116 replies to this topic

[sproston_greeen]

Not long to go now

So i thought a wee thread for people to suggest stuff that is needed or useful to take or buy when you get there to survive camping in that heat!!

So i'll start with....

• Suggesting not too bring too many clothes, you won't need more than 1 pair of jeans, shorts and swim shorts. travelling light will help you when you've got a tent to cart through the town
  
• Shower at the waterpark or on the beach to beat the queues at the campsites
  
• If you're there early enough to buy a cool box - DO IT!
  
• Sleep outside on a li-lo or if you can get 2 trees, a hammock. It's too hot to sleep in the tent, use the tent for storage

So what are you bringing that you think you just can't do without?

[wiz]

Reading material for the beach
My shades

[LandanTan]

How much are the cool boxes? and also how do you re-freeze them or do you have to keep buying ice packs?

This thread is a great idea by the way especially for a first timer like me.

Thanks

Edited by LandanTan, 23 June 2009 - 10:50 PM.

[Doohicky]

LandanTan, on Jun 23 2009, 11:49 PM, said:

How much are the cool boxes? and also how do you re-freeze them or do you have to keep buying ice packs?

This thread is a great idea by the way especially for a first timer like me.

Thanks

Most cool boxes I have got on joliday are basically foam boxes. No ice in them. It works by stopping the warm air from touching the cool drinks. It just keeps the temp down, doesn't actually cool them per say.

My thoughts

If you have a large group of people, bring some bedsheets (Or similar). Tie these between the tents to create a shaded area which you can lay down in. Should be much cooler than the tents.
If there are trees, then tie to them higher up for better airing.

Make Sangria! Buy those big bottles of water, when one is empty, simply cut up lots of fruit and shove in bottle along with cheap ass Red wine. Add fruit juice. Leave overnight. It won't be comparable to proper stuff, but will be a really refreshing alcoholic drink for the warm days.

Bring wet wipes!

Don't lock your tent. Anyone who wants in will get in. A lock just screams that there are valuables in there.-

[TomKelly]

I've been told to go to the Lidl and buy some cheap plastic chairs.

I like the idea of cool box. But speaking of keeping booze cool, what sort of prices are we looking at for, lets say, a 24pack of whatever they have?

[Tombeni]

The cool boxes are about 15 euro from what I Can remember. If you buy a couple of bags of ice at lunch time it will stay cold until you leave for the arena and probably still be coolish when u get back

We got sick of queneing for the showers last year so started using water bottles. If you fill up 3 or 4 2l bottles with water from the sink then leave them in the sun for half an hour the water warms up, then just get a mate to hold them over you....

Id agree with sproston_greeen though, the waterpark is defo the best place to have a good shower/shave etc.


If your on a budget, bottles of vodka are only about 3.80 euro from lidl.

[Joseph88]

Has anyone used one of them solar showers, seems like a good idea but might be hassle

What do people do about charging Ipods and such?

Is it worth me taking a blowup bed or is a lilo just as effective?

Thanks

[Tombeni]

Joseph88, on Jun 24 2009, 10:37 AM, said:

Has anyone used one of them solar showers, seems like a good idea but might be hassle

What do people do about charging Ipods and such?

Is it worth me taking a blowup bed or is a lilo just as effective?

Thanks

Not sure about the campsite by the arena but at Benicamp there are plugs up at the bar where u can charge phones/ipods etc. Only thing is u have to stay up there whilst they charge to be sure they dont get pinched. If u take a few drinks up in the evening though its fine..... as long as they arnt all being used by girls straightening their hair haha.

If you can fit a blow up bed in ur bag its probably better (less likely to burst and u dont stick to them). Lilo is fine though, especially given the time your actually asleep at the campsite.

[olly236]

we had a solar shower last year and it was a joke. we used it once and it was just a cold trickle. just stick to the normal showers, they are cold too but at least they get you wet

[westy_2]

First time to Beni for me...are there any lockers around at all, or does everyone generally just keep their valuables (passport, money) on them?

Thanks, really looking forward to it!

Edited by westy_2, 24 June 2009 - 03:54 PM.

[the_derminator]

sproston_greeen, on Jun 23 2009, 05:59 PM, said:

[*]Suggesting not too bring too many clothes, you won't need more than 1 pair of jeans, shorts and swim shorts.

Try telling my missus that

[dande]

Few things I've learnt over the years there (5th time going - always stayed at Benicamp)

If you take a tent, make sure you pitch it, so that the opening is pointing towards the beach. If you have a front and back door then you can always get a decent breeze through, that will give you an extra couple of hours sleep.

Airbed is a must as well, if you miss out on the grassed, tarpaulin bits of camping, you will be on rocks, or a path.

Never a problem with the showers at the top end of Benicamp - no queue's - only problem is, like all the showers there - they are freezing in a morning, yet amazingly refreshing mid evening.

Few clothes is a definite top tip, there's a long gravel path to walk from either, the bus or train station, and wheeling a bag can be a nightmare.

When pitching your tent, just make as much mess as you can with your bags, to keep your space. They often don't let you in with your big bags, so sleeping bags, tent bags, your t-shirts, shoes etc, can all "Mark your territory". 2 years ago, saw a group of girls who had the best idea - self inflating airbeds. They just got the airbeds out, inflated them, led on them watching everybody else scramble over the remainder of the space. Then when they'd all finished, put up their tents, and had plenty of space around them.

The orange juice in a morning is a life saver, but don't drink too much, or it will get messy.

