In the heat and bustle of Pacific Beach in the summer, Campland on the Bay is an isolated oasis of vacation bliss. Children on bicycles rule the streets, and constant activities keep them busy. Families reunite and lifelong campers set up next to decade-long RV neighbors. Campland sits on Mission Bay off Pacific Beach Drive, where water laps the sandy shore and boats rock quietly on the marina. Only a few blocks from Grand Avenue and Interstate 5, the gated campsite feels far away from work and routine. On Friday, July 17, the camp of 600 sites is full for the night. Day visitors are not accepted in the summer months, but Pacific Beach families show up to camp along with visitors from Arizona and northern California. At 9 in the morning, campers are already in their bathing suits. Parents and grandparents lounge outside their RVs. Young teenagers race each other on scooters. Dogs run free at the dog park overlooking the sparkling bay and the adjacent Kendall Frost Wildlife Reserve. A woman swims slowly out to the dock and back. Father and son toss a football. The breeze is light and cool, and the sun is shining. The relaxed camping vibe is palpable; everyone is on vacation. “It’s our own little world,” said Kenny Johnson, the director of recreation who organizes games and activities for the campers. “You can come in here and you don’t have to leave. Parents like that.” At 10 a.m. Johnson heads to Central Park – the large grass field overlooking the bay where concerts are held and games are played – to organize tag football. Activity is the name of the game at Campland on the Bay, although the campsite is only beginning to wake up. An older man dangles his feet in one of the two pools and the two hot tubs bubble quietly. Johnson said it’s only a matter of time before the pools fill with children. The horseshoe pits, volleyball and basketball courts and children’s playground are still quiet. A teenager works on his tricks at the skate park that Campland opened July 9 at a $70,000 price tag. Teenage cousins from the outskirts of Los Angeles gather on picnic tables to cheer on their younger relative playing tag football. In their later years of high school, the cousins say they aren’t bored at Campland. They play basketball and football and swim during the day. In the evening, they watch movies in the tent, play capture the flag and hide-and-go-seek and dance at the makeshift disco. It is the 23rd consecutive year that Debbie Silba, 47, and her extended family of 50 have camped on Mission Bay for their family reunion. They occupy 10 sites. Her family comes from Barstow, a small city between Los Angeles and the Mojave Desert, as well as Berkeley, Phoenix and Tucson. Silba spent childhood summers at Campland on the Bay. “There is so much to do, no matter how old you are,” Silba said, who enjoys strolls along the bay. Johnson has begun printing T-shirts inscribed with “Campland raised” to commemorate generations of regulars that visit the campsite each year. Laurie Usselton, her husband and their three children from Mesa, Ariz. began vacationing at Campland on the Bay 18 years ago because one of their children had disabilities that prevented the family from flying to a destination. Usselton’s father and mother soon joined them in a luxurious Country Coach that always gets parked in Section I. “I’m here with my husband, three children and 50 friends,” Usselton joked. “I met them all in Section I. There are so many activities for the children. It gives them freedom. Mom doesn’t have to be breathing down their necks.” The Morel family from Switzerland came across the campsite on the Internet and had wished to stay longer but the sites are booked. Husband, wife and their 1-year old son are traveling through northern and southern California, as well as to Los Vegas. The north was too cold and Los Vegas was too hot for the Morels. “This is perfect,” Morel said. “It’s a very good location.” Campland on the Bay summer rates for RVs vary from $46 for weekend primitive sites to $399 for the fenced-off, bayside super-site. After Labor Day, daytime guests can pay $10 per person to use the site that includes the amenities and activities. For more information visit www.campland.com.