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Reviews of Widemouth Bay Caravan Park John Fowler Holidays
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Widemouth Bay Caravan Park John Fowler Holidays
Poundstock
Bude
Cornwall (East) (Browse area)
EX23 0DF
Tel: 01271 866766
Visit their website Check Digital TV coverage See Weather Forecast
   
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Pitches: 120
Open: 01/03/2024 to 31/10/2024
01/03/2025 to 31/10/2025
Rating: 
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 Tent Pitches |
 Caravan Pitches |
 Motorhome Pitches |
 Small Campervans |
 Glamping Units |
 Holiday Homes for Hire |
 Holiday Homes for Sale |
 No Seasonal Pitches |
 Electric Hookups |
 No Hardstandings |
 No Fully Serviced Pitches |
 Show Full Facilities |
| Who's it for |
 Families Welcome |
 Not Members Only |
 No Rallies |
 Not Naturist Site |
 Dogs Welcome |
 No Dogs Allowed |
 Groups Welcome |
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| Facilities |
 Toilet Facilities |
 Hot Showers |
 Washing Up |
 No Bathroom |
 No Baby Changing |
 Laundry On Site |
 Drinking Water |
 Disabled Friendly |
 Chemical Disposal |
 No Battery Charging |
 No Gas Exchange |
 Recycling Facilities |
 No Kitchen Facilities |
 No Freezer / Fridge |
 No Motorhome Point |
 Wifi Access |
 Shop On Site |
 Bar On Site |
 Restaurant or Cafe or Takeaway On Site |
| Activities |
 No Playground |
 No TV Room |
 No Games Room |
 Evening Entertainment |
 Fishing <1 mile |
 Wild Swimming <1 mile |
 Indoor Pool On Site |
 No Outdoor Pool |
 No Horse Riding |
 No Cycle Hire |
 No Golf |
 No Tennis |
 Beach <1 mile |
 No Watersports |
 Boat Launch / Mooring <5 miles |
| Other Features |
 Sea Views |
 Not Working Farm |
 No Campfires Allowed |
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 No Waterside Pitches |
 Public Transport <5 miles |
 No Dog Walk |
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Reviews:
40 in total, now showing 11 to 20
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| Date of Visit: April 2010 |
Unit: Campervan |
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| Reviewer: T25 vdub |
1 review from this member |
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 We have just returned from out first outing in our VW Camper. The Easter weather was far from glorious and after several days of very heavy rain the grass in the touring field was pretty soggy, but the Hard Standing for our van was fine.
There were several convenient 'Service points' for water and Rubbish disposal around the field. The Touring Park wardens did a fantastic job keeping the Shower Block spotlessly clean despite the inevitable deluge of dirty footprints due to the weather.
The club house was fine and all the staff very friendly especially Foxy! We will definitely be revisiting the park before long. 
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| Date of Visit: August 2008 |
Unit: Tent |
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| Reviewer: Ayers family |
8 reviews from this member |
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Drove through the night to get here nice and early only to find that they had persistent rain of the cornish type for 4 days and there would be a delay getting on the pitch as it was water logged.After a couple of hours we were told we could go onto the field and was directed to our pitch. The staff had done there best to dry it out with sand etc and as the sun was shining we thought it would dry out, but no and a year later our tent still smells.
The toilets were okay but could have been cleaned a little more often because of the amount of mud around. Staff would were helpful and the club house was good if you like that kind of thing, good views over the country side and widemouth bay and near one of the main roads in north cornwall but no road noise. We went there mainly for Widemouth bay beach and the sea which was just down the road and even in the rain had a BBQ on the massive beach.
We would go back as apart from the great British weather it was okay.
A little overpriced but you expect that for indoor swimming pool, clubhouse and kiddie clubs which fortunately mine are to old for.
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| Date of Visit: August 2009 |
Unit: Touring Caravan |
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| Reviewer: Widu13 |
3 reviews from this member |
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I went from 15th-29th August, staying in my touring caravan at Widemouth Bay Caravan Park. There are 12 showers (6 mens and 6 ladies) for the people using the touring site.
