Mid Bay Shores Maxwell/Gunter Recreation Area

Operated by Maxwell-Gunter on Eglin property. There are no manicured grounds here. Nor are there any concrete pads; or any amenities other than a bathhouse and laundry ... and kayak rentals from the campground office for $5/hour. The campground is rustic — and more than a little rundown ... doubtful it will be upgraded anytime soon. That said, we really enjoyed our stay, and Eggy was a wonderful, friendly hostess. There are plenty of shade trees; so not all sites are big-rig suitable. As well, the trees block satellite signal in some sites, but with our tripod dish, we had no problems getting the feed. There’s no wi-fi, but our Millenicom Mi-Fi (Verizon service) got a good 4G signal. There is free cable. The beach is little more than a strip of sand, and at the time of our visit, was filled with beach wrack. Campers who'd been there for a while told us the beach had been pristine just weeks before, so must be a seasonal thing. Fishermen were out all day ... some in kayaks, and some in waist deep water fishing with nets. Nice variety of bird life. Destin and the sugar-white beaches of the Gulf are just across the Mid-Bay Connector ... $3/car each way to cross, but convenient. Quite a drive to get to the commissary at Eglin.

Again, we stayed here only because it's location is excellent for what we want to do here. The park is still in a run-down condition and it doesn't look as if it will be fixed any time soon. Thee are several dead trees that if not removed will fall on someone's RV some day. There also seems to be about 8-10 sites being used by permanent residences. One positive note: The little shack with the Wifi router is closed and scheduled to be torn down. The scrap container is already in place. The manager said that a better Wifi system is scheduled to be installed and Wifi will be available inside your RV. You won't have to go to the cabin being used as a gym. They have taken out the table and if you go there you will have to put your computer in your lap. They replaced the table with more exercise equipment that no one uses. I think the managers are trying to do a good job but their hands are tied and can only do so much. But. We will probably be back.

We stayed here the month of January 2013 till the first week of Feb. We had a great time visiting Destin and the local area. We were in site 15 and all was well. They do need to put more money in the place but that was not what we where here for. We went fishing most days across the street on the beach and on the pier. The amount of fish at the pier was tremendous. We even saw porpoise swin by while fishing on the pier. We were not lookinig for the best park but one where we could see the area and feel secure. Washers and dryers are one dollar and the wifi has to be accessed at the offfice or weight room. We would stay here again on the way by.

We have stayed here in the cabins about 4 different times. I would like to say that every time we have stayed here, the staff is so friendly, the cabins are always so clean and it is close to anything you would like to do. The water was not great this time but we can't control mother nature. This was the first time for my daughter to visit with us and she was just in aww. We had a great, relaxing time and we will positively be back next year. Thanks again for allowing us to stay at your recreational area.

As usual we had an enjoyable stay here. The place is run down and looks as if very little of the money taken in is put back into the park. The shack with the WiFi router needs replacing. The patio covers need to be torn down. They are rusted so bad you can't sit under them because whatever falls on them falls on you. There is at least five trashy looking sites. One site had a travel trailer, utility trailer, boat trailer with boat, a pickup truck and an SUV. The patio was filled with very large furniture and you couldn't get another thing under the trailer. One site had 3 large BBQ grills. Several sites had refrigerators on the patio. I'll never understand why management lets these situations get into this shape. The WiFi shack is terrible. We went down to the cabin area to use that one but the table that was in there was replaced with more exercise equipment that no one uses. A note for those expecting to turn right out of the campground onto the Bay Bridge. You can't do that anymore. You have to turn left onto White Point Road and go to Highway 20 and make a right and drive about a mile to the new entrance/exit road to the bridge. With all this, we keep coming back and will come back again. It's a decent enough place for us to do our running around from.

