Bar Harbor Oceanside KOA Holiday: A Review
With easy access to Mt. Desert Island, Acadia National Park, and the Schoodic Peninsula, the Bar Harbor Oceanside KOA Holiday is an excellent choice for your coastal Maine vacation.
My family has stayed here in both the cabins and in our camper, and both options are fantastic.
While this campground doesn’t have an overabundance of amenities, it makes up for that in its convenient location, overall cleanliness, and quiet, family friendly vibes.
In the review below, you’ll find everything you need to know about this campground, including photos of both the camping areas and the cabins, and details about every part of our stay from check-in to check-out.
The beautiful water views at the Bar Harbor Oceanside KOA
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Camping in Bar Harbor, Maine: What to Consider
Our camper in the main camping area on a rainy afternoon
While Bar Harbor is one of the most popular destinations in Maine, it’s not a very large place.
Downtown Bar Harbor is surprisingly compact with shops, restaurants, and hotels, so you’ll need to head outside of the town if you want more space and/or camping options.
There are several options for cabins and camping both in and outside of the national park.
Other Camping Options Nearby
If you’re in town primarily to visit Acadia National Park, you might consider one of the 5 campgrounds in the national park.
Of the 5, 2 are on Mt. Desert Island with easy access to Bar Harbor, another is over in the Schoodic Peninsula section of the park (about a 45 minute drive from Bar Harbor) and the final 2 are primitive sites on Isle au Haut, which is accessible only by ferry.
The 3 driveable campgrounds on Mt. Desert Island the Schoodic Peninsula all have water and/or electric, but no sewer at each site. You will find toilets, potable water, and dump stations at each.
These sites are very popular, and, if you’re visiting in the peak summer or fall seasons, you’re going to need to plan far in advance to get one. Plan to stake out the website 6 months ahead of time to have the best chance of getting a site.
While you cannot beat the convenience of staying inside the park, we opted to stay outside of the park to access full hook-ups, more amenities on-site and easier access to the entire area (and not just the national park).
While we ultimately landed on the Bar Harbor Oceanside KOA for our time visiting this part of Maine, we also considered three other campgrounds in the same area of Mt. Desert Island:
Mt. Desert Narrows Camping Resort
Mt. Desert Narrows Camping Resort is a part of Thousand Trails company, which we’ve found to be uneven in their property’s offerings and appearance. Since we were staying in Bar Harbor for over a week, I didn’t want to gamble on the campground.
Overall, the Bar Harbor KOA had higher reviews on RVLife, so that knocked this campground out of the running for me.
Hadley’s Point Campground
Hadley’s Point Campground looked promising, but it only provides reservations by phone.
PIN ME!
Call me ridiculous, but I avoid calling campgrounds to make reservations simply because I don’t have the time.
Our stay in Bar Harbor was one of many along our nearly 7 week trip up the East Coast, through New England, and back home along the Appalachian Mountains.
Imagine calling up dozens of campgrounds to have 10-15 minute conversations about my possible visit.
Add in hold time, and it’s turned into a part time job just to book as many campgrounds as we need on these long road trips.
It is infinitely easier to hop on a website, input my dates of arrival and departure and book a site instantly.
So, correctly or not, I didn’t look too far into this campground because I don’t mess with phone reservations systems.
Bar Harbor Campground
Bar Harbor Campground was the one that I almost ended up booking for our time in Bar Harbor.
The views here are very similar to those in Bar Harbor KOA, amenities are similar, and the pricing was comparable.
I ended up choosing the Bar Harbor KOA over Bar Harbor Campground for 2 reasons, neither of which had anything to do with the quality or location of the campground:
I had a bunch of KOA rewards that I could cash in, making our stay at the KOA very, very low, and
My parents were along for this part of the trip, and decided they’d rather rent a cabin near us than stay in a hotel closer to Bar Harbor. The KOA had both cabins and camping sites, while the Bar Harbor Campground doesn’t, so that ultimately helped me make my decision.
Now that we’ve stayed at the Bar Harbor Oceanside KOA, I’m happy with my choice. Both the camping sites and the cabins were convenient, and we loved being able to run between our site and my parents’ cabin.
