Big Spruce RV Park

Big Spruce RV Park is an awesome spot that has ALOT to offer. To us this place wasn’t just a place to rest and chill but to also go exploring at Netarts Bay. Big Spruce has a sweet set up that includes boat rental and crab bait. Trust me when I tell you that it is a RARE to find an RV park that can provide an opportunity to rent a boat. I called around a bunch of places looking for one that included a fishing area, it turned out that was nearly close to impossible. We hit the jackpot after talking with the Zack at Big Spruce RV Park. His personable voice had us sold just over the phone. He is energetic and very knowledgeable. He made our experience there all the more exciting. We could not wait to get started the next morning. Never did I expect to enjoy what we were going to do or expect to see how beautiful Oregon really is.

First off, this place provides you with all the amenities that you will ever need, whether it is for a short or extended stay. I didn’t need a map to get around the park because everything is clearly marked. I appreciated the signs to help me navigate around Big Spruce. As I walked about the grounds, I saw my first tiny home. I have seen them on tv but never in real life. The tiny homes look alot bigger than I thought. I could definitely see myself living in one. I enjoyed the clean bathrooms and showers the most. It felt like I had it all to myself. I spoke with Zack and his wife about the sea shell bed outside between the women’s and men’s restrooms. I thought it was a very creative way to use sea shells. Their kids actually collected all the sand dollars and shells. She said, that their kids bring back too many shells ,so they encourage guests to take some. My son perked up when he heard this. It made his day to take a few as souvenirs and presents for his nana and grandma. So on top of being kind, and enlightening, they were giving as well.

We made arrangements to meet Zack in the morning. We set up a boat rental to go crabbing. It was our first experience to go crabbing, we had never looked into it nor had ever seen how it was done. With that said, Zack was very patient and informative in giving us valuable information. My son learned so much and took away an experience he will never forget. No doubt he will want to go crabbing again and probably take his family when he is older. Early that morning after our lesson on distinguishing the difference between male and females crabs and the in’s and out’s on crabbing, Zack drove us and the boat to Netart’s Bay. The boat rental came with three hours of time on the boat, bait, three crab traps, and life jackets. The drive out on the bay was just beautiful and peaceful. These photographs are just a few that I took as we drove around the bay.

Daniel drove the boat on the calm waters while I held on for dear life. So that left Diego in charge of catching the crabs. Diego wanted to do it all, from tying down the bait in the traps to hoisting it over the boat and guide it into the water. Zack gave us a ton of frozen fish heads and chicken for bait. Diego really got the hang of it and took charge of the whole operation. It took alot of upper body strength to raise the traps over the boat and pulling the traps out of the water, but he did it and all the while with a smile on his face!

Zack gave us three crab traps and attached to the end of the rope was a buoy with a number. We had numbers 45, 46, and 47. Diego released each trap along different spot in the bay. After letting the last one go, we would drive the boat back to the first trap. After finding it, Diego would pull the trap back into the boat. I really was skeptical on if we were going to catch any crab. We didn’t have any luck fishing on our trip so I just figured it would be the same. Thank goodness, I was wrong because even though it was our first one we caught a huge male crab and it was a keeper. The biggest crab you see is called an Dungeness crab. We were so excited that we were screaming and hollering for joy. Diego was on cloud 9 after the first catch and couldn’t wait to get the other two traps. As we continued to pull the other traps we got some rock crabs, it’s the two smaller red looking crabs. Those we could keep no matter how small or big those were.

Those few hours flew by! I couldn’t believe how much fun it was being out on the boat, crabbing! As we heading back in the direction towards the pier where Zack dropped us off, I helped Diego wrap up the traps with the long, wet rope. We were so busy talking, soaking in the sun, and enjoying the scenery that we missed our turn. We ended up WAY past our spot and into some very shallow water. It was so shallow we totally got stuck in sand. Daniel took matters into his own hands and jumped out the boat. You see how shallow the water is! He had to push and guide us out of the sand. We called up Zack and told him about our dilemma and explained we might be late to return the boat. He was way cool about it, he told us to get back whenever we could. We finally get out of the shallow part of the bay, and Daniel jumps back in. I don’t know how it happen but we get stuck AGAIN! Man, we are just a mess. Once again Daniel jumps out and pushes back in the direction we need to be in. Using the google maps we were able to navigate our way back to the pier.

If you thought our adventure was over, well you’d be wrong because it just got started. You know there always has to be a big splash at the end. So Daniel drives the boat to the pier. We had Diego step out of the boat and onto the pier first. By then Zack shows up and puts his truck end down the ramp for the boat to hook up.

Next, Daniel gets up to step out of the boat, but first he gathers everything we brought with us. We had brought keys, iphones, and chips all in a water proof bag. As Daniel was about to step out, I see his hands are full. I thought why is he holding everything? Daniel takes one step onto the pier and struggled a bit to land both feet. Mind you he is still holding on to the stuff. He never holds onto something to help him keep balance. This is where he goes wrong. He loses his balance and falls head first into the water. I couldn’t believe it!!! My first reaction was, “Oh no your glasses!!” His glasses are floating on the water because of the attachment that he bought to kept his glasses a float. After I saw him pop up from the water, Diego, Zack, and I couldn’t stop laughing. Only this would happened to Daniel. I have two regrets, one-not holding the bag and two-not recording his fall. Daniel was naturally soaked and that is when I captured his soggy moment.

We made it back to the RV park and we all quickly took much needed showers. Zack took our catch back to the Fish & Crab shack to turn on the heat. Not only does Zack supply you with a boat to rent to catch crab, he can even help you cook it too. He showed us how to remove the meat from a crab and drink the buttery goodness found inside. This part our family enjoyed the most. We had the BEST time at Big Spruce RV park and we will definitely return again during the height of crab season.