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Reviews of Oakdown Holiday Park
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Oakdown Holiday Park
Gatedown Lane
Weston
Sidmouth
South Devon (Browse area)
EX10 0PT
Tel: 01297 680387
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This site has an availability calendar. You can check for availability here
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Pitches: 150
Open: 20/03/2024 to 08/11/2024
20/03/2025 to 08/11/2025
Rating: 
   
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Photos (19)
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| Who's it for |
 Families Welcome |
 Not Members Only |
 Rallies Welcome |
 Not Naturist Site |
 Dogs Welcome |
 No Dogs Allowed |
 Groups Welcome |
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| Facilities |
 Toilet Facilities |
 Hot Showers |
 Washing Up |
 Bathroom |
 Baby Changing Facilities |
 Laundry On Site |
 Drinking Water |
 Disabled Friendly |
 Chemical Disposal |
 Battery Charging |
 Gas Exchange |
 Recycling Facilities |
 Kitchen Facilities |
 Freezer / Fridge |
 Motorhome Point |
 Wifi Access |
 Shop On Site |
 Bar <1 mile |
 Restaurant or Cafe or Takeaway On Site |
| Activities |
 Kids Playground |
 No TV Room |
 No Games Room |
 No Evening Ents |
 Fishing <5 miles |
 Wild Swimming <5 miles |
 Indoor Pool <5 miles |
 No Outdoor Pool |
 Horse Riding <5 miles |
 Cycle Hire <5 miles |
 Golf On Site |
 Tennis <5 miles |
 Beach <5 miles |
 Watersports <5 miles |
 Boat Launch / Mooring <5 miles |
| Other Features |
 No Sea Views |
 Not Working Farm |
 No Campfires Allowed |
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 No Waterside Pitches |
 Public Transport On Site |
 Offroad Dog Walk On Site or Direct Access |
 Electric Car Charging Point |
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Reviews:
93 in total, now showing 41 to 50
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| Date of Visit: May 2012 |
Unit: Touring Caravan |
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| Reviewer: Mr + Mrs G |
10 reviews from this member |
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 We chose to go to Oakdown as it is close to the in-laws. It was our first time with a caravan. We hired the caravan (not from Oakdown, but from near us) to see how we got on before taking the plunge and deciding to upgrade from a tent to a caravan. It was great! We thoroughly enjoyed it and we are really looking forward to getting our own caravan and exploring more sites in the near future.
So, what else made us chose Oakdown? The positive reviews was a big contributory factor and the fact that it was dog friendly was essential as it was our dogs first proper holiday with us. We were welcomed to this exceptional site by very friendly staff and were shown to our pitch by one of the lovely wardens who even offered help with reversing the caravan into place when we explained it was our first time with this set up. By the time my husband had taken off his seatbelt and opened his door, the warden had put the legs down and lifted the jockey wheel. What a lovely chap, totally unexpected!
There were a few other dogs on site but not loads. They were all well behaved, kept on leads, friendly and there were no doggy do-do's on the ground so you knew the owners were picking up after their pets. The site is very well situated wth excellent walks and plenty of lovely pubs with gardens where dogs are welcome, especially The Bowd and The Blue Ball (not sure if the latter is dog friendly but a lovely pub we have visited often for food and drinks). The Bowd also has a small but nice play area for the kids. Very nice walk just over the road to the donkey sanctuary, dog friendly, loads of poo bins, all with bags on them so no excuse not to pick up after your dog.
Ok, facilities at the site. Where do I start? The showers and toilets would not have been out of place in a hotel, let alone on a campsite! They were immaculate, clean, modern, fresh, lovely hot showers, well stocked with soap at the sinks and I never found an empty loo roll!
