Lanier’s Waterside Campground

This is not a campground, more like a trailer park. It mostly caters to the permanent sites which is about 80%. Dumpsters were overflowing the entire five days we spent there. Flies were horrible. Very nasty.

I will preface this by saying I am not an avid camper. In fact, I am no kind of camper at all, seeing as I haven’t been camping since I was 12. However, Jeff and I wanted to spend our last weekend of the summer at the beach, but didn’t want to spend $ 250 on 2 nights in a hotel room. What to do, what to do… maybe we bite the bullet, buy a cheap tent, drive to the beach Saturday morning, and stay at a campground… um…ok! For the unbelievably low price of $ 24 (and $ 15 dollars for a key to the bathhouse which they return to you upon you returning the key), you can stay at Lanier’s which is a 3 minute drive to the beach in Surf City. So, we called them up, booked a spot, bought a Coleman tent at Target, and headed down Saturday morning.
We spent the day at the beach until we felt our skin was crispy enough and needed shade, headed to Buddy’s for some beer and wings, and made our way to the campsite around 5. We really had no clue what to expect, but when we pulled in we realized most people aren’t tent people… they are RV/​Camper/​Trailer people. So, when we got our site assignment from the nice lady at the office, we assumed we would be in some backwoods part of the grounds, shunned in a corner for not owning a souped up RV. But nope, we were right on the main drag, about 50 feet from the bathhouse, and about 300 feet from the office. Sweet! Easy access! Each site has a picnic bench, room for a car, and room for a huge tent, as well an electric hook up if you chose to use it, and a water spout, and a grated fire pit for charcoal grilling. We set up our tent fairly quickly, added on the rain cover rather not quickly, enjoyed some beers, and took turns using the bathhouse key for showering. The bathhouse is extremely clean, with 4 showers. I will say when I went to take my shower at 6:30, there was little hot water, but I kind of expected that, and the cool water actually felt nice on my burnt skin. There our outlets for hairdryers, etc. as well. We left to go out to dinner, and when we returned around 10 pm, we set up the inside of the tent with blankets and pillows, and it started raining… then pouring… then sideways pouring. Awesome. But, our lovely tent kept us dry, so no worries.
I will say, although our plot was so close to bathhouse and office, this also meant it was right next to the main road… which meant people driving by, at all hours of the night. Real annoying. But, I still highly recommend Lanier’s as an alternative to a hotel room. You really cannot beat the price. And the amenities are great (I think I forgot to mention the huge pool). We will most def be back!!!

This campground probably falls in the top 5 that I’ve camped at. For $ 24 you can’t beat a place that has a good store/​arcade, a security gate, and clean facilities. The people who run this place are extremely friendly and accommodating. This campground has a nice pool and caters very well to families. The restrooms/​showers were pretty clean for a campground and the grounds itself were very clean as well. While not on the beach, the proximity to Surf City make this a great place to camp for the weekend. I’ll definitely be back!