Address: 5400 95th St N, St. Petersburg, FL 33708
Dates Stayed: 07/29/2016 – 07/31/2016
Location
This KOA is located close to lots of restaurants and only a few miles from Gulf beaches. There is a lot to do near this campground.
Getting here should not be a big problem even for large RVs since the campground is close to a major roadway (Bay Pines Blvd.) However, the road that leads to the KOA entrance (95th Street N) is very narrow, cutting through an industrial-type area. I was a bit worried turning onto 95th street, but I took my time and turned the way I was taught in the driver’s confidence course we took. No incidents.
Check-In
There are a few lanes in front of the main office where you check-in, big enough to park even big rigs. Amber checked in while I waited in the coach and it took about 5-10 minutes to get checked in. Keep in mind that we checked-in at about 1:00pm on a Friday, so if you are checking in during a busier time, you may have to wait longer.
Amber came out and told me that someone would be coming to escort us to our camp site. He arrived in a few minutes and off we went. I thought this was a nice touch since this was the first time we stayed at this campground. Amber and I checked out the map before heading out and told the escort how we wanted to show up to the site so we could park how we were taught. He obliged and off we went.
Camp Site
It was a bit of a challenge to back into the camp site. There are people that live at this KOA and some have erected permanent lawn structures that were in the way when I tried to back in. Even with that hiccup, I backed in pretty well.
The camp site (DW2) is gravel with a very hard base that backs up to Long Bayou. There is a cut out in the tall bushes at each camp site for putting a boat, kayak or canoe in the calm bayou water. We could see little crabs scurrying at the shoreline and fish jumping out of the water.
The services included at the site are 50amp electric, fresh water (2 spigots) and sewer. The two spigots was nice for keeping the fresh water hooked up while cleaning the black water tank via the other spigot. There is no cable television at this site, but we were able to pick up numerous over the air (OTA) digital stations.
We were disappointed that there is no grill at the campsite. We were actually looking forward to grilling out one night.
WiFi & Cellular
Since we arrived during my work lunch break, I needed to finish working for the day. The WiFi was great that afternoon. Not incredibly fast, but good enough for me to work effectively. As the weekend brought more campers, the WiFi became nearly unusable. I ended up using my iPhone as a hotspot (AT&T) and even though I was seeing two signal strength dots, the hotspot was much faster than the campground WiFi.
Facilities
In addition to being able to partake in water sports in Long Bayou, the campground has a few other amenities. Since this was the first time we had been to this campground and only the second time we had camped, we wanted to take advantage of what this KOA had to offer.
The pool has a shallow end and a deep end and is pretty big. We used it on Saturday and it was relatively busy. We were surprised that alcoholic beverages and smoking were allowed at the pool and since we are not smokers, we only stayed a little while. With loud music and some rowdy people, we don’t consider the pool very family friendly.
After the pool, we decided to try out the 9 hole miniature golf course. It’s a bit old, but Christopher loved it and we had fun. The game took us about 30 minutes and the cost was $2.50 for each of us.
Christopher wanted to rent one of the four wheel bikes, so we rented one for him for an hour for $5.00. It was pretty hot on Saturday, so we didn’t use the whole hour, but he had fun. Renting or bringing a bike for this campground is a great idea since the awesome Pinellas Recreation Trail crosses the entrance to this KOA.
Conclusion
We learned two things during our stay at this campground. One, we are not “campground people.” What I mean by this is that we are not camping just to stay at campgrounds and take advantage of their facilities. We are camping to see the country and interesting places and sights. Two, this campground did not cater to us and that’s fine. Any business needs to cater to customers that pay their bills and they are doing a good job at that.
If you are looking for a campground that is close to a lot of restaurants, shopping and Gulf beaches, this may be the place for you. As far as price goes, as Florida residents, we can stay at a full hookup site at Disney’s Fort Wilderness Campground for the same or just a little more. There is way more to do and better facilities at Disney than this KOA. There is no drinking and smoking at the pool either.