Ocean Lakes Campground, Surfside Beach, South Carolina

We have been here at this resort campground for almost three weeks now. It has been a great place for me to recover from a bout with Bronchitis, with our site being just steps away from the beach. Before we leave this week though I wanted to share our thoughts on this place for others who may wish to come here.

Reception and Reservations: Reaching the campground by phone was challenging and I was left on hold for more than 7 minutes twice while calling for reservations. Normally this is not a big deal but when roaming, minutes are relatively scarce for us since we use our Canadian Blackberries as our main phone lines. There is an online booking system that works for American credit cards. Once we arrived and during our stay the reception desk was very helpful.

The Sites and Amenities: The sites are quite large and plentiful so you can find what you want, proximity to bathrooms, pool, playground, ponds or beach.

The Internet service SUCKS!!! You pay extra for it and if the park is full expect to go make a coffee while a picture is posting if it works at all, or expect to get online at 3 am where it is moderately better. Granted we were at a site near the beach and perhaps if we were nearer the repeaters, which look to be on top of the bathroom buildings, it might have been better. Also there is a picnic table area up near the laundromat where you can log on for free up to 12 users at a time and when I wanted to skype I did that because the signal is better.

A big laundromat (100 machines) and a store that is also quite large can be found on the grounds.

The park has a playground, and a large pool and a variety of other amenities that a visit to their website will reveal. It is a very large park so they also have golf cart rental available for a fee.

The water has too much fluoride in it to be drinkable so even though we triple filter, we could not drink it. There are drinking water spigots at the Post Office in the Park. We bought our drinking water.

Park Security: There is a front gate where all vehicles coming in are checked for a visitors pass. The site also has many cottages as well as the RV park. Security does rounds every so often during the day and overnight.

Would I Come Here Again? Well yes, but mostly for the beach being so accessible and for the area having so many attractions. There are loads of restaurants, tourist attractions, and shopping venues in the area.