Rick's Picks: Chesapeake Bay KOA, Cape Charles, VA

Chesapeake Bay KOA, Cape Charles, VA is located just north of the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel. An anomaly among KOA campgrounds it does qualify as a resort. Perched on a sand bluff overlooking Chesapeake Bay the park is always filled to capacity, and for good reason. The extensive plateau, on which the park is located, is a grassed plain and attracts primarily local residents because of its proximity to urban Virginia Beach and Maryland offering a more relaxed experience without the intense crowds. Entering from either north or south from Route 13 (as well as exiting) is straightforward as one approaches the large office/welcome center. This building contains a well-stocked store, large exercise room, an arcade area, and an ice cream/café shop. After registration the staff escorts the guest to their site and assists them backing in; the turning radii are adequate for a 45’ motorcoach with a tow, however the escort does request you unhook in order to avoid clogging the narrow streets. The sites are all grass and incorporate a unique synthetic foundation embedded into the grass which kept our 27 ton motorcoach from sinking into the grassy sand. FHU was operational and 50 amp service stable even providing a stable 65 amp draw from our motorcoach. Landscaping is minimal and there are no trees to hinder maneuvering. The sites are not level and cantilevered; we saw some trailers and 5th wheels that had to raise one end almost two feet to obtain level. This problem is endemic to the ridge swale that runs down the middle of each campsite aisle.
Amenities include a free shuttle to local areas, i.e. nearby historic Cape Charles; their own private sandy beach with a dog beach, live music on the weekends, and water sports rentals (paddleboard, kayaks, and jet-skis).
And did we mention food?; the campground not only offers ice cream and snacks at the café located in the main building, there is also the Jackspot Bar and Grill restaurant located at the beach and offering good quality burgers, and crab cake sandwiches. A large deck is attached with shade and a bandstand.
The large milky pool teeming with families appears to be undersized for the 316 camp sites. The pool complex boasts a large bathhouse, and an oversized pool apron with 13 cabanas that can be reserved, although they are short on pool furniture. The park also includes several safari tents, park models and camper trailers for rent. The south side of the park is occupied by seasonal/permanent residents in their rv’s. Adjacent to the office/welcome center is a 71 room motel complex and it has its own crystal clear pool (hint-this offers a quiet respite from the crowds at the main pool). So as one can imagine the entire park can become busy and at times lively. Due to the many amenities this is a family resort and one does not have to depart the premises to enjoy oneself.
Historic Cape Charles is a short 12 mile drive north and worth the trip to explore the town and enjoy the restaurants. Wallops Flight Facility, Onancock Historic District and Eastern Shore Railway Museum are all within an hour’s striking distance.
The buildings are painted pastel color reminiscent the FL Keys providing a holiday spirit to this campground on the shore of Chesapeake Bay. There are 3 bathhouse/shower buildings dispersed among the park; they are contemporary and clean (they also include a kiosk where a guest can register their impression of the cleanliness of the bath/shower with 3 buttons-‘unsatisfactory’, ‘neutral’, ‘happy’). Pictures on their web site and Google Maps are representative of the condition we observed July 2019.
WiFi was acceptable for retrieving email; it does support streaming music and movies with occasional buffering using our Winegard ConnecT with signal of 85%-95% and -54dBM to -41dBm. Using our Winegard Rayzor Automatic enabled us to pull in the local tv channels in HD on our OTA. Cell phone service was excellent.

The Takeaway: not the typical KOA this is a popular resort just north of the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel that is always full. The Jackspot restaurant serves respectable burgers and crab cake sandwiches along with a full service bar bordering their private sandy beach on the Chesapeake Bay. Amenities abound with a café, restaurant/bar, exercise room, arcade room, two pools, complimentary shuttle, etc. Sites are grass and not level with a backyard that is on top of your neighbors, however this is a beach resort. WiFi provides streaming with occasional buffering and OTA delivers local channels in HD. Visited August 2017 and July 2019 Go to www.rickpicks.com for other reviews, critiques and essays with links to area attractions and a more detailed review of this park,etc.