Bar Harbor Oceanside KOA Review
We stayed at the Bar Harbor Oceanside KOA for 8 nights in late May and early June.
This was before the usual summer rush, as school was still in session for much of New England, so we felt like we had the place to ourselves.
As I mentioned before, this stop was one of many on our road trip up the Eastern Seaboard and through New England.
We headed to the Bar Harbor Oceanside KOA from our stay in Damariscotta, Maine, and just before we ventured over to Lincoln, New Hampshire.
The property here is beautiful, as it sits out on a little spit of land on Oldhouse Cove in the Mt. Desert Narrows.
It’s a short 15 minute drive from here to the Hulls Cove Visitors Center in Acadia National Park. If you’re in the area, definitely make plans to explore the park because it is fantastic!
Here are some of my Acadia National Park planning resources to help you out:
Check-in Process
We arrived just a few minutes after check-in opened and did not have a wait.
The lady at the front desk was welcoming and quickly got me check into my site. She was so personable and chatted about how she had lived in South Carolina just like us.
My check-in process was very straight forward, so I was in and out in less than 10 minutes.
My mom, who had originally booked one of the small cabins for herself and my dad, wanted to know if they could switch their reservation to one of the larger cabins.
That would allow them to host one of my kids during their stay and give them an attached bathroom.
The front desk employee was incredibly helpful, and while it took about 20 minutes to do so, she easily switched over the reservation and had my mom pay the difference in the price.
Our experience with the front desk staff here ranks up there with the incredible staff at the Goodland, Kansas, KOA, who were equally welcoming and helpful!
(And it was the polar opposite from the lack of customer service we received at Lakewood RV Resort in Myrtle Beach, Nashville East KOA in Tennessee, and Mountain View RV Park in Arco, Idaho.)
Individual Campsite Review
Our camper in our site at the Bar Harbor KOA
There are many different categories in this campground, most of them related to how close to the water you want to be.
The waterfront spots are, as you can imagine, the most expensive, but they’re also gorgeous, so you’ll have to decide to you want to splurge on them.
Since I was trying to be as cost conscious as possible on our longer road trip, I opted for one of the water view sites on the large grassy lawn that makes up the bulk of the camping area.
We were in site 211, which was a pull through site with water and electric.
If I’d wanted to pay slightly more, there were pull through sites with full hook ups on the row behind me.
I loved the views we got from our (budget) campsite, but it would’ve been helpful with the sites had been more clearly marked.
Other than the electricity tower at one end of the pull-through site, there were no markings for the perimeter of the site.
Our 21’ foot Winnebago Micro Minnie fit comfortably on this site, but we did have to squeeze in our tow vehicle on the side of the camper since there wasn’t enough depth in the site to put it in front of or behind the camper.
The lawn was beautiful and green, but it did get a little soggy when it rained one afternoon. The site was fairly even even without a gravel or concrete pad.
Overall, I prefer having a site pad when camping for no other reason that we don’t track in as much dirt and grass in the camper and truck.
I didn’t see any restrictions on putting a mat out next to our camper, but our mat would’ve taken up too much real estate, and I didn’t want to have to park the truck on top of it.
Getting into and out of the site was manageable, but the lots are short enough that we had to angle the truck onto the small road in front of the site in order to pull forward far enough.
Definitely watch the site sizes here so you won’t have any unexpected surprises with a too-short or too-small lot for your rig.
The sites don’t have any trees on them, which is great for those water views, but that also means you don’t have a lot of privacy from one site to the next.
Luckily, we had some very nice neighbors from the Boston area on one side, and an empty lot on the other.
The sites weren’t any more spacious or tighter than any of the other KOA sites we’ve had, and they were fairly average for a campground chain.
Overall, the site was clean and quiet, and I felt very safe even in the nights where I was alone (since my kids routinely left to go hang out at Gigi and Papa J’s place!).
Cabin Review
A few of the Deluxe cabins
The Bar Harbor KOA has several cabin and cabin-adjacent options onsite.
There are more than a dozen of the classic KOA Kabins, which are essentially one room log cabins with no attached bathrooms or kitchen.
These aren’t directly accessible by car, so you’ll need to move your food, luggage, and clothing in one of the provided carts from the parking area.