The toilet blocks are cleaned in the morning but they are dirty soon after and are dated. The sloping pitches for tents made me pity them- they have to be 15% angles at least.
What really wound me up was the total lack of drainage on the pitches (as in there is quite literally no pitch drainage, just grass). It was so muddy that we had to put a plastic tarpaulin down which killed the grass making more mud. By the end of week one we were sinking 2' when walking in the awning.
We had to alternate entrances on the awning as we made muddy paths. Mentioned this to the staff who offered to put some grit down- I declined after watching them literally sprinkle grit on other recently vacated pitches and then watch as newcomers attempted to set up on them and were sinking in.
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| Date of Visit: August 2009 |
Unit: Touring Caravan |
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| Reviewer: GimmeSunshine |
2 reviews from this member |
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The site is located in the hilly, picturesque southern edge of Widemouth Bay. It is within walking distance of the dog friendly Black Rock area of Widemouth beach and is 5 minutes drive from Bude with its beaches, shops and supermarkets.
The site has a clubhouse, swimming pool, outdoor play area, launderette & shop. There are also two shower blocks, a sheltered washing-up area and a chemcial disposal point. Water and grey-water disposal points are dotted around the camping and caravan areas.
The entrance and clubhouse sit at the base of a valley and the accommodation areas extend up to the top of the adjacent, steep north-east facing hill. Statics occupy the lowest and most sheltered areas closest to the clubhouse. There is a grassy, non-pitched field for tents on the steepest, central part of the slope. Electric Hookup pitches for caravans and tents occupy the upper slopes and hill top. I did not see any full service pitches. There are some really nice views across the valley and westward to the sea from some of the upper pitches. However, we found the tent and tourer areas to be quite exposed during inclement weather coming in from the sea (many tents were wrecked by strong winds as the remnants of Hurricane Bill passed over us in the last few days).
The site can get fairly crowded. However, it was populated mainly by young families and we encountered no large, noisy groups of youths.
We found two shower blocks on site. The gents in the main block had four shower cubicles and four toilets. The second block had two small showers (nowhere to hang towels or clothes in the cubicle) and three toilets.
In my opinion, the showers & toilets were very inadequate for the number of people they had to service and quickly became dirty, particularly in rainy weather. I frequently had to queue for a shower and sometimes a toilet, regardless of time of day. Toilets also frequently ran out of loo roll and were often unclean. The showers were push button operated and did not last more than 5 or 6 seconds between pushes which became tedious after a while.
As mentioned earlier, the camping and tourer areas were quite steep and exposed. In wet weather the ground is poor draining and we witnessed several vehicles getting stuck in the grassy areas. Fortunately a tractor was on hand to rescue them.
The on site clubhouse was popular and well run in my opinion. The entertainment team and staff were, on the whole, friendly and cheerful. Kids entertainment was provided in early evening usually followed by an hour long visiting act such as vocalist or comedian for the adults. Free WiFi is available along with pay-as-you-go internet access. The only down side is that the club would frequently get crowded and it was sometimes difficult to get a seat.
Food is available early on from the clubhouse but there are numerous bars & restaurants I would recommend as alternatives in the area. The Brocksmoor Bar & Restaurant is right outside the site. The indoor restaurant food was good but expensive at upwards of £25 per head. There is also an outdoor, sheltered area where an alternative, cheaper menu is available. The Bay View in Widemouth is also a welcoming pub & restaurant with plenty of parking and outdoor seating. In good weather they hold barbecues for outdoor eating in the beer garden along with a bouncy castle for the kids. There are other bars and eating places in Bude and a new pub/restaurant is due to open right near to the site in 2010.
The location is particularly good for active people as it has plenty of options for walking, cycling, surfing and kayaking. The hilly terrain may prove more difficult for anyone with mobility problems, particularly the trek to and from the clubhouse/swimming pool.
In summary, this is a family friendly site with a good clubhouse in a great location. Serious downside is the very basic shower and toilet facilities which is why I only rate it 3 out of 10 overall. If John Fowler addressed that, I would rate it a 7.