The shower cubicles were lovely and roomy with hooks and a bench behind a partition wall to keep your clothes and towels dry. Oh yes, and the showers are free so no faffing around with 20p halfway through your shower ladies! There is a free hairdryer located in the shower block as well. If I was to be really, REALLY petty, and I mean really petty, there was no hook for the bath scrunchie. This was the only thing I would change because these facilities were amazing! Been on sites with mouldy showers, filthy floors, spiders everywhere and this was the absolute opposite, so well lit, everything, they even had radio 2 playing in there!
The washing up area again, very clean, well laid out with plenty of hot water, lots of sinks, draining racks etc.
We never ventured in to the TV room so cannot comment on that. We were close to the play area which was lovely, there is even a climbing wall. We do not have children (the dog is enough!) but it was well maintained and inspected by the staff in the mornings for safety which was refreshing and reassuring.
Although we had no need to use them, there were laundry facilities, a FREE microwave and FREE freezers for freezing ice blocks etc.
There is also a golf course at the site, again, not used by us so not able to comment on this facility.
The shop is well stocked but it is worth asking about opening times on arrival as it is not open all day!
The staff we met were all very helpful, polite very friendly, definitely hard working to ensure the site stays looking its best and the facilities are clean and bins are empty etc etc without being over bearing or appearing as though they were watching you.
The site strives to be as environmentally friendly as possible and has facilities for recycling many items. The grounds are beautiful and very well maintained. The butterfly area was near our pitch and very colourful. The morning chorus from the birds was stunning!
We were lucky enough to have enjoyed brilliant weather on our stay so we could sit outside every evening and afternoon and the variety of birds around the site was lovely, a real treat. We did not experience any of the noise from the road until the road works started up then we heard the heavy machinery beeping as it was backing up etc etc but that was unfortunate and not avoidable and by no means a bad reflection on the site.
The pitch was a lovely size, we didn't have an awning as we were only hiring our caravan, but the people who did have awnings had plenty of space, plus you can park at your pitch regardless of what type of unit you have so no lugging tons of tent etc across half a mile to your pitch! Even though there are 150 pitches plus caravans in storage, it did not feel like it because the site is so well laid out with small hedgerows dividing each pitch.
My advice, if you are going to south Devon and you want a site with superb facilities and helpful friendly staff, regardless of whether you are a couple, a family, with or without a dog, whatever unit you have, go to Oakdown!
Would we return to Oakdown? YES! We can't wait to get our own caravan and come back, maybe use it as a short stop-over on our way to and maybe also from Cornwall in the next couple of years? Who knows, but we will certainly come back.
Thank you to all the staff at Oakdown for all your help, cheeriness, advice and making our stay memorable for all the right reasons. You deserve every award that you have received. 10 out of 10 from us 
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| Date of Visit: May 2012 |
Unit: Tent |
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| Reviewer: KatMat |
8 reviews from this member |
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This was our maiden voyage as campers, so nerves and emotions were running high!
We took a punt on 'Oakdown' as it was close to home in case A. We couldn't get the tent up B. Had a massive argument and went our separate ways or C. Realised we really aren't cut out for camping.
Luckily none of the above happened, and we found Oakdown to be a cracking campsite. As our experience was limited every little step was a new adventure. Our pitch was large and had the added bonus of a picnic bench, which we made good use of day and night. The wash areas were next to be explored and wow, better than home. Nearly, really clean and catered for all our washing needs.
Staff wise very good, though we did encounter a slightly grumpy lady when we asked to play pitch and put, clearly she wasn't a golf fan but this didn't sour our great game of golf, which I won on count back.
The campsite is ideally placed for exploring Sidmouth, and the surrounding areas, Beer a must visit if you get the chance. Another nice bonus was the dawn chorus of donkeys braying, no need for alarms with our friendly neighbours to wake us up in the near-by sanctuary.
So to sum it up, as a first time camp experience this ticked all the right boxes. We both agreed right from the start we would return again, so that says it all really, even though it's so close to home.
Quite simply we had a cracking time, a lot to do with the campsite and atmosphere, and that's all we wanted from our camping trip!
