Fort Fisher Air Force Recreation Area

We called on a whim to see if they had any space over this weekend. The did have overflow available. We loved it in overflow. It was quiet and we were very close to the beach at the camping area. My only disappointment is that they don't have a "legal" dog accessible beach area. We had a great time there and I'm sure we will be back in the future since it is fairly close (less than 3 hour drive) from where we live.

I've used all the facilities of this campground over the years and have nothing but high praise for them. The cottages have always been neat and clean with comfortable "BIG" beds. The RV sites are clean, spacious and near the bathhouse. The tent sites (neat and well maintained) are near the beach, bathhouse, snack bar (open summer season only) and boat ramp. The staff has gone out of the way to make my stays worry free. Late arrival - no problem - info packet is placed where you can easily find it. Once they had no room in the RV Sites and they allowed us to set up the RV by the Entertainment Stage after the music was over. Now that's service. If you're a history buff then Fort Fisher and the museum is just down the road; into aquatic life - ditto the Maritime Museum. And the USS NORTH CAROLINA is just up the road in Wilmington. And there are plenty of quality food establishments in the area. Highly recommend Granny's for breakfast.

This small campground would be the place to be during the summer beach season (if you can get a reservation). A short 300 yard walk to the beach with easy access provided by two walkways across the dunes. Showers are located at the edge of the base to rinse off the sand and salt before returning to your RV. The campground appears to be a mobile home park that has been converted to a campground which also has several modular homes that serve as beach cottages. The sites are not close together and each has a concrete pad and driveway. The water and electric utilities are on the wrong side but this can be overcome by running your hose and power cord under your RV. In some sites the sewer connection is also on the wrong side. If you have a motorhome, you could drive in (not back in) and eliminate these problems. There is a bathhouse and laundry. The showers are located in individual rooms with sink and toilet, providing maximum privacy. The $25 daily rate would be appropriate for the summer season but, in my opinion, is too high for other parts of the year. Fort Fisher is located near the end of the highway and, except for the typical beach shops and restaurants, there isn’t much down here. The aquarium and Fort Fisher are nearby. The nearest Wal-Mart is 12 miles back toward Wilmington. Visit Jack Mackerel’s restaurant for some great seafood. During our visit, they were offering 40% off on Wednesdays, a real bargain.

A.C. left this review using the Directory software: - Campground is currently undergoing installation of new water pipes and the sites are hard to access at times to say nothing of the mess. Additionally the bathouse is being redone and as a consequence only one shower/toilet facilities are available for the entire campground. The laundry facilities are also undergoing refurbishment so no washers or dryers are non existent at this time. We have managed but it would be nice if we were told this before we made the reservations here. Also the rates are not as advertised on the website (Fort Fishers or the Campground Directory). They should update the info. Not sure when the construction work will be done.

This is a great place to stay. Improvements are underway, such as new water systems and new housing after this season. This is a family oriented area. Our grand kids didn't want to leave. Recreation hall caters to all with lots of planned activities. Within walking distance to the beach. Positives outweigh the negatives. We've made this our go-to place to camp. Staff are exceptional.

This was my first stay at Fort Fisher and I was really impressed! I stayed in the RV area. All concrete pads, reliable electric, clean bathhouse, and pretty well maintained, considering the campground was full the whole week I was here. I had 4 of my grandchildren with me for the week and they loved it. Plenty of things for them to do, both on and off base, and the youngest ones made a bunch of friends at the other campers. I had to count the kids at the end of the day to make sure they weren't sneaking in any extras...LOL There were some negatives though. All the water lines on base are being replaced, and there's a lot of digging going on. The replacement is completed in the RV campground, but is ongoing around the rest of the base. We were informed by the staff that this was going on, and that there might be short times where the water was cut off to allow the work to proceed. We didn't have any water outages in the RV campground while we were there, but they were working mainly at the front of the base where the rental units are. Speaking of which, I see by the reviews before mine that there were several people who were upset about the conditions of the units. While I can certainly understand that, considering the age of the units (World War II era housing), if anybody reads the reviews of Fort Fisher on this website it shouldn't be a surprise that the units are substandard. It's been reported for the last couple of years that they will be torn down after the season this year, and obviously nothing was being improved on them.

