River Access Boat Ramp - Branford

We visited Sun. Tu.., avoiding the busy weekend . The park is out in the country which is nice. We chose a lot close to the pool/boat ramp. We really enjoyed lounging in the pool chairs overlooking the river. The pool is nicer than most campground pools. We rented a pontoon boat, exploring the rivers was fun. We enjoyed the Santa Fe and the springs better than the Suwannee. The boat had a new 150 motor and handled well. I usually use the shower house instead of the camper shower to limit wear and tear on the camper but not here. One thing that I didn't like about the 2 showers was that they were not gender controlled, the men and women share the same two showers. We enjoy grilling our meals at the campsite, we didn't eat at the onsite restaurant. We did stop in and have a cocktail, got a very good margarita. As far as the reservation/cost We originally booked 3 nights (Th Sun). We had to reschedule due to the weather. We did receive a credit. We waited for the weather to improve and showed up Sun Tu (2 nights). We were charged $212.50 for 2 nights compared to originally paying $231.00 for 3 nights. I questioned this; I was told that the rates had increased. I expected to pay the same nightly rate especially since the days we visited was less busy than a Th Sun. The staff (office, marina, bar) were all very friendly. I am torn between a 3 or 4 rating due to the pricing inconsistency. My 4 rating does not take into account the pricing issue.

The worst campground to stay at. The staff wakes you up EVERY MORNING AT 8 AM!!!! When they say quiet time is 11-8? They mean it. And don't believe the 11 pm either--the bar is still going strong. The maintenance guy sees fit to buzz through the campground on his LOUD little green truck, down almost every road, just to make sure you are all awake. He cut the grass at 8:47 am on Wednesday!!! Then he drove by at 8:05 am on Thursday. To hell with retirement at Ellie Rays. Just keep driving. There are many nice campgrounds around here. This one has seen better days. You end up standing in 5 of water in a weak shower, it's extremely loud on weekends with the bar onsite. We watched a guy get hit and hit the floor bleeding the night we went!!! My ONLY good point about Ellie Rays is the river, and thank the lord they can't wake that up or let it go. This place needs a facelift and someone to run it that actually camps... The place is more than half empty, in March. Let that sink in. Do NOT believe the reviews prior. It needs a serious update, and some staff that cares about more than a loud rowdy bar. Keep driving!

DO NOT GO TO ELLIE RAYS!!! Please what happened today, it’s long but unbelievable! A few of my friends and I decided to go out for the afternoon/evening to Ellie Rays. We were excited about ordering dinner, playing Bingo and then end the night with karaoke. We arrived at 2:30, for a 3:00 bingo game. The bar was not full there was maybe 8 people when we arrived. We sat sat out on the patio and ordered drinks and took menus to order food. Jessie, the other waitress came back with one drink and forgot who ordered it, she also forgot what one of friends ordered (a beer). By 3:00 no one had come to take our order so one of the ladies went inside to get a waitress. She found a blonde hair waitress and asked if someone could take our order. The waitress replied “no not now I’m setting up for bingo.” She told her that we had been waiting and in a snippy tone replied “everyone wants something from me but I’m busy.” Eventually, the other waitress came and took our order. We bought our cards for bingo (it’s $1 for 1 paper square and every game required you to buy new cards) and our food came out so far so good. A half hour after we had eaten, myself and one of my friends felt sick. I ended up in the bathroom throwing up and had stomach pains. My friend had the same issue, stomach pains and got sick shortly after I did. She ordered the fried clams and I ordered the shrimp basket. We didn’t know what was going on. When I was sick in the bathroom there was a woman who asked if I was okay. I told her yes and thanked her. This lady went to the owner and told him what was going on. We continued to play bingo hoping it would pass and we assessed that the grease that the seafood was bad. We were the only 2 at our table that had seafood and was sick. After playing 5 regular bingo games in three hours, yes three, we decided to leave because two of us weren’t feeling good. Jessie the waitress came by and we told her that the two of us were sick and it had to be the seafood or the grease and asked for our checks. She came back to the patio, stood in the door and LOUDLY insisted that she had served several shrimp and clams that day and everyone was fine so it couldn’t be the seafood. We were embarrassed! We didn’t raise our voices and we tried to be discreet then the waitress Jessie was snotty and obnoxious. We waited for 20 minutes for our checks. She came back to the table and Jessie arrived with our checks. One persons check wasn’t there and on my check they didn’t have the two drinks listed and double charged me for 2 shrimp baskets. Jessie couldn’t remember who had what and was flustered. She went to get the “manager.” The blonde came over and was very rude and snippy telling me that my check was right. After a rude exchange she went back to the bar. Jessie stayed outside and said “I can’t take your dinner off your bill because I need authorization and as you can see the owner is just sitting there and doesn’t help.” So my friend, who was sick, asked Jessie if the owner was on the other side she said yes and went over to talk to him.who was in cShe went over and explained to him that we got sick from our food and because we were throwing up we shouldn’t have to pay for our meal. He said “that’s too bad. Would you like a message from the bingo caller?” She said no and walked away. What kind of an answer is that?! My friend was unnerved and disgusted by his remark. After we got the correct check (15 Minutes later), my friend again went over to talk to the owner. She explained again that we both got sick. He said “it takes hours to get sick from food” which is actually inaccurate, you can get sick in 20 minutes. She then repeated that we were both sick and we shouldn’t have to pay for our dinners. He then told her “you’re banned from and don’t ever come back.” There was no screaming and yelling, we tried to be calm and kind and now we’re banned because the food made us sick? I went back to the bar and paid my bill. As I was waiting both the blonde and Jessie would’ve make eye contact or help me. Finally after waiting a bit, a third girl came

My family and I were planning on attending a group kayaking event at Ellie Rays but Hurricane Ian showed up. We called the RV park to either request a refund or a credit to be used at a later time. Later for us literally meant 2-3 days difference in our reservations. Not only was the person we talked to on the phone rude and unprofessional, but no refund and no credit could be offered in the face of an impending hurricane and the whole state of Florida in a state of emergency. Safety prevented us from going but the lack of courtesy and respect from staff ensures that we will never book there again! Campers beware!!

We paid $350 for a camping spot for the week, for an event being held at the park. But Hurricane Ian comes in and only an idiot would weather a hurricane in a pop-up. They refuse to give any refunds or credits. So far there are dozens from our event who decided it wasn’t a safe idea to go camping in a hurricane, so Ellie Rays has stolen thousands of dollars from our group. This place is run by crooks.