We are going camping at both Pirateland and Ocean Lakes campground next week. This is our first experience camping at such a large park. In the past we have never had a problem with theft, but I was wondering if things were different at larger campgrounds? Do the children need to lock up their bikes when they take them to the pool, can we leave food in a screen tent, etc.? I know it is always better to be cautious, but we have truly enjoyed the freedom of not worrying about these things at the smaller campgrounds. Any thoughts or experiences?
Any small campground will be safe over a large one. It you set your bikes out in NY City would you think they will be OK on return? The more people you have, the more problems you will have. Remember that 90% of all problems are due to 10% of all people. We have never had a problem yet. We do lock up bikes at night. We also like the small campgrounds over the large ones. Any large campground will have people off the street to get in and see what they can steal. The people in next camp site over will not be the problem.
I have only been camping for a couple of years now and although my wife grew up camping 30 plus years......i still lock things up wherever i am camping It just is a habit of mine. We will be traveling to Pigeon Forge area, TN And every campground WE had looked at seems to have in their rules about Locking your stuff up. Now a days you never know who is who. It was said by someone it won't be your camping neighbor who would be the one to take your stuff but with the amount of people going thru a campground How do we the camping public really know who belongs there and who doesn't?? I saw allot of people drive by my site over the holiday weekend and was only sure I thoght they didn't belong in our loop. But yet we saw them cruise thru several times thru out the 6 days we were there. The only thing that helped was the ever presence of rangers thru out our stay. When in dought I'd lock it up. Happy Trails.........
I have been to Lakewood (between Pirate Land and Ocean Lakes,about the same size as both) a bunch of times and never had a problem with theft, doesn't mean I don't lock things up but it seems safe
The 3 campgrounds mentioned all have security guards at the gates. People from the streets can't get in. However, you may run across that 10% element John Blue mentioned. It's better to take small precautions before hand than regret the loss later.
Thanks to everyone for responding. I will definitely lock up when we are away and at night, but I was primarily thinking about my children and their bikes for example. Do they need to learn how to use a lock when they go to the pool? At other campgrounds we have felt comfortable leaving them outside the pool while they are swimming. I was just wondering if anyone who had been to Pirateland or Ocean Lakes had ever had a bad experience with people taking their stuff. Another example would be chairs out front, should we put them up every night? These are the precautions that we have not taken at other campgrounds. Again, thanks for the feedback.
QUOTE(roanokecampers @ Jun 5 2006, 07:54 PM) [snapback]4347[/snapback] Thanks to everyone for responding. I will definitely lock up when we are away and at night, but I was primarily thinking about my children and their bikes for example. Do they need to learn how to use a lock when they go to the pool? At other campgrounds we have felt comfortable leaving them outside the pool while they are swimming. I was just wondering if anyone who had been to Pirateland or Ocean Lakes had ever had a bad experience with people taking their stuff. Another example would be chairs out front, should we put them up every night? These are the precautions that we have not taken at other campgrounds. Again, thanks for the feedback. We have never put our lawn chairs up at night, and we have those really nice recliners. No one has ever bothered them but that doesn't mean that no one will. We have stayed at some very large parks. I have asked hubby before if we needed to put them up and he always says no, but maybe we really should.
We stayed a Pirateland many times, only problem encountered was some missing beer from a cooler left out at night, assume it was the kids on the beach. Subsequently started locking the cooler in the truck at night.
Thanks to everyone who replied. We just got back from Myrtle Beach and stayed at both Pirateland and Ocean Lakes and did not have any problems with theft. What a relief. Glad to know that there are still wonderful people out there. Happy travels.
Hey if you don't want to stay there you have to go to Willow Tree Resort. Its absolutely beautiful, and peaceful. We just stayed there! Its not that far away from Myrtle Beach. So If you haven't stayed here before you must! B)
