Coastal Acres Campground — Hotel in Provincetown

This is the first time my wife and I have been tent camping in over 20 years. We were looking for a decent campground close to Provincetown that was dog-friendly and had site access for electric. Came across Coastal Acres in our online search, and it sounded like it fit the bill, so we gave it a try. And are we glad we did!!||The campground is on the outer edge of Provincetown, easy to get to without fighting a lot of traffic. It's located at the end of nice residential streets, and backs up to Shank Painter Lake, so it's quiet and private. Every single member of the staff was incredibly friendly and helpful, and the grounds are clean and well-maintained. Most sites are partially enclosed by vegetation and trees, so even though they're fairly close together, you have a sense of privacy. ||From the campground it only takes about 10 minutes to reach Commercial Street with shops, restaurants and all the sights we enjoy about P-town. Easy walking access to the public beach there, or you can bike to either Herring Cove or Race Point beaches in 10 minutes. Walk the other direction from P-town center back towards Rte 6A and you get to a plaza with Stop'N'Shop grocery and a good-sized package store. In between there are some nice restaurants, including our favorite breakfast spot, Liz's Cafe.||We had one glitch when we arrived: the campsite we had been assigned had a small pine growing about 2/3 back, which made it difficult to set up our 8-person tent (hey, I know we're only 2 people but we like extra space to lounge about!) plus the rain canopy we wanted to set up to protect the eating/food prep area. Office was closed, but we spoke to the gate attendant Ed, who contacted the manager for us. She called back within 15 minutes with an alternate site assignment, which worked out perfectly.||We ended up enjoying one of the best, most relaxing vacations ever, thanks to the wonderful folks and awesome facilities at Coastal Acres. We're already planning our return trip next summer!||Some tips: |• Bring mosquito protection! Even in a dry season there are plenty of the buggers because of the proximity to the marshlands by the lake.|• Ground fires are not permitted and sites do not have fire pits. If you want a fire, bring your own raised fire pit.|• Have a supply of quarters! Showers are 25 cents per 5 minutes, very reasonable all-in-all, but you don't want to run out of water mid-rinse.|• 10# bags of ice are available at the office for $3 each. Same size at the grocery store cost $4.79! Plus, Coastal makes their own ice from spring water on site, so it's a good deal. BUT the office closes early evening, so get your ice early.|• Remember to bring your National Parks Pass! We forgot that the bigger beaches nearby are part of the Parks system, so if you don't have a pass it's $20...

Update in response to owners comments. I tried to be generous (3 stars) and honest about my experience. The reply just shows how rule happy this campground is. I cannot recommend this campground and taking a star away. Had one camper sleep in a 2 man tent under the camper awning but that's against rules. After they complained the first night, he used the camper floor. Thanks. After the first email complaint about my dog that I respectfully replied to, I proceeded to shush my dog every time she barked. And I talked to campers directly across from me to ask if the dog was a problem. They said no and they would talk to me if it was. Apparently, petiquette means a dog can't make a peep even in the middle of the afternoon. If I was an a-hole, I'd only give one star but the place has some redeeming qualities. But based on my experience I have to warn prospective campers to beware. I spent 3 nights here in August 2018. This campground had some advantages but it was not awesome by any stretch. Proximity to P'town is great - you can walk to the main strip in 10 minutes or so. But if the rest of the camping experience is not good then it takes a lot away from that plus. Some aspects of the campground are fine. I have a small trailer at 20 ft. The manager moved me from a spot I reserved on the edge of the campground and put me in the middle of the RV section. He told me my spot was one of the best in the campground. When I got there, I felt like a sardine, very little space between sites. It was difficult to park off of the street as required. They also require the picnic table to be on the concrete pad. Rules. My 2 kayaks barely fit on my site. Then the worst part. My pet dog rendered complaints for barking even though I completely followed quiet hour rules. The management contacted me twice in 2 days. Pets are allowed in this campground but apparently dogs are not allowed to bark. Neighbors on the side and back are so close that there is really no privacy. On check-in, the manager was so fixed on his 10 minute speech that I don't think he heard me say I wanted a site near the edge of the campground. Three stars is being generous for the experience I had especially considering the expensive rate. Not my type of place. Stayed 3 nights at Nickerson State Park after staying here and it was a much more...

NOT FAMILY FRIENDLY. We got a complaint for the kids being out of the RV at 7:30am and being loud (sitting at the picnic table having breakfast and conversation & petting /playing/laughing with all the dogs that came by for their morning walk). The complaint was that quiet hours are until 8am and it’s suggested we keep the kids inside until then. Mind you it is pet friendly and dogs bark at all hours (no I’m not petty and will not complain about an animal making noise) 2nd complaint that the kids were at the field (a narrow strip of grass not an actual field) alone, ages 15, 8, 8, & 12. That there are coyotes & foxes and an adult should be there (my 15yr old almost the size of an adult so I don’t think it was about the coyotes/foxes in the middle of the day)

It is a perfect campground for older couples, definitely not kids. Definitely pet friendly but not kid friendly. No playground, nothing for kids to do, field isn’t great for ball games (surrounded by thick woods/prickers so if you lose a ball, it’s lost for sure)

The location is OKAY. It’s a little bit of a walk to commercial st, but away from the bustle. If you plan on walking for the day, the walk back is LONG. Grab a bike. Much more manageable.

As a family camping trip I was highly disappointed. Would not return especially since everything the kids did (being kids outside, not on electronics, enjoying the simple things) turned into a complaint. We left early to avoid additional complaints, we left early because the kids were cooped up, we left early because we were tired of following kids around for talking too loud or laughing too much (seriously, we were constantly yelling at them to shhhhhhh. That’s not what camping is about for us) we left early because it became too stressful with kids being kids.

We were in a 40ft RV. It was easy to get in and out with the RV. full hook up, but we were in a site that had a spotlight directly on us. Site F10. The spotlight stays on all night. (We did ask to move, but got brushed off until next “shift” and never got an answer. Light pollution 100%. Could not see stars (on the bright side I could read my book outside all night 🤷‍♀️) we do have light blocking shades on our RV so it didn’t affect our sleeping but it was like camping in a parking lot. 100% do not recommend...