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| Date of Visit: August 2009 |
Unit: Touring Caravan |
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| Reviewer: Broughs |
4 reviews from this member |
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Toilets were dirty, site was incredibly busy far more than 120 units on there. We were pitched on a particularly sloping pitch which even when fully chocked the caravan was not level.
The staff were not interested in our concerns about hygiene in the toilets and blamed all the campers on the site for causing the problem! They claim that no one else has complained about the toilets!
We booked for the week and left after 2 nights - would have gone earlier but could not find another pitch on another site earlier.
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| Date of Visit: August 2009 |
Unit: Tent |
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| Reviewer: Tuberider |
1 review from this member |
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Have just returned from this site after a few days away with family and friends.
When we booked we noticed in the small print that pitch sizes were a small 30m2 so we double checked and had this confirmed. We took our smaller weekend tent instead of our larger 9 berth dome tent. When we arrived we were told to 'find a spot' and 'as long as we were 6m away from the nearest tent we could pitch up anywhere' Great we thought until we realised that the pitches were completely undefined and we could have used our bigger tent (with room to spare)to make ourselves more comfortable.
We found a pitch and started setting up. At this point we realised how wet the ground was. It's understandable that the ground would get wet, but swampy is a bit much. The ground stayed sodden for our whole stay despite two days of bright sunshine, and by this time everything was covered in mud. Surely a group as big (rich) as John Fowler Holidays could install adequate drainage.
During the first night we were disturbed firstly by the loud drunken swearing of a neighbouring camper followed by the even louder vomiting noises made by his wife.
The next day we ventured down to the toilet/shower block, to find a good supply of toilet roll.The only problem was that it was spread all over the toilet floors and plastered in spit balls all over the doors and ceilings. And this was the newer, more modern and cleaner block 1, not the older block 2.
The shower cubicles were also pretty dirty with mud on the floor, which is to be expected when the site is so muddy, but the showers were very powerful. It's a shame however that the temperature of the water was set to scolding hot.
I would however like to thank the cleaners as they obviously had an extremely hard job clearing up some campers filth, a pretty thankless task at the best of times, and I'd also like to apologise to them for certain peoples behaviour. After talking to them one morning it would appear that during our stay they had been threatened at least twice, once by adults and once by a bunch of errant 'chav' kids. Not all campers are such Neanderthal idiots and we genuinely appreciate the work involved in keeping communal areas clean.
The park wardens drove around the site in 4x4s during the quiet daytime and then completely ignored the loud shouting and music during the night. They also did not spot a blocked standpipe drain, which was filled with stagnant water, which was starting to smell as badly as the toilets.
All in this entire site has a fantastic location, but investment in the facilities. It would also benefit from keeping a closer eye on the more troublesome campers.
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| Date of Visit: August 2009 |
Unit: Tent |
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| Reviewer: CherylF |
4 reviews from this member |
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We visited this site for a week with three other families, when we arrived we had a very good welcome and were told that two of the other tents had already arrives and where they had pitched, which was right at the top of the hill on the second field, which was a bit of a walk to the toilet block but to be honest the views were lovely and there we could all pitch together with some privacy (not many other people mad enough to pitch up there).
The main problem I would say with this site is the ground when it has been raining and unfortunately in the UK it is very unlikely you would visit this site when you haven't had some kind of rain! the water doesn't seem to drain away and the ground was very muddy and didn't dry out fully the whole week, even though we only had a couple of days of rain. The mud also caused a problem with the toilet block because it was not cleaned enough to cope with the mud. At the end of the week when the mud was not so bad the toilet block was not too bad, but I do think signage may have helped in reminding people to mop out the showers after use etc. Although saying that during the muddiest days the mop disappeared from the showers anyway. Also there was only 5 female showers for nearly the whole site (as the other block was too fare away from the majority of tents), therefore you had to always queue unless going very early morning 7am or late at night 10pm.
We did not use the club house but had heard that it gets very busy in the evenings. Play area was ok and swimming pool nice, but we did have to wait 40 minutes to get in as they restrict the number of users, although understandably for health and safety I presume.
