From the road

Nice spot and good location, a 45 minute walk from the Centre. Quite busy with cars going in and out. Toilets were clean

Lovely views and good toilets. There’s a drinking water tap and plenty of spaces

We didn’t have any phone signal so didn’t end up staying here but the toilets were fairly clean, and the scenery is beautiful so worth it!! There’s a small 10 minute trail to walk too.

Stayed here for one night and the toilets were rather awful. Went to use them before bed- one was covered in mosquitoes as in hundreds, and the other smelled like death. In the morning the poor smelling one was less unbearable but still not a good smell. The rest of the campsite was fine b it the toilets were just yuck

Best campsite of the country!!! Only limited spaces which fill up quickly. Also, they do not check the cars.. the car next to us wasn’t even self-contained and just stayed without problems :/ Clean toilets, BBQ spot and yoga at the beach on sundays for $15 :)

Super camping, the restrooms are extremely clean. The sites are very large, we paid 33 dollars for one night. The owner is very nice.

Stayed 3 nights here, great spot. Good phone signal, level spaces, lovely walk around the lake. Lots of traffic noise early morning though you could minimise if you parked in the spaces away from the road.

This is a great spot! The gardens are absolutely stunning so definitely check them out! Freedom camping is only permitted between 4/5pm(cant remember which) and 9am - not sure how much this is monitored though. I arrived a little earlier and had no issues. Good phone reception. Some traffic noise early morning but nothing major.

For pet owners - no dogs are allowed here, not even in your vehicle, there are huge fines if caught. The last 6kms or so are via a generous single lane track (not sure why people are so scared of this, its literally huge in terms of "single lane" and plenty of space to easily pass other vehicles) good phone reception (spark) plenty of spaces. It fills up a lot during the day but once day hikers leave theres heaps of space so if you arrived later you'd have no issue finding a spot. Good toilets. I didnt see any bins though, so take rubbish out with you. Great views of Taranaki.

Honestly one of the nicest spots on the north island. I stayed a few nights over labour day weekend - it was busy when I arrived on Saturday afternoon but was still able to find a spot. By sunday it had cleared out massively. Its a busy site overall but big enough that you could arrive late and still get a spot. There were signs advising not to go in the water or let your dogs in the water due to quality issues at the time but no one seemed to take any notice and some idiot let their dogs chase geese right into the middle island of the lake. Lovely walk around the lake and the coastal path with great views of taranaki. Clean toilets but no bins in the freedom camping area - there's some located in the day parking areas though. Good phone reception (spark) nice flat spaces. There's two car parks- one for self contained and one for non self contained which has 4 marked spaces clearly shown on the ground. Its a little confusing when you first go in but easy to figure out.

Beautiful pitches right by the sea, free warm showers, clean facility, small shop, coin-operated washing machines. Very nice and helpful operators. Stayed for two nights.

Great campsite ideal for catching the ferry the next morning (about 20 min drive). The shower and toilet block is very large and there is space in the shower. Very clean the staff regularly checks. Large kitchen with oven, stovetop etc... But you have to bring everything (pot, pan, utensils etc...). There is a baby space also available.

Nice enough spot. We were fortunate enough to be allocated site no. 186 which was perfectly levelled, as the other powered sites were in a slight slope. Toilets and showers were pristinely maintained. Wifi was slow. A comfortable walking distance to the lively restaurants and shops.