So visit Oakdown, you won't be disappointed, and if you see a grey Vango tent pop in for a brew and a game of frisbee.
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| Date of Visit: May 2012 |
Unit: Motorhome |
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| Reviewer: Mrmiball |
2 reviews from this member |
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Lovely camp site. Good size pitches. Lovely walks down local lanes' or to donkey sanctuary near by. Lovely beaches within easy drive- plenty to do locally, on bus route, buses run to Exeter and nearby coastal towns reasonably late. Small cafe and shop nice-is more than you have on many sites, and is plenty of alternate cafes and large supermarkets a very short drive if you are desperate for more. Staff friendly and helpful. 1030 leaving time a little early, but means an earlier check in time, and its your last day any way, why put it off, get on and enjoy the coast on the way home. To be honest, only the petty minded could pick fault here.
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| Date of Visit: April 2012 |
Unit: Touring Caravan |
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| Reviewer: Gary99 |
2 reviews from this member |
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This is a great site in many ways and I might return but there are quite a few negatives which I'm surprised haven't been reflected by other reviews. Yes I am a bit fussy but I don't think overly so. We stayed as part of a 5 family group. We had 3 touring pitches and 2 statics. Pros and cons as follows
PROS.
Really friendly wardens (apart from 1 major upset - see below).
Spotless site. One of the best with respect to maintenance. Grass meticulously maintained. Showers well maintained etc.
Pretty peaceful if you get the right pitch as quite a lot are close to a busy noisy road.
Excellent kids play area and a pretty small games room.
Donkey sanctuary is a nice place you can walk to and also has a maze for the kids. Can't walk or cycle to much else though.
There is a great par 3 course for practising your golf on the site (it's an up market pitch and putt)
CONS
You have to be off your pitch by 10. 30am - even if you have had 5 pitches over the past 2 weeks and they haven't got new arrivals on the pitch. Even though our little boy (6 years old) was very ill resulting in us going to hospital when we were trying to leave, my wife was still hassled for payment showing no concern at all for our son. Be aware that if your late leaving you will be charged (and hassled for it!)
If you have young children and you want to bath them it's £1 extra for a bath each evening.
The showers in the mens area are small and the shower head points to the door drenching everything so drying yourself and putting on dry socks is pretty difficult.
You have to press the shower button roughly every 15 seconds to keep it going. That's quite a hassle.
It says it now has a cafe. If you call a cafe, coffee from a machine and panini heated in a microwave then it's a cafe but don't expect to meet friends here for any sort of decent breakfast.
Can't ride your bicycles anywhere on the site. If you have kids take their scooters!
Difficult to get a good pitch as many are seasonal so book well in advance.
Not much to walk or cycle to from the site.
SUMMARY
It is a nice site that's well maintained and such a shame that the issues above exist as we would otherwise go here often. I would return for a short stay but be very hesitant with kids if it's more than a few nights.
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Management response: We are sorry that you feel you need to use the term hassled, we certainly don’t intend on hassling our guests, but we have to have strict policies across the board and the reception team have to adhere to these policies for all guests. We have a very high return rate of guests all of whom respect our policies and many of which stay for an average length of 2 weeks. Unfortunately we were not informed of your son’s situation until later and certainly not told that your son was taken to hospital. We have always respected our guest’s needs, which reflects in our awards and reviews, if we were informed of the severity of your situation we would have made arrangements for you to stay late. We do genuinely hope your son is feeling better and apologise again for your disappointment.
Regarding the showers, the heads are directional and there is a screened seat in each cubicle with plenty of hooks to hang belongings. You have to press the shower button roughly every 15 seconds to keep it going. This time length is the standard button press length of time, which is intentional as part of our ‘green’ approach to the recent refurbishment.
