Looking for recommendations for a summer sleep away camp for 13 yo dd

[DVCindy]

Hi all -

I am looking for info and hopefully some recommendations for a summer sleep away camp for my 13 yo dd and a friend of hers for a week or 2 this summer. We are 1st timers ... so I have no idea where to look or what to look for. Can anyone help ??

Here's what I think we'd like to look at:

I'd prefer girls only, but would consider co-ed.
We're in NJ, so I'd like something fairly close by.
I'd prefer a non-faith based program (ex: not a predominately Christian or Jewish environment)

Any place that you kids really liked that you were happy with ?

Any help, tips, etc. will be greatly appreciated by all !

Thanks, Cindy

 

[Living with the Land]

My brother is 10 and goes to Omni Camp in Maine. He loves it but it is costly(I don't know what you were wanting to spend). He went for 2 weeks last summer and will do 4 this summer. He begged not to come home last time but my parents made him come back. If you google Omni Camp they have a great website.

Holly

 

[jenks0718]

I dont have any ideas, but it sounds like fun! I always wanted to go to sleepaway camp as a kid. I would have preferred co-ed though! I always watched those pre teen movies where you find a boyfriend at camp and you always remember him for the rest of your life. OH! To be young again!

 

[DMickey28]

I worked at Cape Cod Sea Camps in Brewster MA for years and will send my kids there. It's right on the bay, wonderful counselors and directors. It's co-ed but very seperated. There is a day camp and a overnight camp. They do not mix activities at all.

Swimminng, sailing, biking, archery, arts, woodworking, riflery (?is that a word?) the only thing they don't have is horseback riding.

It's a beautiful location, wonderful activities, modern conviences but still sticks to the basics of camping with cabins and stuff. High counselor/camper ratio. They do field trips through out the summer... the overnight camp does some great programs as well...I worked Day Camp. Seperate department heads and everything for day and overnight.

www.capecodseacamps.com

 

[DMickey28]

I worked at Cape Cod Sea Camps in Brewster MA for years and will send my kids there. It's right on the bay, wonderful counselors and directors. It's co-ed but very seperated. There is a day camp and a overnight camp. They do not mix activities at all.

Swimminng, sailing, biking, archery, arts, woodworking, riflery (?is that a word?) the only thing they don't have is horseback riding.

It's a beautiful location, wonderful activities, modern conviences but still sticks to the basics of camping with cabins and stuff. High counselor/camper ratio. They do field trips through out the summer... the overnight camp does some great programs as well...I worked Day Camp. Seperate department heads and everything for day and overnight.

www.capecodseacamps.com

I wanted to add, it's not reglious affilation. Lot's of overseas and countrywide kids. Chevy chase went there and was a counselor. Dave Matthew's kid(s) went there, a soap stars daughter was there. It's a great place!!!!

 

[frndshpcptn]

I went to Camp Timer Tops in Greeley, PA. I'm from NJ also....

It's an all girls camp (with a brither camp down the road). Went for 5 summers - loved it!

13 is a little late to start...but there are 4 and 8 week sessions so she can start with 4 and see how it goes and extend if she is happy.

 

[kcouture]

I'm looking too, my daughter is 13 and will be going with friend. We live in AZ and have family in RI, NH and CA. So far I found Cottontail Ranch in Malibu CA and it is looking good.
She went to ID tech last year and liked it but would rather just do fun this time.

 

[fairydust84]

I'm looking too, my daughter is 13 and will be going with friend. We live in AZ and have family in RI, NH and CA. So far I found Cottontail Ranch in Malibu CA and it is looking good.
She went to ID tech last year and liked it but would rather just do fun this time.

i tend to lurk and not really post but i just had to respond to this one, i went to cottontail for two years when i was 14 and 15 and absolutely loved it. The activities were amazing and so were the counsellors and i made a lot of good friends there. I would definately recommend it.

 

[samijam]

w. ALTON JONES IN WEST GREENWICH RHODE ISLAND IS A FANTASTICK CAMP. NOTHING FAITH BASED IT IS RUN BY THE UNIVERSITY OF RHODE ISLAND. MY KIDS LOVE IT. THEY ARE NOT GOING THIS YEAR ONLY BECAUSE THEY ARE SPENDING JULY WITH GRANDPARENTS IN FLORIDA.
THEY HAVE A LOT OF PROGRAMS TO CHOOSE FROM AND IT IS MAINLY RUN BY GRAD STUDENTS. EXCELLENT IF YOUR DD LIKE NATURE AND BEING OUTSIDE http://www.uri.edu/ajc/eec/camp.htm

 

[jan/cape]

http://www.taboracademy.org/pages/welcome.html
Go to the summer program link

My daughters went here as day campers. Oldest daughter graduated from Tabor and has been a Jr. Councelor for the past couple of years. Tabor Academy's summer camp offers crafts, drama, sports and academics. Kids from many different countries also attend.

