How to evaluate a summer camp: visits, references and red flags
By Joe C., founder of Booka. Reviewed October 2026.
A camp's website shows what it wants you to see. To judge the camp, look at it, talk to people who know it, and ask direct questions. This page covers how.
Visit, in person or online
Many camps offer open houses, tours, or video calls with the director in the winter and spring. Go if you can. If you cannot, ask for a live video call, not a recorded one. Watch how people treat each other: how staff speak to children, how the director answers a hard question, how clean and well kept the grounds are.
- Ask to see where your child will sleep, eat, swim and be treated if sick.
- Ask to meet the person who will lead your child's group, or at least the director.
- Notice whether the director asks about your child as much as you ask about the camp.
Talk to families who have been
Ask the camp for the names of a few families with a child your child's age who have attended, and call them. Ask what surprised them, what the first week was like, how the camp handled a problem, and whether the child wanted to go back. Ask also for a family who left, if the camp will give one. A camp with nothing to hide will usually say yes.
Read reviews with care
- Look for specifics: the same strength or complaint repeated across several reviews.
- Look at how the camp responds to a negative review, if it does.
- Be careful of reviews that all arrive in a short period, or sound like marketing.
- On Booka, reviews can only be left by families who booked and attended a session.
Ask the director these
Our Camp Match Guide has twelve questions to ask any camp director before you pay a deposit, with what a good answer sounds like and what should worry you.
Red flags
- Vague or defensive answers about staffing, medical care, or how parents are told about problems.
- No clear policy for homesickness, bullying or medication.
- Pressure to pay a deposit immediately, or a deposit that is large and not refundable with no explanation.
- No way to speak to a past family, or to see the camp or its staff.
- High staff turnover, or staff who are very young with little training and few adults on site.
- A camp that will not say whether it is licensed, or by whom.
Common questions
- When should I visit a camp?
- Many camps hold open houses in the winter and spring. Ask early, because tour days fill up. If you cannot go, ask for a live video tour.
- How do I find families to talk to?
- Ask the director for the names of families with a child the same age as yours. You can also ask in local parent groups, but ask for specifics, not just a recommendation.
- Is a deposit refundable?
- It depends on the camp. Ask in writing what is refundable, until when, and what happens if your child cannot go.
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Keep reading
General guidance, not legal, medical or tax advice. Camps and rules differ, so confirm what matters with the camp. See how Booka stays neutral.