Dauphin Island Campground — Hotel in Dauphin Island

This review is also a review of the entire island in addition to the campground.

First the campground. We were put on the worst imaginable spot for a pop up. I even stressed multiple times we needed shade as it heats it up tremendously being in the sun. The lady working who wasn't friendly at all assured us there was plenty of shade. Well she was right. Shade from 7pm - 7am. But the sun hit us all day long. We have a fairly big pop up with slide outs and a brand new AC unit but it barely kept it cool during 12 noon to 7pm. Weve never had this issue in the past. By the time we had everything out and set up, it was too late to ask to move to the numerous empty, fully shaded sites like site 25 that would of been perfect. Instead we were on I believe 55 or 53, packed in on an interior loop site . It seems like they leave the better sites open and available for long term campers, which were what most of the campers were. Wasnt happy with our tiny, congested, full of sun campsite for the week.

The campground itself is nice and well maintained, cold AC in the clean bathrooms. 3 shower stalls and decent water pressure. The path to the private beach was a plus. NOT having a beach shower at the end of the wooden boardwalk didn't make much sense though. This seems like a no brainer to me. Keycard needed for after 7pm to get in, or you can sit in your car and follow people in after they use theirs, which is what I saw happening alot. After 7, there seems to be no way of reporting problems or concerns. The number rings to a voicemail box that is not set up or full. There is NO campground Host on site. The long term campers seem like they don't want anything to do with weekly campers. They also are loud and party well after 10pm quiet time. We tried to call the number but to no avail. We rolled with it and kept quiet, not trying to make a deal about it. Didnt bother with complaining the next day either. Upon leaving , we pulled up to the shack and the lady working didn't even open the window until I had to honk as she sat inside. She asked what was the last name, gave me the $20 back for the keycard and shut the window. No, " thanks for visiting" , nothing. Southern hospitality isn't a thing here.

The island itself is quiet and not built up, just the way we like it. We usually go to the outer banks for this reason. There's no red-lights or hotel chains, hardly any food places that aren't local, which we also like. The problem is, the locally owned places aren't that great, and even pretty bad. The Pirates pizza was good, but nothing else on the island seemed to be great from what we tried. Plus almost everything closes at 6pm or even earlier. We drove up towards Mobile to eat numerous times. The beaches are nice and quiet. Not alot of people. The water is brown and green at best. Close to waters around the Carolinas. That was the worst thing about it all, the brown water. The fishing was decent, we caught alot of catfish, which was odd, even from the surf. Not ocean sailfin cats, just normal channel catfish. So don't be looking to catch tropical fish or anything similar close to shore. Mostly catfish, small drums, and croakers. We rented a pink golf cart for the week but probably could of done without it. They are slow and took a very long time to go anywhere on the island. Paying for public beach access wasn't great either, the few times we went to them. However, you pay $10 for the day and it's good for all 3 public beaches. Nice sunrises and sunsets. West end beaches don't allow pets, so that was unexpected when we drove from the campground to the west beach in a slow golf cart with our dog and then had to leave.

The ferry was a nice easy experience. Cost $54 for the four of us to drive over and back. One thing to note, dogs are NOT allowed at Gulf Shores and Orange Beach beaches. So that was also disappointing.

I'm sure there's more to add but all in all it was just a decent beach trip. Nothing I would make the 12...

This place is a tourist trap. Me and my husband stayed 1 night out of 4 we had reserved. They wanted the money mailed to them before we arrived which I thought was odd. The website shows campfires, clean facilities. Well campers are not allowed to have a fire due to the burn notice on dauphin island. We went to shower the next morning and the ladies facility was closed due to maintenance. My husband came gaging out of the men’s and we could not take anymore. We decided to get a refund on the 3 remaining days and were told flat out [NO]. Not an apology or a response other than no. I ask for a manager and was hit with the [ I AM THE MANAGER!! ] rhetoric. I had no place to use the restroom, I wasn’t able to use the office. And the owners are rude simpletons!! This 90 year old women rides around on a golf cart packing a .44 mag openly extorting money for campers with more than 1 tent on the site which was never stated in the rules for that reason. I lived in gulf shores for 7 years and walker county for 3 and I have never experienced anytime, anywhere in my life. I thought that was something that happened to other people. But this was the first real life scam I’ve experienced. And I deal with some pretty shady characters in my line of work. We went right back to the site and packed our belongings { just leaving the tent } and checked into the gulf breeze motel right up the road. We enjoyed the rest of our stay. They were awesome about getting us in on short notice and I finally after all that was able to relieve myself. But if you are considering camping their they only cater to geriatrics in 400,000 rv’s. And If you won’t take my word for it I can’t wait to...

We recently purchased an overland tent for our jeep and this was our first time camping in it. We are actually really new to camping in general. We had a wonderful experience. This is one of our favorite trips we have taken as a family of 3. We typical go to the 30a area but it being spring break we wanted some place more affordable and low key. This was just that. We camped for 5 nights. The bathrooms were spotless and cleaned daily. We loved the convenience to the beach from the tent sites. We also enjoyed being so close to the ferry, the bird sanctuary, the aquarium, and Fort Gaines. There were several cats roaming and mentioned in other reviews below but they didn’t bother us. The campsite had a picnic table but not fire ring. We came prepared though with our solo stove. It is a small campground but quiet. If you are visiting for the first time I would have meals planned with you. The island has very limited meal options and the days they are open vary. We tried to hit a few places but each time they were closed. Just a heads up. Laundry closes at 8. There was a little building with tables and puzzles too that the office kept open during the overnight tornado threat which was helpful for us since we were tent camping. Oh and there are quite a few raccoon friends at night but to be expected with food. The gator at the bird sanctuary is just a short walk away from the tent section. We went to visit him a couple times....