4-9 March 2012. First time visiting Mid-Bay Shores! Really enjoyed our visit! Weather didn't exactly cooperate but we got to explore the area some and definitely read & rest. One great point: We had no idea about finding a good recommendation for a charter fishing trip and staff did not know but we found out and visited the U.S. Army Destin Recreation Area (again open to all services) which is just across the bridge; they have charter fishing boats that are dedicated to the military and you can sign up for fishing trips! Mid Bay Staff was great, helpful, pleasant and easily accessible w/ radio at gate shack. We rented a cabin (#10) and we had 7 people. This worked out great to have a full kitchen available and a charcoal grill available for each cabin. Some issues that could be considered for improvement: 1) We needed the queen-size fold-out sleeper couch in the main room; it had a horrible mattress but finally asked staff who promptly switched out mattress w/ brand new one; Staff may need to check all couches in every cabin on regular basis for condition of the mattress. Also, spings in couch when closed were broken....entire couch may need replaced. 2) The access road going to park and also the road in the park are in very bad need of repair. Dangerous to navigate when coming in to park and navigating in the park in the dark. I would think that the road from the highway to park entrance would be covered by state since it leads to the state park right next door to Mid-Bay. But, the road inside the park would be Air Force and really could use an upgrade. 3) The fishing pier: Really nice "private" pier; pier does need some attention- the railing is "fragile" and a potential safety hazard; also lights not working or not enough on the pier. 4) Signs for park entrance should be repainted each year. 5) Would be nice to have high-speed internet or even WI-FI service available throughout park as it is definitely close enough to civilization for easy hook-up; very small "rec" center was only area w/ and was constantly occupied for hours. Thanks again so much for a great area to vacation - beautiful! quiet! well cared for overall! Colonel Nancy W.

Great location and beautiful sunrises. Spots are not very well marked and difficult to maneuver into if arriving after dark. Take your time and walk the route into the spots to ensure you aren't driving under low-hanging branches and have a straight shot into your site. I turned at the wrong tree which made the approach a little harder than it should have been. This could be a premier RV park with a little effort and a few amenities. Bring what you need because there is nothing available here at all without driving out of the park area a few miles. The staff is very friendly and everything worked! We'll probably go to the Destin Army RV park next time since there is a lot more to do on the other side of the bay.

Just returned from a weekend at Mid Bay Shores. I had a blast. My entire family enjoyed the stay especially the view fo the water. The location was great. The cabin was very clean and the staff was friendly and polite. It had all the basic comforts of home. My overall experience was positive and I would highly recommend it to all of my military friends and family.

NOTE: Mid-Bay Bridge Connector has opened and access to Mid-Bay Shores from the south must now exit at Lakeshore Drive, then left to White Point Road. There is no longer access to the Mid-Bay Bridge from White Point Road. Access to Mid-Bay Shores is from White Point Road ONLY.

This is the first time we have stayed at this campground. Staff is very friendly and helpful. Our site had a great view of the water as most of them do. Dog friendly. Cable TV and onsite sewer. Even though the weather could have been better we had an enjoyable time. On New Years Eve morning the staff had a Polar Bear swim for anyone staying at the campground and/or cottages to participate and advertised it well. After the swim the staff grilled hamburgers and hot dogs, chips, drinks and desserts for anyone who was interested for free. Can't wait to go back in the spring and enjoy the beach.

We chose Mid-Bay over Eglin FamCamp, soly because Eglin didn't take reservations. I didn't want to chance no space available during the height of the "snow bird" season. We could not have been happier. Mid-Bay is one of the best facilities ever visited. RV sites are all facing the Bay with beach right in front of you. The friendly staff made our stay even more enjoyable. This is a great facility and we plan on returning again.

We have thoroughly enjoyed our stay at mid bay. For such a low cost campground, the amenities are great and the view is wonderful. We couldn't ask for a more friendly staff. We will definitely be returning and will make sure we have our fishing gear with us to use on the real nice fishing pier that is at the end of the campground. A close ride into Destin and there is a wide variety of restaurants, shopping, and entertainment. And if you enjoy a day of golf like we do, well I must say, you'll have a hard time choosing because there are so many beautiful courses in both Niceville and Destin. We played both Eglin AFB courses and Hurlburt Field AFB course and must say they were beautiful, challenging, and the greens were great. With all this combined with this wonderful campground, Our stay couldn't have been nicer.

The toll on the bridge recently went up to $3.00 for 2 axles and $3.00 for each additional axle.

We gave the amenities a 1 as there isn't anything at the campground other than the campground. We did not find this to be a problem but don't come here expecting a short walk to a PX, theater, or other such facility. It's just a nice place to camp. Definitely not one of the top rated milcamps. Sort of had a state park feeling to it. Just a campground. The road off the highway to the campground is paved but has a few holes. It keeps the speed down. Sites appear to have at least some shade and some are fully shaded. They are spaced far enough apart so you don't feel like you're too close to your neighbor. Some noise from the bridge traffic but it wasn't too bad. Restroom/bath house was always clean. Cable TV on our site was unwatchable. Picture was usually so grainy that you couldn't make out what was on TV. We eventually gave up hoping the picture would improve and went to OTA. It was not a big factor as we were not there to watch TV but it would have been nice to get reliable news. WiFi was slow but reliable. Manager was very friendly and helpful.