The Commander of Air Force MWR should be fired now! This place is a complete wreck. It appears not one single MWR dime has been re-invested back into this facility. We stayed in one of the mobile homes which is over priced for what you get. You can rent an ocean fron condo for the cost of a mobile home. The water was cut off twice during or stay, no notification, construction vehicles everywhere, cable cut off twice during or stay for a day and 1/2. Everyone we spoke to from campers to those staying in the dumps up front were so mad. I think it is very deceptive for them to take your money and not be up front about how the condition of this place is so poor and you may want to look somewhere else to stay. I agree with the other person's post, It is a shame the Airforce has allowed this place to become a complete dump. I will never go back to this facility. I have traveled to many of the MWR Facilities and this is the worse one I have ever seen. What a disgrace to the Military and their families.

We rented one of the cabins up front that sleep 12 - first of all, the employees, (reservations desk) should inform everyone that the cabins are scheduled to be demolished in 2013 and are in very poor condition. The cabins need to be demolished immediately. The carpeting is nasty, the living room furniture was dirty and torn, the walls and trim molding are battered and unpainted, the washing machine bangs loudly while using it, the refrigerator doors did not have bars on it to hold milk jugs, two burners on the stove did not work, the pots and pans were battered and several had loose handles. This is a disgrace that they would even make these units available to our active and retired military personnel. Anyway we stayed there one night; got up the next morning and requested to be moved to a mobile home which was much better. The snack bar staff was great! However, the snack bar closed at 2pm during the week and was only open late on Friday and Saturday nights.

We were meeting family on their beach vacation and this was a perfect location. Proximity to beach was good enough. We would return if we wanted a beaching site.

Check in was easy but there are no signs until you are well past the main entrance. All of the connections are on the wrong side for hookup but with my TREK I was able to drive straight in and hook up on a level concrete pad. They have the best cable TV of any place that we have been to. Electric was up to 50 AMPs. There is no WIFI in the campgrounds but we were able to get it in the RV overflow which has 20 amps and water and it overlooks the river. There is the state aquarium and the Civil War museum to visit. None of the nice attractions on the station are open until Memorial weekend. The laundry room and bathrooms were first class. Nice place to plan for an extended stay.

This place is in a great location and we love to go here,but over this Easter week it was a complete disaster. We stayed in the overflow section and the bathrooms that we normally use at the tent area were closed. The one bathroom that was open met with disaster when it overflowed. Fortunately we knew about the rec center bath and showers but most people didn't.I sure hope they get things in order because its such a shame a facility with so much potential has so many problems. The people at the reception center are so nice, I kind of feel for them.We want to go back this summer,but:

I have been coming here for 5 years and I come 2 or 3 times a year. This has been such a poor experience. The dryer in house did not work,paint falling off the ceiling in the houses,tubs fill with water when taking a shower.not to mention they painted the tub and the paint is chipped every where. Then to top it off they are raising the prices for E5 and up.why? I'm retired the price of a house for a week is half of my retirement pay. They are making no money because nothing is open. How can you change from winter to spring prices and have nothing open
I have run business for along time and this is the worst I have seen. If you are going to rent houses and trailers open the rec center and the restaurant. I would eat there before going to town.please tell me why the prices are going up when you offer nothing. The store sells nothing you need ( bread ketchup,mustard and so on.this is where they can make money instead of raising the prices.this hurts the retired community. Also you can only rent for a week at a time well that's nice if you don't have to work for a living.i used to come here for 3 day weekends but can't do that any more.this will be my last trip here until they learn how to run a business.

