Beach to an Ocean: About to upgrade... I think!

[Heiney]

Hello All,

We have a T5 Beach which we bought as a demonstrator at 1 year old with 6,000 miles on it. We've had it for about 18 months now and LOVE Heiney very much indeed. We've done short weekend trips, used him to stay in at friends houses and have taken him over to Italy. He's been a seven-seater bus for hen do's and has carried randomly large eBay purchases. Heiney is great - the extra space in the back seating area is good for our two dogs, but the one thing that continues to bug me (and the other half) is that to camp anywhere means unpacking the boot to even make a cup of tea or something for dinner - which is both time consuming and in the rain, very testing indeed and as our adventures are getting further afield into other parts of Europe, we are finding it to be getting quite restrictive for the trips where you spend one night here and there as you tour down.

So, we have been tentatively looking at upgrading to a T6 Ocean; it would mean its easier to just 'park up' and the open the bottle of wine. We have found a really nice one, decent price, great spec, air con in the back for the dogs (something that we realised that we needed on our trip down to Italy) and we've been offered a fab price for our Beach, but something is stopping us from jumping straight in. Maybe its the emotional attachment to Heiney (after all , he has been our introduction into the Cali lifestyle), maybe its the worry that there won't be quite as much space for the dogs in the back (have you noticed that our Cali adventures are all about the dogs yet? ), or maybe its because the Beach is so versatile and we would lose some of that with an Ocean

Has anyone else gone from a Beach to an Ocean (or the other way!)? What were your motivations for doing it, and how do you feel about it now that you've done it? Any thoughts would be hugely appreciated!

Thanks in advance

 

[andyinluton]

As you've already got the beach why not consider putting in a removable kitchen pod - have a look at maxcamp for example. It may give you the best of both worlds.

 

[Jonathan Duke]

Sounds like a sensible quandary..... We have a Beach, and we love the extra bed width and space for dog also.... There's just the 2x of us plus one small dog. We have the parking heater also, which is a must IMO.

Changing vehicles, will always cost something, as dealers need to earn a living etc...... Perhaps hiring an Ocean for the weekend, would be a worthy "insurance" investment.

We keep our cooking gear, not all of it, but enough for a toastie, soup & a cuppa, in a box in the van at all times (it sits behind the drivers seat, on the floor.) We have a compressor fridge in-between the two front seat also. This allows us to pop the table, setup the gas camp stove and get lunch/cuppa sorted pretty quickly, without having to open the tailgate and dig for the gear.

We had the same conversation..... My other-half, suggested she would also miss being able to lie across the 3-seat rear bench seat.... We watch movies, on wet nights, which are projected onto the sliding-door blind. Sarah, lies with her feet up on the beach seat to watch. She says she would miss this, or not be as comfortable on a 2-seat bench. We also like the full width lower bed, we find the upstairs bed OK, but prefer the extra width.

I would have an Ocean any day, they are both brilliant vehicles..... I'm also 100% happy with my Beach.....

Good luck with your decision!

 

[Borris]

You'll gain a very nicely finished fitted kitchen with storage facilities along with some other very nice features but at the cost of some of your present space and flexibility...........and you'll still have to get out to turn the gas on!

We've owned both versions at the same time. We have since sold the SE but only due to our not having had sufficient time to use it as much as we had intended and because the Beach better suits our current circumstances. I would happily buy either version again. However, I must say that we have found the Beach to be a much more flexible and versatile vehicle for other family/household related duties outside of the camping arena. When used for camping, either versions are excellent but the SE/Ocean does it with a lot more style albeit with less space.

I hope that helps.

 

[MattBW]

There is definitely no perfect solution and each has its strengths and weaknesses. We pondered a ocean (i would like a coast) but we've had traditional vans too and just love the extra space in the beach.

There are some relatively inexpensive pods you can get to fit inside now, I dont know how useful they really are as I've never seen one.

I opted for a slidepod in the end and we have loved it to be fair. In all honesty I had some reservations about bad weather and were originally waiting for the inslidepod that Jonny was hoping to finalise. However they've had such a massive couple of years of growth such that he hasn't had time. We decided to just bite the bullet and go for it and maybe get an internal pod later if one is released (in matching blue). We havent been disappointed.

We also got a nice lightweight awning via the club (Outdoor Revolution tail awning) for longer stays or if we are expecting bad weather.

We do have a CampingGaz bistro that we can take with us if we want to make a cuppa inside but Ive been considering an alpkit as a smaller space saving option.


Posted a review when we first started using it for anyone interested
https://vwcaliforniaclub.com/threads/a-weekend-with-our-beach-and-slidepod.17948/

 

[Romke]

Has anyone else gone from a Beach to an Ocean (or the other way!)? What were your motivations for doing it, and how do you feel about it now that you've done it?

