Okarito Campground
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About
4.5
#1 of 1 campground in OkaritoLocation
4.8
Rooms
4.5
Value
4.5
Cleanliness
4.5
Service
4.4
Sleep Quality
4.8
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Beach
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3 Russell St, Okarito 7886 New Zealand
Getting there
Christchurch Intl Airport
120.6 mi•
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Detailed Reviews
Everything you need at a campsite, including an excellent shower that cost only $2 for 4 mins. Clean and very well run, with friendly management.
Just one issue: the camp still had signs up requiring Vax Passes, even though DoC has removed the Vax Pass restrictions. As has become very obvious now, vaccination makes ALMOST NO DIFFERENCE to your chance of catching or spreading Covid. (Vaccination does seem to reduce the chances of getting severely sick for the individual who catches Covid.)
So, please remove your Vax Pass signs, as they don't make any sense, as they don't make anyone safer.
Just one issue: the camp still had signs up requiring Vax Passes, even though DoC has removed the Vax Pass restrictions. As has become very obvious now, vaccination makes ALMOST NO DIFFERENCE to your chance of catching or spreading Covid. (Vaccination does seem to reduce the chances of getting severely sick for the individual who catches Covid.)
So, please remove your Vax Pass signs, as they don't make any sense, as they don't make anyone safer.
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Date of stay: April 2022
Value
Cleanliness
Service
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
DOC campground administered by the local community. Only $15 per night for a non-powered site. The kitchen and dining area are open but sheltered, the showers cost extra.
There are interesting walk options close by and you can hire kayaks for touring the lagoon.
Make sure you have plenty of insect repellant. A lot of sandflies around. Not much in the way of shelter so pays to park or situate yourself near the dinning shelter. I was impressed there was WIFI.
There are interesting walk options close by and you can hire kayaks for touring the lagoon.
Make sure you have plenty of insect repellant. A lot of sandflies around. Not much in the way of shelter so pays to park or situate yourself near the dinning shelter. I was impressed there was WIFI.
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Date of stay: February 2021
Value
Location
Service
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Lovely old style campground, clean facilities, next to beach and lagoon. Swimming is possible. Excellent walks nearby. Very peaceful and scenic.
$2 hot showers
Cannot book but there was plenty of space mid February.
Scenery is outstanding, worth staying a couple of nights
$2 hot showers
Cannot book but there was plenty of space mid February.
Scenery is outstanding, worth staying a couple of nights
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Date of stay: February 2023Trip type: Traveled as a couple
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Odd really. I read reviews that are disappointed in places because of a fundamental, and sometimes unkind, misunderstanding of what is on offer. This is a community funded and managed camp. It’s modest, almost austere. Its largely self sustaining. It’s clean and well looked after. More importantly it’s positioned in this extraordinary and beautiful corner of the world with access to the huge beach and lagoon at Okarito. Rich in bird life, a wealth of local history, the rich green of the West Coast. It isn’t a vast trailer park, there are no helter skelter trappings - it’s a small, functional camp site in a stunning place run with imagination and tangible hospitality by the Okarito community.
Thank you. Okarito.
Thank you. Okarito.
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Date of stay: December 2020Trip type: Traveled with friends
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
A simple, clean and friendly campground run by the local community. In a great location just a short walk from the lagoon and beach. We all enjoyed swimming in the lagoon and watching the sunset from our bonfire on the stony beach. Okarito is a very special little place!
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Date of stay: February 2021
Rooms
Cleanliness
Service
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Great place to stay. Cheep. Has cold / hot water. BBQ for use 2$ , Showers 4 minutes for 2$. Great big clean toilets. Area with mirror and sink with soap. Hot/ cold water. Old school Ringer washer. Cooking area, with sinks. Lounge with chairs , table, Bench space, Books, Charging area with multi plug. There is a big fridge! Lots of facility's here. Run really well. Lovely ppl here looking after it, being " hosts"when we were here.
It's run by the community, money goes to the community. They take turns running it. They have eftpos on site , but you can pay cash. Vaccine pass required.
Really lovely place, great vibe. Hosts were informative and friendly. Helpful too.
Paths and tracks down to beach and lagoon. Walks too close by. Art gallery up the road. Eco tours down the rd.
Oh and free wifi that's pretty good!
It's run by the community, money goes to the community. They take turns running it. They have eftpos on site , but you can pay cash. Vaccine pass required.
Really lovely place, great vibe. Hosts were informative and friendly. Helpful too.
