3 kids - what to do?

[Gunslinger1976]

So, here you go! Rather easy to fit once you work out where the straps go.

Fits like a glove (multimac super club junior) and with the seat as far back as it will go (without the multimac hitting the brackets for the rear shelf, which are slightly narrower than the multimac). you can even put the table up in the back if you swivel the '5th' seat a little.

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Hi, could I ask how easy the anchors are to fit and whether you did it yourself? Also, os it really quick to remove?

 

[RockinNRollin]

Why all? He still got two seats.

Doesn’t need to make up the downstairs bed at night. Peace in the evening. Peace in the daytime. Peace overnight. I remember those days….

 

[babble]

Hi, could I ask how easy the anchors are to fit and whether you did it yourself? Also, os it really quick to remove?

The ancors are very easy to fit. Just two big straps that loop around the bars at the back of the seat, then push through to the seat and get threaded into the multimac. After a few goes, I could remove it in less than two minutes, back in in less than five. But it is heavy.

 

[Tojrichards723]

Well, after ordering 12 weeks ago, our Multimac Superclub Junior was finally delivered today. Looking forward to installing it tomorrow morning.

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Hi @Camperfamily - please can I confirm if you fitted this yourself? Can I be fitted to a California Coast/Ocean without drilling any holes in the van?

Many thanks

 

[Camperfamily]

Hi @Camperfamily - please can I confirm if you fitted this yourself? Can I be fitted to a California Coast/Ocean without drilling any holes in the van?

Many thanks

I fitted myself. No drilling, otherwise I wouldn’t have considered it.

The installation instructions are here - if I recall correctly, the Cali bench is per page 6 (Regular tether):

https://www.multimac.com/files/fitting_manual_2022_1.pdf

It took me about 20 minutes, it’s very straightforward as long as you have a ratchet set.

 

[Camperfamily]

The latest evolution in our Cali adventures with 3 children… we’ve today ordered a 3-seater Beach Camper (with almost all the options on our SE). Time will tell whether this is the right choice for us, but we thought it time to give a Beach a try. Wish us luck!

After a false start with a ‘bellowsgate’ 73 plate Beach in October, we took delivery of a new 24 plate Beach earlier this week.

Planning to test the 04S (with A sticker) December 23 bellows tonight.

 

[weecamper2019]

After a false start with a ‘bellowsgate’ 73 plate Beach in October, we took delivery of a new 24 plate Beach earlier this week.

Planning to test the 04S (with A sticker) December 23 bellows tonight.

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Hi @Camperfamily, thanks for starting this thread! It has been a great read.

I was just wondering how easy it is to have 3 car seats in the back of a California Beach 3 seater? Does it have 3x ISOFIX or just 2x?

TIA

 

[Camperfamily]

@weecamper2019 3 car seats in the back of our Beach works very well for us. Our kids are at different ages; if you had 3 similar aged kids and need for 3 full baby seats it would be a little tighter, but I’m sure less so than most - if not any - other vehicle on the market.

For comparison, we also have a VW Touran and the Beach 3 seat bench is materially wider than the 3 seats in the Touran. On long journeys, we often have our eldest in the front passenger seat of the Beach and one of the adults goes in the middle of the rear bench. This is possible in the Touran, but quite uncomfortable as there’s just less space.

The only potential downside versus Touran is that Beach 3-seat bench only has Isofix on the two outer seats (ie not middle one), whereas Touran has Isofix on each of the three (individual) seats in the middle row. However, our 8 year old is now in a backless booster which is non ISOFIX so no impact for us.

Hope this helps

 

[Lambeth Cali]

Get a Beach and a pop up Cinch just to give you some space.

We used a cab bed for our then 3 yr old when we had v young baby in pop up cot in the boot. It was good for a year. Made it difficult to get into the roof and open doors.

We have 2 kids and an SE. The van issue you describe was genuinely I think part of our life planning.

 

[Camperfamily]

@Lambeth Cali I’m not sure who you were responding to. If me, then we’ve now executed the Beach part of your suggestion.

