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And I'm so glad to be home!  We had a lovely time with lovely company but the site was a big let down.  I wasnt really expecting too much after reading the reviews, but I was still disappointed,.  Anyway, I've done my review on here so I wont moan too much on this thread

We got there early on Friday and were allowed straight on to set up (big thumbs up) and the weather held out all day.  We had a brew and went for a wander round the site before our friends arrived.  We were worried they wouldnt be near us, but the receptionist kindly did a bit of shuffling and managed to get them on the next pitch.

Saturday was nice weather too, and we had a lovely afternoon out in Filey, but Sunday was really windy - to the point that I wasn;t sure if when I unzipped my pod on Monday morning if the tent would be in one piece or not.  Thankfully it was all ok and our lovely new fan heater and warmer sleeping bags did the trick of keeping us toasty.  It was just very very noisy and I didnt get much sleep atall.

Hubby was sick Saturday night and one of the girls was ill Sunday night.  Everyone else was OK though so not sure what caused that.  And the double airbed which the kids were sleeping on kept getting extremely wet with condensation, which I can only put down to them being warmer in their new bags???  But it also kept deflating, so we're going to buy a better one anyway.

So anyway, lessons learnt this time around...

* Buy a tent with a SIG as it was like a tornado whipping through the tent from one end to another.

* Don't plug in the heater, electric hob and the kettle all together as it tends to blow the fuse in the extension lead, meaning a long uphill walk to the Spar for replacement fuses.

* Remember to take a screwdriver for cases of above.  Note - a breadknife just doesn't work the same.

*Tea spilt in the bedroom pod makes a bloody awful mess

* Always carry a loo roll in your pocket as there's never any in the toilets when you need it (unless you've used it all trying to mop up tea - see above)

All in all it was a nice break, and we feel we have learnt a little more to put in our encyclopedia of camping knowledge, so a success in that respect if nothing else.

I'll see what photos I have... Dawn xx

All set up with fabby new windbreak (unfortunately had to take it down as it was getting battered by the force 10 gale, so it kind of defeated the object of it)

Superchef strikes again - really need to find an extension for our tent as it just wasn't good trying to cook in the rain under that low door flap lol

The view from the top end of the campsite

The girls have some more on their cameras so may have some better one's of the tent set up.  The ones I took have our friend's kids on them so I dont want to post them here withour permission.

Quote: Originally posted by mr+mrsC on 04/5/2010

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* Buy a tent with a SIG as it was like a tornado whipping through the tent from one end to another.

* Don't plug in the heater, electric hob and the kettle all together as it tends to blow the fuse in the extension lead, meaning a long uphill walk to the Spar for replacement fuses.

* Remember to take a screwdriver for cases of above.  Note - a breadknife just doesn't work the same.

*Tea spilt in the bedroom pod makes a bloody awful mess

* Always carry a loo roll in your pocket as there's never any in the toilets when you need it (unless you've used it all trying to mop up tea - see above)

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Yep, we had our share of drunken revellers too.  First night the people in the tent behind us were shouting and laughing and arsing about til gone 1am.  And the last night someone was having a massive ding dong right outside our tent, threatening to smack each other and telling each other to f off etc etc.  They kept on walking past, but next thing was the tent got strobed with blue flashing lights as the police came.  Didnt get much sleep when you add that to a puking daughter and a gale force wind (not mine!)  Anyway, this is the review I wrote...

We arrived at Blue Dolphin an hour and a half before our book in time, but were kindly allowed to pitch early. We were given clear, friendly instructions and details by the receptionist and directed to our pitch. Thankfully it was relatively flat - some of the others were on a really bad slope. We found the electricity supply to be good and powerful, and the site do a free ice block freezing service.

As the day wore on, more people turned up and it was a bit like 'sardines'. There was very little privacy and the field looked more like something you would see at a festival with tents crammed in everywhere. Because of this it was quite noisy, even after the 11pm cut off time.

The new toilet block is gorgeous - unfortunately we were nearer to the portaloo facility so used that instead. It was good and clean for most of the time and there always seemed to be someone in there cleaning. The only time I found it to be dirty was first thing in the morning. It was down to some people being disrespectful and leaving the place in a state, not the cleaners fault.

The site's facilities were pretty much what we expected - a few takeways, nice modern lounge bar, Spar shop. The two showbars did seem a bit dingy and got very crowded very quickly, making it difficult to find a seat. Prices weren't too extortionate though and I was pleasantly surprised at that.

There was not much for our 13 year old girls to do though as the place seems geared up towards young families. I thought there would be a teen kids club, but no one seemed to know anything about it and there was nothing on the information we were given. But for young children the clubs would have been great fun.

The swimming pool was nice and new, although sadly lacking in any 'fun'. It was a basic oblong pool with a few balls thrown in now and then. I was at least expecting a water slide or two.

The whole site seems a bit disjointed with a disorganised layout and on the whole I was left feeling a bit disappointed. We paid £50 for three nights, and with hindsight I wouldn't pay any more. I don't think I would return to Blue Dolphin, but it hasn't put me off Haven sites altogether.

So I agree completely - research is the key!  I think if we had had younger kids it would have been better, but it definitely wasnt the relaxing break I'd hoped for.

although they dont accept tents, only caravans and motorhomes, Haven Primrose Valley campsite is ten times better than Blue Dolphin. newly refurbished and with all superpitches, its as good as many of the CC sites i have stayed on in the past, and definately one i will be visiting again in the future.

Julia

We were also at Blue Dolphin at the wekend and did see all the tents, lot's of very large tents bet they all didn't book there size lol, I do miss our tent. 

What a shame you hadn't booked onto our meet.  We had loads of space even for our monster motorhome lol. 

I love the fact that the touring part is away from the statics and the complex.

 The new shower block is fab very clean and very warm a big thumbs up for Blue Dolphin

We didn't have any problems with noise except the wind lol it's not good when you sleep is disrupted.

Office staff very helpful

Going back the end of June can't wait

We too stayed at Blue Dolphin over the weekend and were near the portaloo shower blocks -  if only we have known my OH always has spare screwdrivers!!!

We too thought the site was cramped and the facilities a little lacking to say the least.  We were 2 familes (thankfully pitched next to each other) and the 5 children in our party (aged 6-12) were very dissapointed with the pool.  We did book a few activities including fencing (well worth the money £5 for 50 mins), water walking (total rip off £5 for 5 mins in the outdoor paddling pool) and laser quest (good fun £5 for 15 mins).

Thankfully our tent survived on Sunday night although me and OH did not get much sleep like you!! - just pleased it stayed dry long enough for us to get our tent down.  Wind and rain are bad enough individually but not together when you have to pack away.

We went to Haven Cleethorpes last May bank holiday and thoroughly enjoyed it.  Loads for kids to do and great pool with slides.  Toilets very clean and showers amazing.  Highly recommended.