The Colonies RV & Travel Park

The only reason I would stay again is because it is local and convenient. Spacing between site is not bad, but the are very few amenities for the price, don't offer winter discounts. Summer would be more ideal since there is a beach nearby and small brewery. Needs more trees for a little privacy. I would rate it higher if the cost was not so high. There are nicer campgrounds at 1/2 the cost to be found. No dog park but pet friendly. A little run down, needs some updating but I think they are working on that.

Would have given 5 stars except for the price. This should be a $45 park. It is very clean and the spaces are large and not right on top of each other. All are back in spaces, but easy in and easy out. The park is right across from the beach, easy walking. Had good satellite service in our space, but there are some trees that might not have good access. There is a wonderful museum right down the road. No dog park but pet friendly. Staff is very friendly and helpful. Overall we loved this park. We had a beautiful view of the bay from our sight. We stayed 5 nights, but would love to come back and stay longer. Good shopping about 15 minutes away.

We lived close by and bought a fifth wheel for full time living. We were thankful to come across The Colonies at Fort Monroe. We have been to Fort Monroe beach for years and didn't realize the RV park was there. We started out in Feb. in the New France section which doesn't have sewer hookups but they have loaner dump tote and golf cart for us to use. That was convenient but we were super thankful when a full hook up site came available in March with a beautiful view. We were in the New York site for March-May 8. With the winter rate it was only $25 a day. We had a family easter egg hunt there and it was plenty of space for the kids to run around and play and we used the horse shoe pit. I loved waking up and walking across the street to watch the sunrise over the Chesapeake Bay and the sunsets from my RV over Mill Creek were amazing. Due to Covid the play grounds were closed but we walked to the beach and road our bikes through historic Fort Monroe many times. The campground itself doesn't have amenities but with the beach and historic landmarks there was plenty of beauty to enjoy when it wasn't to cold. My only complaint is the amount of wind but that should be expected on a waterfront park with water on 2 sides. We will be back again since Hampton Roads is home base for my husband and me. The staff is great. The community clubhouse is great stocked with books, board games, etc. And we had my grand daughter's 6th birthday party there with the full kitchen and supplies it was a breeze.

Going to start out with the bad here.
1. Watch your reservations and make sure you confirm them!! My wife made a reservation for a full hook up site in February of 2022. May 2nd of 2022 she got an email that “looked like” a confirmation of her reservation. (more on this later). First week of June (one week before going from Iowa to Virginia) she called to make sure all was ok. When she did so. She was informed her reservation was canceled! She of course was upset as we had this reservation for a wedding that we were attending. She was told about the email sent on May 2nd that she supposedly canceled. When looking at this email you had to scroll 4 pages down to find the fact they had canceled! Now. In no way shape or form did she cancel. So my wife became insistent that we get our spot back, this was their mistake they need to make it right. In their defense they tried. At first they said we have a 30 amp spot for us (50 amp rig naturally) that we can have. Since we needed the spot we then took it.
2. The Spot- This was spot 4 in the New France Area/overflow. This spot I would call where they would have the help stay honestly.
3. The Water - the site has a make shift water line laid above ground that goes to the other 4 or 5 spots. There is barely any pressure at all. You can tell when other campers are using water because it just trickles out of whatever you are using. So make sure you just use it to fill your onboard tank and use your water pump. Otherwise water was clean or seemed to be
4. The Power- Big issue here. We have Hughes Power Surge. As soon as we hooked up to the 30 amp. We noticed there was a problem. Us and our neighbor couldn’t plug in at the same time because the plugs WERE TOO CLOSE TOGETHER! I fixed it with some elbow grease but holy cow.
We do indeed have 3 air conditioners but not stupid enough to try and run all 30amp. BUT we do have soft starts on them and they are all 13500 BTU and not 15000. This has allowed us across the country to run two AC and our electric water heater 30 amp. Almost immediately power went out. So I shut off one AC. Then it blew again. So switched water heater to gas. This seemed to work. But (if I can load this picture) you will see I was no where near 30 amps with 2 AC and the water heater running. Then I noticed the issue. If you look at Line 2 this says volts 104. This is not good. My PowerWatchdog shuts everything down if below 104 or above 132 as this is dangerous for every electrical thing in your camper. The power after a while seemed to always hover from 104 to 107. Next day 50 amp rig next to us (50amp and 30amp in same pedestal which not unusual these just happened to be tiny) so my wife went up and told them in no uncertain terms that we are switching to 50amp immediately. Which we did. SAME PROBLEM. Low Voltage on Line 2. This went on for a long time. We were only really able to run one AC at a time and didn’t dare run anything else like electric water heater or our air fryer.
So beware of this. Low voltage will ruin an AC very quickly. If you don’t have something like what we have. Get one. It will save you some heart ache.
5. Safety- although we felt very safe. This was because there was police and rangers everywhere! Apparently there was a shooting the Sunday before at the beach. This was told to us by the campground staff anyway. Again. Very safe. Just watch your self there.
6. Getting there- these are tiny roads for the most part getting in and out. So be careful in larger rigs. We have a 38’ and not sure I would want much longer but it would be doable.
The Good

7. Location- outstanding for what we needed to do and for things to do. The Deadrise was and excellent seafood restaurant. Completely recommend it. The Phoebus area is a lot of fun as well.
8. Campground hosts- they were so kind and so nice. Truly saved the trip for us.
I know this is long winded. But wanted to put the warning out there for you folks. I am also emailing the park about the power and water issue. (Even though I told them and they are aware) I want it in writing. They need to do a major electrical upgrade there at the very least.
PS. 5G Verizon is blazing fast there. Super awesome internet.

We called last minute and were told there was no sewer but there was water and electric. Arrived late in the evening and could not find the brick building but the nice lady sent someone to help us. Really nice service and beautiful view off the pier!

The Colonies offers 13 full hookup spots named for the 13 original colonies and then there are about eight or ten additional electric/water spots in the “New France” area. Both areas have good views, but it’s nicer to be in the main area with the full hookups. The staff are friendly and very helpful, and from the park you can walk to the beach or hop in your car to explore the rest of Fort Monroe.

Had a fantastic stay here with my family. Stayed in the New France location which was perfect for us only needing water and electric. Tons of space to back the trailer onto level ground.

Owner and camp hosts are very nice and knowledgeable about the area. Only single shower for men and women so may need to be a little patient. They are very clean and water is hot with good pressure.

Camp area is beautiful and surrounded by the water. Open areas to fish or crab. Camp site was respectful of quiet hours and was quiet throughout the day.