Parkdean Resorts Thorness Bay Holiday Park on the Isle of Wight Review

Thorness Bay Holiday Park is one of our run by Parkdean Resorts on the Isle of Wight

Thorness Bay Holiday Park competes with three other Parkdean Resorts on the Isle of Wight - as well as about a dozen more sites owned by others. 

It tends to get lower reviews scores than Parkdean's Lower Hyde, Landguard and Nodes Point. We've visited all three of those, so we wanted to check Thorness Bay out for ourselves. 

We enjoyed some great weather at Thorness Bay Holiday Park

First impressions of Thorness Bay Holiday Park

The first thing we noticed about Thorness Bay Holiday Park is that it is in a much more rural location than Parkdean's other holiday parks on the island. It sits on the north coast of the Island but isn't really near to any of the bigger towns. 

Having said that, the Isle of Wight is very compact, so you're only about 10 minutes from Cowes or Newport by car. 

The advantage of this is that you get green fields on one side of the park and the sea on the other. It certainly doesn't feel overlooked and most of the surrounding land is used for farming. 

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Accommodation at Thorness Bay Holiday Park 

Parkdean's Thorness Bay is a mid-sized to large holiday park, which is quite well spread out and has a sprawling feel. It doesn't feel as crammed in as some holiday parks we've been to. This is a major plus point for me, as I like a site I can explore rather than just feeling like our caravan is one of 50 in a row.

As we came into the entrance of the site, we first came to a large camping and glamping area. Most of these get a view of fields looking away from the sea. It's still a lovely view but I always go for a sea view if it's an option. 

We saw five glamping Safari tents during our visit. These get quite a good view as they are raised towards the top of the camping field. Again, they didn't have a sea view, but they were well placed on that part of the resort. 

These safari tents are available to hire at Thorness Bay Holiday Park

The glamping village at Thorness Bay Holiday Park is near to the touring area

The tourers at Thorness Bay Holiday Park mostly overlook rolling hills instead of the sea

This is one of the facilities for tourers and campers at Thorness Bay Holiday Park

As we continued to explore the site, we came across the large range of caravans. Some of these are quite compact and I would say are probably 12 foot wide. Others are much larger lodges and have balconies. 

The site is on a gentle slope and you get a sea view from quite a lot of it. However, the sea is set back a little from the site and it isn't quite as good for sea views as Parkdean's Nodes Point, in my opinion. 

The majority of accommodation at Thorness Bay Holiday Park is caravans like these

A good number of caravans at Thorness Bay Holiday Park have balconies

Thorness Bay Holiday Park has quite a few mature trees to soften the landscape

Exploring the beach at Thorness Bay Holiday Park ​

The beach at Thorness Bay is a very special place but it won't be for everyone. Personally, I love it but don't come here expecting to be digging sandcastles. The beach is quite rustic with a mixture of stones and some rough sand. 

We've seen some spectacular sunsets here before and it is also a popular spot with anglers. A few years ago you could drive down to the beach, but you now need to walk down a rough track for about five minutes. 

I would certainly call the beach unspoiled and you won't find facilities or things to do at the beach apart from finding your own entertainment. 

Thorness Bay Holiday Park leads directly to the beach via this path

It's only a short walk along this footpath

Thorness Bay Holiday Park has a rustic beach rather than a sandy paradise

Sea fishing is popular at Thorness Bay Holiday Park

On site facilities at Thorness Bay Holiday Park

I would put the entertainment facilities at Thorness Bay somewhere in the middle compared to other Parkdean Resorts. It certainly isn't in their Action-Packed category of holiday park, but it has quite a few things to do without exploring beyond the site. 

The restaurant is large and has been well placed to make the most of the view. Just beneath it is a good-sized playground. Money has clearly been invested at this site. 

The restaurant at Thorness Bay Holiday Park

You get a good view from the restaurant at Thorness Bay Holiday Park

This seating can be found outside the swimming pool

The playground is just below the restaurant at Thorness Bay Holiday Park

Money has clearly been spent on the playgrounds at Thorness Bay Holiday Park

The sports courts were particularly impressive. I counted two basketball courts as well as a large football pitch. When I was staying at holiday parks as a child, all I wanted to do was kick a ball around. 

The choice of sports courts at Thorness Bay Holiday Park is excellent

We also saw a stage, which had been used for outdoor entertainment earlier in the season (we visited in late Autumn).

There's also an indoor swimming pool at Thorness Bay Holiday Park. It certainly isn't the largest pool we've been to, but it has a slide and is good fun. 

This stage was up when we visited Thorness Bay Holiday Park in Autumn 2025

Evening entertainment is included at Thorness Bay Holiday Park

This chip shop can be found onsite at Thorness Bay Holiday Park

Final thoughts on Thorness Bay Holiday Park 

We were blessed with some excellent Isle of Wight sunshine during our visit but we are objective enough to look beyond that! 

It's fair to say that we were charmed by Thorness Bay Holiday Park. The views from the site are lovely and far exceeded are expectations. It does vary somewhat depending on where you end up on the site, but lots of people will enjoy a good view from their accommodation. 

It's certainly true that it doesn't have lots of things like high ropes and climbing walls that you get at some Parkdean Resorts. However, there were discussions a while ago that these might be in the pipeline. 

For me, I like to get out and explore and the Isle of Wight has a really good range of things to do. It wouldn't put me off at all as we tend to just use the swimming pool and restaurant when we stay at a holiday park. 

The location is a key thing to understand. Some people might describe it as being in the middle of nowhere. Others would say it is secluded and peaceful. Personally, I really like the fact that it is nowhere near any busy roads. We couldn't really hear traffic noise during our stay, which always makes me feel very relaxed. 

If you want to be near to a busy resort like Shanklin then Lower Hyde or Landguard would be better. If you want to be near to beach that you might spend a day at, then Nodes Point will be better for you. 

It's also worth mentioning that in the many years that we've been visiting and reviewing holiday parks, we have generally found that Thorness Bay Holiday Park is cheaper than the other Isle of Wight Parkdean Resorts. 

For that reason you might decide to base yourself here. Nothing is very far apart on the Isle of Wight and there are some really good deals here if you look around.

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Related pages from the Holiday Park Guru

• 10 best Isle of Wight Holiday Parks
• 10 best Parkdean Resorts Holiday Parks
• ​10 best holiday parks with fishing lakes and sea fishing