Island Getaway (Gunn Island)

La Mar was such a kind and helpful host! He set up a really wonderful and comfortable campsite, full of amenities like an outdoor shower and citronella tiki torches, and brought us water and showed us how everything worked when we arrived after our paddle there.

The site is beautiful and fun! We napped in hammocks, watched red winged blackbirds, bald eagles, and fiddler crabs, painted with water colors, and went out for an evening paddle the second night we were there. There isn’t much hiking to do on the island — and while it is private, it’s not super remote (we could hear some nearby traffic). That said, I would happily return! It was the restful bonding weekend we needed.

Doesn’t get much better than a private island! We had the best time camping here. The canoe paddle to the island was beautiful, and the amenities like the shower and water were so helpful. Highly recommend taking a trip up the river to Dover for lunch/sightseeing. La Mar was a wonderful host, couldn’t be more kind and helpful. Some of our wildlife sightings included bald eagles, otters, herons, turtles, and osprey.

It was an absolute dream come true to camp on a private island! A lot of work has been done to make this place a lovely get away (more even than needed for us minimal hipcampers): an outdoor half open shower, benches around a fire pit, drinking and showering water, a swing bench, tiki torches, walking trails around the island, a hammock, a canoe to get to the island and around in general..there’s even a generator (which we didn’t use).

Highly recommend this place.

It took about 40min for 2p to canoe from the public boat launch to the island (and back). We also canoed to downtown Dover for DE pride and it was amazing to arrive downtown by canoe.

I hope you pick this place to enjoy with your loved ones as it’s an incredible experience.

Thanks La Mar!

Response from La Mar, the Host, on June 10th, 2022

IIona, it was a blessing to have you, and my heart is filled with joy to learn that you both enjoyed our river island getaway. Please come back soon :-)

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Short and easy canoe ride, La Mar can even help with your camping gear if you dont want to travel light. Great views, and no one else on the island. Truly secluded camp, Cold shower was greatly appreciated on a warm day. Enjoy relaxing and enjoying the views, we had a wonderful time! 100% recommended, we´ll come back!

La Mar was a great host. He reached out to clarify a few things and made sure we had everything we needed. The island was exactly what we needed. It was a quick paddle from the launch spot. I do recommend you check the tides before heading out. Trying to paddle out in low tide might be a little difficult.
We did see some great wildlife too. Eagles, a river otter, some big fish jumping, and even some fox pups.
Overall I’d recommend the island to anyone and La Mar was an amazing host.

Response from La Mar, the Host, on May 6th, 2022

Glad to hear you enjoyed yourselves. Please visit again. The second visit is on me. Be blessed!

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We had an amazing time camping on La Mar's island. The island offers privacy and serenity while being just a short paddle or boat ride away from land. As soon as you arrive on the island you can see so many wonderful touches La Mar did to make the stay amazing. There is a shower, tiki torches along with fluid for them, hand saw to trim branches off fallen tree limbs, hammock, string lights and generator, and picnic table just to mention a few of the thoughtful amenities. I enjoyed some fishing the river while watching a bald eagle fly overhead. Lar Mar was always just a text or call away if we needed anything and he even reached out to me to ensure we were ok when a pretty wicket rain storm dumped on us. We had an amazing time and we can't wait to come back in the Spring.

Response from La Mar, the Host, on October 20th, 2021

I really appreciate the kind words. You're welcome to come down and join me on the hunt for my first striper or just to hangout fishing from the dock. Let's keep in touch and throw some gear on and hit the water. Thanks again for visiting our happy place! We would love to have you guys back soon on us.

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This is a really cool spot! It's a short scenic paddle in to the island but you can easily paddle out further and catch glimpses at all sorts of fish/ wildlife. La Mar has the campsite pretty well stocked with just about everything you need and the ground is soft with basically no rocks so finding a good spot to pitch yoir tent is easy. If its windy, keep an eye out for the acorns because they'll conk you if they catch you. You're basically in the Dover suburbs so theres plenty of places to head to if you don't feel like cooking at the campsite, just knkw this does come with some road noise during the day (only really noticeable when a truck downshifts). La Mar himself is a great host and was suoer helpful leading upto and during the trip to make sure we had all we needed for a relaxing weekend. Definitely worth a book!

Despite the rain that came in, I enjoyed Mr. Gunn island immensely! The property had a nice clearing area that looks out over the river. I hiked around the island which was like it’s own little adventure, because you are not really walking on a path. The lights were a very nice touch around what looked to be a gathering area with bench seating. Another real exciting thing was actually paddling to the island. I saw a number of majestic water fowl including: an eagle/osprey and several blue herons, and what I think was a belted kingfisher. The island had a shower still facility that was nice for showering, but the rain prevented me from trying it out. All in all I think this camping trip was one of the coolest I’ve been on, and can’t wait to book it again.

Response from La Mar, the Host, on August 25th, 2021

It was such a pleasure having you on the island. Any host will learn so much about the outdoors and how real camping works after 2 minutes with you. Thanks for leaving our happy place even better than you found it. We’re excited to implement your outstanding ideas. Happy camping!

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The host LaMar was positively the best. LaMar was more than accommodating.LaMar used his personal boat to be helpful so that we were not stressed trying to paddle by canoe all of your belongings that you need for a 3 night stay. There were items for you to use that were not on the website in the description . Example TIKI TORCHES a cooking grate to cook on. LaMar is improving the island all the time so that our future stay will even be more enjoyable . The views and the sunsets on the island positively breathtaking . There was a bald eagle just like it said in the description. It’s amazing. There are not enough words to give this island justice . I have never been more appreciative of a kind caring man as we were with LaMar. In today’s world you don’t see those kind of attributes anymore . LaMar has reinvented kind, caring and helpful back into trusting human beings again . LaMar the host is such a man that would make people proud to know him. We are glad we went to the island. We have already told so many people about our great experience . LaMar keep up the great work we can’t wait to possibly come back with the family . Again thank you so much for being the host. Also please thank your wife and family for giving up your valuable time to do all of this for others . See you again soon Sandy and Matt from Pennsylvania.

Response from La Mar, the Host, on August 21st, 2021

Sandy, Thank you for such kind words. We are so excited every time we learn Gunn island has been a blessing to others. It was such a pleasure meeting both you and Matt. God continues to introduce new people from diverse backgrounds that leave me forever indebted. It warms my heart to know those sunsets move you as much as they do us. Don’t forget that Matt owes me that striper and plans for that DIY wood stove lol. You’re more than welcome to visit whenever you need to get away. Just say the word and it’s all yours :-) Your new friend, La Mar

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