Karrageen
UK England South West England Devon Salcombe
Karrageen is all about giving its lucky occupants – young and slightly less young – plenty of room to breathe, think, play, and relax. There will be no tangle of guy ropes here, and there’s even room for those multi-bedroom monstrosities that can take up a good few pitches on their own. If you want to do some proverbial cat swinging there are few better camping patches in Devon.
It may well be that the abundance of space is allowed by the lack of all other things. You’ll find nothing fancy, nothing flash and nothing gimmicky here: just a simple, very well-maintained and nicely landscaped campsite in an ever-so-lovely location – with extra room to spare.
The immediate locality of Karrageen is very peaceful, accessed along a single-track Devon lane (with plenty of passing places) leading down to the sea at the lost world of Hope Cove and its little village. After wandering through the sleepy rows of fishermen’s cottages you’ll think it eminently possible that this is still a place of clandestine meetings of pirates and smugglers, and that a raid from ‘the revenue’ isn’t far off – such is the sense of detachment and timelessness in the air. If you fancy breakfast by your tent, why not devour one of Karrageen's locally renowned fresh croissants and pain au chocolats? There are a couple of pubs in the village serving decent food too. So there’s little need to stray far during your stay and, no doubt, very little want to either.
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Details
Facilities
The camping field is a terraced hillside split into a series of quite small, intimate, and attractive cul-de-sacs, where no one overlooks anyone else. Facilities are excellent, with loos and 9 showers (4 womenss, 4 men's, 1 family/disabled room equipped for baby-changing). The 20p shower charge is to preserve Karrageen’s scarce spring-water supply. There are 50 hook-ups, and campers have access to the freezer. Downsides: some static caravans lurking about; no campfires, though BBQs off the ground are okay.Suitable For
Tents, campervans, caravans, dogs – yes. Groups – no.Nearby
All the attractions of south Devon, including Torbay, are easily accessible from here, but locally – aside from walking the cliff paths – the boat trips on the rivers are the real treats: book a return sailing from Kingsbridge to Salcombe (01548 853607); or River Dart trip from Totnes to Dartmouth (01803 555872). Or take the sea tractor to Burgh Island.
Food & Drink
Posh nosh with a view can be found at the South Sands Hotel (01548 859000) in Salcombe, while in Hope the Sun Bay Hotel (01548 561371) does very good food, and the Hope and Anchor (01548 561295) offers economical prices.
Opening Times
Easter - end of September.
The Owner Says
Location
Contact Karrageen, Bolberry, Malborough, Kingsbridge, Devon TQ7 3EN
Getting There
Reviews
Add Your ReviewRated ★★★★★ over 13 reviews
Spacious, friendly and thoughtful camping holiday
Tranquility
We stayed here for a long weekend in March and we were blessed with good weather. This is a very special place amazing views and pretty, peaceful countryside. We had two absolutely perfect sunsets. Wonderful beach and walks. The owners were so helpful, warm and welcoming. Can't wait to return !
Amazing Karrageen
This camp site is immaculate, it has lovely views and enjoys the peace and tranquility of the Devon countryside. The site also has wifi and home baked rolls and pasties which I hasten to add are beautiful. The site is a good size with a variety of different pitches available to cater for different tastes. There are kind of concealed pitches, pitches with great views to cater for all tastes and all pitches looked great so there are no worries about getting a poor pitch. I had a wonderful time and found the owners very friendly indeed and they couldn't do enough to help me. There is a lovely village called hope cove with a decent pub and also The Cove Bar where I enjoyed many drinks and meals. I will definitely return next summer to Karrageen for more of the same. Thank you for such a great time!!!!!
Excellent site
I visited Karrageen recently with my family for a short break. The site was easy enough to find despite the lanes around there being extremely tight to negotiate.
The location was lovely and scenic-however the steep walk down to Hope Cove was not very safe with kids as the road is very narrow with only a few passing places(obviously no pavement either) and the walk through the meadow would have been lovely if we weren't constantly bitten by horse flies!!
Our pitch was easy to find and close to both a fresh water tap and electric hook up. The ground did slope away steeply in front of the pitch but was fine where we erected the tent so all happy!
The showers and toilets were well laid out and clean-the 20p charge for showers merely stopped me from dawdling! The site shop was well stocked and fresh bread/pasties every morning really did help to start the day well.
