Oak Grove Park and Cottages

FYI: We were told by CG office staff that there is NO WEEKLY RATE, only daily or monthly rates and that this has been so for a few years, so the rate info above is not completely correct. We have a regular RV site (not waterfront) and it is $23 a day. Also, effective Sep 20, 2016 you cannot reserve a site by calling the phone number listed above. ALL reservations must now be made through 1-877-628-9233 or www.dodlodging.net. If you are trying to reserve a site the same day as arrival, they will transfer you back to the CG office (but won't give you the direct number). Make sure you have the agent stay on the line until the transfer goes through however, as we were hung up on twice before it worked. Now for our review: This is our first visit to this particular campground in our RV and we are pleased so far. The office staff and the camp host are pleasant and helpful. The sites are close, but not overly so, and we had no problem parking our 34' motorhome and our toad on our site. The pads are large concrete pads and we have full hookups. The WiFi works well, the digital cable is also great. The laundry room has many front-load washers and dryers and is very clean, as is the bathroom. There aren't a lot of activities on base compared to some other CGs used by snowbirds (like Key West, for example) but there is a very nice theater just a few miles drive or bicycle ride away, and there is the Navy Aviation Museum and Pensacola Light house within walking distance. There is a also a nice paved bike and walking trail right at the CG entrance, and non-paved hiking or walking trails all around. And of course, the beach is within a short walking distance of the CG, with some sites having a bit of a view of the water. The beach is beautiful, with white sands and clear water. No swimming is allowed right off the CG area, but you can swim further down the beach within walking distance. We saw a 3-4 ft shark as well as moon and pink meanie jellyfish in ankle deep water, so be aware and watch where you step if you stroll barefoot in the water. All in all, a great place to relax!

Looks like a great park! I say 'looks like' because we spent most of our two days there either inside our RV or at the Naval Air Museum thanks to the remnants of Hurricane Patricia that had 40+mph sustained winds and seriously heavy rains. We drove around the facility on our way to the NEX/Commissary a few miles away at Corry Field (Deb at the office gave us a map and helped us with extending our reservation an extra night). I'll agree with the other reviewers comments regarding poor signage - especially at night and in the rain! That said, once you have an idea where you are going (or have a good GPS app) you can get around easily. We arrived at the main gate as the back gate is only open limited hours. We didn't use the facilities due to the weather, but they looked good from a distance. Utilities worked fine, although we did lose power at the museum for an hour during the storm (uncertain if it affected the campground, but probably did), water pressure was fine as was the cable TV service (to windy for me to put out our Dish). We certainly look forward to coming back, just keep in mind you can't reason with hurricane season.

Our second stay to visit our daughter who is in training here. Weather a bit cooler but one of our favorite campgrounds. This time with fall temps the water is nearly crystal clear, such a change from the summer brown. Camp hostess Deb came to our rescue and recommended Blue Angel Tire and Automotive out the back gate for us. We needed some repairs on the RV and they took us right in on a Monday morning. Doesn't get any better than that. Such a pleasure to have a laundry where all the machines are in working order and a change machine. Rest rooms are kept clean too. We camped in a 32' motorhome with tow dolly and car.

First time staying at Oak Grove and it won't be our last. Sites are a bit tight, but the bathroom and laundry facilities are very good and cleaned twice a day. The staff and Camp host's Frank and Deb were awesome to meet and work with. Saturday was grill and karaoke night and we all had lots of fun. Short walking distance to the beach as others have stated. Signage could be better locating the campground entrance which we passed first time and just happen to see campers behind the trees. Were able to see the Blue Angels practice but want to go back to spend more time on the base visiting the Naval Aviation Museum, the Redoubt, and Fort Barrancas. Beautiful location, the only downside we experienced has been true anywhere along the gulf is that a lot of trash washes up and the water a brown tint.

We waited too late to make reservations and the only site available was in overflow at Jackson Court. I had visited this area before and wasn't impressed so didn't know if I wanted to stay there or not. We wanted to spend some time in Pensacola so decided to take a chance. The person told us that she would put us on the list to move if a site at Oak Grove became available. We arrived late and was checked in by one of my favorite hosts, Malcolm. To our surprise the site we were assigned to at Jackson Court was very nice and we decided to stay there even if a site became available at Oak Grove. The next morning when we went to pay our bill, we told them to take us off the move list. Don't get me wrong. The sites in Jackson Court are not as nice as Oak Grove. The site we had (J-3) was very acceptable. The site was gravel with a very large concrete patio. There is a lot of concrete because this used to be the base mobile home park. We had full hookups with 50 amp electric. There are nine sites with 6 being used by what looks like homesteaders. Not all of the sites were as nice as J-3. While here we developed a slow leak in one of the truck tires and went to the NEX service station for repairs on Thursday. They found a nail in the sidewall of the tire but said the government won't allow them to make sidewall repairs. The person told me to go to Vannoy's Tires (I don't know the address but just a few miles north of the main gate)and the probably would repair the tire. Vannoy's repaired the tire and due to where the nail was we decided to get a new tire. The manager, Mitch, told us that he had checked and found a tire in Mobile and it could be delivered on Monday. We agreed to purchase the tire and Mitch said he would call us either Monday morning or afternoon when the tire arrived. We were all set, we thought. On Monday at 1:00 pm with no call by Mitch, I called him. He had forgotten all about anything that happened on Thursday. He again said he'll see what he can do. We had wasted 4 days bcause Mitch had promised us a tire, cancelled a reservation for Sunday arrival and lost the deposit. He called back about 30 minutes later and said he couldn't find us a tire but will keep looking. In the meantime I had already called a shop in Milton and they had the tire I wanted. I told Mitch to forget about it. The person in Milton had done something in 30 minutes that he couldn't do in 4 days. As you may understand, I'm not giving Vannoy's a vote of approval as our friends at NEX did. On Tuesday, we drove to Milton and 4 tires were waiting there and since I probably would need new tires soon I took all four.

Another great trip to Oak Grove. We try and stay 2 to 4 weeks each spring, but this time only the six nights. Our friends joined us this year and also had a wonderful trip. The camp is still as nice as any other location we stay. Our only problem was backing into our site (#37). Really tight and the folks across from us had to move their two cars so we could get in, still tight but made it. That was our only issue, if you call that an issue. Bathrooms and laundry are always extremely clean, and should be since they are cleaned twice a day. The campground stays full on most days. The operations runs very well due to the professionalism of the ladies in the office and the camp host. As long as our health allows us to camp, Oak Grove will be on our schedule at least once a year.