Carts for the guests staying in the smaller cabins
The campground also offers 2 Airstream rentals, which seemed very popular. They stayed booked up during our visit despite us visiting in the shoulder season.
There were also upgraded cabins that were more luxurious, and this is what my mom and dad ended up changing their reservations to stay in.
They stayed in a 4 person Deluxe cabin that had a small side porch, attached bathroom with shower, a tv, coffee station, and outdoor fire pit.
There was a main sleeping area in the main room, and a small bunk house with bunk bed to the left of the entrance. A family of 4 could stay here, and it would be very similar to a hotel room.
If you count the outdoor sitting space and porch, it’s much larger than a standard hotel room.
My mom and dad really enjoyed their stay here, and, if I hadn’t had the camper, I could absolutely see us picking to stay in one of these over a hotel.
Campground Layout
While most of the campgrounds we’ve stayed at are organized around a loop (or several, depending on how big the place is), the Bar Harbor KOA kind of sprawls.
You’re greeted at the entrance by the camp store and registration office, but this road isn’t just for the campground. It leads further into the island and through a residential area.
You’ll see that there are sites for big rigs on the opposite side of this road from the camp store, so it feels like you’re in the campground even though this portion straddles a 2-lane road.
If you continue on this road, you’ll come to another sign for the KOA on your right. Turn here to enter the main part of the campground.
When you make the turn, you’ll have the Deluxe cabins back to your right, and the dog park to your left.
If you continue on straight ahead, you’ll get to the large field that my site was on.
Just past the dog park is the Lobster Trap Cafe. If you turn left here, you’ll have access to about 2 dozen more campsites, the smaller KOA Kabins, the laundry room and the tent camping area.
NOTE: The tent camping area is pushed away from the RVs, and it is beautiful! You’ll camp under these huge trees and site 405 even has water views.
Once we got our bearings about us, we managed the campground just fine. Our site, in particular, was centrally located, and we could get to the laundry room, playground, Lobster Trap Cafe, and my parents’ cabin within a 3-5 minute walk.
Campground Amenities
Much to my children’s chagrin, the Bar Harbor KOA does not have a pool.
Despite all odds, they survived without one.
Plus, it was too cold for my taste to even entertain the idea of getting in a pool while we were there, so I wasn’t sad about this missing piece.
If your kids love to swim while they’re on vacation and you end up camping or staying here, you can still swim in the bay near the campground. The water is, for the most part, calm and great for wading and splashing around.
Just use caution as there isn’t a lifeguard on duty.
That being said, there’s still plenty to do here in the evenings after you’ve been out exploring. Here are our favorite amenities and experiences offered at the Bar Harbor KOA.
Bath Houses
One of the bath houses with landscaping in front
There are 2 bathrooms and 2 full bath houses on the property.
While we do have a shower in our little trailer, I honestly avoid it at all costs because it is just so small.
I did use the showers closest to our campsite one night, and they were dated but still very clean.
One unusual thing about the bath houses here is that they play music all of the time. When I first went into the bathroom, I thought someone was blasting music in the showers.
I didn’t mind it because the music was always upbeat, but it was a bit much early in the morning. Still, if this discourages people from bringing their own music into the bath house or listening to a romance novel on full volume (an actual occurrence at the Holbrook KOA in Arizona!), I’m all for it.
All of the other nights, we used the bathroom at my parents’ house just for convenience.
Lobster Trap Cafe
The ordering area at the Lobster Trap Cafe
This on-site snack shack is shaped like a giant lobster tail for a dose of coastal Maine cuteness (or corny-ness, depending on how much you love abnormally sized crustaceans).
It serves up grab and go sandwiches and meals like lobster rolls—we are in Maine, after all!—buffalo chicken wraps, and burgers.
You can also grab ice cream cones here for a sweet treat.
While it doesn’t have a big enough menu that you’d want to eat here every night, it’s a great option for when you don’t want to fix dinner but also don’t want to drive into Bar Harbor.
Go Kart Rentals
The silly Camping Kiddos on their rented go kart
The day that we went biking in Acadia National Park, my kids also decided that we needed to rent go karts when we got back to the campground.
I guess they didn’t tire themselves out enough on the carriage roads, despite biking for nearly 4 hours?!
