Sooke Potholes Campground — Hotel in Sooke

This is less of a review of the campground, and more of a review of the first come first serve process. I arrived at the check in gates at 1030am to line up for first come first serve spots at 1pm. The young girl at the check in informed me that they were full for the night. My first thought was that they were full because no one was checking out this morning. However three trailers pulled out immediately. I asked how is it full when check in hours are a few hours away. She then Informed me that the owner ( Tony I believe, but could be wrong) had taken some reservations earlier that morning for some people who arrived early and didn't want to stay around for 1pm. She mentioned she wasn't sure why this happened because that's not the way things worked. This is flawed. Terribly ran in that sense. Also, she informed me that a lot of people will show up Wednesday, and book Wednesday thru Sunday, only to leave, go home until Friday, and then show up for two days of their 5 day reservation. Makes me wanna just go camp in a park since it's the only available camping spots on the...

One of the best places to camp in and around Sooke/Vic. Friendly staff (very impressed). Beautiful campground, clean, quiet (stayed Wed to Fri night), everyone went to bed at a reasonable time, not super private but you can easily make it so. We sat at our fire pit and picnic table with a view of the river. The river was magnificent! Sunny spots all around. People were swimming up until 8 p.m. including my 2 kids. Felt safe & relaxed. Excellent for the whole family. *Gates shut at 9 p.m. which was fine for us. If you try to "hold" a site - REGISTER & PAY FOR IT. Then it's yours. Putting your belongings in it doesn't mean the site is yours so pay as soon as you find one you like :) not my experience but others complain that "their site" was taken and staff let them. It's not yours until you pay. Hope this advice helps!

I have zero complaints. Highly recommend. We will definitely camp there again as it's now on our top 3 places to camp...

Pretty cool spot all around -- lots of campsites, and not terribly expensive at $25/night per site (not per person). We biked to the campground from Victoria via the galloping goose trail and it was a beautiful 50km+ mostly flat ride where you're not on roads really at all. They have bike-specific tent pads for $15/night, but they're tiny and crammed really close together. For an additional $10 you can get a site that can accommodate an RV and has a picnic table and fire pit right on the river, so I definitely recommend trying to score one of the many riverfront sites if you can. The Tsouke First Nations folks that run the place are really chill, friendly, and laid back, too. Definitely a place to go have a good time with friends (not so much a place you go if you want a quiet secluded campsite -- definitely try out Mystic Beach or Sombrio if that's the sort of thing you're...