We have used this facility for years. It is a shame that is has been allowed to fall into such disrepair. In the last two years they have managed to paint two of the front cottages and the latest color is just a garish pink/mauve color. The painting would be helped if they actually repaired any of the siding on the buildings. Millions of dollars worth of property and it looks like a very poor facility. The latest trip we were in the dorm type rooms, which we realized they share a bathroom. The building we were in Hercules, every toilet flush sounded as if it were in your room. There is no sound barrier, every fart, every sound the other room made..we heard it all, the 2:30 am bathroom trips were quiet a rude awakening. The tent area is also something we used this trip, the bathrooms are closed now because the floor is damaged. No toilets or showers in the tent area, the washer, the pier, the cleaning sink nothing had water. Thank God we had the room, because the rec room was also closed..no idea where we should have taken showers. The cleaning crew do not replace your towels, you have to leave the beach to do that for two hours at some building..what are you paying for? Not really sure. The general area does not have wi-fi (cottages, trailers etc.), nor phones..the TV in the room was blurry not sure if it was the cable or the TV itself. Because we were in the room we did have Wi-fi...but it was wired. The laundry in the RV area was quite rude, the floor there is also starting to fall through..the people in the area removed my clothing and threw them on a mosquito ridden table..nice huh? Could not wait the five minutes it would have taken me to get back from across the compound. Perhaps if they put the money they are taking in from those cottages and trailers..around 4000 a month in the summer and actually cleaned them up, changed the filters in the air conditioning, repaired the siding, the walls inside and hired people to work around the clock instead of shutting everything down at 5 pm it would or could be a great place. In the last 14 years more and more have the activities around the place have been closed or torn down..it's a true shame..it could be a beautiful place...check around in Carolina or Kure beach..you may be able to find a better value..unless you are an RV camper they are not catering to you!

Overall, this is a nice place. There isn't any security. Anybody can come in the campground. Anyone can go fishing on the pier. Anyone can use the restrooms or showers unless a camper steps up and says no. There are a lot of house trailers here. They are working to improve them.
I found some of the hook-ups for RV's are quite odd in some sites. Water on wrong side, electric or cable far away. It's just weird. But it is close to the beach if you like the beach. There are some very reasonable golf courses near which is a plus to me. The staff was very helpful and sincere in wanting to provide a nice experience. That's a great plus!!!! Sunsets on the Cape Fear River were wonderful!!

Great location. Facilities are nice with pool, snack bar, etc. Nice pier on river side for fishing. Have to go across the highway and thru beach houses (only at public entrance areas) to get to the beach. Campsites are nice but a little tricky. Sites were originally a mobile home park and the homes faced each other - therefore, on some sites, to get the use of the patio you have to park your RV backwards which may put hookups on other side. However, overall a very nice facility and we definitely will return. Cabins are old base housing and according to the staff are scheduled to be torn down at the end of next season and new ones built. Staff was very nice and helpful.

E.R.E. left this review using the Directory software: - Nice Campground. Take the ferry to Oak Island.

This is our second time we have stayed at Fort Fisher, the staff is very nice and helpful. If there is anything to complain about it would be the condition of some of the RV parking spaces. We have a 39ft. Motorhome and the concrete pads are narrow with a bump out for a patio. We could not use as designed because there was a deep hole where my front right wheel would sit so we had to straddle with two wheels on concrete and two on ground. The bathhouse is clean and air conditioned. The Beach house Grill is only open on the weekends and had Karoke on Saturday night. Fort Fisher also hosts concerts once a month. There is a sizable herd of whitetail deer that we enjoyed watching. We plan to stay again next year. We heard that the cottages currently for rent are going to be torn down and new ones build in the near future. Great place to go!

Had to stay in overflow, had electric and water. It is farther to the beach than I thought it would be from the web site. Beach is public, People running the camp store are nice but don't know how to manage the computer for the camping sites. Over priced for what is there, we moved to (Onslow Beach Campsites and Recreation Area) much nicer and a better value for the money with private military beach. Used the ferry from Southport to get there.

One of the greatest locations. Staff are exceptional. We stayed in overflow over the 4th but still no complaints. Like other places it seems cuts in MWR funds affects the quality.

L.A. left this review using the Directory software: April is still the winter season so the recreation facilities and restaurant were closed. The restaurant did open for a few hours on Easter weekend. We stayed in lot 26 next to the dump station. The camp overall is clean and comfortable but the restroom/shower facilities are getting very run down. It is obvious that MWR isn't putting any money into maintenance or improvements. As mentioned in other reviews, depending on the assigned camp site, it can be a long way to the hookups. We arrived about 6PM and found we had to make a quick trip to WalMart (almost 20 miles one-way) to get water hose and an extension cord. Water and electric hookups are nearly 75 feet from trailer site 26. Sewer is about 20 feed. The office crew was friendly and helpful but don't be surprised if you have to move your camper at least once during your stay. It seems they find it easier to juggle campers around the sites rather than juggle the calender to slot campers according to length of stay. I know this sounds negative, but in spite of the shortcomings, we really enjoyed our stay at Fort Fisher and will most likely visit again.