a point or two more.
We’ll be back for sure. Just not to J11.
Staff: 8/10
Location: 9/10
Facilities 5/10 (this includes the site “penalty”)
Price: 7/10
Overall: 7/10
Address: Pertobe Rd Warrnambool, 3280
Phone: 03 5559 4700
Link: http://www.surfsidepark.com.au/
Date Visited: 16/1/15 – 25/1/15
Visitors: 2 adults, 3kids
Rate: $56/n
Review:
OK, review time of our January holiday… A regular jaunt for the likes of experienced forumites @17triton and @Pace, we decided to call Surfside home for little over a week.
I’m going to be honest straight off the bat here… I can’t say that I thoroughly enjoyed myself. And it was pretty much down to one thing, and that was the site we were allocated. On a corner and intersection (J11 if looking on website map) our spot was cramped and couldn’t fit our car on the site without wheels on the tarmac. Also, given the site size, we could only orientate our van along the backside of the site, which meant that hooking up/off meant blocking traffic, and that night time sips were greeted by headlights coming down the roadway. It was a difficult site to live with, and to be honest I felt like I was “eating in the street” each night. For such a busy park, it was a constant hassle.
So… with that out of the way, and all other things considered, I offer the follow review…
Check in was a breeze but we really didn’t comprehend just how big this place is. But it’s signed reasonably well, and tarmac roads throughout helps a lot. Roads are quite narrow and often you need to pull over to let someone else go the other way.
Power and water were easily accessible, but no sullage point meant you are running your waste out onto the sand. Being sand however, it drains pretty well… J Most peoples sites looked of good size and heard no other complaints (other than my own…) whilst we were there. We did notice someone having to negotiate their very large van (21ft+) into a corner spot which brought a crowd. I didn’t stay to watch but a later walk past indicated that he did as well as he could!
As @17triton and @Pace will attest, people come here for a decent stay. More annexes here than I’ve seen before and pretty much everyone was at least a week or two. It gives a reasonably relaxed feel to the place despite the huge amount of people and traffic. The kids were able to make friends and go exploring which makes our time much more enjoyable.
No fires but they’d be a death trap in the Warrnambool Wind!
The amenities near us, despite being a little dated, were serviceable and clean, with the cleaners regularly there keeping on top of things. The doors to the showers and toilets could be a little taller though! There were a number of newer shower blocks though and these were pretty good. Whilst busy, the blocks never got overwhelmed that I saw and could cope with the numbers that were there. Plenty of laundries and BBQs dotted around also, with a very nice camp kitchen that did a roaring trade.
The shop at the front was well stocked and kept the kids well fed with ice creams and other treats. Reasonably priced as well from what I could tell.
There was no pool that I saw, but really… who needs it when you are 30m from the beach! In fact playground facilities weren’t to be seen at all. Once again though, given that there are a huge number of play grounds across the road on Lake Pertobe, there really isn’t a need. Throw in a Friday night market and the Summer Fair and there was plenty to do right next to the park.
Staff were really good, helpful and knowledgeable. Despite being flat out all the time, all queries were dealt with quickly and with a smile on their face.
In terms of location, it’s the absolute pick of the litter. Beach front, lake front, park front… It’s all there. Provided you stocked up, you could easily do without your car for a week. Throw in local sites such as Tower Hill and the Maritime Museum and you’re being greedy if you wanted more. Town is a short walk if you needed as well. Really, other than being all the way across in Warrnambool, it is pretty much perfect in my opinion.
Pretty well priced for that time of year, it shows by the number of return visitors just how well loved this place is. It’s a shame that our site put a dampner on it for me, and I’m trying not to let it jade my review, but alas it has to. I reckon just about any other site would have it scoring a point or two more.
We’ll be back for sure. Just not to J11.
Staff: 8/10
Location: 9/10
Facilities 5/10 (this includes the site “penalty”)
Price: 7/10
Overall: 7/10
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