The site is very hilly but not too much of a problem, unless you are trying to get your car up to the top of the hill when muddy, you really need to have a 4x4 if you want to keep your car clean! It is walking distance (15-20 mins) from Widemouth Bay beach although with small children we didn't as bit too far for them and a struggle with the pushchair. Very nice pub/restaurant just at the entrance and Bay View Restaurant lovely with great views of the bay.
Bude only a 10 minute drive which has some lovely beaches and restaurants.
All in all had a lovely holiday but won't be revisiting this site due to mud and lack of shower facilities.
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| Date of Visit: May 2009 |
Unit: Tent |
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| Reviewer: LisaC1973 |
3 reviews from this member |
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I would not normally stay at a campsite so big and part of a chain of resorts but booked this is as some other family members were staying here.
I agree with some of the other reviews that the slope on the non-electric field was a bit of a nightmare. We had to seriously re-arrange our airbeds to stop us form rolling off of them during the night! Luckily the weather was amazing the week we were there so we had no problems on that front.
Toilet and shower blocks were good, very clean but there always seemed to be a queue. They were quite a long way from where we were pitched so with three young children (5 & under), it always seemed a bit of a trek. The clubhouse was also quite a long way away and only ventured to use it once during our stay.
We also never used the onsite pool as we were told that with only two adults (me and my husband), we couldn't take our three children (aged 5,3 & 1), all using armbands, into the pool as the ratio was 1:1. I can honestly say I have never come across this rule before as we always take our three children swimming with there never being an issue.
The children's play area was quite a long way away and it was also very small considering the size of the site.
Saying all that, we did enjoy the surrounding area and found the site was in a great location. Plenty of space for the kids to run around, although the site was not filled to capacity!
I did get a really good deal online for this site and would stay there again if offered the same deal, however, I think I would go electric next time, just so we could get a much flatter pitch.
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| Date of Visit: July 2009 |
Unit: Touring Caravan |
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| Reviewer: Country boy |
15 reviews from this member |
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We booked on to this site for two weeks. We stayed for one. The site is on a very steep slope and were pitched right at the top. It was a good 5 min walk to the loos and the club house etc was a lot further on than that.
To be honest, the site was not really what we were looking for. The site wardens were very good and helpful and after asking to be repitched they were only to happy to do so.
The site has some of the very best views across widemouth bay.
I seem to have been negative about this site and don't mean to be, its a very good site with super facilities, it just was not for us.
Public transport was via the local bus service which had to be caught at the top of the access lane, some ways to walk with youngsters. You realy do need a car to make the best of this site. There is a small super market on site which is very well equipped. The local big super market (morrisons) is at stratton, some 5 miles drive.
Needless to say, we wont be returning to this site but this is NOT because its a bad site. It was just not for us.
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| Date of Visit: August 2008 |
Unit: Tent |
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| Reviewer: Nathalie |
20 reviews from this member |
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We returned to Widemouth again this year - no the slopes don't get any better! It is a nice site - would be better if flatter but hey ho! The toilets and showers win the prize this summer for the cleanest and hottest and most powerful showers.
It is very reasonably priced site and we saw some great acts - it is a pity that the entertainment area inst bigger - its always a struggle to find a seat but worth it once you have found one. There is a good slope down to the entertainment area and pool and a dark steep walk back - but it is in the countryside!
Nice washing up area too. My only struggle with this site is their insistence to charge for freezing ice blocks - its so unnecessary and annoying - the only campsite in all 6 we have been on this summer that do.
All said and done we will go again.
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Common Questions
Is Widemouth Bay Caravan Park John Fowler Holidays child friendly? YES, it accepts children View all facilities
Does Widemouth Bay Caravan Park John Fowler Holidays have a swimming pool? YES, there is a pool on site View all facilities
Where is the nearest shop to Widemouth Bay Caravan Park John Fowler Holidays? There is a shop on site View all facilities
Is Widemouth Bay Caravan Park John Fowler Holidays dog friendly? YES View all facilities
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