Camping Sandaya Blue Bayou

Good campsite for families with children, dog beach 2km away

The place offers a nice location, not far from the beach (about 400 m through a kind of dune landscape). The beach is well-maintained and supervised, providing ample space. Furthermore, it is not ideal for dogs, as it is not allowed to walk with your dog along the beach to the dog area. The dog area is about 100 m wide and located at the end of the very large beach. It is possible to drive there, but it is nearly impossible to find a parking space. Therefore, I do not really consider the place to be dog-friendly. The nearest dog beach is about 20-30 minutes away, at Portiragne. Additionally, WiFi costs, but it is very good and stable. The place is also clean and partially shaded. Without dogs, it is a good place.

During high season, it is very crowded, mostly bungalows, and the remaining infrastructure such as restaurant, takeaway, and pool is not designed for large numbers of guests. The restaurant needs to be reserved, preferably the day before. The takeaway has long waiting times of up to 2 hours. There are no restaurants nearby within walking distance. Sanitary facilities are clean, but there are also waiting times for showers or washing up. Otherwise, well-maintained.

We have been to this site several times in recent years, always in a mobile home, this time without children. The best part is actually the relatively empty sandy beach, which is reachable in about 5-10 minutes. Since the site is quite elongated and the neighboring site was added in 2017, the walk can also take 5 minutes longer, depending on the location. The mobile home was super this time, a technical defect was quickly resolved, and the reception took good care of any questions. There is little space next to the mobile homes, so parking is somewhat tight. The new pool is great for children; this time we enjoyed the quiet second pool, which is only for adults. However, the good vegetation and the shade-giving trees from the past years have partly died off, so that specifically the area with the free parking spaces in 2018 made quite a bad impression that does not fit a 5* site at all. The evening entertainment until 11:30 PM can be a bit annoying, so it is only advisable to live as far away from the bar as possible.

Information and check-in multilingual (German, English, French), pre-season super quiet, all pools clean, nice atmosphere around the dining and pool area. There are washing machines, washing spots, and a grill area. The shop offers everything you need, otherwise, shopping opportunities of all kinds are about 2-3 km away. The restaurant and to-go menu offers delicious items that also taste fantastic. The beach is reachable on foot in about 3-5 minutes, is very clean and wide, and you can walk endlessly along the beach. The camping spots are sufficiently large (we had a large motorhome, awning, trailer, and two motorcycles, as well as space for two sun loungers) and the private shower and toilet cabin is completely adequate. Those who do not cope with this can also rent the log cabins, which are air-conditioned and have their own terraces. We felt very comfortable.

We were lucky and got a very large pitch at the end of the campground. With most of the other pitches, we would have had problems with the caravan (7.5 m in length, awning 3 m), especially since the car was supposed to fit there too. Two years ago, the operator changed. This year, one of the two pool facilities was revamped and the site was enlarged. The children had a lot of fun at the pool. However, the 3-4 lifeguards primarily focused on the newly designed area. Therefore, you had to be careful when sliding down to prevent someone from coming down behind you. The showers were generally okay. However, some were lacking water pressure. The toilets were shared between men and women. Some doors couldn’t be locked. They were cleaned once a day. Often, toilet paper and soap were missing. The pitches were raked after departure, but the green areas and trees on the site were not maintained. Weeds were growing everywhere, and branches protruded into the pathways. There was no watering, which led to some trees and palms dying off. Therefore, there was little shade in some areas. The barriers have been broken for 2 years! No security at the entrance. Anyone can enter the campground. In the back area, security was only seen at the gate closing time. Animation or music until 11:30 PM. Fortunately, we were somewhat off to the side; otherwise, it would have been unbearable close by. Aquasport is great! Swimming course for kids costs 15€, but it's excellent. Pizza, nuggets, fries, etc. were good. The path to the beach runs through a nature reserve. 3-5 minutes. The beach is very large. Mosquitoes are aggressive in the late afternoon. Autan, long trousers, etc., as well as 0.5% corticosteroid cream are recommended. Otherwise, you risk huge welts or blisters from sand mosquitoes. The staff speaks almost exclusively French, with a few still speaking English. In 2018, it was extremely hot there, and despite the negative points, we really enjoyed our vacation. The cost for 4 people for three weeks was around 1,250 €.

The campground is well-equipped. We stayed in the three shells with private sanitation. What is missing are outdoor swimming pools like those at Lago di Levico. Furthermore, the sanitary buildings are divided by light partitions, so you can fully hear your neighbor's activities. The pool area leaves nothing to be desired, as does everything else like the bar, restaurant, and shop. Access to the sea is also fine. You walk about 400 meters through the dunes and are right there. What takes some getting used to is the animation. It goes on every evening until 11:30 PM. In general, the campground is not for someone looking for tranquility, but it’s perfect for families with children. We liked it.

In July 2015, we (a family with 3 small children) looked at this campsite and initially had a very positive impression. When we had a look around and still had some questions, e.g., which spots were still free, the owner of the campsite suddenly and unexpectedly started to insult and yell at us in the worst way. My wife began to cry. Our children were completely disturbed. I couldn’t believe it. To this day, we have not understood why this woman reacted that way. Maybe because we were Germans and spoke no French and only English? But something like this has never happened to us as experienced travelers. I am writing this review because I believe that such complete outbursts and hostility towards tourists by a person working in tourism, like the owner of this campsite, should be made known and such abuses must be pointed out! Everyone should draw their conclusions from this! We then ended up at a nice other campsite in Vendres Plage. In the course of my internet research about this campsite and this owner, I found at least 2-3 similar comments/encounters online. * and ** personal information deleted by the editor.