McKinley's Marina & RV Park

There are two RV camping areas in this marina. We stayed in the dry camping area and were alone there most of the week. The campsites are on grass which is very pretty, but could become a problem with heavy rain. We only had light rain and were fine.

Alsea Bay is designated as an "Important Bird Area" by the Audubon Society. We saw belted kingfisher, great blue heron, mallard ducks, and osprey from our campsite.

On the other side of the campground there are full hookup sites with concrete pads, more crowded and less scenic. The campground is impeccably clean, as are the coin-operated showers.

The town of Waldport is a pretty small town, but there is a larger town, Newport less than 30 minutes north of the marina. Check out our blog post right here on Campendium for more information about the area.

Good: concrete spots nice and level. WiFi good, cell good, satellite good, and cable. Town is small but has a grocery store and few restaurants otherwise we drove 20 minutes to Newport.

Negative: we arrived early and were not welcomed at all but told, “ if you read our website then you’d know check in is at 12:30”. Told us to come back then and didn’t even offer for us to park in unused dry camping area and wait. We drove throughout this small town looking for a place to park and wait and all we could find was a place near softball field. In over 15 months of traveling the country and over 100 parks we were never told to come back. Best yet our spot was empty anyway. Husband got scolded for washing off bugs on front of trailer, only can do that if we live here. We’re scolded about getting our dogs quickly to gravel dog area so he could not pee on bushes on the way. Slide outs aren’t allowed to hang over area between spots and vehicles must park along side not to front or rear of trailer even though there is plenty of room.

The dry camping sites are located right on the bay where you can swim at high tide and sit and enjoy the sea life (seals & otters) and staggering amount of birds in the area the rest of the day and night. We were constantly impressed by the stunning beauty that surrounds this place. Sites are small, but we stayed on mostly weeknights and generally had open sites on either side of us until the weekend when it got packed. We work remotely and could rely on a combination of the campsite WiFi (fair speed) and the nearby at&t tower (super fast) for all of our needs. If you need to rely on the wifi, try to get a low numbered site as those are closer to the store where the signal comes from I'd guess. There are port-a-potties in the dry camp area as well as a full service bathroom with coin operated hot shower (25 cents per minute) that remains open 24 hours per day. There are coin op laundry machines on site, too. The marina store is small and just sells basics like water, firewood, and ice and it closes at 5pm most days, but Ray's food place grocery store is just a half mile walk down the road. The marina does rent boats and crabbing gear as well, so we tried that out for the first time and caught a ton of dungenous crabs that have been feeding us for several days now. Overall, super great spot, though I much preferred it from Sunday through Friday before the crowds arrived.

This is near the water and our spot had a good view. The park is almost all cement underfoot. There were perhaps 25% full timers, but well capped and not a concern. They are also boat launch and dock Marina, and have crab pots to cook your grab that you catch. Nothing fancy but clean basic and quiet. We liked it and would use it again.

The full hookup side was completely full so we stayed on the dry camping side. It's grass parking that includes a bench and fire pit. Half of the dry camping sites are right along the water. It's far enough away that you don't hear any traffic on 101 but the Fire Dept has a station nearby so you will hear them if they leave for a call. It's a super popular spot for crabbing and they even rent boats/pots for you to go crab in. They have a camp store, flush toilets, coin operated showers, and a coin operated laundry facility. The camp hosts were very nice and kept the bathrooms clean all day long. They also sell propane and ice on site. If you're dry camping and need to dump/refill water it's $5 and any of the available pull through sites. There are a few long term residents here but I can't blame them, the weather was fantastic.

It's a concrete jungle. Sterile, cement slabs packed together. The dry camping side isn't much better. With rvs side by side and no screening, it makes for a worse case scenario for an rv park. I now know the intimate backgrounds of neighbors without even speaking with them and now know there are people who travel with dogs that definitely shouldn't. This is a glorified parking lot. However, the price is right and all the amenities work. You can rent a crab boat for the best price in town. But, why bother staying here for a boat rental? Also, what's up with the high end rigs and their belly lights? Leaving on the lights at night adds nothing to anyone's night!

It's a concrete jungle. Sterile, cement slabs packed together. The dry camping side isn't much better. With rvs side by side and no screening, it makes for a worse case scenario for an rv park. I now know the intimate backgrounds of neighbors without even speaking with them and now know there are people who travel with dogs that definitely shouldn't. This is a glorified parking lot. However, the price is right and all the amenities work. You can rent a crab boat for the best price in town. But, why bother staying here for a boat rental? Also, what's up with the high end rigs and their belly lights? Leaving on the lights at night adds nothing to anyone's night!

The campground hosts were so kind and accommodating. I stayed in the dry camping area for a week while I worked remotely. Starlink worked great as there were no obstructions. While it was quite busy on the weekend, the weekdays were quiet and there were plenty of open spots. Everything was clean and well cared for. Walking distance to groceries, hardware store, food. Minutes from many beeches. And did I mention you can rent crab boats, rings and bait? They will even cook your crab for you! I’ll defiantly be back!

Called and spoke to the nicest lady a day prior to arriving, asking if they had availability and if we needed to make a reservation. Nicest lady said, "nope, just show up and pick a spot!", then proceeded to tell us about the wonderful places nearby within walking distance, etc. Show up the following day and her alter-ego / interpersonal nemesis was working the front desk. Struggled to even be the least bit polite and was basically a curmudgeon, at one point calling the nicest lady "lazy" for telling us to just show up and pick a spot. Several open spots available and she stuck us right next to someone else so the privacy factor was reduced by 89.94%.

Interestingly, No Frowns Allowed!" is the first rule listed on the rules and regulations page.

Sites are level side to side, but the power / water pedestals are up near the front so if you have a travel trailer, you have to park forward a bit and unhitch just so your power cord can reach. However, there were 3 separate sewer drops spaced several feet apart along the service side, all level with the ground not sticking up above the ground so that was nice. 50AMP power didn't throw any codes on the PW EPO. Water pressure was high but we always use a pressure regulator, so no issue.

Beautiful area right along the Alsea River which is one of the most beautiful rivers on the Oregon Coast.

Given the personality issue and the general lack of emotional hospitality, we'll stay somewhere else in the future if we're ever in the area.