St. Johns Marina & Resort

This campground has recently been branded as a KOA. It appears to have started as a marina with a gravel lot for boat storage and RVs. Over the past couple of years they have added full hookups and are now a full service campground. For the price, this place was a major disappointment, basically a marina with some RV parking. Finding a place in Florida in February is difficult and the $65 per night price tag for a back-in site is not unexpected. But we expected more from the campground.

The roads are paved. However, the permanent residents are allowed to park on the road, which makes it difficult for big rigs to get into their sites. Signage is scarce for your arrival. You are supposed to take the left fork when you approach the office. Be careful of the check-in time. It's not stated on their website or mailings. I emailed and asked and was told 1:00. I would double check if you want to arrive early. Rumor has it they charge $15 for early arrivals.

The sites are gravel and can be pull thrus or back-ins. Some are surrounded by grass, some are basically in a gravel parking lot. Some sites are riverside, but those are few. Our site was a gravel back in, surrounded by soggy land with grass (soggy enough our site had a buried nest of eggs on that a critter dug up one night to our surprise). The site just fit our 40' RV. We had to park our car on the grass.

The placement of the hookups is random. For some sites, you walk out your door and your neighbor's sewer hose greets you. We didn't bother hooking up our sewer hose because it would have taken two hoses. We'll wait till our next stop to dump.

There are a good number of permanent residents in the area bordering the woods where we ended up. Nothing puts me off a campground more than having to start at my neighbor's junk strewn about their campsite. In addition, some residents don't feel the need to pick up after their dogs.

There is one bathroom for the campground. The laundry room has only three washers and three dryers ($2 each). The day I tried to do laundry I would have been third in line. I went into town instead (I highly recommend Southside Coin Laundry).

Picnic table are scarce. All the permanent sites and long term residents seem to have them. We requested one and was told they would try, but were short of maintenance personnel. We did spot some picnic table kits in the maintenance area. I guess they couldn't be bothered to put them together.

There were a few good things. There is a combination grill and roof top bar next to the campground office. We enjoyed sitting on the roof on a sunny afternoon. The campground WiFi is decent. You won't be streaming Netflix (and shouldn't), but is fine for email and causal web surfing. Verizon was 2 bars which I boosted to 3 bars with my MiMo antenna on my Jetback. Over the air TV is plentiful. The Blue Heron Boat Tour which leaves from the adjoining marina was enjoyable. Garbage was picked up from your site daily.

This place has potential. But to us, there were too many short comings for the price. They have the KOA name, now they need to live up to the KOA standard. We won't be back unless major improvements happen.

Stayed here for Father’s Day weekend in a Class C. Lovely amenities and social distancing in place. Pool is open, parties remain 6 feet apart. Children are all respectful of this distancing. Restrooms facilities are clean with showers. Social distancing encouraged and observed here as well.

Park is currently open to FL residents only! Masks required in the little store and check in area. Mask not required while dining at the St. John’s River Grille.

Majority of sites are gravel and fairly level. We used leveling blocks for practice, could have likely lived without. Weather has been stunning, there is not too much shade here but this is no concern to us.

We are at site T4 right on the water in a back in space with full hookups. There is a place to drop in a small kayak or paddle board here. Big boats can drop in at the main marina (there is a gate separating this from the main RV area). Boats observe no wake throughout the whole RV property. Our site is very close to the waters edge and we did see gators and snakes (small, mostly harmless but good to note). No real issues with bugs. Some hornets, but it’s the season.

We are very pleased with our stay here and will return. We believe this facility is safe for those practicing social distancing, but still very fun. We have enjoyed our trip!

If your visiting the Deland area for a few days this isn't a bad option. Sites are close together but fairly level. No trees to speak of so maneuvering a big coach is easy but it's very hot in the summer. Price was a bit steep for what it is. An excellent restaurant on promises as well as a river tour company. Campground is in a good size marina so if your bring a boat you can launch right near your campsite.

Overall a quiet campground, nice being by river. Good fishing and we saw manatees, turtles, a gator, many large birds. Pool was nice and well kept.

Spots are quite close in most areas. We were on back row against the woods/swamp at F31. Our “front” was larger than many as the site was somewhat wedged shaped, narrow in front then widened. But back side neighbors uncomfortably close. Sites that are “water front” are not in a secure area as they are essentially on a strip between the entrance and exit road to the registration office, the marina, boat rentals, and restaurant/ bar. A lot of traffic in and out. The rest of the sites are at least accessed through a keycard gate.

Overall “ok” as close to Deland downtown and Daytona or if you have a boat. But overpriced for what is offered.