The first weekend of the Easter holidays, or Spring Break as it was called on the school newsletter, we set off on a little adventure to Dumfries in Scotland. It’s was just under 2 hours away from us so not too bad travel wise for a short break. We staying in a stunning and warm caravan in the Park Dean in Southerness.
We were impressed with interior of the caravan, it looked like a home from home. Spacious, warm, inviting, 3 bedrooms and two bathrooms, along with a small balcony and patio doors. The kitchen came fully equipped for all your needs and the bathroom had ample space for moving around. And the main one had a great big walk in shower.
I have stayed in a Park Dean caravan park before which was Wemyss Bay and had a great time, with the exception of my oldest getting the chicken pox. So we knew what to expect and were looking forward to it.
Our beds were made up for us in nice crisp white bed linen with big fluffy soft pillows and duvets which is great. I can never be bothered with taking my own and the last thing I want to do is make up beds when I arrive on holiday. You do need to take your own toiletries and towels, which is fine with me. I would always do that anyway. However, if you forget there is a shop onsite where you can buy most essentials. For Aria I took a travel cot and sensor mat and monitor, along with some snacks for her. She didn’t require too much now she’s over a year. You can hire the cots at a very reasonable rate, but I have one which is flat and she has sensitive skin, so I just find it’s easier to pack and go. We did hire the high chair which was excellent, looked great and was clean. The boys we packed a few toys and their scooters. They didn’t get out too much on the scooters as the weather wasn’t the best, had it been nice there would have been ample space for them to scooter about.
The views from the caravan were stunning, we were literally a stone throw away from the the beach. It was like something out of a romantic novel living so close to the beach. I felt like Emily Thorne in Revenge, well without the Revenge part. The park is surrounded by fields and farmland on one side, how cute are the baby lambs, and the beach on the other. The tide comes up quite far which means there are some great rock pools and things to investigated with nets and buckets.
It was windy, but we had to go investigate the beach. We came back with lots of great shells and memories. The pictures of the boys and I on the beach were taken by hubby and baby girl who were back in the caravan, this is how close we were.
Southerness Holiday Park itself is huge, definitely the biggest I’ve ever seen. It’s clean, tidy, well maintained and has most helpful and friendliest staff I’ve ever come across. They genuinely couldn’t help you enough. Every staff member you passed said hello and chatted to the kids or waved, the entertainment staff were funny and approachable and the pool staff went far beyond what they had to be helpful.
If you are looking for entertainment there is loads in the evening at the Sunset Showbar providing live entertainment for all the family, singing, bingo, stuff for the kids or if you want a drink and a meal there is that too. We enjoyed a few nights of just chilling in our lovely surroundings in the caravan with the tv, the fire on and a glass of wine. We we ate in a few times, making food in the well equipped kitchen, we had some take away from the Fish and Chip Place which was also nice and had a gorgeous meal out at the Coast Bar restaurant/bar in the main entertainment complex. The meal was excellent value for money, looked great and tasted great. I had to take a picture of the dessert which was a chocolate fondue and fed all four of us for under £6. You can’t beat that. I may have had a cocktail or two. The restaurant was busy, but the staff kept their cool and everything was run effecitently. I asked one of the guys serving at the bar how they coped and he said they just do, they enjoy it. Good to hear I thought.
We had a few board games with us and they were great family fun. I’d recommend taking a one with you, it’s great for bonding and if the weather isn’t good it can kill some time. There are kids clubs with Parkdean mascots Sid the Seagull and Lizzie the Lizard, which are Tot stars for the 4 and under and Star Landers for the 4 – 10 year olds. The boys went to one of the kids club sessions. It was an hour and a half and they loved it. The two people who took the session did lots of different activities with the boys, they were prepared and seemed to be enjoying themselves too. You can see Tyler below with his under the sea themed crown he made. Aria had lots of fun wandering about the entertainment complex. I was surprised how clean, new and well maintained everything looked. Being a social media addict the fact I had no mobile signal was driving me nuts, thankfully there is wifi in the Coast bar which was simple to connect to and fast so I could catch up on the outside world.
The park has stunning views over the Solway Firth and the beach is huge and clean. It is a little bit chilly still at this time of year, but when the sun shone it very pleasant. Even in the rain there was plenty to do with several swing parks, a fantastic 25m heated pool with jacuzzi, toddler pool and a giant flume. There is loads to do outdoors with great nature trails, I’d love to go back and do these when the better weather comes in. Like all caravan parks there is an amusement arcade. These seem to attract kids, but I have to say this time we didn’t spend a huge amount of time there. We played a few games, but nothing major. There is a great soft play just to the side of the amusements and the boys really enjoyed this. It’s free and they could go in whenever they wanted. We sat above them to keep an eye on them. Aria was too little to go in this year, but maybe next time.
The boys loved the pool, we went there both Saturday and Sunday. It was Aria’s first time in a pool and she loved splashing around in the toddler pool which was great to see. My oldest Lucas had lost a fair bit of confidence in the water after an incident at swimming lessons. He went in there and swam about with his dad. Face in the water and all. On the Sunday both boys had a swimming lesson which was £6 each for 1/2 and hour and worth the money. Both boys had one on one tuition and the staff gained their trust and confidence very quickly. It was amazing to watch and they loved it. So much so that they are both wanting swimming lessons now. They both did water zorbing too, where they go inside a giant inflatable ball and try to walk on the water.
There are also loads of places to visit outside the park like Mabie Farm Park, Sweetheart Abbey and many other great places within driving distance. We didn’t get out to visit any of these places as we were only there for the weekend and we had far too much fun at the park we didn’t need to venture outwith. We did pass Sweetheart Abbey on the way there and back and it looks stunning.
We had a great time at Park Dean Southerness, we’d loved to have stayed longer, but on this occasion we couldn’t. Will we be back? Yes we will. The caravan was everything we could have hoped for, warm, cosy, spacious and comfortable. The weather wasn’t great, but it didn’t spoil our little break. The park entertainment was excellent, the food was good, facilities were more than adequate and the staff were very helpful and friendly. All in all a huge thumbs up from us.
Disclaimer:- We were invited to stay at the park for 3 nights in one of their caravans, including park tickets. However, all words and opinions are my own.
This post is protected under copyright. SusankMann 2009 – 2014