Mid Bay Shores Maxwell/Gunter Recreation Area

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.

I was expecting more from all the comments we read about the place. Although we really had no complaints, I just didn't think it was all that fabulous compared to other places we've been. I didn't think the hosts were all that friendly but one thing I WILL say about them is that they are always working about the campground, checking up on things and cleaning, etc. The traffic noise from the bridge took some getting used to. We're just glad the weather was cool and we had our windows closed most of the time. With windows opened, it would have been annoying. The bay beach area had a lot of washed up grassy stuff and seemed to be a little smelly and there aren't very good walkways down to the beach - it's pretty steep going up and down. In the CABIN area, there are several groups of wooden stairs going to beach, so I don't know why they couldn't do that in the RV area. Eglin AFB is about a 15 min drive and we went to commissary and BX mall, which is nice. The base library allows a TWO book checkout with library card for non-locals (two books PER sponsor family) and they have a HUGE DVD section, so that's all we got while we were there. The BEST shopping and restaurants are over the toll bridge, so that will cost you $5 for a round trip. I think there are 4 washers and 4 dryers at $1 each at the laundry house. They have DVDs at the office and you can check out two a day for free. They give you a list to look at because the tapes are behind the counter. There were several days while we were there that there were loud explosions that rocked our trailer. We were told that it was demolition of old ammunition and that it happens OFTEN. After we knew what it was, it was OK, but it was alarming at first.

Once we parked under the oaks dripping with Spanish moss, just 20 yds from the water, we wondered why we should press on further East. The RV park is beautiful, well laid out and in a perfect location. Spot 14 was level and it looked like others had been recently graded. Didn't see any that looked unlevel. The old metal roofed covers over the picnic tables at each site, are coming down, to be replaced. Website directions were correct to the letter. Wi-fi is avail from the closest parking spots to the office. I sat outside under the oaks and used my laptop. I couldn't make myself go inside the Internet "shack" which is luxuriously laid out and well equipped (in case it did rain). Bathhouse was huge, large shower stall and cleaned daily like none I've seen in a while. $1.00 to wash & to dry. The staff was wonderfully cordial and helpful. Eglin AFB is 11 miles away w/ every necessity (but no diesel). Like I said, we didn't want to leave, ever.

Nice park. We were in site #11 and had some trouble leveling and maneuvering to a spot where we could get our slides out. Park staff are great!

We just finished a one week stay at Mid Bay. Fantastic park sitting bayside with a great view. Very clean and roomy sites. Only negative they have some old pavillion sheds covering the picnic tables which first are old and rusty/leaky but main issue is the way the utilities are laid out you can't get far enough away from the pavillion to let your canopy out. Only other negative is if you want to travel to Destine you have to pay a $2.50 each way toll. It would be good if there was some way that Maxwell could negociate a more reasonable pass for a week or so at some discount price. Otherwise great view/location, etc.

We spent two nights here on our way back from Texas. This is a nice campground with a small beach on the bay. Beautiful trees and the squirrels provided much delightful entertainment. The campground is very secure with an access card needed to enter the campground. Each site has a covered patio which is a nice feature. This was a great rest up place for us.

This is an update to my "before arrival" posting. As others have stated, great location! Friendly, efficient office and reservation was a great plus! No problems including getting refund on advance payment for a Frequent Camper coupon. In fact, had I not had plans that required us to be in San Antonio on 15 April and couldn't be changed, was told a spot had opened up unexpectedly and we could stay for 30 days. What a bummer that I couldn't accept! Seemed to be spots open each day, with a few folks coming and going. Did appear to be a few sites that might be fairly long term, but may be camp workers or active duty, not sure of all the particulars on length of stay for this campground. One thing is for sure, Maxwell MWR and their current contract crew working Mid Bay have taken care of the "homesteader" problem that was outrageous at the FAMCAMP! Good job, but don't too many of you jump on this place, I want to go back - often! Add Wi-Fi and it would be 5 Star all the way. Couple of WiFi signals from somewhere in area with signal strength, but could not connect.

Hopefully I will be able to input a more detailed and valid revised Rating after my visit but just wanted to go on record thanking whoever is responsible for solving the "homesteading" problem that this FamCamp had in the past! We travel to this area frequently since I have a brother in Niceville and have tried for over 6 years to get a spot here with no success. After wondering why nothing was ever available I visited campground in person about 3 years ago and was told that all spaces were occupied by permanent residents, with a waiting list if someone departed and created a vacancy. Email to Maxwell AFB; replied that the camp management was contracted out to DyanCorp with contact point for them Email to DyanCorp was never answered. Have stayed in area at Ft. Benning Destin, Eglin AFB, and both local FL State Parks, so am really anxious to be able to check out MidBay! More to follow.

