Camping Orangeraie

We only meant to stay for two nights, but ended up spending a week there. The site was beautiful, with three swimming pools and clean, pleasant facilities, including laundry and a bar/restaurant that was open on weekends in the low season. It’s a bit out of town, though the drive to Benicarlo, Peniscola and nearby places was easy. We called after arriving in Benicarlo because our booked campsite couldn’t fit us. Staff were fantastic and said they could take our large American 5th wheel and tow car. They let us pick a pitch, and it suited us perfectly: roomy, fully serviced and open, with great views and no trees. It was an earth pitch, so it could get muddy in rain, but that wasn’t an issue during our stay. Getting in and out was easy too.

The staff were really helpful, but the site felt isolated. There’s a small town nearby, though it was very quiet and nothing was open, so we had to pay for taxis to get to the next town. The toilets and washroom weren’t very clean, and there were flies everywhere. I’ve stayed at lots of sites in Spain and hadn’t run into that before.

If you’re looking for peace and quiet, this isn’t the place. The owners start up their grass-cutting machines at 8:30 every day, and the noise carries across the whole campsite, waking everyone up.

We won’t be coming back. There was building work going on every day of the week, and nobody told us before we arrived. Some pitches were overgrown with weeds, while others were covered in what looked like excavated rubble. Nothing else was open either: no shop, bar or restaurant, and not even basic milk or bread at reception. The nearest supermarket or shop in Calig was about 2 mile away. The site says it’s wheelchair friendly, but the route to the toilets went through the building work and involved either steps or a steep incline. The toilets and showers were ancient, and the push-button toilet flush lasted longer than the shower. Some people we spoke to were so fed up they cut their losses and moved to other campsites.