Other than that, reckon you'll cope. I have a mate going for the first time, and I get the feeling he's dreading it a bit, but after the first day, you'll get used to it, and love it.

Enjoy

[dande]

Oh - couple of other things. The queues for the buses and trains on the Monday morning, can be hellish - leave plenty of time to get them and be at your airport / train station of choice. The queue stretches a long way.

There are lockers - just be careful on the opening times - especially on the Monday morning, if you need to escape quickly.

[soupspice11]

does anybody know what the deal is with parking for the week i am driving from barcelona

[bluesmith]

dande, on Jun 24 2009, 06:09 PM, said:

There are lockers - just be careful on the opening times - especially on the Monday morning, if you need to escape quickly.

Any idea on cost of these, are they likely to get broken into?

[sproston_greeen]

TomKelly, on Jun 24 2009, 10:09 AM, said:

I've been told to go to the Lidl and buy some cheap plastic chairs.

I like the idea of cool box. But speaking of keeping booze cool, what sort of prices are we looking at for, lets say, a 24pack of whatever they have?

The chairs go fast as well, but like dande said, you need to make sure you do all you can to keep enough space cos they're pretty strict when it comes to the camping. they lined us up at the entrance 2 years ago, asked how many of us there were and how many tents. and they insisted on not letting us put up tents for mates still to get there. but every person in the group just say your own your own or whatever.

Joseph88, on Jun 24 2009, 10:37 AM, said:

Has anyone used one of them solar showers, seems like a good idea but might be hassle

What do people do about charging Ipods and such?

Is it worth me taking a blowup bed or is a lilo just as effective?

Thanks

i took a solar shower before, it's useless if your just holding it, but if you bring string and tie it to a tree the gravity gives you a bit more pressure. it's still not the best but if it's just a quick wash it's ideal

there's also plug points in the toilet and shower blocks. but all the ones in the guys seemed to be taken up by straighteners

if you have space for a blow up bed, take it!

westy_2, on Jun 24 2009, 04:54 PM, said:

First time to Beni for me...are there any lockers around at all, or does everyone generally just keep their valuables (passport, money) on them?

Thanks, really looking forward to it!

lockers at the entrance to benicamp, but not sure what they cos or anything

the_derminator, on Jun 24 2009, 05:06 PM, said:

Try telling my missus that

so you'll be taking half her stuff as well then

soupspice11, on Jun 24 2009, 08:40 PM, said:

does anybody know what the deal is with parking for the week i am driving from barcelona

jungle rules

bluesmith, on Jun 24 2009, 09:25 PM, said:

Any idea on cost of these, are they likely to get broken into?

there's always someone at the portakabin

[sproston_greeen]

another tip, and this may ruin it for me. you'll know what i'm on about in a minute....

bring a few packs of rocket balloons, really!!! not only are they funny as f**k, but they're a great marker for when you're in the crowd and trying to find someone. beats having a flag in front of you, which is not really done at beni anyway. but blow a balloon up and hold it and you can see it no bother. was a life saver 2 years ago.

you can get them on ebay for cheap, i just got 144 for £11.90

Another tip, get some sort of pouch thing like a packet of wine you get in suermarkets but fill it with vodka so you can sneak vodka or the like in. heard the screw cap capri suns are also good for this because they're smaller and easier to hide!

[duwey]

sproston_greeen, on Jun 24 2009, 09:19 PM, said:

Another tip, get some sort of pouch thing like a packet of wine you get in suermarkets but fill it with vodka so you can sneak vodka or the like in. heard the screw cap capri suns are also good for this because they're smaller and easier to hide!

How strict are they about this? Eg stuffing a 2 litre bag of wine down ur shorts may look a bit obvious but do they really care?

Alternatively, we're thinking of going for Camp Fib so would it be pretty quick and easy to pop out of the arena to down a few beverages between acts / if there's someone on we're not bothered about seeing??

We're spending a week driving down thru france so we're gonna hav spent loads of money already so cant afford to buy drinks in the arena. Cheers for the help!

[moorz]

First timer aswell, just wondering about the different campsites people are talking about, benicamp, camp fib, etc. Are these the standard campsites or alternative sites? I have a 4-day camping ticket, does anyone know what campsite this is and is it a nightmare or not too bad??
Also i'm driving up first thing on the Thursday morning from Barcelona, what will it be like in the campsites by then, will I still get a spot?

And finally I went a bit nuts and bought a vip ticket, dunno why, but this gives me access to the vip car park, does anyone know if this car park is close to the campsite and would it be secure enough to keep stuff in the car rather than the tent or lockers??

Any info would be great, cheers.

[CmdrGravy]

moorz, on Jun 25 2009, 04:12 PM, said:

does anyone know what campsite this is and is it a nightmare or not too bad??

You can, technically, camp in any of the campsites. In practice they fill each one sequentially starting with Bonet - the one furthest from the arena so the one you end up in really depends what day you arrive. On a thursday this will probably be the one next to the arena.

The campsites are good, shower blocks, toilets, shops selling water, ice, food, booze, fags etc and there is even some shade here and there.

moorz, on Jun 25 2009, 04:12 PM, said:

does anyone know if this car park is close to the campsite and would it be secure enough to keep stuff in the car rather than the tent or lockers??

I don't know where the VIP car park is but the normal car park was round the back of the main stage when I used it, there's wasn't any sign of any sort of security at all when I dropped the car off or picked it up - not even an attendant, you just follow the signs, park up and off you go. I had no problem leaving stuff in the car, you should be fine.