Hentervene Holiday Park, Crackington Haven

Camping is not the type of holiday that appeals to me. Maybe I take too many creature comforts for granted. Maybe it’s just that I never went camping as a child and so have little experience of it. Whatever, it just doesn’t appeal to me. However, without enough cash to be able to afford a holiday cottage or apartment, one’s options are rather limited.

I’m nervous of giving too much away because the great thing about Crackington Haven and about Hentervene Holiday Park is that very few people seem to know about them. Situated about 10 miles south of Bude on the North Cornwall coast, Crackington Haven is a small bay with a single road passing through it from north to south. With a sheer cliff face to the north and a headland drifting out to sea to the south, the bay is quite sheltered. At the top, the beach is all stones and pebbles, but after a shallow bank, flattens out across lovely flat sands to meet the rolling waves of the Atlantic crashing down and providing a great setting for body boarding and surfing. The tide really does come in and go all the way out, but with a manned lifeguard hut on site and being such a flat beach, this is a safe place for beginners, even children (Lydia and Elijah were just 4 and 3 on our first visit), to enjoy the sea without fear of getting out of depth.

Hentervene Holiday Park is situated about two miles south in Higher Crackington, a bit too far away for a walk down to the beach for the day, but well away from the busy tourist routes of the North Cornwall coast. I found the holiday park through a Google search and was impressed by a clear, bright, well laid out website which helpfully details all that I might need to know of the facilities, prices and even availability. For Simone, Lydia, Elijah and I there was a charge of just £20/night, cheaper than the majority of holiday parks up the road in Bude. That tariff got us a substantial pitch (we have a large five-man tent that only just filled half the space allotted), car parking and use of toilets, showers, and kitchen facilities. Simone has experience of camping with her parents and siblings as a child and, making comparisons, was surprised at both the cleanliness of the facilities (the toilets and showers were cleaned a number of times each day) and the generous provision of fridge, freezer, microwave and washing up facilities in a communal kitchen area.

With about 30 tent pitches and perhaps a further 15 caravan pitches, the site is by no means over-crowded, even during a Bank Holiday weekend as at the time of our stay. The owners of the site gave us a warm welcome and maintained a reassuring visibility each day but without being intrusive. The site has a pleasant family-oriented atmosphere and there is even a small bark-floored children’s play area with a climbing frame, slide and other items.

I don’t want to recommend Hentervene Holiday Park and Crackington Haven to anyone for fear that increased popularity might spoil the precious secrecy that keeps it special and such a lovely location. But it would be wrong of me not to say that, on a budget, if anywhere is going to persuade me of the virtues of camping, this is it. We’re already planning two visits for next year!