We take a family holiday to a holiday park on the beach in Filey, Yorkshire
Name
The Bay Filey Holiday Resort
Where is it?
On the North Yorkshire coast near to Filey, south of Scarborough.
What is it?
A dog-friendly holiday park where you can stay in a house or a lodge, with access to a sandy beach.
Facilities include a swimming pool, gym, restaurants, pharmacy, playground, shop and arcade.
Our lodge at Bay Filey Holiday Park in Yorkshire
Is it family friendly?
Yes, there’s lots for children to do – there’s an indoor heated swimming pool (and separate baby pool), arcade and small adventure playground. They can play tennis, basketball or football and you can book activities (for an extra charge) such as pottery painting, archery and teddy-bear making.
The arcade
Plus, of course, the beach – Hunmanby Gap Beach – is a short walk away for long, sunny days or even rainy day walks.
The beach
Is it dog friendly?
Yes, it really is and a lot of the people staying here had a dog with them. There was a box of goodies waiting in the lodge for our dog Charlie, containing a ball, travel bowl, blanket, poo bags and bag holder.
Charlie’s box of dog goodies
They are even allowed in the pub and pizza restaurant – which is good as holidaymakers are encouraged not to leave their pooches alone in the accommodation.
Although they need to be kept on a lead around the site, the beach is a perfect place for well-behaved dogs to stretch their legs and enjoy the ball from their goody bag.
Charlie on the beach
The accommodation
When you first drive into this park, it feels like you are entering a modern housing estate. There are lots of pretty houses to stay at, but further into the park, you find sections with roomy lodges.
Houses at The Bay Filey
We stayed in a four-person lodge near to the lake – larger six-berths are also available.
It had an open plan lounge/kitchen-diner with two bedrooms and two bathrooms.
Inside our lodge
One bedroom had a double bed, the other had two singles and both rooms had tvs, plus there’s one in the lounge.
A bedroom at our lodge
A sliding glass door at the front opened out on to a small outside terrace with a table and chairs and a partial view of the lake.
The outdoor terrace
The kitchen was well-equipped with an oven, hob, microwave, dishwasher and even a washing machine.
Wi-fi was available in our lodge. But it is not available in every holiday home here, so check before you arrive.
Food and drink
The kitchen in our lodge was big enough to make self-catering a breeze.
There are also two restaurants on site – a pizza restaurant and takeaway called The Four Cats and a pub called John Paul Jones – both with great menus.
The Four Cats pizza restaurant/takeaway
The woman making delicious pizzas at The Four Cats was lovely and worked so hard, with takeaway orders coming in as well as for those dining in. Two pizzas was plenty for the four of us. There is even a dessert pizza, topped with chocolate and marshmallows.
Our highlights
*Access to the beach – being able to walk to a lovely beach has to be a big tick on anyone’s holiday wishlist – see our top tips for more details of how to access it.
*Arrivals – unlike many parks, here you can arrive any day at any time of the year, even during peak times. The only requirement is that stays are a minimum of two nights.
*Dog walking – outside our lodge was a lovely meadow with paths to walk dogs and explore, plus the footpath to the beach via the cliffs and other walk along footpaths in the area.
Top tips
Activities
Activities need to be booked in advance – download the Away Resorts App to book. The tennis court also needs to be booked this way. You can start booking 21 days before your stay so make sure you download the App in advance especially during busy periods to reserve the activities you want.
Making a glitter globe activity
How to get to the beach
There are two paths to the beach from the site – the main route off Silversands Way is steep in places, not suitable for anyone with mobility issues.
The main path to the beach.
The second way, from a gate on Sunrise Way, is a longer and narrow walk with clifftop views towards the end (and steep drops). It takes you through the beach car park and past a lovely beach café at the end.
Alternative way to the beach
If you don’t want to walk too far or have a lot of beach paraphernalia to transport, you can drive a mile to the beach car park, which costs £5 for the day. There’s a steepish slope down to the beach but it’s not too far this way.
You can pay to use Portaloo-type toilets here at 20p a go.
Beach cafe
There is a beach cafe in a glorious spot overlooking the beach and sea. It serves food like toasted sandwiches, all-day breakfast, cakes and quiche and is great value. We had a lovely lunch, enjoying the view.
The beach cafe
If you are driving, turn left out of The Bay Filey and go left at the first roundabout and the car park is about 1 mile down the road.
But you will walk directly past it if you travel to the beach from the beach car park or if you take the clifftop walk from the site.
Swimming pool
You don’t need to book the pool but this can mean it is full when you arrive and you will have to return at another time, so check with staff when the best time would be. It’s a nice big pool but can get very busy and the changing rooms are a bit tight and could do with a revamp.
The swimming pool
The gym
Nearby
Hunmanby Gap Beach
The nearest attraction is obviously the beach. Hunmanby Gap Beach is a big sandy beach with a lovely café overlooking it. Great for swimming in the sea and perfect for dogs.
The beach when the tide is in
When the tide if out, you can walk from here to Filey Beach.
Filey
The traditional seaside town and former fishing village of Filey is a couple of miles away. There is a promenade and an award-winning beach. Filey Beach is dog friendly but they are only allowed on certain parts of it from the start of May to the end of September.
Filey Beach
Parking can be tricky, we parked at Filey Country Park and walked down steep steps and a steep slope to get to the beach. Attractions on the seafront include crazy golf, a bouncy castle and arcade.
Crazy golf at Filey Beach
Scarborough
Scarborough is around 25 minutes away and has beaches, a busy town centre, harbour and attractions like Sealife, Escape Rooms, Burton Riggs Nature Reserve and Alpamare Waterpark.
Alpamare Waterpark
The waterpark has an indoor wave pool and an indoor splash area with two toddler slides. There are four big water slides, one that you slide down on a mat and two on inflatables. There are also two gorgeously warm outdoor pools – which we surprisingly loved and spent a lot of time in on a cold, rainy day, while feeling sorry for the lifeguards on duty under umbrellas.
Away Resorts exclusive discount code
Away Resorts is a UK holiday park operator with 20 parks across the country in locations including Scotland, Lincolnshire, Isle of Wight, North Wales, Hampshire and Dorset, Cornwall, Hayling Island and Essex.
The company says its sites are all different but make the most of their individual surroundings.
We have an exclusive discount code for you when booking a holiday with Away Resorts until September 3 for 2023 holidays.
Use the code FAMHOLGUIDE10 for your excusive discount.
This offer excludes Away Resorts Boston West, Clumber, Gara Rock, Kenwick, Piperdam and Woodland Lakes.
The football pitch
More information
Address: The Bay Filey, 1 Moor Rd, Primrose Valley, Filey YO14 9GA
Telephone: 0330 0537000.
How to book: The Bay Filey Holiday Park
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*We received a complimentary stay for the purpose of this review, all reviews and tips are our own.
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