James Shaw and family enjoy a caravan holiday in Rhyl.
One of the static caravans at the Marine Holiday Park, located on the edge of Rhyl.
Taking a family holiday in Wales used to be, well, a little bit old hat. It did for me, anyway.
For some years, Claire and I enjoyed holidays all over Europe as we attempted to give the travelling bug chance to breathe.
Of course, the arrival of our first son, Louis, changed all that.
Those first, wobbly steps into parenthood are accompanied by a level of happy upheaval that can’t be put into words.
So, it was back to Wales for our very first family holiday.
Together with two dogs – an excitable Welsh border collie and Alsatian puppy – we all squeezed into a Renault Megane to our destination for the week, the Marine Holiday Park, located on the edge of Rhyl.
The town may look a tad frayed around the edges now but Rhyl still has an attraction that goes back to childhood memories of amusement arcades and sticks of rock.
And with two bonkers dogs straining at the leash it was the surrounding beaches that were the main attraction.
Thankfully, the park scored highly on two initial points.
Firstly, its location away from all the main amusement arcades and bars meant we weren’t tempted to blow our cash within the first few hours. And secondly, park bosses welcomed our two dogs with open arms.
Our home for the stay was an ABI Montrose Seahorse two-bed caravan, one of many in the park that allow dog owners to bring their pets.
Furnishings were a little basic, although a caravan specially reserved for dog owners should have few breakables.
Our cosy little corner of the Marine Holiday Park, which has over 500 caravans on a 30-acre site, was spoiled only by the occasional seagull, hovering ahead. It has been owned by the Williams family since 2007 and gradual improvements have been made in that time.
With miles of coastline to explore with two dogs, it was no surprise that beaches were high on our list every single day.
Even though we visited on one of the wettest weeks of the year, there was little to stop our unruly hounds – Blue and Star – from enjoying themselves.
The surrounding coastline is famous for its miles of quiet beaches, but that’s not to say that the park wasn’t an enjoyable base from which to explore.
The facilities, while pleasant enough, were not on a par with those at many larger ‘chain parks’ but therein lay the advantage – many larger parks also feature disagreeable crowds of screaming children and no chance of peace and quiet.
The standout feature was clearly the swimming pool, which is laid out in the style of a tropical island, complete with its own micro climate.
Bedtime
Not quite the real thing, but a great start for a young family. It also featured an accompanying bar area.
Getting Louis into a bedtime routine is a testing experience at the best of times, so we missed out on many of the night time shows but typically, the bars were split into different areas for adults or families and during the peak times in the main season, there are shows every night.
Our week’s stay co-incided with Bank Holiday Monday, which showed how staff cope when the park fills up in a relatively short time.
Indeed, there was quite a difference between the start of our stay and the end, although we remained relatively undisturbed.
The vast majority of residents appeared to be caravan owners, with just a smattering of non-regular visitors. In fact, the sale of caravans is a huge part of the park’s business, with many choosing to make a purchase and rent it out over the year.
Claire and I gave serious thought to buying a caravan while we were still there, such was the way our son enjoyed his time in the pool and on the surrounding beaches.
So will we be following it up?
Well, if Louis and our dogs have any say, we’ll be making our booking in the next few weeks.
TRAVEL FACTS
- In high season, a two bed caravan will cost from £418 per week, £180 in low season.
- The Marine Holiday Park is on Cefndy Road, Rhyl, in Denbighshire,
- For reservations contact 01745 345194 or log on to www.marineholidaypark.com
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