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5 Best Essex Caravan Holiday Parks - 2022

There's a pretty good choice of caravan holiday parks in Essex, which is conveniently located for a trip away from London, Suffolk or Kent. You'll find that most of the big names in the UK caravan park market are represented in Essex, including Haven, Parkdean Resorts, Park Holidays and Away Resorts. 

Essex has a few traditional seaside resorts for a day out, including Southend on Sea (home to the world's longest pleasure pier, in case that impresses you) and Clacton on Sea. Big attractions in Essex include Colchester Zoo, Clacton Pier and Colchester Castle.

We've picked out five of the best caravan holiday parks in Essex by looking at facilities, location, customer reviews and value for money. For a rough price comparison we looked for a family holiday for a week in August 2022.

1. Mersea Island Holiday Park, near Colchester (beachside, indoor swimming pool, hot tubs)

​**Mersea Island Discount Code: Save 10% via this link with promo code HPG10. Valid until 31/12/22**

**Winner: best value Essex holiday park**

Mersea Island Holiday Park is run by Away Resorts, which has about a dozen caravan parks around the UK. It's a medium sized holiday park and customer reviews are very positive (average of 4.5/5 on TripAdvisor). It's also in a decent location with direct access to a nice stretch of beach.

Onsite facilities are a bit limited, but there is an indoor swimming pool, a restaurant and a playground. There is also a clubhouse which puts on entertainment at peak times.

It's a dog-friendly site and has a mix of different accommodation options including cheap caravans and luxurious lodges with hot tubs called 'Indulgent TriBeCa'.

If you happen to own a boat or a jetski, you can launch it from the private beach. Would you also mind lending me a tenner?

If you fancy a wander, Cudmore Grove Country Park is nearby.

Price: £844 for a week in a caravan for a family of four in early August 2022, staying in a 'comfort' caravan.
​
Top tip: arriving on a Friday at Mersea Island Holiday Park is usually cheaper than arriving on a Saturday.
Caravans at Mersea Island Holiday Park
Mersea Island Holiday Park is near a beach and it gets very good reviews
Swimming pool at Mersea Island
It's also got an indoor swimming pool for less sunny days

2. Dovercourt Holiday Park, Harwich (outdoor swimming pool, clubhouse, soft play)

Park Holidays has got five holiday parks in Essex, but Dovercourt Holiday Park tends to get the best reviews.

It doesn't have an indoor swimming pool but it scores 4/5 from reviewers on TripAdvisor and Google Reviews. If you want a Park Holidays site with a swimming pool in Essex you can choose from Park Holiday's Martello Beach Holiday Park, Seawick Holiday Park and St Osyth Beach Holiday Park) 

The beach is a couple of miles away, but onsite facilities include an outdoor swimming pool (during the warmer months), playgrounds, a sports court, minigolf, a clubhouse with entertainment, a good sized soft play area and a restaurant. 

If you want a day trip, Frinton on Sea or Clacton on Sea are both half an hour away in the car. 

Dovercourt is another dog friendly holiday park in Essex.

Price: £964 for a week in a Gold Plus caravan in August 2022. The caravan has two bedrooms and sleeps six people, although a caravan with an extra bedroom was only about £100 extra for the week. Gold grade was the cheapest available when we checked. You might find cheaper deals for other weeks.
Playground at Dovercourt Holiday Park
Dovercourt Holiday Park doesn't have an indoor pool, but it has playgrounds...
Swimming pool at Dovercourt Holiday Park
...and an outdoor swimming pool

3. Haven's The Orchards Holiday Park, Brightlingsea (beachside, indoor and outdoor swimming pools)

**Haven Offers 2022: Last minute bargains from £49 + Summer Holidays from £299 + Autumn Breaks from £69**
Haven is arguably the most famous name in the UK caravan park market and they've got one site in Essex - The Orchards - which is close to Brightlingsea and Clacton-on-Sea.

It doesn't score quite as highly from reviewers as some Haven holidays parks (about 3.5/5 on most review sites) but there's still a lot going for it if you want a holiday with a familiar name in Essex.

Onsite, you'll find plenty of entertainment including indoor and outdoor swimming pools, a nine hole golf course, a sports court and playground. There are also a number of activities you can sign up for including archery, nature discovery sessions and football training sessions (you pay extra for some activities). 

Lots of the accommodation overlooks water and the site is right alongside the beach.

If you want to head out to pick up a stick of rock or a kiss-me-quick hat, it is 20 minutes in the car to Clacton Pier.

