Solomons Island Navy Recreation Area

This is a great military campground. The whole installation is just recreation. Plenty of amenities: pools with slides, beaches, boat rentals, fishing, playgrounds, mini golf, camp store. They also have scheduled activities (tie dye, hayrides, ice cream social, bingo, etc). I stayed on a partial hookup site. Originally my site didn’t have power but they had someone out to fix it same day and we were up and running.

As a retired military veteran, I was mistaken in thinking that camping on a Navy Recreation MWR site would have its advantages. At $47/night we were disappointed. I'm certain that years ago the Solomons Island Navy Rec Center was a showcase for everything the military had to offer for its active duty and retirees. Sadly, those days appear to be long gone! While there are still numerous amenities offered, the only ones on this base that seemed to shine were the three swimming pools, staffed by sufficient number of lifeguards. Other than that, everything was tired and run-down. Our campsite looked like it hadn't been touched in years, with trees hanging very low over the pothole-strewn roads. Our motorhome's height is 11 feet and we scraped branches throughout the entire B section. Originally, we were assigned to a site (B21) that was flagged for maintenance and not supposed to be used at all. After about 30 minutes in the office we were fortunate enough to find an alternate, available site. Yes, the sites were advertised as "unpaved," but there's no reason why an occasional load of dirt couldn't be added to cover up the multitude of large roots sticking out of the ground, creating trip-and-fall hazards all throughout our campsite. My mother-in-law was unable to utilize the bathhouse, as it wasn't even close to being ADA-compliant. I realize MWR facilities are especially prone to budget cuts and low prioritization, but it's still sad to see how Solomons Island MWR has slowly declined into such poor condition. With a little TLC, and funding, this place could once again be the showcase of the East Coast.