Mariner Park is a campground located right at the beginning of the famous 5-mile Homer Spit Road leading out towards Kachemak Bay in Homer, Alaska.
For my first evening in Homer, AK, I was looking for a place to stay and discovered Mariner Park pretty easily through the app on my phone called, Campendium.
It's $20 to camp for the night, which is pretty standard for any campground.
Upon entering, the Registration Board said to find an unoccupied site, park your vehicle and then return back to the entrance area where there's an auto-payment kiosk which accepts cash or credit card.
For this Mariner Park Campground, it was pretty crowded when I spontaneously arrived about 7pm over the summertime. At first, I was uncertain if I'd find an available campsite, but luckily, I did.
What I noticed was, there were two distinct sections to the campground...
- The right-hand side offered sites against the scenic waters and snowcapped mountains set in the distance. These were certainly the preferred campsites for obvious reasons.
- The left-hand side of the campground offered sites beside Homer Spit Road. And this is where I found a spot that hadn't been taken yet.
But what was deflating about these campsites situated against Homer Spit Road was how little spacing you had between yourself and the sites next to you.
There was zero privacy that it was almost impossible to avoid meeting your camping neighbors, or even just trying to lounge outside without watching kids running around in every direction. To say things were a little cramped, would be quite the understatement, lol.
Each campsite had firepits for barbecuing and picnic tables, but with all the wonderful seafood restaurants offered in Homer, it was much better to drive the Spit Road and purchase dinner in downtown.
Although the campground road was not paved, the campsites were set on grass which made for comfortable sections setting up tents.
I was surprised by how my night went here. Usually, I fall asleep easily and have no issues with the surroundings. But the noise from cars driving on Homer Spit Road was noticeably loud and distracting that I never had a fulfilling evening's rest.
Plus, I underestimated how cold it got at night. I for sure could have used my portable Mr. Heater Buddy to warm myself from the elements. But I was too lazy to leave my sleeping bag and grab it out of the car in the middle of darkness, lol.
Some extra notes...
- There were just vault toilets for bathrooms.
- No showers.
- Unfortunately, no AMP powered campsites to recharge appliances.
- This is a first come, first served campground. They do not accept reservations ahead of time.
- There was a sign stating that campground attendants make rounds twice a day, but I never noticed anyone.
- They don't offer refunds, but "rain checks" may be requested.
Overall, this Mariner Park was fine as a campground. It served its purpose for the night, but aspects about it could have been better.
I decided not to return here for a 2nd evening after finding more worthwhile areas along Homer Spit to stay at for the remainder of my time in Homer. read more