Haven Wild Duck anyone stayed there?

happy_but_skint

I am looking for a cheap getaway for me, OH ds(10) dd1(2) dd2(3 months) and this one is currently half price and for midweek will be under £300. Has anyone been, is it clean and nice?


Thank you x

artichoke

hi

if you look on trip advisor you will see that it has really good reviews - unlike other Haven sites that have a lot of bad reviews....

it is a quite small haven site - set in woodlands rather than a beach...

it looks ideal for safe cycling around the site

art

AllyS

I have stayed there a few years back now tho. It was very nice, it is quite small, but has all the normal entertainment facilities.

busiscoming2

Stayed there a good few years ago now (courtesy of sun holidays) it was a lovely site. I'd go back again.

Pinklepurr

Yes, we went about 7 years ago, but we wouldn't go back! The place was packed with chain smoking, noisy families. We even came home a day early as we couldn't stand it!

teresa555

hi, i live near the camp, it is boring and quite dead not much going on, not much facilites, seashore at yarmouth is much nicer and ideal for kids plus a short walk to the beach and the camp is much nicer

peterbaker

I was until maybe 18 months ago a Haven Wild Duck regular.

If you are a happy go lucky family who understands that some of your neighbours might be smokers and may also be happy go lucky then I am sure you and the kids will have a good time. There's of course a mini-supermarket on site but its not the cheapest. It helps if you have a car of course and can use the larger supermarkets on the outside of Yarmouth to keep meal and drinks costs down, but generally the place is clean, very friendly, some of the cabaret evenings are very entertaining for all ages, and the indoor pool is generally loved by the kids and bigger confident teenage swimmers will enjoy a degree of independence but with a watchful eye by the lifeguards.

There's fresh cooked quality Fish & Chips on site manned by the same people year on year and there's football coaching and other arranged events and such like for the youngsters to give Mum and Dad a breather.

The place has a good mix of tourers and good class permanent holiday homes and rented mobile homes and that I think leads to a good mix of people on site.

If anyone gets too boisterous or late night out of line then the all night wardens and club security peeps do not hesitate to have a quiet but effective word in their shell-like.

Overall, I'd say (unless it has changed in the last 18 months) that many of the people who manage Wild Duck have worked there for a while and have set their stamp on it. For those that don't own a place on site, I'd say it is representative of a place enjoyed by decent working customers who believe in a value holiday once or twice a year, but might also well be the types who spend more on their main holiday abroad for example. For those that do own on site and have owned for years, then they obviously do like it and some spend their entire summers there. At Wild Duck they know they can relax and feel comfortable, that the site is generally quiet and well behaved and every now and the free cabaret entertainment of an evening might just be absolutely excellent . There's a Pizza place and two other separate large pub / cafe - restaurant type venues to choose from I think in addition to the cabaret bar/hall.

Oh and you maybe wondering why I am not a regular now? The kids have finally grown !

ChloeB

Hi, we went to Wild duck at the end of June, we chose it as it was a smaller park and quiet. It is set in lovely woodlands and my son loved just sitting in the caravan watching all the ducks and baby rabbits run around. It doesn't have much for the younger kids to do and the pool is pretty basic but is clean and well kept. The caravan we stayed in was spotless as was the rest of the camp. It was very quiet at night and the club house although small was good, the kids shows were quite well put on and all the younger children seemed to be loving them, although there was alot of different types of bingo going on daily from cash to family prize bingo. I would really recommend it and hopefully we will be going back again next year. If you do decide to go, I would recommend Redwings horse sanctury at fritton, it is only 10 minutes up the road and entry is free, they just ask for a donation if you want to. It is a lovely place to spend a few hours that wouldn't break the bank.

musical_norwich

happy_but_skint wrote: »

I am looking for a cheap getaway for me, OH ds(10) dd1(2) dd2(3 months) and this one is currently half price and for midweek will be under £300. Has anyone been, is it clean and nice?


Thank you x

For a Haven it is okay. But I have to say that Haven is not good value for money, even though this is one of the better ones, though the facilites are tiny and sparse. Haven makes big profits and is expensive. I just checked and for £370 you could book a 5-person three bedroom villa at Center Parcs in Belgium for the last midweek of the school summer holidays. There is no comparing the facilities at all and the extra £70 would bring a great pool, indoor play areas, children's zoo, woodland, much nicer accommodation and 'toppings' which can be used for bike hire and activities that would cost at least £70 at a UK Center Parcs on their own.

Depending upon where you are, the fuel might not be a lot more and the eurotunnel is cheap if you book in advance, the ferries cheaper still. I realise it might not be within your budget, but I write this to try to point out that even when Haven is cheap and half-price it isn't great value. You're essentially getting a tiny caravan, that may well stink of stale smoke, in a field on the edge of nondescript village in the middle of nowhere (even by Norfolk standards), with precious few facilities and very amateur 'entertainment'. Plus they'll try to sell you a caravan.

woozywendy

We are going again in August for 2 weeks for the 3rd year. We don't spend a fortune as we have the Haven box ready to take with us. We shop at the supermarket to do most of our meals and we make the most of it. They have never tried to sell us a caravan lol. My family enjoy this site maybe because of the size and it does not tend to get overcrowded.

gravitytolls

yES AND WE WOULDN'T GO AGAIN. wITH THE EXCEPTION OF THE POOL AND PLAY AREA ~ ooops, shouty~ there was nothing free for the kiddlies, holiday club wasn't up to much, and was very unstructured with the staff seemingly making it up as they went along.

There are mechanical rides and trampolines. I wondered why I never saw anyone on them, when our children asked, I realised why, at £1 for 5 mins, twas dastardly expensive, and they couldn't spend 5 mins trying everything, it was pay per item.

The van was a saver one at the end of season (Sept), the pull out bed in the lounge has a hump in the middle, which became a dip when in use. the double bed in the main bedroom had holes and springs poking through. It was clean though, and the cooker worked etc. Was very very uncomfortable, and was glad to leave after our three nights.
caister is much better.