By:
Submission
Bar Harbor Oceanside KOA is the only campground on the west side of the island, so pull up a camp chair& watch the pastel sunset spread across the horizon from your waterfront site or sunset patio. Now you can stay in a New Airstream! Experience the nostalgia and romance that only an Airstream travel trailer can provide. Waterfront sites are perfect for Atlantic shoreline camping. Encompassed by 3,500 feet of Atlantic shoreline along the entrance to Acadia National Park, you'll also be able to enjoy natures beauty from the private, rocky beach.
Situated at head of Mount Desert Island at intersection of Rt 3, Rt 102 and County Rd. Follow Rt 1A to Ellsworth and Rt 3 toward Bar Harbor on Mount Desert Island. Crossing onto the island, SLOW DOWN and take an immediate far right turn on to County Road.
Adults 18+, Kids 7-17, Free 0-6
We love staying at KOA but unfortunately this one wasn't our favorite.
Pros:
-Breath taking view of water , beautiful sunsets
-Fridge and coffee maker in cabin
-Clean bathroom and showers
-Location
Cons:
- Hardly any activities for kids (no jump pad,pool,movie nights,game areas) like other Koa's, our kids were disappointed as this is a highlight for them.
-Ww understand it is all pet friendly but as people who don't like pets we prefer not to think about it. But tons of dog hairs all over the mattresses and floor and dog bowls in the room, a real turn off and disgusting to those of us who don't like pets. You should have bowls available for whoever wants them but don't keep them in the room for all of us.
-only 3 shower stalls, we always had to wait.
-I didn't need the washers but saw (while waiting in line for the shower) that quite a few of them were out of order.
Back in Sept 2022, we made reservations for 2 specific sites together, near the water, at this KOA facility. Called, as directed, two weeks after the reservations made to confirm. All good. Arrived in Sept. 2023 to find we have been relocated to different sites. Asked how this happened and never received a logical answer. Called KOA customer service with absolutely no help. This was our third visit to this campground so repeat customers don’t mean anything. Disappointed with both the campground and KOA support with this situation. Note: During this time, we never received a call back from either KOA or the site manager!
Stayed at an Oceanside Cabin during our Acadia explorations. We were very impressed with these accommodations and the view of the water. Taking one star off for the noisy road right by these cabins. The rest of the campground was peaceful and lovely. You’d think for the price we were paying the noise would have been minimal.
One of the best campgrounds we have ever stayed at! Staff were absolutely amazing and so friendly. Immaculate grounds. The lobster dinner was incredible and I appreciated that it was available and at a decent price. They also had a blueberry pancake breakfast that was equally as good. But the views! Our site was not even direct waterfront and still had views. Sunrise and sunsets with the ocean air was like heaven!
I've been a loyal customer of this KOA location for 7+ years, but now I don't think I'll ever go back.
I had one of the best spots in the campground for the entirety of the 7+ years that I've been coming here and was supposed to have 1st dibs for the site for the next year (which is how it's always been). When checking out, they told me I needed to call another day, because the person who does booking wasn't in. I called maybe a week later to be told that it was already booked out for next year and that I had lost my spot, even though you're supposed to have 1st dibs for several months. Everyone I talked to seemed confused when I told them my situation, because they also knew I was supposed to have 1st dibs. I finally talked to the new manager and he told me that things changed and that they no longer let us have 1st dibs for the 2 best tent spots. There's no more guarantee that anyone gets those spots anymore, with 0 warning to people when they book, check in or check out. I've given them an awful lot of money throughout these past few years and this was our big vacation that we take every summer that we look forward too emensly. Unfortunately, all their other tents spots are something to be desired and we don't have a camper, so we will not be back for the foreseeable future, as the site we had was already near impossible to book because it's always full. The manager also told me this is how it works for all the sites now and that he had lots of angry customers calling him in regards to this situation.
Another complaint I'll bring up is the disgusting bathroom that is no longer separated by gender. That bathroom is always filthy and the stall doors don't lock properly. The last time I (a woman) stayed here, I was in a stall going to the bathroom. While I was in there using it, a man came in and opened the door to the stall that I was using! I screamed at him, he was as freaked out as I was and (luckily) he left. I vowed to never use that restroom again, I'd just use the different disgusting, hardly ever cleaned bathroom on the other side of the camp ground. I'm not sure why they decided to have it be a completely open bathroom, but I think it was the wrong decision. You could very easily put a door on each side to separate it again, and I highly suggest you do so. It makes people extremely uncomfortable. I talked to multiple people in there during my stay, and everyone had the same thoughts.
Anyway, I hope that if there are people bothered by this new change, they decide to go somewhere else. I watched a lot about this KOA location start to go down hill, but I put up with it until this most recent change.
