As we spend the month of March at Fortuna De Oro RV Resort, a Cal-Am Resort, we have made it a priority to check out additional RV resorts in Yuma. Research is more pertinent now since we are frustrated with the power issues at our leased site at Pio Pico. Last month our coach shut off the power from the pedestal twice due to low voltage! The first was just after we had gone to bed, and again a few days later about 9:00am. There was no major draw on power either time! The second time was AFTER electricians came and replaced the 30amp breaker! (Yes, it is only 30amp, but we were OK with that if it was a good 30amps.) We’ve noticed during the evening our lights would dim and then brighten at times which made us more alert to possible issues. We don’t want to have damage to our coach due to voltage fluctuations like this. The electrical is only going to continue to deteriorate at Pio. The infrastructure is old. The hot tub near us hasn’t worked since we left on our trip in September! For this we were paying $5300 a year with only being able to stay overnight on our site a TOTAL of 7 months. Our current lease is up July 1. A 50-amp lease site is $6300, and comes with a concrete pad with a small patio area. Plus I have to drive 30-40 minutes each day I want to play decent pickleball.
As much as we love the convenience of only being five miles from the kids in East Lake, we need a better home base. One with dependable 50 amp service and quality amenities. Location must be within a quick roadtrip for my ortho appointments and a quick fix of seeing Isaac and Mona. We could still use our Thousand Trails membership at Pio for a longer visit like in December when we want to be there for Christmas. As we look at each park we will rank them according to the overall feel of the park, amenities, and the parking area/sites specifically for RVs, and costs.
My February 1st blog I reviewed WestWind RV Resort and The Palms RV Resort as we passed through when returning from our Florida trip. In this blog I will amend my review/1st impression on Fortuna De Oro Resort, and then review Carefree Village Resort, Rancho Rialto Manufactured Home & Rv Resort, Del Pueblo RV Resort, and Sun Vista RV Resort.
FORTUNA DE ORO – UPDATE!
The updates at Fortuna have made a big difference. The new entrance to the park is a major improvement. It makes for a much better first impression as you arrive. It is a nice looking park! The main RV section is decent. The concrete patios are still narrow, but they are doable for us. Our site for the month of March (#1195 Vidal Lane).
The new sports complex area is truly gorgeous! It is WELL lit for evening play of pickleball, shuffleboard, and bocci ball. It also has a huge patio area with outdoor heaters! Feels great just hanging out in this area. The pickleball play is quite good and everyone is friendly!
The north pool is beautiful, and is where they have LIVE happy hour music everyday Monday thru Thurs from 3-5pm. The Fortuna Saloon (Bar & Grill) has live music from 2:30-5:30 on Fridays and Sundays. Fortuna De Oro is definitely on our short list of options to consider in replacing Pio!
Our friends, Bob && Janet Bockus came over for a visit.
SUN VISTA RV RESORT
This resort has been around awhile. It wasn’t on our radar till teaching colleague, Joan Weiss, told us about it since this is where her parents wintered for years. It is directly across the street from The Palms RV Resort. The park models in the park are definitely dated. There isn’t really a nice dedicated area for RVs. There are a couple rows where several “RV” sites are in a row, but generally RV sites are along the noisier outer wall, along the main entrance, or are interspersed in between all the park models.
The fitness center was a plus. It was quite spacious with lots of machines along with an upstairs equipped with about a dozen spin-bikes, and a wood floor for various fitness classes.
Largest workout room we’ve seen in Yuma! 
Spin bikes!
Pools seemed decent. There was One large outdoor pool and large spa + one indoor pool with a pretty cool spa next to it.
There is an area that is still under construction where new amenities are being added. There is a pretty impressive radio-controlled car track, about 6 nice lit pickleball courts, golf driving cages, a fire pit, a couple bocce ball courts that are completed. Still under construction is a miniature golf area, and there are plans for a walking path with stretching equipment, putting & chipping greens, swings, corn hole and batting cages.