 

[bsnyder]

This is a little further afield that what you said you were looking for, but here's the camp my daughter goes to in the beautiful mountains of Western North Carolina:

http://www.skylandcamp.com/index.html

DD and her cousins are 4th generation campers, and the same family has run Skyland since 1917. It's small and personalized, with only 85 campers per session.

 

[barkley]

anyone interested in the northern california area would do well to check out Leoni Meadows. it is a seventh day adventist operated camp, but beyond the strictly vegetarian menu and reserving saturdays as the day they observe the sabbath (bible stories and quiet activities) it does not push the faith on the campers. my dh went for years, we went to family camp (a week long camp for entire families-horse back riding, swimming, ceramics-all the stuff the kids do during the regular camp sessions) a couple of years ago and dd will be doing 2 weeks this summer.

whats nice about this camp is that they offer different types of camping experiences-base camp (which has them trying a little of everything), cowboy camp (you sleep in bunkhouses that look like covered wagons, eat your meals cooked from the campfire and are assigned a horse from day one which you learn to care for), indian camp (they sleep in actual large tee-pee's and do indian crafts and activities for the week), aquatics camp...
the facilities are stunning (the base camp houses are small cabins with a private kitchen and shower/bathroom and 4 bunkbeds-with a single bed for each counselor, so there is never more than 8 kids per counselor who is assigned to them for the entire week), a pool as well as a swimming hole.
the staff is incredibly well trained and highly screened (for the most part they are college students who are in education and sports programs), they have outstanding on-site medical care and i can say as a very overprotective mom that i am very impressed by their program and the supervision it provides.

the cost is very reasonable as compared to allot of the sleep away camps i've looked into, and (what i realy appreciated) was that there were no extra or hidden fees-everything was covered by the advertised fee (although you could allow a child to have money on account for charges at the camp store-though since they do NOT sell any snacks or candy i don't think the kids tend to buy as much as they do at other places).

my dd had a great time her first year, and will be going for 2 weeks this year. i think one of the things that helped her the first time (it was also the longest she's ever been away from us) was that i could e-mail her daily and she would get these along with the mail received each day at "mail call" (she could'nt email back, but just getting a personal note each day letting her know we were thinking about her helped with homesickness).

i beleive the adventist church runs camps in other parts of the u.s., and i would reccommend checking these out as well-they truly have a committment to health, education and welfare that can put a parent's mind at rest in evaluating a camp opportunity.

 

[LBAK]

Camp Echo is in the Catskills. It's a nondenominational camp and its great.
http://colemanfamilycamps.com/highcountry/about_camp/
It's worth a look on the web.

 

[SDFgirl]

www.camplaurelsouth.com

Wonderful place!!!

 

[DVCindy]

Wow - thank you all so much !!

Lots to look at now !

If anyone else has any other camps to recommend, please do. The more info I have, the better !

Cindy

 

[kcouture]

Sorry reposted this

 

[kcouture]

i tend to lurk and not really post but i just had to respond to this one, i went to cottontail for two years when i was 14 and 15 and absolutely loved it. The activities were amazing and so were the counsellors and i made a lot of good friends there. I would definately recommend it.

Thanks my daughter and her best friend will be going in June

 

[Jynohn]

You may also want to look at Camp Waziyatah in Maine. It was featured on Disney reality show called Bug Juice a few years ago and looked like such a wonderful place. Made me wish I was a kid again so I could go!

My husband went there when he was a kid and he said it was one of the best summers of his life.

 

[EthansMom]

Subscribing...We're in CT and DS will be ready for sleep away camp in a few years!

 

[2BigKIdz]

We have a camp very close to our home, it's about 20 miles east of Charlottesville, VA. It's a very large co-ed camp with lots to offer, they even have a golf course on property and offer horse back riding. Here's a linkg to their site - Camp Friendship http://www.campfriendship.com/CampFriendship-Web/DesktopDefault.aspx