They picked a go kart with side car, a design we haven’t seen on our travels so far.
Since it was a novelty, that’s the one we had to rent, despite my reservations that they’d end up fighting over who got to drive.
(They ended up taking turns without me even having to ask!)
On offer are also the standard go karts like we rented at the Alamosa KOA in Colorado and the Alamogordo KOA in New Mexico.
My kids loved zooming around the campground for their one hour rental.
You can rent the karts at the Lobster Trap daily.
Tidepooling
My daughter at Pebble Beach
Since the campground has bay access, there are several great places to go tidepooling without having to leave the property.
We’re from coastal South Carolina, so our shores don’t have tidepools. Because of that, my kids and I enjoyed tidepooling so much while we were in Maine!
There are two public access areas in the campground, where you can access the bay without having to cut through someone’s campsite.
The Sunset Patio area is on the shore near the large camping meadow where our site was, and Pebble Beach is past the play area and just around the corner from the tent camping area.
Both have benches for you to sit on if you want to relax while your child looks in the tidepools.
We saw a lion’s mane jellyfish while we were there, along with hundreds of periwinkles.
Camp store
The exterior of the Bar Harbor KOA camp store
There’s not much in this part of Mt. Desert Island, so you’ll need to head off property if you need to do a full grocery shop.
However, if you’ve forgotten chocolate for the s’mores or need just a little bit of milk for dinner, you’ll find that in the camp store.
The store also has all kinds of souvenirs, including t-shirts, toys, keychains, stickers, and lawn games.
Play area
The play area is down from the Lobster Shack, and it was a great place to meet other families while we were visiting.
There’s a big jumping pillow and more standard play equipment.
The jump pillow was very popular every night we were there, so if your kid just needs to get out of the camper and socialize with others, head here.
You’ll also find the gem mining sluice here, and the pick up area for the free barrel train rides around the campground.
Laundry Room
Folding table and dryers in the laundry room
I feel like I do laundry constantly on our long road trips, so I have to make sure our campgrounds offer on-site laundry.
The laundry room at the Bar Harbor KOA is located right next to the play area, which would be convenient if you wanted to watch your kids play while you did the laundry.
The room itself is large with about half a dozen washers and dryers each.
I needed change, but there wasn’t a change machine inside the laundry room, which is unusual.
The night I was doing laundry, it was pouring, and I didn’t want to make the trek to the front of the campground to ask them for change.
Instead, I had to download a laundry app and add money to it, which is annoying. I don’t mind if this is an option, but I do like to be able to use my bag of quarters if I have it.
Island Explorer Bus Stop
One of the Island Explorer buses near the Ocean Path Trail in Acadia National Park
This campground is one of the stops on the Trenton Route (Route 9) of the Island Explorer bus.
This free shuttle service runs during peak visitation in Mt. Desert Island and Acadia National Park.
This line runs from the Bar Harbor airport, making several stops including at the Bar Harbor KOA and the Hulls Cove Visitors Center at Acadia National Park, before ending at the Bar Harbor Village Green.
This means that you could stay at the KOA and then visit Acadia National Park without needing a car!
The Bar Harbor Village Green is in the heart of town, so all of the restaurants, whale watching tours, and shopping are within just a few blocks’ walk.
You can also pick up an e-bike to explore the carriage roads of Acadia National Park from here.
Or, you can switch buses at the Visitors Center and see more of Mt. Desert Island or the Schoodic Peninsula.
Final Thoughts on the Bar Harbor KOA Holiday
We didn’t see any moose, but we did find plenty of mooselings here!
This seasonal campground ended up being one of our favorites during our time in New England.
The water views even from the cheaper sites were stunning, and I loved waking up to the sights and sounds of coastal Maine each morning.
While it’s not the closest campground to Bar Harbor or the Mt. Desert section of Acadia National Park, it is well positioned to explore the larger area, including the Schoodic Peninsula, Ellsworth, and Penobscot.
The sites vary considerably in size and price, so you’ll want to read the descriptions carefully as you book.
Overall, my family and I had a wonderful time here, and we wouldn’t hesitate to book again whenever we find ourselves back in the Bar Harbor area!
