Haven Holidays, Devon Cliffs Review

Overall Rating

For the last 3 years we have been to a Haven site, the previous 2 years we went to Golden Sands in Mablethorpe and thoroughly enjoyed it so this year we thought we would try somewhere different. As Devon Cliffs is Havens "flagship park" we thought we would try it. It looked spectacular in the brochure and we were really looking forward to it. What a disappointment! The park itself is far too big, too many caravans for the size of the entertainment complex. The pools were excellent however although the outdoor pools are so much smaller than they look on the website although the lockers cost you a £1 which is non refundable so if you leave something in the locker it will cost you another £1. The beach was absolutely disgusting, We are very much a beach family and there is no way on this earth we would use the beach on the site. It was covered with seaweed and riverweed, when i say covered I mean covered! It was green and resembled a field rather than a beach. It was a foot high in places and covered the entire stretch of sand belonging to the Haven site, as soon as you stepped near it you were greeted with swarms of flies from it. If we had seen this before we booked there is no way in hell we would have gone here and a quite a few people said the same thing.
You can go into exmouth and use the beaches there which are far better but be warned you will have to pay for parking which can add up, you can also take your dog there but there are only 2 tiny stretches of sand the dogs are allowed on so they are all crammed on together which can cause some problems, all the locals admitted they are not very dog friendly there. Exmouth itself is a ghost town, if you like seaside towns with amusements and a small fair maybe for the kids and all the usual things associated with such places this is not the place for you, my kids were bored senseless there. Now to the actual Haven site, we were in a standard 3 bedroom caravan, we have no great expectations of our accommodation, to us its just a base, somewhere to eat and sleep and shower but we were shocked to discover the toilet smelled like a zoo, literally, the carpet in the toilet (yes carpet) had been pee'd on by every guest that had ever stayed there I'm sure, it made you gag just to walk in, that standard in cleanliness is just not acceptable no matter what your accommodation grade, the smoke alarm kept going off so we called security in the middle of the night and they removed it and said someone would replace it the next day, this was on the sunday night, we left saturday and it still hadnt been done despite reception been informed of it. The nets and curtains in the caravan were black with mould as were the windows, all in all the accomodation was terrible. I urge anyone not to buy the inflatables from the beach shop there as they will not allow you to use them in the pools and the sea is far too rough to use them in, even the haven lifeguards admitted the site should not be selling them. There are some plus points for Devon Cliffs, the adventure golf course is a really good laugh and not too expensive at £4 a go, it takes about an hour to get round it and burger king and papa johns are good places to eat, I was expecting burger king to be charging more than usual but it wasnt and papa johns pizza is around £12 for an extra large pizza which was excellent, we ate at Sonny Jims one night and found the food quite reasonably priced and very nice. They advertise having a night club but there is no night club, just showbars, there were a group of young lads so disappointed when they found this out. Basically if you're looking to never leave the holiday park then this place might appeal to you but if you're like my family and like to get off the park without having to drive an hour to get somewhere with a little entertainment then I would suggest going elsewhere, as for us, we're going back to Mablethorpe next year, it may only be a 3 star park instead of a 5 but we had a much better time there and spent the entire week at Devon Cliffs comparing them, if you want a lively seaside town just down the road and spectacular beaches you can take your dog on no problem then I would recommend Mablethorpe everytime.

Members' Comments onGuest's Review

• dudley buzz on 19th Aug 2009

  thanx for your comments on devon cliffs, we went in 2002 and had a good time, however many of the things that you stated were the same then. they were supposed to have had a upgrade around 2004, and to be honest we were thinking of going again this yr. however at the last min we decided to go to butlins and we go on 29th aug. from reading you review im glag we decided on butlins. thanx for the review. its been helpful

• Joolz68 on 23rd Aug 2009

  Oh my god !! Thought you came on holiday with us reading your review !! We went 14th August 09 , and would not go there again..........The beach was beautiful FROM A DISTANCE !! Yes we met the flies , 2 hours we tolerated that beach , the kids wouldnt eat anything incase they got mobbed by the flies, in the end we gave in and ate our picnic lunch back in the MANKEY caravan !! with the mould on the curtains and up the side of the bedroom walls, but it was the nettles standing 4ft outside the caravan door, poor toddler had a few run in's with them !! I think the camp is far too big for the small amount of entertainment available, i think thats why some of the camp is not kept very well. We went out a few times to Paighton , Paighton Zoo ,Torquey (that was nice).....we would of gone stare crazy staying in that camp for a whole week , not enough on offer i thought !!