Cove Oceanfront Campground

The Cove Oceanfront Campground is located on the west coast of Nova Scotia in the Fundy Shore and Annapolis Valley region in the village of Parker's Cove.  We stayed there on the first night of our vacation.

Cass says...  When we arrived at the campground, I was initially impressed, the office clerk was pleasant and recommended our campsite as one of her favourites, the pool looked inviting on the very warm day we were having, and the view of the Bay of Fundy was fabulous.  When we were looking at the sites and prices, they were over-priced, there were only a couple of the cheapest $30 sites, but they were in terrible spots,  so we went with the recommended site and paid an unbelievable $50 for it.  However, we decided it would be our treat and it was too late in the day to try and hunt down someplace else... and that pool looked so good!  We made our way to our secluded site, which "looked" great.... only one problem... half of the site was swamp, running water from a small stream had soaked half of the site and my shoes!!  The back part of the site was higher ground and dry.  We took a quick look at the neighbouring sites and they were wet too.  We decided to make the best of it and set our tent up on the dry hill.  We enjoyed the pool, it was clean and warm.  The bathroom/changing room was clean.  We had a fabulous sunset which was worth it's weight in gold... but we could have seen it from a less expensive campground, or drove to the wharf.  We had a good nights sleep and packed up in the morning.  Before leaving we stopped at the bathrooms for showers and to get ready for the day... they charge $0.50 for 6 min of hot water in the shower.  No mention of THAT in their Doers & Dreamers Guide ad, and no mention of that when we checked in!  There was also only 1 shower and 2 toilet stalls, I am glad it wasn't a weekend.  The great pool and sunset does not make up for swamp site and pay showers.  I give it 1.5 / 5 crowns based on my experience there.

 

 
King says... The drive into the campground was interesting as it's at the bottom of a steep hill where you have to make a 90 degree turn at the bottom either left or right. Better pay attention while driving.The actual campground itself was warm and inviting, it's well kept and groomed on the grounds. It is quite neat, and the office also has a small canteen where you can get your basic campground necessities. The stuff in the store was overpriced, but honestly I have yet to find a campground canteen that isn't - I expect that. We spoke with an Employee who was quite knowledgeable about the campground and it's amenities. Upon her advice we picked one of the sites with a terrific view of the ocean, and paid the premium price for a good site ($50 per night). We paid for some firewood, which is delivered to the site at 7pm, and proceeded to the campsite. The campsite itself wasn't overly large, but it was near a fresh water tap, and close to the bathrooms. The site itself was soaking wet, over 50% of the site was sloshy. The wood was delivered on time, even the Employee was hesitant to walk on the site once she saw all the water and happily let me take it from the road back to the site. While the pool facility was excellent, again very neat and well kept, it's not deep (no more than 7 feet at the deepest part) but that's ok. The pay showers was more than a mild irritation however. Paying a premium price for a substandard tenting site was one thing, having to pay for a hot shower the next day was too much, and I complained about the soggy site and the paid showers, and was frankly ignored.

Honestly, I think that this park is more geared towards RV's and the tenting was likely added as an afterthought. The view of the ocean, and sunrise/sunsets is amazing and that's what you're paying for. However, considering that we've been to other, better sites for less money, I can't give this one a good rating. This campground gets one crown from me.

If you choose to visit this campground, we sincerely hope you have a better experience than we did.

Sincerely,
King & Cass