We’ve just come back from a quick stay at the Haven Seaview site, our second holiday this year.
Seaview is next to their Weymouth Bay site in Dorset, and it’s where we spent just under 48 hours this weekend just gone. This was a break, a short break. A very short break indeed. H was unwell so we left a day late, and H was again unwell so we left a day early – so we only stayed the one night. This was enough to get a feel of Seaview, I liked it, and would go back.
We had a caravan for six people – a Deluxe and while it was snug, it was the right size for us all – one double bedroom and two singles, plus an extra toilet (so two in total). We were close to the main reception and entertainment area, the Spar was basic but had everything we needed.
We arrived and headed straight to the beach, which is a 15-20 minute walk, crossing through another holiday complex. This area has a restaurant, shop (with buckets and spades) and toilets, the beach itself is good, plenty of sand (and stones) for tricky sandcastles, plus you get views of Weymouth right around to Portland Bill and out to the sea. We had a glorious sunny day and spent a good few hours there building, H had her first swim (of sorts) in the sea and had a brilliant time.
We headed back and tried the Seaview indoor pool. It has a depth of 1.2 metres apart from a smaller sectioned off area (which is also nice and warm unlike the rest of the pool – you warm up by swimming!), and had a good swim around for an hour or so. There’s a water slide to the side of the pool that H’s friend loved, but H was too scared to try it out and you can’t accompany your child to the top. We were going to try the outdoor pool which has a shallower and a deeper end but missed it due to illness.
Food wise, there was the standard Mash & Barrel food, we were happy with our choice, and it was identical to the food at Devon Cliffs so we knew what we were getting.
Our evening’s entertainment was provided by the Funstars Go Live gang who were excellent – we missed the toddler disco but got there in time for pretty much an evening’s worth of things to do, H and her friend M got into it and had a great time until they were too tired to continue. I probably enjoyed the Rock & Roll Bingo too much and had a few too many beers including the point we bossed Shaun onto the stage when our kids had to find things beginning with B (blue t-shirt with Buzz Lightyear on), our night finished with the Queen and Elvis tribute band King Meets Queen – we left as ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ started, it was way past bedtime for the 4 year olds.
The plan for the following day was a trip to Corfe Castle. Our two cars set off, and Shaun and I got there uneventfully, however parking there is impossible; this is why they offer a Park and Ride service – worth bearing in mind. We saw Corfe Castle, as in we drove past but then received a call H had been sick, so headed back to find them and pick her up.
So, back to Seaview… where Shaun used their laundry facilites – the clothes and car seat cover were clean and dry within an hour or two and the service was reasonably priced. The Spar had an antibacterial spray which got rid of the smell of vomit from their car, and I was pleased to see they had plain rice cakes in there to keep H from feeling too hungry and being sick again.
We decided that really we should head home that night – we’d have better traffic than going the following day, and she’d have a night in her own bed. We were home by 10pm. Sadface.
Seaview is a small site which backs onto another Haven site, Weymouth Bay which is much bigger and where all the activities are (archery, fencing, football etc) you can use both sites. Overall, I found the entertainment much more fun than previous times and liked being so close to everything within the site. The soft play area was small but fine for our 4 year olds needs. The photo opportunities with characters were still there but it felt less pressured.
Our break cost us around £350 – and split between the two families works out around £175 – we were pleased with this as it’s roughly £60 a night – and you have your own space. The size of the caravan meant the girls shared a room (which they loved) and we all had enough space to move around. The extra toilet was also a good thing! The shower was a little wider than previous caravans we’d stayed in which was great as it meant I could go in there with H (she decided she didn’t like showers this week). There were plenty of cupboards and hooks too for storage.
In summary, if you’re thinking about a break around Weymouth, we found Seaview to be excellent – our caravan had a few loose fittings here and there but it didn’t actually spoil anything, we were just careful to make sure windows were properly shut, that kind of thing. The staff were all friendly, and it felt much more like a smaller site than Devon Cliffs which is huge and has security and people checking passes all the time. We’re now pondering whether to switch our planned half term break back to this area to do the things we’d hoped to!
One really good thing about the carpets being damp after cleaning was the warm weather – most surfaces were dry enough to walk on after 2-3 hours. There was even enough of the cleaner to clean our old armchair – something which has been needed for a long time (gulp, seven years?) as the stains on the arm rests were driving us mad. Add to that the car which again was long overdue a clean, and all of a sudden I could breathe again!
The car was cleaned within an hour, and after three years of making do with the odd vacuum the car does look fresher than before. How long it will last is another matter…
