Ontario Shores And Marina (RV Park)

like to give people the benefit of a doubt. The saying goes "believe people when they show you who they really are"! This has been my husband and myself experience with John Brynes, owner of Ontario Shores RV Park Cape Vincent NY. We are out of State for most of the year and were looking for a RV park to spend the summer months on Lake Ontario. We called John and made an appt to visit the RV park. I thought we found a wonderful place. But, As the most of the reviews state to avoid this place prove to be true! At first, John seemed accommodating and friendly. He stated that he had a vacancy for summer 2026 season in the front row as the previous campers were leaving end of season 2025. He said he had a verbal on this from the campers and even verified with their neighbors that were indeed vacating season end. John said it was our lucky day. As we toured the property with John that day, it is a beautiful property and view. Windy that day and John suggested to step into a neighboring campers destination trailer that he is friends with (owner not home) to get out of the wind.....hmmm, really. No office! Strange to us. My husband and I had been on the road searching places for a couple of days and decided that we would try here. We told John that day that we would put down the deposit for the site. He said he would give us a copy of the rules there and he does handshake deals...no lease or paperwork. Not my favorite way to do business. Against my better judgement, (my grandparents had handshake deals with somethings and it seemed to work at times). The next day I was in the area, and stop to talk with John requiring the deposit. My husband immediately transferred the money for deposit. John was talking with a neighboring and ask then if they knew when the campers were vacating? They replied that they thought their friends were getting cold feet for moving. John stated they gave him a verbal and he already had a deposit from us for next season. So the site was ours. Fast forward two weeks. We called John to say that we had purchased a destination park trailer that would be delivered to the site. He said that was fine. We called John later in the week to say if he knew a date so we could have the trailer delivered before we headed back south? As we were talking the subject came up regrading the awning facing right so we could have a view out of the windows in front to the lake. John tried to persuade us that the wind was out of the west and we would not be able to use the awning. Our "site" was in the middle of two empty co-op lots. There is plenty of room between sites as this was another reason we like it. Two days later my husbands received a text message from John saying, that he has a couple looking at the co-op on the right of us and they will not buy it unless our camper is turned around for the awning to face left? That he was so sorry and would refund our deposit. He also stated that he had talked to other campers in the park and it would set a bad precedence. Now he talking about our situation with others? I have no idea if the co-op buyers were even real. Seemed staged to me. We didn't have another place chosen so we agreed to have the camper turned around when we had it delivered. We text John back and told him we agreed, and he said great!. Well the last straw came two days later. We woke up to another of John's text messages stating how sorry he was and he was refunding our money, that the people were not leaving after all. We asked for a refund. Of which he did give us. We were not living this way and would find another option. WOW the reviews are correct. He changes his mind on a whim. there is no paperwork or written prices for the seasonal rental sites. (Only boat storage price in by- laws). Makes it up as he see fit, you are dismissed instantly. His word or his hand shake is worth nothing!!! Guess if you are one of his favorites you get to stay. Best to avoid, who needs this drama. We found a better RV park for next season with a contract!

We are in our second season here and absolutely love it! Spectacular water views of Fox and Grenadier Islands. It’s so peaceful and the perfect getaway to relax. We’ve met some wonderful friends here. John and Tanya go above and beyond for all of us and we could not be more thankful to have found our home away from home.

Beautiful lakefront views, coupled with the kindest hosts ever... an absolutely beautiful place to relax with the family!

2nd year here seasonally. It is a seasonal park; there are rules but no more than most campgrounds, and there are those who do not wish to follow them, just like most campgrounds. One of the bad reviews here is because those people were thrown out by the police. You need to be self-contained but it is a very quiet pleasant place to spend the summer.

Absolutely horrible. The owner picks and chooses who he wants to "bend the rules" for.The rules change every second. He will watch you until you do something that he can complain about. Then he will approach you with a clipboard with a list of things he's watched you do "wrong" all day. It's ridiculous. My daughter was throwing rocks in the water and he came out screaming like a psycho and threatened to call the cops. Beautiful view but not worth the headache dealing with John. I wouldn't trust him around my children at all. He's not stable.