We are very confident in the quality of the coffee produced by our machine, it is a genuine roasted bean machine with fresh milk and a hard coffee to beat from what the locals tell us. We do offer 6 types of coffee, tea and hot chocolate as well as cold refreshments, cakes, confectionary, pasties and pies. The Paninis are what many coffee shops supply, they have had fantastic reviews and are a very high quality product which we did considerable research into to find a ‘self-service’ high quality product. Unfortunately we do not have a license to cook foods on the premises hence why we cannot offer breakfasts except the breakfast panini.
We introduced the no cycling rule as a result of an incident a few years ago to eliminate any risks, scooters are welcome however as children have a little more control and can step off of them quicker than a bike should they need to in a hurry. |
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| Date of Visit: October 2011 |
Unit: Tent |
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| Nights stayed: 2 |
Travelling as: Mature couple |
| Reviewer: Trevor + Jo |
138 reviews from this member |
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A fantastically well organised campsite. Possibly the cleanest and tidiest we've stayed at. Excellent facilities throughout and very reasonable end of season rates.
The pitches are large, level and come with a picnic table. All the staff were very helpful. Well done to all.
The only possible draw back if you're a light sleeper was some road noise during the evening and some donkeys braying overnight.
Ideally situated for Beer and Sidmouth. Good selection of pubs nearby too.
Plenty of information available at the campsite and local restaurant reviews etc. Would recommend this site and will visit again sometime.
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| Date of Visit: September 2011 |
Unit: Campervan |
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| Reviewer: Mustang75 |
22 reviews from this member |
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We arrived to the campsite under a shroud of thick fog and then rain that had descended upon the area for the afternoon, so we had no idea what the place really looked like until the next day!
The campsite receptionist was extremely welcoming and then the site caretaker walked us over to our pitch, stopping to point out all the facilities on the way. We felt very well attended and comfortable after a rather scary drive!
The site was immaculate and our pitch was a lovely flat hardstanding with hookup and a tap and bins adjacent to us. The campsite is laid out in little 'closes' that all link up to each other. The loo / shower/washup / laundry facilities are warm and comfortable with lots of hot water!
The other additional benefit of this site is that there are also 2 private bathrooms (£1 to fill up the bath), so if you fancy a nice soak after a long walk or drive, this is just the ticket!
I take the point about the main road but we did not notice the noise at all - even with the windows open the second evening.
We had a walk along the coat path to Sidmouth via the donkey sanctuary the next day in beautiful sunshine. I would well recommend the walk - there were a few hills to climb but it was well worth it - and the beach at Weston (en-route) was really peaceful and secluded. As a bonus there is a free hopper bus back to the donkey sanctuary for those with tired legs (like us and our dog!)
All in all it was a lovely place to stay and the campsite was top notch! We may well be back!
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| Date of Visit: August 2011 |
Unit: Tent |
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| Reviewer: Mrsmoo |
4 reviews from this member |
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Have just returned from a week at this site, with two children 10 &7. Definitely one of the best sites we have stayed at. We were shown to our pitch within 5 minutes of arrival and Pete explained all the site facilities. The wardens were around the site daily. Can recommend the chip shop in Sidford.
Pros:
Really large pitches.
Showers and toilets were really clean, loved the sensors on the taps, lots of mirrors.
Laundry really useful and great sized freezer, microwave also came in handy.
Recycling facilities on the site were good.
The kids loved the play area.
Fantastic walk to the donkey sanctuary.
Cons;
Road could be very noisy but we did get used to it.
Showers very small, if trying to shower with a child and attempt to stay dry!
Although there is a bag to keep clothes dry whilst showering, I would prefer more hooks over the door.
We would definitely stay at this site again.
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| Date of Visit: August 2011 |
Unit: Tent |
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| Reviewer: Lewislaw |
2 reviews from this member |
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Had a Fabulous week here. Pitched on Beach Grove, with a lovely large pitch that was marked out. On our pitch we had a Bear Lake 6, side extension, front extension two cars and there was still plenty of room to walk around! The site cost £200 for the week, which was 3 adults, one 3 year old, two cars and the tent.
