6 in a beach

Aroooba · Feb 23, 2014

Hello everyone
I have 4 kids ( 11, 9, 7 and 5 years old). my question is do you think I can fit them all inside for the occasional nights stop over type camping? I think the 4th is going to be the problem so does anyone know if you can fit a 'hammock' type berth across the front seats in the same way that you can in a t2?
alternatively what is the load bearing weight of the pop up bed?

calikev · Feb 23, 2014

Hi you can get a hammock that goes between the front seats http://www.vw-beds.com/products/cab_bunk.html the roof bed will easily accommodate 2 good size adults
You could use an awning :thumb

Custardtart · Feb 23, 2014

There's 5 of us but we take tent(s) as well.

The problem with using upstairs and downstairs is you run out of space for the luggage that goes with 5 (or 6) people.

I think you can do it but it's going to be cramped.

Speedbird · Feb 23, 2014

I have four kids similar age to yours. Agree, six is doable but there is no luggage space or space to move around. Awning is your best bet if you are all camping at the same time. Great vehicle though for six, plenty of room and we add a roof box for longer trips.

maui2512 · Feb 23, 2014

We have 3 (aged 8,6,4) and while we haven't camped overnight yet, my plan for the occasional night is to have the 3 kids upstairs (or maybe 2 upstairs and 1 on a hammock as suggested earlier) and us downstairs, and then bought a really cheap pop-up festival tent which I was planning to dump all the stuff in (booster seats, luggage, seat headrests, etc) to give us a bit more space inside. And then anything above 2 nights would use the khyam drive-away awning. Or at least that's all the plan in theory!
Jane

Waldo · Feb 23, 2014

We are 6 too. We didn't go camping yet with 6, you need a trailer for the Luggage.
Manual says roof can hold up to 50 kg and be lifted but that's not true for the Beach, the roof will not hold if you put 30 kg on it, so you can't sleep upstairs. UNLESS SOMEONE FINDS A GOOD WAY TO BLOCK THE ROOF (electricially on the regular California)

zeratul · Dec 1, 2014

Waldo said:
We are 6 too. We didn't go camping yet with 6, you need a trailer for the Luggage.
Manual says roof can hold up to 50 kg and be lifted but that's not true for the Beach, the roof will not hold if you put 30 kg on it, so you can't sleep upstairs. UNLESS SOMEONE FINDS A GOOD WAY TO BLOCK THE ROOF (electricially on the regular California)

Interesting. I would also want to use a roof box on a beach. Has anyone found a solution to block the roof in a safe way so that it doesn't collapse while the kids are sleeping there?

Traveller · Dec 1, 2014

We camp with 5 in our SE, 2 adults, 2 x 8yo girls and 1 x 3yo boy. Kids up top and grown-ups below. We take a shower/toilet tent to store 5th seat, child seats etc. Luggage not a problem for w/e camping. For our one long trip to Spain (Malaga via Santander) we had a large roof box + two adult bikes on a roof rack. I didn't weigh it but estimated we were pretty close to the 50kg limit. All worked fine

I think we've got two / three more summers till awnings / tents will be needed.

jamessclarke · Oct 20, 2015

We are 6- 4 children aged 6,9,12,14 plus 2 adults in a 7 seat beach. We manage fine with sleeping 6- 2 eldest and youngest in the roof, 2 adults and 9 year old downstairs. On longer trips we use a tent to put luggage or for alternate beds.

We use a roof box but I find it needs to be empty for the roof to rise properly.

zeratul · Oct 22, 2015

jamessclarke said:
We use a roof box but I find it needs to be empty for the roof to rise properly.

So could you store all sleeping stuff in it? Pillows, matrasses, sleeping bags? Is that what you do?
I'm a little worried that when traveling on cold, rainy days, they'd start to accumulate moisture and start to smell

jamessclarke · Oct 22, 2015

I keep all bedding inside the van. Roof box is for longer to moisture stays and I empty it when we get to site. I also use a Handiduffel on the VW rear bike rack. With regard to moisture : I use drybags .

cleve · Oct 26, 2015

To all sleep in the vehicle would be cosy but doable. You might not want to for longer stays. We have 3 young children plus dog & use an mft tow bar mounted storage box as we found the beach roof didn't stay up with the roof box on & couldn't see the point in emptying it every time we wanted to pop the roof.

My middle child sleeps on a self inflating mattress across the front seats as the cab bunk restricted access to the roof bed & 2 sleep up top . The lower bed is wider & we've comfortably slept 3 of us on the lower bed. Think more than 2 on the top bed would be a bit claustrophobic!

zeratul · Oct 26, 2015

Ours are still young (2.5,4.5 and 7) and all sleep in the top. As long as one is less than 1m20 he can sleep the width of the bed near the opening (with safety net) (1m20x50cm), then the other two each have a 60cmx1m50 area.
After that we'll move one down.