Southern Retreat RV Park

Went for a quick beach trip. When we arrived and went into the entrance side of the drive we were met with signs saying for RVs to go left and workers to go right. The entrance was a parking lot for the restaurant in front and there was a sign saying RVs were not to go past a certain point (not to go right in front of the restaurant basically) and to follow yellow arrows to the sites. The problem was we were pulli mg a 40 ft travel trailer and had to turn into an parking lot full of cars in both sides with barely enough room to actually make the turn without hitting the cars. We had to stop and get out to evaluate our ability to actually get through. My husband made it but had to back up and reposition in order to get through. The rest of the roads were very narrow as well and the other RVs were very close to the road on both sides due to the small size of the sites. When leaving we were unable to actually turn our trailer to actually go the correct way out of the park (and we weren’t the only ones unable to do so). The sites need more gravel and there needs to actually be a clear area to actually have a seating area. Additionally this campground appears to have a large amount of full timers/locals who reside there. The bath house and laundry were nice. We did enjoy the pool and my kids enjoyed playing on the swing set. It was convenient to have an on-site restaurant. There was a designated dog park but it was in a low lying area which was very wet and muddy so we didn’t use it. The pluses for this campground did not make up for the limitations of site size and maneuverability in my opinion. We have stayed at both Blythe Island Campground and Coastal Georgia RV park which are nearby and would prefer either of those over this one.

Alright, you’re not going to write long stories to remember this place by, but if you’re looking for a decent place to roll-up to with your RV after spending hours on the road and just need a simple, easy place to spend the night, one that has all the standard amenities, then Southern Retreat wouldn’t be the worst decision of your life. 

As far as the grounds go, there’s basically 3-4 lanes that encircle the place, each slot with decent space and all of the basic amenities are provided: 30 and 50 amp electrical, water, sewage, etc. There’s a few community BBQ’s we were told of, but couldn’t find. The restroom facilities are just mediocre (and could definitely do with a makeover). There is a great little pool area complete with a little Tiki Bar that serves up some OK premade elixirs, but you’ve got to bring your own Tiki music, I learned. 

Within a short distance of the place, you’ve got plenty of golf courses, tennis courts and of course all of the water sports (fishing, boating, kayaking, parasailing, etc.) that you could hope for. There’s even the Golden Isles Speedway not too far away. On the nature side of things, I recommend either Jekyll Island or Cumberland Island where there’s wild horse that run free on the beach head there. 

Insider’s tip? Head on over to Original Jay’s Fish& Chicken for just about everything fried and then head over to Boondox Tavern for a couple colds ones– ask for Loretta, who will set you up pretty nice. Also, there’s Frans, which is what you’ll first come across when entering Southern Retreat– each day/night she serves up a single dish, from fried pork chops (can’t say I had ever had one prepared this way before) to taco night, the food is actually pretty decent and the crowd nice and pleasantly Southern. 

Happy Camping!