I think it’s pretty fitting that Emma, Kelly, Rebecca and Angie’s travel link up this month is a room with a view, because I wanted to share the amazing views we had camping in Wales. I know it may not necessarily be a “room” per se, but it was a great place to stay, and every morning when you woke up, you really couldn’t beat the views of the mountains and the sea.
Shell Island is campground is in the Snowdonia National Park in Wales, and was originally a farm way back in the day. In 1958 it was bought by the same family who run the campground today, and camping is available on over 300 acres. It’s huge! It is touted as being for families and couples and as such is fairly quiet for a campground. A couple rowdy parties must have got around the rules though because Saturday night near us there was a bit of a rave going down. We didn’t mind though as they respected the quiet hours at 11.When you arrive, you can pretty much set up your tent wherever you want, other than on the actual beach. People are really respectful and don’t set up their tents right on top of yours, which is great as you feel like you’ve got your own little chunk of the island. With it being so big though there’s more than enough spots for everyone.
Since we set up at night and it was pitch black, we were ecstatic when we woke up the next morning to the mountains on one side of us, and over the little road to the sea. I spent the morning sitting on the rocks reading just soaking it all in. 
Soooo many shells! Why it’s called Shell Island no doubt.
Another good thing about camping near the beach, is amazing sunsets. We were back at the campground early enough on the Saturday night to catch one and it was really worth it. Since Shell Island is accessed by a causeway, you have to make sure you know the tide times to get on and off it. It tends to just be a few hours you won’t be able to leave or return, we missed the 7:20 deadline to get back on the Island Sunday night so spent a couple hours in a nearby pub until we could go back at 10:20. So you’ve always got options in case you’ve got to wait to return.As for amenities at the campground, I was a little annoyed that there was one shower block for the whole of the island. Especially since it wasn’t open at all hours, and only during certain times. I woke up early Sunday to get in at the opening time of 8 to find out that it was already open, but only had to wait about ten minutes for a shower. Fran and Helen went a bit later though and waited an hour! It would have been nice if they were open all the time as we had tried to go at 11 Saturday night thinking we might miss crowds and it was closed.
There are toilet blocks situated all over so you never need to go very far which is good. At the main entrance there is a little restaurant, pub, convenience store and camping store which I thought were pretty handy for a campground and definitely made it feel more like a holiday destination. If we weren’t so eager to explore Snowdonia we could have happily stayed at the campground and entertained ourselves. I mean, that beach!
