Beachcomber Outdoor Resort is affiliated with Coast to Coast. It is located on the Atlantic Ocean, just North of Vilano Beach across the inlet from St. Augustine, Florida. It has a decked beach walk, a 1015 foot pier into the Intracoastal Waterway, outdoor heated swimming pool, spa, shuffleboard.
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The resort has a busy activity schedule and special events. We visited there in December 1997 and also in July 1999, when we participated in Bingo and ice cream socials. One of their special games was "Holy Board." Somewhat similar to the games of horseshoes and shuffleboard, metal washers are tossed into three holes in a carpet-covered long box at each end of the playing field (a small space in front of the pavilion). Teams competed and scores were kept on a clipboard.
The resort is about 82 miles from our home. We enjoy the scenic drive through the Ocala National Forest one-third of the way. A camping neighbor warned us about the first site we were about to back into. He said the previous day's rain flooded the site with several inches of water, so we went around the corner to find a site on higher ground. We wanted to use the swimming pool, but it was closed for an hour of maintenance because of the rain.
The temperature was already 85 degrees when we got there, and was in the 90's in the campground during our stay. We used our regular insulated window shades, adding several new ones that were purchased at a flea market for $1 each, and using several collapsible ones. With the Westy curtains over the insulated shades and the little desktop oscillating fan, the Panasonic air conditioner on the "Economy" setting worked very well. We kept the drop-down door under the sofa open to improve the air circulation. We had to turn off the fan and cut the air down when it got cool during the night.
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It was a short walk across the highway to the oceanview deck and beach, with miles of beach to walk. The first afternoon my long walk was cut off when threatening clouds, lightning and thunder developed. It is a weird feeling to be standing on a wide open beach with the storm rapidly approaching. I made it back to the Westy before it rained. The ice cream social that evening was all you can eat for $1, with many flavors and many toppings. We walked to the oceanview deck and enjoyed the ice cream and the ocean breeze until the sun set.
The moon was shining through the front of the pop top at night. We removed the insulated shade and rolled down the flap in the afternoon as soon as the sun was far enough down in the sky. With all the shades and closed curtains, the Westy was rather dark during the day.
The next day was slightly cloudy, but we were able to enjoy the beach and waves. The temperature of the water was on the cool side, but there were many surfers in the water. The swimming pool was not very large, but much easier to swim in than the ocean. The resort had a wooden deck next to the pool with a long fishing pier into the North River. The pier was a great vantage point for observing birds and other creatures in the mud flats at low tide. I used the 10X on my Sony Mavica for closeups. It looked like no one was catching any fish while we were there, but there were a lot of crab traps and bait buckets hanging from the pier. A jetski from the resort was pulling an inflatable tube in the river and the tube rider was constantly being dumped into the water; they put on quite a show.
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During our stay, there were many children and teenagers in the campground. Fireworks were banned on the resort, but somebody was still setting them off late at night. The management of the resort had to close the shower rooms our last night from 9 pm until 8 am because of all the vandalism. So happy we have a Porta-Potti in our Westy!