Which marina?

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Barb

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Thinking of renting houseboat for 40 yr anniversary, so occupants would be 2 in 60s and 5 in 20s,30s. What are the pros and cons of the 2 marinas, Wahweap and Bullfrog? Is one area more scenic than the other? Any opinions on 3 vs 5 day trip?
 
Hello Barb,
Excellent choice for for your fortieth and congratulations.

Both are absolutely beautiful but somewhat different.

Wahweap tends to have more services I think, Bullfrog is quite remote and limited. Also Page with all it's services and convenient shopping is available from Wahweap too. In Page you can easily wait to do your shopping for the trip, with Safeway and Walmart being there. Bullfrog only has snack food available other than the restaurant at Defiance house, so you will need to bring everything with you and if something important is left behind, you will likely have to go without it.

If you are okay with camping in the openness of Bullfrog bay or the Wahweap bay area, ( both are somewhat exposed to wind and constant wave action) then either is an okay choice that way. It is preferred by most to get away to a private and calmer spot. This to me is one of the biggest differences in the two: at Wahweap it is not as far to find a nicer spot. Leaving the Bullfrog area it is two hours going south to find any camping ( Iceberg/ Slickrock canyons area), and similar heading north.

Do not short yourself on time. If it is within your budget and time constraints, I would recommend even longer than 5 days. 3 days will go by like no time at all and will only leave you all wishing for more time. ( Some of us have trouble leaving after two weeks there. ) Considering that one day on each end of the trip will be spent largely on acquiring and familiarizing you and your crew with the boat, arranging gear/food etc. and then getting to a good camp spot and then getting back, turning in the boat etc. 3 days would really only leave one free day to enjoy. Although I have always enjoyed the time chugging along on the way to a camp also.

Be sure to tie the boat to the shore like your life depends on it. Storms can come up quickly and a loose boat in a storm can be very scary and dangerous. If you are secured to the beach properly, a storm is no big deal. Just batten down and let it pass. Please be aware that as Beautiful as Lake Powell is, it can be hazardous if not treated with due respect.

I hope I haven't left you feeling intimidated, it is totally doable and will be a treasured time for you all!!

In closing you need to be aware of the following; WARNING; Lake Powell is absolutely addicting!

Hope this is helpful, I'm sure others will help with good advise too. You have the time of your lives!!

Fish Finder.
 
"Leaving the Bullfrog area it is two hours going south to find any camping ( Iceberg/ Slickrock canyons area), and similar heading north."

What?
Obviously you have never been to Bullfrog.
There are a ton of houseboat sites minutes away not hours from Bullfrog.
 
That' why I didn't dare reply, only know one end of the lake and didn't want any northenders growling at me.
 
Todd said:
"Leaving the Bullfrog area it is two hours going south to find any camping ( Iceberg/ Slickrock canyons area), and similar heading north."

What?
Obviously you have never been to Bullfrog.
There are a ton of houseboat sites minutes away not hours from Bullfrog.
Click to expand...

As someone new to the Northern side and to possibly help Barb in planning; Can you expand on beach/spots that aren't in BF Bay or Halls bay at this water level? Thanks!
 
Cray10 said:
As someone new to the Northern side and to possibly help Barb in planning; Can you expand on beach/spots that aren't in BF Bay or Halls bay at this water level? Thanks!
Click to expand...

Those are definitely the closest.

Other spots like fish finder said are Moki,knowles, cedar, lake, Hansen, iceberg and the Rincon.
But they are farther away than Bullfrog and Halls.
 
Todd said:
Those are definitely the closest.

Other spots like fish finder said are Moki,knowles, cedar, lake, Hansen, iceberg and the Rincon.
But they are farther away than Bullfrog and Halls.
Click to expand...

My only point was there are spots less than 2 hours each way from bullfrog
 
Cray10 said:
As someone new to the Northern side and to possibly help Barb in planning; Can you expand on beach/spots that aren't in BF Bay or Halls bay at this water level? Thanks!
Click to expand...

We don't really know when the OP will be on the lake, so it's hard to say what will or will not be available (based on either water level or seasonal crowds). However, close-by spots that may be available can be found in Moqui, Hansen, Crystal, Forgotten, & Knowles (going about as far north as Slick Rock is to the south). Heading south, before getting to Slick Rock, Annie's Canyon is one of our family's favorite places.

I think both ends have pros and cons. @Barb, where are you coming from? Sometimes that's the biggest determining factor.

Either way, you'll love Lake Powell!