Nicely located park right on Choctawhatchee Bay across from Destin Florida. As noted previously, there is a toll bridge to get to Destin ($5 RT), which gets to be an expensive pain as most of the tourist attractions are in Destin. They have laundry, fitness area (small and 2 of the 3 machines were broken while we were there), and wifi at the "fitness center" location and one other. Would be an improvement if they could expand the wifi to the entire site. The rusty picnic table cover are annoying and need to be replaced. They don't keep the water off and preclude the use of RV awning. Staff at the campground were very helpful and friendly. Didn't stay in one, but the cabins looked very nice.

This is a real gem of a military RV park. They have good signage to direct you to the entrance of the park. The entrance road needs to be re-paved though, it's a bit bumpy and unlevel , be careful with your RV and tow vehicle. This place is like all the slick RV brochures, where you wake up in the morning with the sun coming up over the bay , all in your front window (in a motorhome that is, sorry fivers...) all under a canopy of moss shrouded oaks. You really can't find much to not like about this park. The bathrooms were clean, the hosts were friendly, you can get to Niceville or Destin easily, and the rates are good for daily visitors. Not sure if I would stay here monthly because there is no monthly rate. Satellite reception is tough on all the sites, you can't have mossy covered oaks and good satellite reception, so for a few days, I enjoyed the solitude.

I would definitely stay here again. The only complaint I had was the awnings installed at each RV site were rusted through, no big deal, but the way they are placed leaves you with no room to deploy your own awning if it rains. The views were beautiful, and the location was great in relation to all the things to do in the area. I did get annoyed at having to pay $2.50 every time we wanted to go to Destin and use the mid-bay bridge, but that is no fault of the campground of course. The bathrooms were nice and clean. The campground issues a security card upon check-in that is used to access the campground. Water pressure was great and the cable worked, although I had to call the front desk and have someone come out to repair it.

We just returned from a week in a cabin at Mid-Bay Shores. We loved it! The cabin was spotless, roomy, quiet & right on the water. Kitchen was fully stocked with everything we needed to cook basic meals when we didn't go to one of the countless restaurants within 5 miles of the camp. Cottages are on one side of the camp and camp sites are on the other. Beautiful spot on the bay but I would not swim in it, especially since the beautiful beaches of Destin are minutes away. There are alligators in the bay so beware. The camp has a great fishing dock and fish cleaning station with a roof to protect you from the weather. We fished everyday and caught fish and blue crabs right from the dock. There is also a boat launch right there that goes directly to the bay. The camp has some paddle boats and canoes that were very dirty and looked like they haven't been used for a while. Our only complaint was with the areas of the property that were off to the side and looked very unkept. There is an abandoned old FEMA trailer smack dab in the middle of the path to the beach. Needs to be moved and the back areas need to have the junk removed. Other than that, this is a great park. Nice, new play structure for the kids but not much else for little ones. Good WIFI but hours you can use the cabin that has the connection are very limited. You will need to clean the cabin before checkout but all the cleaning supplies are provided.

This place is kind of laid back, a little woodsy/rustic...and we found it a good place to relax. Although not paved the sites are large and most have a beautiful view of the Choctawhatchee Bay. They have covered picnic tables on a concrete slab. We have a Porta-bote and it works great here...if it's windy we just stay in Lake Pippen which is protected and calm. The CG has a boat launch w/dock for fishing. The restrooms are good and kept clean. They have two places you can get on the internet with plans for park-wide Wi-Fi in the future. Eglin AFB is about a half hour drive away so if you need groceries Niceville is more convenient. If you like to golf I hear Eglin has a top notch course and there are lots of others around. This CG has been around a while and some of the facilities are showing their age...but we're enjoying our stay and we'd surely come back again.

Just want to let everyone know is a nice place been stopping by there for the last 3 winters going from the north to south. However think have used it the last time as now no monthly rates, was $300 a month now will cost $560 a month as only have daily rates of $18 during the winter. Are there any retired military who can afford to pay this. Cannot understand how Maxwell AFB come up with this new rate.