While it was nice to see this new area, the park in general had an older feel than we want. It is not making our “short list”.
Prices:
5 month (back-in site) $2935 + electric
yearly (back-in-site) $4378 + electric
DEL PUEBLO
Del Pueblo RV park was definitely out farther than we wanted at 14794 A Ave 3E. It was out in the orchards. No significant road noise. It looked decent with a good number of trees, 3 pickleball courts. The fitness room was small, but OK. The swimming pool wasn’t kept as warm as we’d like. This one did not make our “short list”.
FYI Prices:
5 months $2750.10 + electric
Annual $3517 + electric
RANCHO RIALTO
Rancho Rialto is located at 11322 South Avenue 12E. It had a great feel to it. The front section is nice, with quality manufactured homes that are much like those in Phase 3 at Viewpoint RV & Golf Resort in Mesa. The back section has 198 sites with 57 park models, and about 18 rentable RVs. The remaining sites are for RVs. Overall, it is a very nice smaller resort. There are two nice dedicated pickleball courts, and two temporary courts on one of the tennis courts. (Could be converted to at least 2 dedicated pb courts, possible 4 depending on the position of the second tennis court.)
The swimming pool and spa were super nice. Perfect temps and nice sparkling water in both!
People we met were extremely friendly. There was a two-step dance class that was just ending as we took a peek into the recreation hall.
The exercise room was definitely small, but Barry said it would be doable.
This one made our “short list”, especially due to amenities and 20% discount.
PRICES:
FIRST TIME RVers ONLY 20% DISCOUNT
5 months: $2000 (reg $2500) + electric
6 months: $2200 (reg $2750) + electric
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Yearly: $3200 (but goes from NOV 1 thru OCT 31)
CAREFREE VILLAGE RESORT
Carefree Village is located at 3900 S. Ave 8 1/2 E. It is the newest resort in Yuma, and is VERY nice! The sites look great–definitely spacious. There are some nice manufactured homes –similar to the Phase 3 area homes at Viewpoint in Mesa. The area marked “Future Phase 2” they are adding 87 more RV sites! There are no trees of any kind on the sites. Evidently there are no plans for any either. The residents don’t want them. With trees, come birds, and bird poop, and other annoyances. Hmm. OK. That may be true, but I like some vegetation around.
There are 8 nice pickleball courts . When we stopped by to check out the place there was a Canadians vs Americans IN PARK tournament going on. There were 80 participants!! 40 for each country! At this time there are no plans for adding any more courts. Level of play seems lower than at Fortuna, but everyone was really nice! True recreational play. No clinics.
Carefree also has a little miniature golf area, and of course the typical shuffleboard, and bocci ball courts. There were two outdoor pools, with one being marked for lap swimming, and spas that seemed very nice with good temperatures. The fitness center appeared to be pretty decent. The unique feature for this park is a 4-lane AMF bowling alley! They have a park bowling league. Games are only $1 each and that includes shoes! People were super friendly!
This one is definitely on our short list! Locate further off the I-8 and Frontage Rd, so it is quieter here.
PRICES:
5 Month: $2500 + electric
6 Month: $2650 + electric
The annual sites/manufacture home sites are on a 4-tier system. They vary in width and price.
Yearly:
Tier 1 (Biggest) $375 @ month + electric
Tier 2 $350 @ month + electric ($4200)
Tier 3 $325 @ month + electric ($3900)
Tier 4 (smallest) $300 @ month + electric
Tier 3 would be plenty big, although we did like the corner lots that were all Tier 2.
We have recently learned of Workamping! This is where we may work about 15 hours a week at the resort and have it “cover” our site and most the electric! We are currently checking out this possibility to make the decision to be based in Yuma even more attractive. We are considering a combo of September thru Dec at Fortuna, and then 6 months at Carefree; Sept-Dec at Fortuna and 6 months at Rancho Rialto; or the entire time at Fortuna.