RV Park review – Live Laugh RV

I don’t normally do campground reviews or talk too much about the places we park. First, there are a lot of great bloggers out there that do a much better job in that department than I could ever do. Second, reviews are subjective. I’d feel badly hurting anyone’s feelings or recommending a place only to have someone else sorely disappointed.

After our 3 month Texas Gulf Coast adventure, I’ve had a few bloggers express interest in the places we camped and would appreciate a little more information. Thus, I’ve decided to do a quick and dirty on my Texas campground experience.

So let’s grab a drink and I’ll tell you the where, why, and MY opinion.

I’m not always fond of making reservations because I like to keep our plans fluid. What I mean is if we really enjoy a location and want to stay longer, I want that flexibility. The opposite holds true as well, and yes, there have been plenty of places that were a total let down and I couldn’t wait to move on.

But alas, reservations are a necessity especially in popular places and during holiday weekends or special events.

Another tidbit that’s important to ME are views and space. Therefore we prefer staying in State Parks, National Forests, or boondock in the backcountry. I’ll gladly give up the convenience of hook-ups for nature and views. But there is a time and place when a Private RV Park is the perfect venue, especially when near a large metropolitan area.

Knowing I wanted to spend a month on Galveston Island had me searching for Private RV Parks for that leg of our journey. The Galveston Island State Park was already booked on the weekends during our time frame, plus you can only reserve a two-week stay. I liked the idea of staying near the state park so I could do some hiking and bird watching there and that was the main reason I chose the Jamaica Beach RV Resort.

It did not disappoint. All sites are pull-thru, concrete, and level. Each site offers a picnic table, full hook-ups, and are relatively nicely spaced. A monthly stay in a private park is always the most economical rate versus the nightly rate with the exception of the discounted nightly rate with a Passport America or Escapees membership. Do note: be informed and don’t assume, as discounts are not always applicable or honored and usually apply to a one or two night stay only and quite often not on weekends.

The Jamaica Beach RV Resort has two swimming pools, a mini golf course with a cute pirate theme, and a pond with ducks.

The on-site laundry facility was also convenient and rarely busy.

The one big negative is the beach is located across the street (a busy road) at a public access point. Also, road noise can be heard within the RV park especially at those sites located closer to the busy road.

We did enjoy our month at this park. I would stay here again and even recommend it, but we did check out a few other options in the area for future reference.

Galveston Island State Park is ok and offers two different types of camping experiences. They have a campground on the ocean side for those beach goers and another on the bayside for birders, kayakers, and anglers. Our friends MonaLiza and Steve stayed on the bayside and wrote a review. Click here to read Steve’s review. Do note; the state park does fill up on weekends. Thus, I would highly recommend a reservation.I did visit the state park regularly during my stay on Galveston Island. I found the trails the majority of the time were too wet to navigate with tennis shoes. Muck boots would be more appropriate, but I still managed to find plenty of photographic opportunities.

Here are a few other options of places to stay for a Galveston Island visit;
Dellanera RV Park is owned and managed by the county and is in a great location. There’s few amenities, the sites are gravel, and it’s on the ocean. It looks ok.
Bayou Shores RV Park would probably be my last choice. I didn’t like the location and it seemed a little unkempt.
Ron Hoover Oasis RV Park is connected with the RV retail store. We found ourselves visiting their parts department several times. The RV park looks nice and private. It’s even located next to a large county park (not visible from the RV park) with water access. It’s actually located on the mainland and not the island near exit 10 thus it’s not that far from Galveston. Anglers and Kayakers would like this place.
Tiki Tom’s looked like an interesting place and is definitely geared toward anglers and boaters.

Is there boondocking on Galveston Island? I wouldn’t plan on it. There’s no overnight camping allowed anywhere on the beach on Galveston Island – county ordinance. I’m not sure they’ll even allow you to overnight in the Wal-Mart parking lot. Sorry, I failed to confirm that tidbit. Throughout the island we did notice lots of signs stating, “No overnight parking”. So if there is boondocking, we didn’t find it.