Best kept secret I know of.....excellant hookups, cable availible, water is excellant, bathroom's are spotless.... the area is very very clean, people are friendly, loved it. Will travel back here again.....The park is an old mobile home gov't quarters area. The tress with the hanging moss is "FAB" I have nothing but good to say about the experience. Excellant golfing at the AFB courses.

We thought we had a spot at Hurlburt but it turns out the guy we spoke to at Outdoor Rec had no idea what he was talking about. The site manager at Hurlburt Fam Camp suggested we try Mid-Bay Shores and he did us a big service. The wife called and got an immediate reservation for one of the overflow sites (all the full service sites were occupied). Our GPS took us right to the place and the office staff checked us right in. The site we had was a bit cramped but by carefully jockeying our 36 foot motor home we were able to get all three slides open. We were 15 feet from the water, we had no bug problems, and we were very comfortable. Even though the the campground is literally right next to the bridge toll booths, the sound barrier wall did an excellent job of limiting the road noise. Eglin is only a short drive away for your shopping pleasure and all of the other things you want to do or see are close by, but you need to have a towed vehicle to get around. We'd stay here again in a heartbeat.

P.M. left this review using the Directory software: I love the place.

The only reason I gave the overall experience a two is because of the biting flies that cover you and everything you own while we were there. Evidently, this occurance only happens two weeks out of the year but lucky us decided to camp there during that two weeks. We couldn't step outside because we would be covered from head to toe with biting flies. From what I could observe about the rest of the campground it is in an excellenct location and your camper is right on the beach almost. They have really nice big lots and a covered picnic table area. We would have loved to been able to enjoy the campground but the flies made it a miserable stay.

These sites are LARGE and rustic! Has grills, picnic tables and steel awnings (these were rusting out)on a concrete patio on each site. Very helpful staff. Bathhouse and laundry facility super clean but hot. Just wish the fans had been on... The laundry cost $1.00 a load to wash/ $1.00 a load to dry. Beach is steps away from the campsite and the waves were small enough for my 2 year old. Even though it was July, and we had a lot of bugs the first day, then somehow, they seemed to disappear. Each night was met with a cool seabreeze! Very comfortable! Eglin AFB has a great military only beach on the gulf side about 20 miles away from Mid Bay Shores, just west of the Destin Bridge.

Great CG. The sites are spacious and pull through. There are a few that are back in but I saw a fifth wheeler pulled in with room to move the truck after disconnect. Have access to Chotawhatchee Bay to swim fish or crab. I walked about 20 feet from my RV door to the beach. There is a boat ramp next to a dock to fish from. While there we drove through the three other sites there, Hurlburt Field FamCamp, Destin Army Infantry Center Recreation Area, and Eglin AFB FamCamp. Hurlburt sites are spacious with vegetation separating the sites. Most were pull through. Destin sites were on top of each other, large rigs will have a difficult time. All sites were padded. Eglin sites were pull through except the back row. Well paved streets. The sites are packed gravel. My favorite is Mid Bay Shores.

Needed a place for 2 days during our trip to Pensacola. Have a 34' Tagalong with double slides. Called Sat morn the 26th, Memorial day weekend, and got Eggy on the line. She said she might have a site and would call me back. We are in Atlanta and headed out. We got a call shortly after leaving and Eggy said there was one site that was available. We reserved it. Upon getting there just before 7, Eggy had all the paper work ready and we went to site. The area is rustic as mentioned by others but still very clean. As 2retire said the sites are not very forgiving to very large rigs but unless you stay in KOA's and other places that make their living off RV'ers, it exceeds expectations. The site 31 was definitly designed for a 26' or less with no slide's but we wiggled our camper so we were able to fully extend the main slide and the rear slide half way to make it usable. The covered picnic area's are great and the rest of the park is very clean and well maintained. There is, as mentioned by others, a lot of long timers using the park which does mean less spaces available to us retired travelers, but unlike most FamCamps you can make reservations and if you let them know what you have they will try to fit you into a spot. AND YOU CAN't beat the price, so either enjoy or use a KOA. Thank you to all for providing this facility. Jim

We absolutely loved it here and will definetly be returning. We stayed in the cabins which were very clean and had all the ammenities. Very clean area and quiet. Very close to Destin and all the fun! But back at the cabins you were out of all the hussle and could relax right on the Choctawatchee Bay. So serene and relaxing. The price was right!! Can't wait to go back; would definetly recommend.

What a GREAT PLACE....Really neat and Clean, Eggy just superb. Only detracter was that there are no campfire fire rings (for us northerners). I assume there is a pretty good reason for that. We are definately going back, and soon.... BTW a great place to eat at is in Niceville, on Rte 20 called "PO FOLKS" absolutely great food ... Yum Yum!

This is the best campground I ever have ever stayed in. It is rustic, with a fantastic view of the bay. The camp hosts Rock and Eggy, best yet. The restroom/shower facilities are considered tornado proof. I have a 38' fifth wheel and had no problems.