After 3 years we swapped our Beach for a Coast . Main reasons: having food and cooking facilities available without leaving the van, and the electric roof (standard on the French Coast). We sacrificed the large bed but so far are happy with the narrower one (we sleep downstairs). So far we've had only four nights but we're about to leave for a 4-6 week trip to Spain and Portugal so time will tell. We have one big dog (Golden Retriever) that travels on the floor in the living compartment and sleeps on the front seats.
A tip if you have the 3-seat bench and you want to hang on to your Beach: a bistro cooker plus a spare cylinder fits in the space of one of the 3 drawers, so you can cook and boil a kettle without going outside.

 

[Heiney]

Hello everyone, and thanks for your comments. It's certainly given us lots to think about.

We've decided to make the jump; Heiney will be 'getting a new suit' - which gets round the emotional attachment issue at least, and the dogs will get to travel in coolness with rear climate in lieu of a bit of extra seat / floor space. To get around the reduced floor space downstairs at night time (which is where the hounds usually sleep at night) we will simply make up the downstairs bed for them (Spoilt little beasts - i know!!!).

The new Cali should be ready for us next week, and by all accounts, it looks like we were lucky too as it is its a pre-registered van in Nov 2017.

It will be sad to drive away and see 'old Heiney' left at the dealership, but he's a great little van and is going to have some amazing adventures with a lovely new family in no time, I am sure!

Obligatory 'our new Cali' photos to follow on a new thread when we pick up 'new Heiney'!

 

[sidepod]

Possibly the first Beach/Ocean punch/up of ‘18?

 

[larrylamb]

Possibly the first Beach/Ocean punch/up of ‘18?

1-0 to Ocean

 

[Hotel California]

....very delicate situation ....
Did you conciderd the Coast .....the best of both worlds...!

 

[larrylamb]

....very delicate situation ....
Did you conciderd the Coast .....the best of both worlds...!

Not much chance of a Coast in the UK as you know, but the OP did well by buying a pre reg Ocean, no waiting around for a new one especially at the moment.

 

[CampervanTime]

Don't keep us all in suspense then... what is the new Ocean like? Spec, colour etc please !!

 

[Hotel California]

Not much chance of a Coast in the UK as you know, but the OP did well by buying a pre reg Ocean, no waiting around for a new one especially at the moment.

Yes with the latest VW story the 2nd hand and demo-car prices wil not go down but up imo.

 

[sidepod]

Yes with the latest VW story the 2nd hand and demo-car prices wil not go down but up imo.

Never mind that HC, tonight’s tipple

http://www.audemus-spirits.com/spirits/#others

Cheers.

 

[Heiney]

Don't keep us all in suspense then... what is the new Ocean like? Spec, colour etc please !!

It's a 150dsg in Oryx White. It has the shower (handy for muddy paws), ACC, 18inch Springfield wheels, LED headlights, discover media, reversing camera (for me!) and privacy glass. It is almost the exact spec that we would have chosen ourselves, so we just got really lucky I think!

After having the DSG in 'old Heiney' that really was the most important thing, and with addition of the ACC hopefully 'new Heiney' will be a dream on the drives through France. We already had a trip planned at Easter to head down to Menton / Ventimiglia so we'll get to put it to the test very soon!

 

[Jonathan Duke]

It's a 150dsg in Oryx White. It has the shower (handy for muddy paws), ACC, 18inch Springfield wheels, LED headlights, discover media, reversing camera (for me!) and privacy glass. It is almost the exact spec that we would have chosen ourselves, so we just got really lucky I think!

After having the DSG in 'old Heiney' that really was the most important thing, and with addition of the ACC hopefully 'new Heiney' will be a dream on the drives through France. We already had a trip planned at Easter to head down to Menton / Ventimiglia so we'll get to put it to the test very soon!

Lovely!! Wear well!!

My Beach is Oryx white, love it..... It felt like an indulgent colour choice at the time, but we don't regret it. My OH picked the colour, I picked the 17" wheels, both decisions were on the "nice-to-have" list.

Sounds like you've bagged a great spec Ocean, enjoy your future travels! And please report back in due course, on your experience with the Ocean compared to Beach.

We may consider changing to a Coast (purchased from Rep. of Ireland) in a few years time.

 

[2haw]

It's a 150dsg in Oryx White. It has the shower (handy for muddy paws), ACC, 18inch Springfield wheels, LED headlights, discover media, reversing camera (for me!) and privacy glass. It is almost the exact spec that we would have chosen ourselves, so we just got really lucky I think!

After having the DSG in 'old Heiney' that really was the most important thing, and with addition of the ACC hopefully 'new Heiney' will be a dream on the drives through France. We already had a trip planned at Easter to head down to Menton / Ventimiglia so we'll get to put it to the test very soon!

Oryx and 18" Springfield alloys is a lovely combo. Are you trading the Beach in or selling privately?

I've started fancying a new Beach.. love mine but fancy Candy White, 18" Springfields and want the Black interior. Will look into it more in the next few months once this registration issue has been resolved. Will be interesting to see what discount is available and what price I will get for mine!