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Fort Fisher Air Force Recreation Area (FFAFRA) is Federal land owned and managed by the United States Air Force, the Army National Guard, and MOTSU (Military Ocean Terminal Sunny Point). FFAFRA's primary purpose is to offer recreational activities and lodging as well as training events for DOD eligible groups. There are cottages and lodge rooms along with RV and tent sites for rent by authorized persons with proper DOD identification. There are also meeting rooms, a Military Museum, and facilities available for special events, team building, and official exercises. Come and see why “Ft. Fisher is One of the Military’s Best Kept Secrets.”
This is a great place to go with family! $20-35 a night for a campsite. They also have cottages too, they are really nice and across the street from the beach.
You are 3 miles from historic sites and the aquarium which is really neat if you have little ones. The sunsets are amazing, there is a little fishing pier also.
Excellent gem we found, many before us have known about, we are just late learning of all these. Open to any military member, retired or spouses/family with military ID. "Cottages" , RV or tent camping available. Just a couple mins walk to the beach! Picture is view from our cottage door towards ocean.
Fort Fisher is for military so you must have a military ID to book.
We had the whole family for spring break staying in 2 of the 4 BR cottages and had an RV in the RV campground. We had stayed here 25 years ago and the cottages have been upgraded substantially. The biggest plus are the beautiful beaches of Kure Beach which can be accessed by crossing the highway at one of the two access points. Its an easy walk but with all our beach gear we needed a wagon. There are 10 to 15 wooden steps however to get down to the beach. The beach drops off where the water meets it so it is over your head very quickly and the waves were very strong so it could be scary for young children. We went the second week of April and it was cool and windy. We did swim every day however....cold but fun!
There is also access to the Cape Fear River for fishing from the dock on Ft. Fisher. The restaurant there is currently closed and the hours of the check in location are limited but they have a way to check in after hours. Golf carts can be rented on Ft Fisher but can only be used on the rec. area. We rented from SUNFUN rentals so that we could go on the road. Their rules are electric carts only in Kure Beach and only on roads with speed limits of 35 mph or less. Our 6 person cart would only go 10 mph so we were a little nervous driving on the 35 mph roads which were pretty busy even in April.
The RV park is very nice. Spots are spacious but there are few trees and very little shade so could be hot in the summer....it was perfect in April. They seemed to have many other places you could park your RV with no hook ups and spots for tents but I am not sure of the rules for those.
The houses had nice front porches and and many of the larger units were in a circular common area with a sidewalks and lots of room for playing and flying kites. This was great for watching little kids. There were quite a few kids there and they had fun playing in this large common area. There were also basic grills and picnic tables in this area. The cottages were nice enough....typical institutional furniture. Beds were comfortable but the kitchens were not well appointed. If there is a must have you need for cooking, you should bring your own. The floors were polished cement so kind of a cold feeling but very practical for beach living. Internet was terrible but they had some TV channels. Apparently you could check out a cable box but I don't know what that was about. These cottages were all you needed for a fun beach vacation.
We loved the NC Aquarium but you must book in advance. We also enjoyed the Venus Flytrap trail, the Fort Fisher State Historic Site (be sure to see the film), the Arcade and Pier at Kure Beach and the donuts from Wake n Bake.
Great place! Can someone let me know the schedule for the restaurant as of July 2022? It doesn't seem to match up with Google.
We camped here July of 2021 and had a spectacular time. The camp store has lots of goodies and you can rent bikes, surf boards and other outdoor recreation toys, the staff are very friendly and accommodating, you can walk to the beach as well as to the Cape Fear River where there is a boat slip and a pier with great fishing to be had.
We loved our stay at Blakeslee and were very impressed with the accommodations and location! This Air Force Recreation Area (AFRA) is open to military ID card holders (active, retired, DOD, etc). Our family friends recommended it after they visited with their RV. My mom made the reservation via the main office and there were very accommodating and helpful with all of the information. We booked a "cottage" and they have various ones to pick from (1, 2 and 3-4 bedroom). We stayed in a 2 bedroom cottage and it was all one story, had queen beds and twin beds in the layout, a common area, fully stocked kitchen and multiple bathrooms. The floors are cement so we took the advice of others and brought padded mats for our toddler and baby. We were also surprised with all of the kitchen items- utensils, pots, pans, toaster, microwave. There is no dishwasher so bring your own dish soap. There is also a washer and dryer. Sheets and bedding are provided. The wifi was the only thing that was a bit spotty and no strong signal. We loved the outdoor seating area overlooking the courtyard and watching the sunrises and sunsets.
You can walk or drive over to the museum and check-in area. There is also a restaurant open to the public called Riverview. Next to the restaurant is a pier where we say people fishing and a sign that said watch out for alligators. We walked, enjoyed the scenery and spent time at the beach. You just cross the street and there is a public beach access walkway very close to the property. We also took the ferry from Fort Fisher to Southport which was a fun experience. The aquarium is also really close and of course Carolina and Kure Beach. We had a great stay! Thank you!