The toilets and showers were kept very clean. The dish washing area had continous hot water. There was a laundry room (pay) and a freezer. There was also a 'sharps box' provided too (handy if you are diabetic for example).
The site was level and all grass with the exception of the gravel road.
There was a mixture of caravans, trailer tents and tents.
The wardens were extremely friendly. There was a small shop with a cafe attached (but the range wasn't that extensive!) There was also a snack shack next door which sold fresh orange juice (lovely but at £2 a cup could get expensive!) burgers, breakfast buns etc. If you are coming here, make sure you bring the first nights provisions and next morning's breakfast as they all have very odd opening hours! However, on the positive side, there is a fabulous Waitrose about 5 miles up the road. Just turn left out of the park and follow the road straight and you can't miss it!
There is a walkway which runs right alongside the Grove which was a very pleasant walk to the donkey sanctuary that was next door. You could sometimes hear the donkeys at night but we found it more an amusement 'oh the Donkeys are off again' rather than an irritation.
The site is next to the road, but unless road noise really bothers you, by the second night you won't notice it, and it's especially helpful to drown out the slightly noiser parties!
All in all I would wholly recommend this site and my family and I will definitely be visiting again next year.
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| Date of Visit: August 2011 |
Unit: Touring Caravan |
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| Reviewer: PXProgrammer |
1 review from this member |
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I have stopped on this site a couple of times and have been impressed. I echo everyone else's comments on facilities, cleanliness etc.
I few points that reduced my enjoyment of the site, hopefully taken as constructive criticism.
The hard standing chipping are the sharpest (flint type) of any site I have been to. Despite even putting lino down they are too sharp to walk on without shoes. They have damaged anything I put on them.
I feel it is unfair to make responsible adults push their bikes from their pitches on / off the extensive site. This encourages car usage which is bad for everyone. I do not know of another site that encourages car usage rather than push bikes.
Steve helped me on to the pitch and was working on disconnecting electrics before I got out of my car. Although meaning to be helpful, I felt he should have asked if I needed a hand. I like to park / disconnect / unhitch / move and level up in my own way and get flustered if rushed.
For me the above slight tweeks would make the site perfect.
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| Date of Visit: July 2011 |
Unit: Tent |
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| Reviewer: Arpaterson |
4 reviews from this member |
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Stayed here in a tent on an un-serviced pitch for ten nights with a young family.
This is third time in total and the second year in a row that we have stayed at Oakdown and again we were on the original part of the site.
We received the usual warm welcome from the staff and were shown to our pitch, which we had been able to book in advance when making our reservation.
The toilet block has been refurbished this year to a very high standard. Even without the modernisation I think this is one of the best amenities blocks I have seen, especially if you have a young family. There is an area for families to shower as well as baths (albeit you have to pay for hot water for the bath). There is a large chest freezer and microwave in the dishwashing / laundry area and all facilities are kept very clean.
The children's’ play area is located in a secluded spot close to the amenities blocks. While this does mean not all campers are subjected to the noise form the play park you are unlikely to be able to see your children playing from the comfort of your own tent / caravan. The play park is well equipped and the site also has a smaller more modern play park in the ‘new’ part of the site in Beach Grove.
The site does run along the A3052 which while not very busy can seem noisy with cars speeding along it in the evening. Having said that it did not detract from our stay at all.
There is a lot to do in the local area, with lots of information on local attractions and places to eat available in the amenities block, and the site is an ideal base for a holiday. There was plenty to keep our young family amused for ten days as well good places to eat out nearby.
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Common Questions
Is Oakdown Holiday Park child friendly? YES, it accepts children & has a playground View all facilities
Where is the nearest shop to Oakdown Holiday Park? There is a shop on site View all facilities
Is Oakdown Holiday Park dog friendly? YES View all facilities
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