Golden Coasts Woolacombe, Devon

dazzer68

i live not far from woolacombe, and although some peoples post about the accommodation might not be good, the area around is stunning.woolacombe has agreat sandy beach with lifeguards, a few tourist type shops, everything you might need.its not blackpool but it shouldnt be! take a walk from morthoe (at the top) to the light house and youll understand the area, its just stunning.
you dont come to north devon for a kiss me quick, clubbing and drinking holiday.its for rest, relaxation and quality family time together.dont forget a stop at Braunton whilst your here some great shops restuarants and people! have agreat time!

pinkmami

When we visited (my girls were 5 & 3 at the time) we drove down to Bude - beautiful beach, lovely cafes for tea & scones, and also went to Clovelly. Nice walk but not great with a tiny one as you can't take a buggy down the cobbles. Also South Molton, Quince honey Farm. I loved it there!

If I remember rightly, there's a pub on the roundabout at the top of the road down to Woolacome, had a bouncy castle in the small garden & lovely food.

ellay864

Thanks pinkmami...I went to that honey farm twice and only last week was trying to remember both it's name and where it was! It's a lovely place and doesnt seem to get too busy. First time we went DS2 was 5 and he was fascinated being able to see the bees...especially in the letter box! Don't worry OP, it's totally safe...in fact I had a bit of a phobia of bees and wasps before that, now I love bees (still hate those wasp critters though lol)

bec_wales

I went to woolacoombe golden coast on a sun holiday last year and really enjoyed it, so much so we have booked to go again this year. however when we arrived the accommodation we were allocated had one double bed and a sofa that folded out to be bed which was not suitable when we had a 2.5 and 6 month old babies. we upgraded at that point to save hassle and the place we got was gorgeous! (lakeside lodge I think). we thought we may as well as we dont get to go away much and wanted to enjoy it. well worth the extra if you can afford it. but the beach in woolcoombe was really good, the pools on the park are heated so you can all go in even if it isnt that warm. they have a soft play area for the small kids which my two really enjoyed. theres a park etc on site. hope that helps and if you have any further questions feel free to ask or PM me

pinkmami

ellay864 wrote: »

Thanks pinkmami...I went to that honey farm twice and only last week was trying to remember both it's name and where it was! It's a lovely place and doesnt seem to get too busy. First time we went DS2 was 5 and he was fascinated being able to see the bees...especially in the letter box! Don't worry OP, it's totally safe...in fact I had a bit of a phobia of bees and wasps before that, now I love bees (still hate those wasp critters though lol)

I only remember cos I have a pen from the place (I always buy a pen from where I visits!!) & my aunt also lives in South Molton - lovley little place. They sell lovely beeswax stuff too - smells lovely! I loved the bee hives - amazing creations.

tower

When we stayed there about 5 years ago, there were three parks that had a free bus service between them and shared facilities. The site we were on had a small heated outside pool(bath like) and a gentle water shoot which they turned on every 1/2 hour for 10mins. i also remember there being a small fun park at the top of the hill for young children and a dino park? near by. And the beach is lovely.

KatCJ

dazzer68 wrote: »

i live not far from woolacombe, and although some peoples post about the accommodation might not be good, the area around is stunning.woolacombe has agreat sandy beach with lifeguards, a few tourist type shops, everything you might need.its not blackpool but it shouldnt be! take a walk from morthoe (at the top) to the light house and youll understand the area, its just stunning.
you dont come to north devon for a kiss me quick, clubbing and drinking holiday.its for rest, relaxation and quality family time together.dont forget a stop at Braunton whilst your here some great shops restuarants and people! have agreat time!