Price: £809 for a saver caravan for a family of four for a week in August 2022. Saver caravans are the cheapest Haven grades. You can upgrade to bronze, silver, gold and signature. Upgrades give you extras such as a balcony, central heating, a dishwasher, towels, wider caravans and extra TVs. The signature models have the best views overlooking the lakes.

Read our blog about the different grades of caravan offered by Haven.
Swimming pool at The Orchard
Haven's only Essex caravan park has two swimming pools...
Playground at The Orchards
...and a playground, as well as golf, archery and football

4. Coopers Beach Holiday Park, Mersea Island (indoor and outdoor swimming pools, coastal location)

Parkdean Resorts is one of the biggest names in the UK caravan park market. They've got more than 60 caravan parks after a merger a few years ago with Park Resorts. Most of them are in coastal locations and have a decent range of facilities.

There are five Parkdean Resorts holiday parks to pick from in Essex. I would start by looking at either Weeley Bridge Holiday Park or Coopers Beach Holiday Park depending on what's important to you.

Coopers Beach is a large holiday park which is near to a beach at Mersea Island and has indoor and outdoor swimming pools. Weeley Bridge is a much smaller holiday park which is 15 minutes drive from Clacton on Sea and is alongside fishing lakes. It has an outdoor swimming pool, but it's got much simpler facilities than Coopers Beach.

Weeley Bridge was scoring slightly higher on TripAdvisor when we checked (4/5 compared to 3.5/5 at Coopers Beach) but other review sites put them the other way round.

Personally, I'd pick Coopers Beach as two of my top criteria for a holiday park are a beachside location and an indoor swimming pool.

Price: £819 for a family of four for a week in a Heron caravan at Coopers Beach Holiday Park in August 2022. For £20 extra you could get a caravan for eight people, so might be worth considering if you're looking for a cheap caravan holiday in Essex. Weeley Bridge was £909 for the same week for a caravan which sleeps six people.
Caravans at Coopers Beach Holiday Park
Coopers Beach Holiday Park is run by Parkdean Resorts...
Outdoor swimming pool at Coopers Beach Holiday Park
...and it has indoor and outdoor swimming pools

5. St. Osyth Beach Holiday Park, Clacton-on-Sea (indoor swimming pool, beachside, extra facilities at adjacent parks)

St Osyth Beach Holiday Park is another caravan site run by Park Holidays UK. They're a big name in the UK market and also run Dovercourt Holiday Park (see number 2). 

St Osyth doesn't get quite as good reviews as Dovercourt, but it's a better choice if your priority is a holiday park with easy beach access and an indoor swimming pool. The pool is a good size and has a waterslide, so it will provide a useful way to fill a couple of hours on a wet day.

The local beach is mostly sandy and is right next to some of the caravans onsite. The caravans at the far end of the holiday park are about 10 minutes walk to the beach.

Besides the swimming pool, there is also a fishing lake, a kids' club and an entertainment venue which has evening shows. Park Holidays also own two adjacent holiday parks called Martello Beach and Seawick. You're allowed to use the facilities at those parks as well, during your story. Seawick is a big and busy park which has a swimming pool, playgrounds and minigolf. 

The resort is about three miles west of Clacton on Sea, so it's close enough for regular day trips.

Price: £1013 for a Gold Plus caravan for a family of four in early August 2022. You could upgrade to a caravan which sleeps eight people for about £100 extra, which would be excellent value.

Price comparison of 5 of the best caravan holiday parks in Essex

To give a rough idea of price, we looked for the cheapest holiday we could find for a family of four in August 2022. We looked for the cheapest accommodation available for a week and didn't include optional extras such as activities which cost extra. We carried out our searches in November 2021. You will generally find that booking a holiday park early is the best way to get a good deal as the cheaper accommodation gets booked up, but occasionally there are last minute deals too.

Here's our top 5 holiday parks in Essex in order of price:​​
  1. Haven's The Orchards Holiday Park - £809 *Winner: cheapest holiday park**
  2. Parkdean Resorts Coopers Beach Holiday Park ​- £819​
  3. Away Resorts Mersea Island Holiday Park - £844
  4. Park Holidays Dovercourt Holiday Park - £964​
  5. St Osyth Beach Holiday Park - £1013

Images are from Away Resorts, Park Holidays, Parkdean Resorts and Haven.

Other guides from the Holiday Park Guru

Holiday-Park-Guru-Don't-Blame-Us-Disclaimer: All the information on this page is accurate, as far as we know. However, facilities at holiday parks change so please check with the park before booking.