Camp on the Gulf in Destin FL, your Experience?

wbwood wrote:

boatms03 wrote:
we stayed at Henderson beach, and topsail on our Disney trip last year. Henderson beach was by far nicer and cleaner than top sail. Henderson did not have sewer hook ups but we always use the showers if available and CLEAN! with three kids its hard to use the shower in the trailer and expect to have hot water when its your turn. lol the showers at Henderson were almost as clean as the ones at fort wilderness. the ones at top sail I would not let my kids take off their sandals while showering, and all of the showers were mildewed. the laundry house smelled like sour laundry, and was not clean either.
the distance to the beach was very long at topsail and like others said the shuttle only ran once an hour. we walked it once, it was long and hot! the walk to the beach at Henderson was mostly shaded until you got to the boardwalk that crossed the dunes, and all was on concrete sidewalk.
I was planning a trip back to destin area this summer and looked at some of the other rv parks. its hard to beat the state parks for the price

We've stayed at Topsail twice before and have only driven through Henderson once... we haven't used the bathhouse at either one as is the reason we bought a camper (to use our own bathroom). We have used the laundry at Topsail both times. Both times (spring break), it was very clean and did not smell. As far as the pathway to the beach, we have taken our bikes both times (we usually do most trips) and it was a quick and easy ride, plus you get in a little exercise. We've walked it several times as well..15 minutes max. Again, a little exercise. We have also ridden the tram. Plan your trips on the top of the hour and no problem. The tram does give you a nice breeze when it is hot.

We liked Henderson when we drove through it for what it was. We liked the large private sites. But we didn't care for the gravel. They also were not shaded (a good thing about Topsail). The shortage of sewer and cable tv is another downside to Henderson. We also prefer the location of Topsail over Henderson. Henderson is right down in the middle of everything. There's benefits to that, but it's not our cup of tea. We actually prefer Grayton's location the most over all 3.We would stay at Henderson though for a few days. We wouldn't make a week long trip out of it. When it's time to dump, that would be about it for us.

Im glad you had a good experience at topsail, we did not. I understand some people do not like to use the bath houses, we do. like I said when you have three teenage kids they tend to use all of the hot water and then I am stuck taking a cold shower. I was just stating my findings from both parks so if anyone wanted to use the showers they know what to expect. the bathrooms and showers at topsail were filthy. the ones at Henderson were spotless all day, both days we were there.
the camp spots at topsail were more shaded, but most I looked at the concrete slabs were all broken and not level. the spots at Henderson had gravel, but were completely level. I did not have to block the wheels or anything. Yes Henderson was toward the end of all of the retail area of destin, but the beach was private, and secluded to only paying members of the park. it was also nice to be across the street from walmart for the forgotten items for out 17 day trip. once in the park you did not know you were even close to any of the busy areas of destin. topsail is only a few miles further east from destin, and yes they do have cable, if it works at your site. we were not lucky enough to have one of the spots that had working cable. I went to the office and told them about it and they said several of the sites were like that, but sorry they didn't have another site for us to move to. also at topsail, the 30 amp receptacle did not work, luckily I had my 50amp adaptor along on the trip. again they man at the office said sorry.
I know sometimes things happen, and maybe topsail is a good place, ny experience was not good.