Unlike many camps, the camp cabin groups are not at the center of social life at Ballibay. Campers spend relatively little time in the cabin: before breakfast, a few minutes before lunch, the rest period after lunch, and then at bedtime (see our daily schedule for details). No activities are organized by the cabin group except the "orientation tour" on the first day of camp.

Cabins vary in size, with the youngest cabins having 6-10 campers and 2-3 adults, most cabins having 10-12 campers and 2 adults, and the oldest cabins having 15-16 teenagers and two adults. There is always an adult supervising the cabin when campers are present.

The cabins have hot water and electricity, but are otherwise simple and rustic. Campers live off of shelves in the cabin; we collect and store their luggage.

Cabin assignments are made by age. In order to help ensure that campers who want to be together in the cabin can be, we have a cabin request form that is part of the registration process. The form allows one camper to request to be in the same cabin with one other camper. The requested camper needs to confirm the request on their own form. If campers requesting to be together are different ages, we will always move the older camper into the younger camper's cabin to fulfill the request.