Makenna We covered a lot of ground while we were in Alaska, we saw many places, and Homer might just be my favorite?? It’s hard to choose of course, but Homer was magical. We spent two nights at two different campgrounds in Homer, Alaska. In this post, I overview the camping options in Homer and review the two campgrounds we stayed at, the Homer Spit Campground and KOA Homer.
Campgrounds in Homer, Alaska
There are several options for campgrounds in Homer, Alaska to choose from. The Homer Spit is a narrow, 4.5-mile strip of land that extends into Kachemak Bay. More about The Spit in a coming post! On The Spit there are 4 campgrounds to choose from: The Homer Spit Campground, Fishing Hole Campground, Heritage RV Park, and Mariner Park. All campgrounds are spread throughout The Spit with varying amenities. There are a handful of campground options off The Spit in the town of Homer as well.
The Homer Spit Campground
As previously mentioned, we spent one night here, and I wish it had been longer! The Homer Spit Campground is situated right at the very end of The Spit. Surrounded by 360-degree views, you couldn’t ask for a better camping experience.
Cost
The campground offers 6 different categories of sites to choose from when booking. They have dry camping, full hookups for RV’s, and tent camping available. Find below a breakdown of the options the Homer Spit Campground offers:
- Beachfront
- These premium sites are beachfront with incredible views of Kachemak Bay
- Starting at $45/night (premium end sites start at $50/night)
- Dry camping (no hookups)
- Beach view
- Located one row behind the beachfront sites
- Starting at $50/night (premium end sites start at $55/night)
- These spots offer electric hookups only
- Full hookup
- Full hookup sites are located 3 rows back from the beach
- Starting at $55/night
- Full water and electric hookups are available for your use at these sites
- Interior RV
- Situated within 100 yards of the beach
- Starting at $45/night
- Electric hookups only at these sites
- Interior Tent
- Situated within 100 yards of the beach
- Starting at $35/night
- Interior XL
- Situated within 100 yards of the beach, and are twice the size of the other interior sites
- Starting at $60/night
- These sites offer electric hookups only
Amenities
The Homer Spit Campground offers several amenities for your use while staying with them. They have a small store with basic supplies and souvenirs for sale, restrooms, laundry facilities, showers, and a water and dumping station for RV’s.
The showers and laundry facilities do cost extra. To take a shower, it costs $2. There is no time limit, and the water was nice and hot. I decided to spring for this and take my first real shower in days, and it was the best $2 I’ve ever spent. The showers were clean but as with any public shower, I recommend shower shoes.
My Review
We absolutely loved our time here at the Homer Spit Campground. At check-in, the staff was very friendly and she had no issues with us checking in early since our campsite was open. She got us checked in quickly, answered all the questions we had about the area, and recommended a few restaurants for lunch.
I loved that we were at the very end of The Spit, which provided incredible views all around. We were lucky to get assigned to an end site, so we only had one neighbor to our right. During all of our camping travels, when able, I sprung for the premium beachfront sites. I figured, if I traveled all this way, I am going to make sure we had the best views possible!
The site we had was fairly level, so we had minimal issues making sure our RV was level enough for the fridge to work properly. Right behind our site was a fire pit and picnic table for our use. It was just a short walk down to the rocky beach. Be sure to keep your eye on the water. Homer gets some of the biggest tidal swings in the world, and the tide rises/lowers by up to 20 feet per day. This provided a completely new view at different times of the day.
I know I keep talking about the location of this campground, but it really was fantastic. We were a very short walk away from all of the shops and restaurants The Spit has to offer. We spent our first day just exploring the town. It was great to be able to park the RV and not have to worry about moving it to get to where we wanted to go.
Before our trip when I was researching, I had read that staying on The Spit could be very windy and very loud/crowded. This is why I chose only one night here and one night at our next campground. However, we had amazing weather while we were there and had no issues with noise or crowds. It is worth noting that we were there in early June, so the campground was not full at the time we stayed. I assume it is fully booked later on in the summer. Either way, I would not hesitate to book here again if we go back!
KOA Homer/Baycrest
The second night of our tour of campgrounds in Homer, Alaska was spent at the KOA Homer/Baycrest. I had read great reviews of this campground, situated just outside of Homer. The views on their website are really what did me in though. It is situated on a bluff about 7 miles from the spit, with spectacular views of Kachemak Bay.
Cost
This was the most expensive campground of our trip to Alaska. The total cost for one night here was $105.69. There are other, slightly cheaper options, which I will outline below *all prices do not include taxes and fees:
- Premium view spot, full hookups
- Starting at $98/night
- Full hookups with patio and grill
- Full hookups
- Starting at $78/night
- Full hookups on site without a premium view
- No hookups
- Starting at $50/night
- Dry camping with no hookups
- Electric only
- Starting at $55/night
- These sites provide electricity only
Amenities
The KOA had many great amenities for our use. This was our first experience at a KOA, but I have heard that they can be hit or miss sometimes. At this KOA, we had access to coin laundry facilities, full bathrooms including free showers, WiFi, a dishwashing station, and a playground for children. Our campsite had full hookups and a dump station right there so we did not have to move to fill or dump our RV.
My Review
Staying at the KOA was a pleasure. It was our only full hookup camping experience of the entire trip. We learned what a true luxury that was. Being able to use the microwave without going through the process of starting up the generator, letting it warm up, worrying about the noise it’s making, etc? Priceless.
When making the booking, there was a section for any notes for the hosts. I wrote in there that it was our first time in Homer, and we would love a spot with a great view. They. Delivered. They assigned us to one of the best sites in the entire campground! We had a spectacular view over Kachemak Bay, with a little patio area including a table and chairs, as well as a small grill for our use.
I also loved the free showers. Had I known that we had access to free showers here, I maybe wouldn’t have paid for the shower at our previous campground. But I wasn’t going to sweat it over $2. The dishwashing station was also a great plus that I didn’t expect to love. Sinks in RVs are quite small, and not a lot of counter space to allow them to dry. Having a larger sink with counter space available to go and wash our larger dishes was a nice little change.
Due to our tour schedule being shifted around, we didn’t get to spend as much time here as we would have liked. It was a lovely campground with great amenities and spectacular views. I wish we could have spent more time just soaking it all in!
Final Thoughts
You truly cannot go wrong with either one of these campgrounds when visiting Homer. Want to be right in the heart of all the action? Stay at The Homer Spit Campground. Prefer a little more seclusion with more amenities? Then the KOA Homer/Baycrest is the campground for you. No matter what you choose, there are campgrounds in Homer, Alaska that cater to everyone’s needs. We fully enjoyed our experience at both campgrounds and would not hesitate to stay at either one again!
Want to know more about our Alaskan adventure? Be sure to read about our amazing time in Denali National Park!
Have you been camping in Homer? Did you stay somewhere other than we did and loved it? Let me know in the comments below!