Haven’t got any tent - don’t think we need / want one, as prefer to travel light and the Beach should allow us to not need outdoor storage, but if we do get one I think it would be a Cinch hub or similar.

 

[CasaCalifornia]

Thanks to everyone who has contributed to this post, it has been a really useful read, and reassuring that I don’t need to move our beloved SE on when kid No 3 arrives!

I was interested to know if on the Cali the straps are fitted to the existing seat belt bracket mounts with eye bolts or are new mounts needed?

If anyone knows of any Superclub Jr or 1000 for sale I’d be very interested. Thanks, Chris

 

[Camperfamily]

@CasaCalifornia it’s mounted to the existing seat belt bracket with eye bolts. See ‘Regular tether’ in the instructions linked in post 105 above.

I have a Superclub Junior which I’m willing to sell now that we’ve bought a Beach. Also have the Minimac baby seat for it. I’m in Edinburgh however and not sure about shipping it as it’s (1) bulky, (2) an expensive bit of kit. Are you coming north anytime?

 

[CasaCalifornia]

Excellent, thank you. We have an office in Edinburgh on Blenheim Place that I visit every other month or so, but tend to fly from Bristol! Would it qualify as hand luggage? Haha. Shall I get in touch to see if you still have it when I am next due up there?

 

[Camperfamily]

Excellent, thank you. We have an office in Edinburgh on Blenheim Place that I visit every other month or so, but tend to fly from Bristol! Would it qualify as hand luggage? Haha. Shall I get in touch to see if you still have it when I am next due up there?

Sure, sounds good @CasaCalifornia

I tried to IM you but got an error message saying “You may not start a conversation with the following recipients: CasaCalifornia”. This might be due to your account settings, or might require you to have VIP membership - not sure.

 

[WelshGas]

Sure, sounds good @CasaCalifornia

I tried to IM you but got an error message saying “You may not start a conversation with the following recipients: CasaCalifornia”. This might be due to your account settings, or might require you to have VIP membership - not sure.

Only VIP members can message each other on the Forum.

 

[CasaCalifornia]

Only VIP members can message each other on the Forum.

Ahhh ok, I didn't realise, thank you. Time for an upgrade then. That might explain why I can't look at stuff for sale too!

 

[t6.1]

@Camperfamily this has been a riveting read, was so intrigued to see what you’d gone for when I saw you’d updated in 2023 ! I’d love to know how you’re finding the Beach having had an SE? We have 3 kids, 5 (nearly 6), 3.5, and just turned 1. We have an Ocean and it’s our only vehicle. We’re struggling now to fit car seats in now the baby is nearly ready to come out of the infant carrier. I feel we’re heading down the Beach road too. Would love to hear how you’re finding it.

 

[Camperfamily]

@t6.1 we love our Beach and its versatility. We’ve managed lots of camping trips in it since we got the latest one in April 2024 (our first Beach came in October 2023 and suffered from leaking bellows, so we returned it and re-ordered the current one).

The SE/ Ocean does have various great features - e.g. in my opinion the under bench storage is better vs Beach, lower downstairs bed vs Beach, overhead locker (none in Beach). However, practically speaking, we had outgrown the SE as a family of 5 with kids growing at a rapid rate, so didn’t have a long-term viable choice of continuing with it. Also the downstairs bed in the Beach is so much larger and we it find more versatile for different sleeping arrangements with our youngest (now 4 years old).

We found we almost always cooked outside in our SE, so don’t miss have indoor burners. We have not yet used the indoor burner in our 6.1 Beach and don’t intend to.. Initially I missed the convenience of the fixed fridge of the SE, but quickly resolved that with a Dometic CFX35 and sliding boot drawer for our Beach (attached photo of our setup from during a 3 week trip over the summer).

In summary, we have no regrets in moving to a Beach.

 

[t6.1]

@Camperfamily thank you so much for coming back to me. Really interesting. I love your set up too, that looks so neat and organised. Really helpful - thank you.