My only criticism unfortunately would be for Phil. Personally, I found him pretty friendly and outgoing. My gf however, really did object to him consistently going into the ladies shower block to clean. At one point he even knocked on the door of her cubicle which made her jump out of her skin!! I don't really understand why they can't have a female cleaner just to keep everybody happy......
He was also rather strict with the children and my daughter was apparently told off for standing up on a stool that was in front of the mirrors when she was brushing her teeth. Another little girl was told off for drying her hair with the hand dryers.
His manner did rather upset my gf and children who referred to him from then on as Mr Grumpy Man!! As I say, I had no problems at all with him but I do think that fixing those minor issues would really help their site to improve......
Couldn't be better
I've tried other campsites but they don't compare, been here twice and will keep going back. Friendly welcome, site shop, beautiful tiered plots in gorgeous countryside, 15 min walk to lovely hope cove beach and pubs, brilliant recently renovated shower and facilities block, so much to do in locality. Love it!
Well Done!
I remember shuch a warm welcome arriving at Karrageen with my trusty little caravan, 2 young boys and our family dog. "Well done!" was the greeting as I stepped out, you see I always take my boys away when Daddy can't make it and this campsite is like home from home. Everybody respects the unspoken rules for peace, tidyness and solitude without having to be told what you can and can't do on arrival, it works. The scenery is stunning here and Salcombe is heavenly for a saunter with children licking locally made icrecream while Mummy licks her lips at the shops, as I say, heavenly :-)
Fab!
Karrageen
Karrageen
We had a great time here last bank holiday weekend.
The site is quite remote - hardly any phone signal - and very starry at night. The site is on a west facing slope towards the sea, but there are plenty of level terraces and space for games.
It is spotlessly clean and very well kept. The water all comes from a spring, and tastes delicious, so you quite understand the need to pay 20p for showers (60p for a generous 6 minutes).
There is a well stocked shop and the option of fresh bread daily is fantastic.
The site is very quiet. We had some neighbours who were rather noisy, and unlike one of the other reviewers here, we were really appreciative of Phil taking a moment to ask them to quieten down. 10pm doesn't suit everyone, but it is a small, family site and if you want noise, there are other places to go.
Hope Cove is a lovely bay and walkable - though the mile or so back is a little steep uphill. But worth it.
We will definitely be back.
Karrageen
Stayed here at the end of August and will definitely return. Pitches are huge and with plenty of space around. Loved walking on the cliffs nearby (all the way to Salcombe).Down the road is Hope which has a great beach and places to eat (wandered down there for full english on first morning). This site has a friendly, family orientated atmosphere and is peaceful and quiet, just the way I like it.
Karrageen
Karrageen
We didn't enjoy our stay here, the location is good and the pitch sizes generous but we went with friends ( 4 adults , 3 x14 year olds) and found the rule of absolute silence after 10pm difficult to live with, we were really told off ( literally) for noise at 10.30- we were only playing Monopoly & we then had our card marked for the other nights.I appreciate they want a quiet site but there is a way to talk to your customers and I think expecting everyone to be in bed at 10pm is a little unrealistic. I camp lots and have never had a problem before or been spoken to as if I was a child.Ruined our break .
Response from Karrageen
Your comments are noted and in fairness to other fellow Cool Campers we feel that a response and explanation are necessary.
One of the biggest concerns when running a camp site is ensuring that all guests enjoy their stay and feel welcome and comfortable. An important factor in this equation is the noise levels tolerated at night. After living at Karrageen for 25 years we feel that having a site rule of ‘noise to be kept to a minimum after 10.00pm, is a fair rule to all ages and denominations allowing children peace to sleep and adults enough time to enjoy their barbeques and evening soirees before (or just after, depending on the time of season) nightfall. This site rule is published in our booking conditions and signed by everyone booking either on paper or through the internet. We do monitor our site after 10.30pm and very occasionally must politely ask people to keep their noise levels down as they are disturbing others. Most of our guests, when asked to do so, are immediately apologetic and comply without question; they simply forgot the time and would never wish to disturb their neighbours deliberately.
Karrageen is advertised as a family friendly campsite and we are sorry that it was necessary to ask you to be quiet on several occasions. Our intervention was appreciated by many other guests on site at the time.
