Start Bay Club Campsite

Rated 5 of 5

Overall rating

Rated 5 of 5

Peace and quiet

Rated 5 of 5

Facilities and cleanliness

Rated 5 of 5

Location

Rated 5 of 5

Good for families

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Rated 4 of 5

Rated 4 of 5

Peace and quiet

Rated 4 of 5

Facilities and cleanliness

Rated 4 of 5

Location

Rated 3 of 5

Good for families

Devon Delight

Everything we wanted from a campsite. Close proximity to beach at Torcross, farm shop, micro brewery and pub in Stokeham - all within walking distance. Country roads a bit narrow in places so having access to public transport ideal.Kingsbridge worth the short bus trip - much less stressful than driving. Technically could cycle but roads quite hilly and busy. Medium sized site with mixture of hand standing and grass pitches, some not too level. Well worth a visit.

LozzaS5

Motorhomer from East Lothian

Reviewed on 23/07/2021 14:33

16 reviews

1 Helpful note

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Rated 4 of 5

Rated 5 of 5

Peace and quiet

Rated 5 of 5

Facilities and cleanliness

Rated 5 of 5

Location

Rated 5 of 5

Good for families

Almost Perfect

Stayed for 10 nights in June/July 2021. Location is excellent as detailed in many other reviews and standards are high as on most club sites. There is a mix of grass and hard standing pitches but I find it annoying that we are unable to book a hard standing pitch. It is just a free for all, first come first served system. Unfortunately the majority of grass pitches are seriously sloped. We endured one night on a ‘hillside’ grass pitch before moving to a hard standing pitch the following morning. Grass is not desperately awful but serious slopes certainly are.

Wayne Ellis

Caravanner

Reviewed on 12/07/2021 07:51

11 reviews

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Rated 4 of 5

Rated 5 of 5

Peace and quiet

Rated 5 of 5

Facilities and cleanliness

Rated 5 of 5

Location

Rated 3 of 5

Good for families

Our 2nd home.

just back from our annual pilgrimage to this wonderful site. This was our 9th straight year at Start Bay and it never fails to deliver. The site looks as good as ever, due totally to the wonderful wardens and assistants, without doubt the best team since we have been coming here. Always helpful, always friendly, nothing too much trouble. Great to meet up with all the other couples that keep returning, year after year. If you love the great outdoors, this site is for you. 20 mins from the dog friendly beach, the same to the South West Coast Path and all its walks. 2 Dog Friendly pubs in easy walking distance, craft brewery next door with great beer and fresh pizzas from the outdoor pizza oven, farm shop with local meat, great Fish 'n Chips in Torcross. What more could you want?? There is so much to explore, you will run out of time. Yes, the route in is narrow in places, and you need to take your time and look as far ahead as you can, but there's nothing that should faze a confident caravanner. Take the advised route from Kingsbridge and don't be tempted to look for a short cut, or follow your sat-nav, you will regret it. Yes, the local road and lane network is narrow, but that all adds to the charm and is what keeps this wonderful area as beautiful and unspoilt as it is. If you want peace and quiet and somewhere to "recharge your batteries", you will not be disappointed. Oh, and the whole area is about as Dog Friendly as it gets, our two love it here.

Rob Baber

Caravanner

Reviewed on 09/07/2021 10:53

6 reviews

1 Helpful note

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Rated 4 of 5

Rated 5 of 5

Peace and quiet

Rated 5 of 5

Facilities and cleanliness

Rated 5 of 5

Location

Rated 5 of 5

Good for families

happy caravaners

We had a fantastic break at Start Bay. Such a lovely site, facilities are perfect. Amazing wardens that run the site would recommend this site to every caravaner. Happy guys from Oxford Mr and Mrs Menzel

Menzel

Reviewed on 26/06/2021 21:09

3 reviews

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Rated 4 of 5

Rated 4 of 5

Peace and quiet

Rated 5 of 5

Facilities and cleanliness

Rated 5 of 5

Location

Rated 4 of 5

Good for families

Great Site

Recently returned from a week at this great site. Well located for the seaside and Slapton Ley, Start Bay is a well kept and well managed site, with helpful and friendly wardens. There is a small shop on site with locally supplied bread, bacon etc and various bits and bobs for your van should you run out. Virtually next door is farmshop and cafe. There are numerous walking and cycling opportunities from the site, buy a map in the campsite shop. The site does run along side the road down into Torcross so there is some road noise, but having said that it was not a busy road whilst we were there and we were not bothered by it at all. There are some wonderful out of the way places to visit, lots of narrow Coombes and valleys to explore by foot or bike. Must say a big thank you to the wardens for helping us out when the stand fell off one of our bikes and for keeping the facilities very clean. All in all a great site to stay at. We hope to be back soon.

