The second stop on our east-coast road trip took us to Cavendish, PEI, where we stayed at the Cavendish KOA Holiday, "Your best vacation in the heart of PEI starts here".
First impressions turning into the Cavendish KOA was that there was a long laneway (Forest Hills Lane) leading you away from Cavendish Road, giving the campground distance from the hustle and bustle of this main highway. First stop was the registration / store which was reasonable in size, but cluttered and chaotic. Once checked in, we proceeded to our site (214) which was at the northern-most end of the campground. This was perfect for us as it was on the outskirts of the campground, providing distance from the busy campsite amenities, like the pool and bouncy pillow.
Campsite: Our campsite, 214, was perfectly sized for what we would expect, easily backed into and was full service (electric, water & sewer). Our site was very level and shaded by a large tree. The firepit was nicely positioned but consisted of a steel-rimmed hole in the ground. It was smaller than the wood we purchased at the store, and the lack of air flow made starting and maintaining a good campfire harder than usual.
Campground: The section we were in offered smaller back-in sites, that were checkerboarded such that our neighbour’s trailer backed on to our outdoor space. The next section of campsites over offered pull-through sites allowing for much more space and no rear neighbours. The campground had free wifi and many kid-friendly activities including a massive playground, bouncy pillow, old boat, racetrack for remote controlled cars, and a very large pool (which was next to a smaller pool with no water in it…). This central area was very loud and very busy. It seemed like there were more kids there than could possibility be camping, almost like they were running a day camp. The staff seemed very engaged with the campers and offered many activities, including a nightly group campfire.
The campground was well situated near Cavendish and was within walking distance of many local attractions, including Anne of Green Gables, two amusement parks, paintball, and a boardwalk of shops, ice cream, and attractions. In fact, the ice cream at Chillz Dairy Bar was some of the best we had on the island, offering great value and many unique combinations. The ice cream was so good, in fact, that our friend went back for seconds!
Value: At $57.50 CAD per night (plus an extra $20 to choose our site) this was one of the more expensive campsites on our east coast adventure, but was still well within reasonable considering all that it included and the proximity to amenities.
Caution! Sites 150A and 151 are directly adjacent to the pump out. You could probably high-five the person pumping out from your picnic table :(
Heads-up! Not necessarily a caution, but worthy of a note. The area to the east of the campground is being developed as an outdoor music venue which hosts an annual “Cavendish Beach Music Festival”. This will be either a really great time to book a campsite here, if you want to be close to the show, or a really bad time to book a campsite here, if you’re not into the outdoor music scene.
Tip! If you plan to stay on your site for peace and quiet, we highly recommend sites further away from the central area of the campground, for example: Sites 205-225. When we say there were lots of kids, we mean that it was like looking into the backyard of an elementary school at recess time – everyone was having a blast but was anything but quiet.
Final word: This is a great campground location for travellers hoping to see some of PEI’s unique attractions as it is so close to Anne of Green Gables, amusement parks, souvenir shops and the Cavendish Beach, with a 45-minute drive Summerside or Charlottetown.
We’d love to hear about your adventures! Feel free to leave comments describing your own experiences, good or bad, or join our private Facebook community Glamping Essentials Campfire Collective. Should you have any specific questions, please email Jason@GlampingEssentials.ca.
~ Jason
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