New Beach owner!

[BeachLife]

Brilliant advice Borris, thank you so much. It’s exactly why we’ve got the van, for the memories and ability to just go at the drop of a hat. Will definitely look into those two options, and thank you again for taking the time to advise! Much appreciated

 

[clarinetbcn]

An inexpensive and very functional alternative to the pull out tray are the Muji drawers. I have them in my Beach thanks to @Amarillo 's recommendation.

Cali Beach - need a parcel shelf above the Multiflex board

Hi, I'm a new owner of a Cali Beach and need to use it for work as well as camping. In work mode I remove all of the bedding foam out of the back and use the Multiflex board as a shelf to keep equipment on. I need to have the contents of this shelf covered as a stipulation on my insurance...

vwcaliforniaclub.com

 

[daveyboydanger]

Ahh hello fellow beach owner!! Great to know, quick question - can you run the diesel heater all night without the van being plugged into power do you know?

yes. it can run on the 'infinity' setting and it just runs off the diesel. only needs tiny amounts of electricity from your leisure battery. you'd probably want it on low though - gets toasty!

 

[Esandar#1]

Hello!
just wanted to say a quick hi. Feel like the most excited person on the planet right now as we’re getting our first California a week Monday! It’s a 2019 Beach in Indium grey, we’re a family of 3 (have a 3 year old) and I’m so looking forward to being able to get out and explore as soon as lockdown is over. A diesel heater installation is booked in for March, currently making a list of first places to visit so would love any advice!

sorry for the waffle, thanks for having me here!
Amy

Hi Amy,
Welcome to Beach ownership! It will be an amazing source of fun and adventures for you family. The members of this forum provide an amazing source of knowledge and therefore answers to almost anything VW Camper related that you might need to know! There are plenty on here with more experiences than I but my top tips would be:

1) Get yourself some well shaped storage boxes. We have some WM boxes with clip on lids that store all pour essentials, stacked, when in the garage at home or in the van, but the beauty of them is that they will slide neatly under the van as soon as we get to site and will keep all the contents dry and everything is easily accessible. This also frees up the boot space under bed should you wish to store any valuable in there overnight (like a bag of body boards in our case) The VM boxes we have are 79cmx39cmx18cm You can get a lot of stuff in them!

2) Go with the flow! Don't overly rush out to buy accessories until you have done a few trips or some reading around this site (as there are many 'most useful / least useful' topics). That will mean you won't waste money on things you really don't need allowing you to buy the things you really will find useful.

3) We have created a diary of our adventures, no of trips, nights away, activities when there and when we research places to go, we make notes in it, things to do next time in that area etc. We have done 2 x 3 week trips to Europe where we had a decent plan of where we wanted to go and potential campsites to stay at, but pre-booked nothing as we wanted some degree of flexibility. Be bold! Planning a route that takes in attractions is definitely a fun part of the adventure too but freedom to vary the plan is just great... and the journey is part of the adventure!

Have fun
Ian

 

[BeachLife]

Hi Amy,
Welcome to Beach ownership! It will be an amazing source of fun and adventures for you family. The members of this forum provide an amazing source of knowledge and therefore answers to almost anything VW Camper related that you might need to know! There are plenty on here with more experiences than I but my top tips would be:

1) Get yourself some well shaped storage boxes. We have some WM boxes with clip on lids that store all pour essentials, stacked, when in the garage at home or in the van, but the beauty of them is that they will slide neatly under the van as soon as we get to site and will keep all the contents dry and everything is easily accessible. This also frees up the boot space under bed should you wish to store any valuable in there overnight (like a bag of body boards in our case) The VM boxes we have are 79cmx39cmx18cm You can get a lot of stuff in them!

2) Go with the flow! Don't overly rush out to buy accessories until you have done a few trips or some reading around this site (as there are many 'most useful / least useful' topics). That will mean you won't waste money on things you really don't need allowing you to buy the things you really will find useful.

3) We have created a diary of our adventures, no of trips, nights away, activities when there and when we research places to go, we make notes in it, things to do next time in that area etc. We have done 2 x 3 week trips to Europe where we had a decent plan of where we wanted to go and potential campsites to stay at, but pre-booked nothing as we wanted some degree of flexibility. Be bold! Planning a route that takes in attractions is definitely a fun part of the adventure too but freedom to vary the plan is just great... and the journey is part of the adventure!

Have fun
Ian

Hi Ian!!

Thanks so much for taking the time to write this. I wholeheartedly agree on all your points actually and while it’s fun planning and booking stuff, I love the idea of just going with the flow and if we’ve got the right gear there is nothing to stop us doing that! (Apart from this year loads of places are already booked up so we’re having to be a little more planned, but a Europe trip will be brilliant for just winging it).
Great advice on the boxes and journal too, thank you - will definitely have a look into those boxes.
It’s hard not getting carried away with looking at accessories and bits and pieces. But once we have the heater in we’ll be good to go with the very basics.
Thank you again, I’m counting down the days until we get the van! (Billy the beach, as named by my 3 year old. Could have been a far sight worse.....!!).
Thanks again
Amy

 

[Esandar#1]

Hi Ian!!

Thanks so much for taking the time to write this. I wholeheartedly agree on all your points actually and while it’s fun planning and booking stuff, I love the idea of just going with the flow and if we’ve got the right gear there is nothing to stop us doing that! (Apart from this year loads of places are already booked up so we’re having to be a little more planned, but a Europe trip will be brilliant for just winging it).
Great advice on the boxes and journal too, thank you - will definitely have a look into those boxes.
It’s hard not getting carried away with looking at accessories and bits and pieces. But once we have the heater in we’ll be good to go with the very basics.
Thank you again, I’m counting down the days until we get the van! (Billy the beach, as named by my 3 year old. Could have been a far sight worse.....!!).
Thanks again
Amy

My pleasure Amy. I have benefited so much from advice on this forum. I plan to post a piece soon based on all our Beach lessons / tips that we have learned.