HYH

Reviewed on 18/06/2021 15:34

5 reviews

2 Helpful notes

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Rated 4 of 5

Rated 5 of 5

Peace and quiet

Rated 5 of 5

Facilities and cleanliness

Rated 5 of 5

Location

Rated 5 of 5

Good for families

Perfect for a peaceful break

A beautiful site that is really well cared for. Nice clean toilet block and a nice size site with good space between the pitches. One thing i liked is that it was quiet, everyone respects each other peace and quiet. There was one occasion where one campervan occupant played some music that had heavy base, and another fellow campervan owner told them to "shut up", which they did. Lots of places to explore in the area with some very nice pubs close by with excellent food, albeit a bit pricey. One thing to bear in mind when getting to and from the site are the roads. There are mostly single track narrow roads so plan your trip before you go. Best route is via Kingsbridge which gives you a bit more room to pass. Beware the use of satnav!!! We will be back here, even if to just sit in a deck chair and sleep!!

pemsley01

Caravanner

Reviewed on 21/04/2021 16:58

1 review

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Rated 4 of 5

Rated 4 of 5

Peace and quiet

Rated 5 of 5

Facilities and cleanliness

Rated 4 of 5

Location

Rated 4 of 5

Good for families

Stunning area of natural beauty

Do not use google sat nav unless you specifically have a route for caravans or motor homes. We have a twin axle caravan and ended up down farm lanes for about 5 miles which can only be described as a hair raising white knuckle drive at low speed. The lanes were only about 8 feet wide with high hedges and loads of blind bends. My husband is an HGV driver and his nerves were shredded. The Kingsbridge to Start Bay road through the villages with pinch points that everyone complains about was a breeze compared to the lanes. The caravan opposite had made the same mistake as us and damaged his caravan. This of course is no fault of the site and it was a relief to get there. The site is meticulously well maintained and the staff were really helpful. The weather was beautifully sunny and it was a joy to chill in the afternoons. We walked to the pub through the graveyard, visited the well stocked farm shop which has a cafe that serves cream teas, went to start point lighthouse (£3.50) which was stunning and is a must, had a shopping day in Totnes which has loads of quirky shops and a bohemian feel to it, visited the local beach which you can walk to and went to nearby Kingsbridge. The site wasn’t overly busy which was a surprise as it was the first week of opening, having said that, we stayed 3 nights and it was busier when we left. We stayed on pitch 15 which was hard standing and generally peaceful. Toilet block was clean with a band system so that no more than 3 people visit at a time. The area really is stunning but sadly our experience of the lanes means we will not be back. Really loved the site and stunning surrounding areas.

Leserley

Reviewed on 15/04/2021 13:46

1 review

2 Helpful notes

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Rated 4 of 5

Rated 5 of 5

Peace and quiet

Rated 5 of 5

Facilities and cleanliness

Rated 4 of 5

Location

Rated 4 of 5

Good for families

Lovely wardens

Well maintained, mostly hardstanding pitches and grounds. Wardens were helpful and welcoming. Walks all around, but also had a day in Dartmouth. Perfect for Motorhomers that the buses stop right outside the camp and great views all the way. Tip: follow the advice in the book and approach the site from the West. These roads are still narrow in places and we met multiple buses and lorries at the pinch points, but would have been far worse on the road heading from Dartmouth

15 reviews

2 Helpful notes

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Rated 4 of 5

Rated 5 of 5

Peace and quiet

Rated 5 of 5

Facilities and cleanliness

Rated 4 of 5

Location

Rated 5 of 5

Good for families

Good location for walks, clean and tidy and friendly Wardens

First of all, as per most other reviews there are a few narrow points on the A379 between Kingsbridge and the site but as long as you are careful and take your time they are not a problem (the speed limit is also set at 20mph for the majority of them so you know when they are coming up! As you get to the site, there is quite a sharp 'U' turn to enter the site gate - this wasn't a problem with our car/caravan but I did see a couple of larger motor homes have to turn, reverse a little the enter the site gate. Again not a problem if you are aware and careful. You get a very warm welcome from the Wardens and the site is down in a hollow so you can easily see which pitches are available. The site itself is quiet, well maintained by the Wardens and was regularly cleaned in accordance with the Covid requirements. You can walk from the site into Stokenham (about 10-15 mins) via a footpath and it is worth going to the Church Inn. In the opposite direction (again about 10-15 minutes) and mostly on a footpath and pavement, you can get to Torcross. There is a Pub, Coffee Shop and Fish and Chip Shop there although we didn't try them on this visit. If you take the Coast Path towards Beesands (about 30 minutes) you can visit the Cricket Inn (sister pub to the Church Inn) which was also excellent. The Cricket Inn tends to do more seafood whereas the Church Inn tends to be more traditional food. One other place to mention is the Stokeley Farm Shop and the Tap House which is right next door to the site heading towards the beach) - the farm shop is well stocked, there is a cafe (which we didn't try) and also a Tap House (which is basically a pub/bar in a micro brewery). The Tap House is a little rough and ready but the quality of the beer and cider they sell was excellent - well worth a visit. So overall a very enjoyable week, plenty to do (if you like walking), the roads off the A379 are in places single track and few passing places so be careful if you use a SatNav but then that adds a little excitement! Thank you to the Wardens for keeping the site so clean and tidy!

AndyCheetham06

Caravanner

Reviewed on 23/10/2020 14:40

6 reviews

6 Helpful notes

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Rated 4 of 5

Rated 5 of 5

Peace and quiet

Rated 5 of 5

Facilities and cleanliness

Rated 5 of 5

Location

Rated 5 of 5

Good for families

Great Location

Lovely site, very well run. Location is excellent, a 15 minute walk to the beach, 15 minutes walk to Stokenham Village and 10 minutes walk to the exceptionally good farm shop cafe and brewery. The road from Kingsbridge is a bit narrow in places but nothing to worry about if you take it steady and anticipate the narrow bits.If you want to be on the safe side don't leave Kingsbridge between 10 and 25 minutes past the hour and then there is no chance of meeting the hourly bus in the narrows!

Jamsdad

Caravanner from Cornwall

Reviewed on 05/10/2020 15:47

2 reviews

3 Helpful notes

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