Maybe with some additional info from you, we can offer more advice.

Take care!
 
We are flying from New Orleans. So it sounds like the Wahweap area would be more practical from the logistical standpoint of gathering supplies, etc.??
 
Barb said:
We are flying from New Orleans. So it sounds like the Wahweap area would be more practical from the logistical standpoint of gathering supplies, etc.??
Click to expand...

And a reasonable trip from the nearest airport! I think you've made the right choice!
 
As an aside to which marina, Bullfrog, Wahweap or Antelope Point your travel plans may figure in.

Options getting to Page:
  1. Flying directly into Page is possible on Great Lakes Airline which is the only one. It's a puddle jumper airline that connects to the majors from either Denver or Phoenix. I have found the flight times to be better going/coming through Denver vice Phoenix but it would depend on your situation. Sometimes prices are decent and sometimes not.
  2. Flying into Phoenix and driving to Page takes about 4 hours on the road not counting any stops.
  3. Flying into St George and driving to Page takes about 2+15 on the road. Sometimes you can get a pretty good deal flying into St George and sometimes not. Two majors choices are Delta connecting through Salt Lake or United Connecting through Denver.
Those are pretty much the best choices getting to Page.. Hope that helps,
Goblin
 
Hey Todd, you couldn't be more wrong, you know what they say about assuming?

I have been to Bullfrog , more times than I can count. I did mention the windy, wavy camping in the immediate Bullfrog/ Halls area, certainly not my idea of good camping spots, but hey that leaves more room for you right?

Maybe you could try to read more carefully and not lash out at some one offering advice and trying to help.

Apparently you may be a little touchy about "your"end of the lake.? It certainly was not my intention to dis it. As I said I indeed have been to and house boated around the north area for 40 yrs. We moved our operations to the south end several years ago, and we haven't missed the 4+ hour drive to get there nor the limited camping and lack of services. But hey to each his own.

This isn't about which end is better for you or me but what may work best for Barb.

Have you been to the Wahweap area? I won't just assume you haven't. Either way there is a heck of a lot more good camping spots within an hour or less on the south end and unless they (Barb's group ) want to spend half of the precious little time they may have chugging to a decent spot, I would still recommend the south end. If they need to buy much of anything, (which it seems they will as they are flying in ) they wont' find much at the north end either.
Sorry if it offends you but the south end does have advantages that way.

Fish Finder
 
Now, Now Girls, You're both pretty. However, I agree with Todd that there are perfectly acceptable houseboat camping spots within 2 hours of Bullfrog/Halls. Try not to take everything personally FF, you made a pretty broad statement("Leaving the Bullfrog area it is two hours going south to find any camping") based on your opinion and minimal info from the OP and got called out on it. Let's try and move on with our lives.
 
Sorry if I offended you "girls" of the north! It is indeed an opinion as to which is better. I still stand by mine that for their situation Wahweap will be much better. After all isn't that the purpose of this thread? I think we have hi jacked this thread enough, to each his own.

Barb,
I am confident you have made the right choice for your trip and hope you have a wonderful time! Please forgive our Girls spat.
FF
 
Waweap has half off houseboat rentals during non peak season, north end seemed pretty limited in rentals for size we needed. Also depending on your schedule you can pay extra to unpack and sleep on boat at slip the night before, and maybe do the walk through that day too, or first thing on day of departure can save lots of time.
 
Outside is correct. If you book early enough you may get a boat that fits your needs for 1/2 price. Beware that the rental is non-refundable. We rented a 46' houseboat for five days which included a pre -board for well under $3ooo. I had to be a little pushy to get our instruction on the afternoon before our departure but that allowed us to leave at daybreak instead of probably 9:30 am.. Tips go along way to meet your goals. I offered $175 for the pre-board and stated that our trip revolved around that price being accepted. Normal pre-board is $350 but they accepted my offer. We lost a little food because of the fridge not being right(some of our vegetables froze) when I brought that up they deducted $100 form our total bill. The 4 strokes sip fuel. Each persons total bill was around about $320, not bad for 5 days on the lake. We towed 3 fishing boats behind the houseboat and 4 guys chose to sleep on the top deck,I was one of them and it was heavenly. The cost did not include food or drinks. Our goal was fishing so not to many gourmet dinners unless you really like hotdogs, we all do. Anyway hope this helps..Main thing is don't be shy cause they aren't shy about coaxing the money out of your wallet. Top deck sleeping only works with comfortable temps.
 
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