Bryn Mawr Resort in St. Augustine

FLfamily wrote:
It's only just short drive for us to St. Augustine from Orlando, so we stay at Bryn Mawr once a year. We've always enjoyed our stay until this trip. Because of heavy rains, the roads in the campground were filled with huge ponds of water, everywhere. I understand that they're not allowed to pave the interior roads but they can manage the roads by adding a gravel surface and filling in holes, which become small lakes. And no, they don't dry up quickly. Just because the roads can't be paved, they still can be maintained. Equally bothersome were the amount of ants all over the park, at the camp sites and pool area. I feel like we were camping in one big ant pile, they even got inside the RV because of the shear number of them. This is also something that can be controlled. And one of the gates leading to the beach was completely missing it's lock, so anyone could walk up from the beach to enter the park. Yes, they recently added a new pool and bathhouse, but they have maintenance issues that need to be addressed.

I've been to just about every if not every "oceanfront" campground in Northeast Florida and many on the west side of the state. When we stayed at Anastasia state park a few years back, the flooding was horrible, same for north beach as well as the one down flagler beach. I guess I just look at it as a reality of camping near the ocean......All of these campgrounds use an excavator and grade rake frequently. At Bryn Mawr it is done weekly but when you have 30-40-50 thousand pound rigs doing tight turns and travel over sand roads it is expected. I do agree that the ant issue can easily be taken care of and a little gravel would go a long way to stop the pooling.

It's only just short drive for us to St. Augustine from Orlando, so we stay at Bryn Mawr once a year. We've always enjoyed our stay until this trip. Because of heavy rains, the roads in the campground were filled with huge ponds of water, everywhere. I understand that they're not allowed to pave the interior roads but they can manage the roads by adding a gravel surface and filling in holes, which become small lakes. And no, they don't dry up quickly. Just because the roads can't be paved, they still can be maintained. Equally bothersome were the amount of ants all over the park, at the camp sites and pool area. I feel like we were camping in one big ant pile, they even got inside the RV because of the shear number of them. This is also something that can be controlled. And one of the gates leading to the beach was completely missing it's lock, so anyone could walk up from the beach to enter the park. Yes, they recently added a new pool and bathhouse, but they have maintenance issues that need to be addressed.

I know just about everyone at the park (on the board of directors) and another reason there is no paving is because of the rains.....There is something like an 18-22 ft. difference from the front of the park on A1A and the beach sites. The sand roads help the drainage and gets rid of water fairly quickly. I can't imagine how it would pool if the roads where paved.

Also, North Beach and the other ocean front campground on Butler beach all have "dirt" roads for the same reason......drainage and DNR.

JT is right; the oceanfront sites are the best but you better reserve well in advance. I didn't realize the state wouldn't let them surface the streets and that's too bad because the place would be super nice (instead of really nice). We didn't use pool/hot tub because we were so busy seeing all the sites for 9 days and still didn't see everything I intended. :C

We've gone to Bryn Mawr for 10 years in a row now....we love the beachfront access without having to cross any streets like North Beach. Yes the sites are a bit tight but if you get one of the oceanfront sites or the ones closest to the beach even the biggest rigs can get in.

They have done a bunch of improvements over the years the best being the new pool (they have 2 now) and the hot tub and shower house. I never understood why people have such a hard time getting to sites in the campground. I think some people just go blindly in and think because a site is 50 feet long they should be able to get in. If you like the beach this IS the place to be. Great staff, maintenance crew and office folks. All 10 years we have gone there they have been upgrading something each year. Unfortunately, the florida DNR won't let them pave any interior roads because of the run off and the dune area. I LOVE, LOVE THIS PLACE.

If anyone wants site recommendations I have written down all the one's that are simple to get into even with 45 footers.

We decided not to use the trolley. We drove our car to see all the sites and tried a different restaurant every night for dinner. I managed to see the World Golf Hall of Fame and Museum and play a round of golf on the King and the Bear course. Want to have some fun after dark, take the Haunted Hearse Ghost Tour of St. Augustine. The guide had some really interesting stories about murders, hauntings and suicides in St. Augustine's past.

We stayed at North Beach Camp Resort on that highway last October...it was wonderful to be right across from the beach! And I agree, St Augustine is a wonderful place to visit--so much to see and do. We also drove down to Daytona and did the tram tour.

Did you happen to use the trolley to get around downtown? I really enjoyed that.