Community Forums

Mike8253 · 03-22-2023, 04:13 PM

We've been planning a trip with friends to the Canadian Maritimes this coming summer, to include PEI. On Feb. 1, I made reservations at Crystal Beach CG near Summerside for 2 sites and received confirmations for both. Today I received a voicemail (sure wish I could have answered the call) stating that because of the damage from Hurricane Fiona last September, they will not be able to open for the 2023 season at all. Within the same message, they indicated that the extent of the damage may even preclude reopening the CG at all in the future. I feel very badly for them, as I image they are struggling mightily with recovery efforts, insurance claims etc. Sounds like, even as much as we want to visit the island this summer, the better thing to do for everyone involved may be to just not go. Does anyone have a better understanding than I regarding the extent of the damage to the island from the hurricane? Was it localized to certain areas of PEI? Or was the damage experienced across most of the island? Thanks in advance for any insight to what the people of PEI are dealing with.

Ray,IN · 03-22-2023, 08:18 PM

Apparently the hurricane did as much damage as it did to E Florida. You might think about other plans for 2023 until the cleanup/restoration is completed.

Mike8253 · 03-24-2023, 03:48 PM

A quick closing post on this.... After getting the notification that our CG was not going to be able to open for the 2023 season due to damages caused by Hurricane Fiona last September, I called the PEI Office of Tourism to ask about the general state of recovery from the hurricane, and to ask about the status of other campgrounds on the island. Turns out that, while the island was severely pummeled by the hurricane, they are recovering and getting back to some semblance of "normal". Seems that our CG was the only one that the Office knew of that would not be reopening this year, so I suspect there are other factors involved there as well. So, our trip is still on, and I've been able to find a nice, alternative CG to spend our time at PEI in. That's good news on all fronts.

Vermont_Darren · 03-26-2023, 11:16 AM

That's good news. We have a trip planned in July, and I hope we get to spread a little economic support to the folks of PEI to help them get going again.

bneumann · 03-27-2023, 06:18 AM

Suggestion:

ask local residents where they go to dine out for lobsters & oysters, not the internet tourist marketers.

Several years ago we went to a fishing location on the north coast for Malpeque oysters, it was in a clean rusty barn beside the boats .... only issue was that they did not have cold beer.