I was also going to mention Braunton. We have had many holidays in Croyde and absolutely love the area. We have also booked Golden Coast and having read the reviews, and the first few posts on here, I am wondering what we will find on arrival. However, that said, we should all remember that very often, people are very quick to point out faults and bad things about somewhere/something, but you don't so often hear the good things..... happens in real life too, and I'm sure there are many satisfied customers out there. I am going with a very open mind. The Old Mill pub that is attached to the site looks good and has some decent reviews (although again, some bad ones too....). If you take a trip into Braunton, there is what we consider to be, the best Fish and Chip shop in the country! We usually eat in the restaurant and the chips are the best I've had anywhere - Squires it's called. Woolacombe has an exceptional beach that goes down to Putsbrough Sands. So, a good long walk along the beach might be in order for us that week! We also went to the Dinosaur and Wildlife Park in Combe Martin, although, I must say I wasn't keen - having been to Monkey World in Dorset a year before where they have enormous 'cages' for the animals, these seemed small and one animal (a wolf or a fox if I remember correctly) was pacing backwards and forwards which I have always understood to signal they are unhappy and it quite upset me. But if you don't mind that sort of thing it made a nice day out (car park *very* steep though, especially on the overflow field!). We also drove down on one occasion to The Milky Way which was great and has a large indoor play area with tables where you can sit and have a bite to eat. Combe Martin is nice, but has a small car park, Ilfracombe is worth a visit and has a lot more shops if that's your thing. However, if you want to do 'proper' shopping, take a trip into Banstaple - you can get a bus from Woolacombe to Barnstaple (via Braunton) if you don't want to drive all the time! (And there's a bus stop directly outside Golden Coast by the looks of things.) There's probably loads more I could say about the area, like I say, we go there loads and absolutely love it, and we'll mostly use the accommodation and site as a 'base' to go and see/do other things so hopefully it won't be too bad. Feel free to ask if you want to ask any questions!

Doooford

adencooled wrote: »

horses for courses

its all down to what you expect!

i went to the sister site three years ago (woolacombe bay, i think)

the place was ok, and what i would expect for a caravan site of that size, i.e. caravan was nice (looked newish), "night" club was ok (think of "the phoenix club" from phoenix nights) we had a few drinks generally watch the act and went back to the caravan, pool was ok, shop was ok. but didnt try the onsite restaurant.

woolacombe has a nice beach, and is good to learn surfing etc, but other than that the town is very small (i.e. 1 bar, 1 chip shop, a few shops)

we went for a weekend break and it was ok, we got what we were expecting

This brings back some memories. I went to Woolacoombe Bay as a child. Had everything we wanted. Adencooled Do you remember an outside waterslide going down a hill outside? It was cut in to the hill.

iscamaid

I come from North Devon so am probably a bit prejudiced but agree Woolacombe is fab. There is a small shingle beach called Barricane at one end which is great for rock pooling. Croyde is pretty and another good beach. The Big Sheep at Barnstaple is a good day out for a family (Tesco vouchers will pay for it). Definately try Squires for Fish and Chips. Getting in and out of Barnstaple is a pain with long queues but if you do brave it go on a Friday for hte Farmers market in the Pannier market area. Butchers Row in Barnstaple is also a must. Ilfracombe is my home town but it is a bit tired and run down. However the quay is interesting and there is a good cycle route - google "Tarka Trail" and take the family on a cycle ride. You can hire bikes if you do not want to take them. Hope the weather is nice and you all have fun.

piccybabes

We stayed as family of four a few years ago on this deal.( at Golden Sands)

Delighted to get upgraded to Chalet until we opened the door. Disgusting worn carpet - which hadn't been cleaned - cigarett butts on the floor. Even after hoovering there were a myriad of stains on it. Kids had bedroom - two poor quality matresses, mouldy damp on walls, we had lounge - sofa pull down bed with a small mattress about 1" thick which meant we rolled together into the middle.

The resort had a decent play area and a reasonable sized entertainment complex. Kids entertaininment around 6-7:30 pm was vfery poor - the staff just dumped a load of circus equipment on the floor and left the kids to it.

I appreciate that these holidays are cheap, but there are much better holiday camps around - avoid this one if you can! Hendra is much better quality.