Paths and tracks down to beach and lagoon. Walks too close by. Art gallery up the road. Eco tours down the rd.
Oh and free wifi that's pretty good!
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Date of stay: January 2022Trip type: Traveled with friends
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Beautiful location & ideal place to explore Okarito - a special part of NZ. The campground facilities are open to the elements, functional in their simplicity, clean and comfortable. I was pleasantly surprised to find myself alone in this idyllic spot on a sunny winter day!
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Date of stay: May 2024Trip type: Traveled solo
Value
Location
Cleanliness
Service
Sleep Quality
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
We travelled to this camp ground in our motor-home with a quad bike on a trailer behind our van for accessing the river and beach area to go whitebaiting. We had previously stayed at this camp ground with the same trailer on behind our motor-home with no problems. At no time on our past visits had there been more than about 10 vans in this large camp ground on any night, which is capable of taking at least 50 such vehicles. There are no defined camp sites, and no power sites, but the camp ground is sheltered from the prevailing winds and is in a beautiful part of the country. We were surprised and disappointed to find that the cost to stay had risen to $16.00 per person per night, and in addition the showers and the BBQ were an additional cost on coin slot machines. Worst of all large notices advised that trailers and quad bikes were not allowed in this very large and open camping area, but would have to parked out on a public street away from the camp ground. We have stayed at a large number of such domain type camp grounds with similar basic facilities and Okarito Camp Ground is the dearest. Needless to say there were no campers parked up for the night, and we watched camper vans come, see the high charges per night, and drive away again. We were so disappointed at both the charges per night and not being able to have our trailer with us in the camp ground that we also turned round and continued our trip to a more welcoming venue where we had power and showers for $20.00 per night all included. A far more realistic charge would be $10.00 per night per adult and there would be far less number of camper-vans turning around and driving away again. It should also be noted that it is not necessary to be staying in the camp ground to be able to use the toilets, coin operated showers, or the kitchen and coin operated BBQ, so the charge of $16.00 per person per night to stay is just for the use of a vary small patch of ground to park on!! Unless the present rules and charges change for camping there, even though it is a beautiful and unique part of our country, sadly we will certainly not be back there to stay.
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Date of stay: September 2017Trip type: Traveled with family
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
We stopped at the Okarito campground because of the positive reviews on Rankers and TripAdvisor.
Unfortunately the location may be fantastic for accessing a beach, but the site is poor in our opinion, as the facilities are insufficient for the number using them.
To be fair the site is limited in its size due to the location, but while there we had torrential rain and although the flooding was out of the sites control, people moved vans onto the highest and hardest ground causing congestion in the central area which meant there were too many people concentrated in a small area and many congregated in the kitchen shelter, which was overwhelmed.
Not a pleasant experience for us.
Unfortunately the location may be fantastic for accessing a beach, but the site is poor in our opinion, as the facilities are insufficient for the number using them.
To be fair the site is limited in its size due to the location, but while there we had torrential rain and although the flooding was out of the sites control, people moved vans onto the highest and hardest ground causing congestion in the central area which meant there were too many people concentrated in a small area and many congregated in the kitchen shelter, which was overwhelmed.
Not a pleasant experience for us.
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Date of stay: February 2018Trip type: Traveled as a couple
Value
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
This is a Community-owned and operated campground. We stayed two nights, in small hiking tents. The tent site area was good, except for the stony subsurface typical of most if not all West Coast campsites. Camp facilities (toilets, showers, sheltered cooking facilities and dining room etc) were clean & tidy. Areas reserved for campervans and similar appeared good quality. Access to the beach - known for lovely sunsets was very convenient, as was access to the Okarito lagoon/wetland. We did not visit the community "General Store" so cannot comment on what supplies might be available there. Access to Okarito is via a fully sealed road.
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Date of stay: March 2019Trip type: Traveled with friends
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
I can’t find my info- I suggest searching for the Okarito Brown Kiwi- I think the guide company will pop up. The are up the road a short walk from the campground. I suggest advance reservations if you can.
LOCATION
New ZealandSouth IslandWest Coast RegionOkarito
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Frequently Asked Questions about Okarito Campground
Which popular attractions are close to Okarito Campground?
Nearby attractions include Okarito Trig Walk and Three Mile Lagoon (0.2 miles) and Okarito Lagoon (0.04 miles).
Is Okarito Campground located near the city center?
Yes, it is 0.04 miles away from the center of Okarito.
Are there any historical sites close to Okarito Campground?
Many travelers enjoy visiting Church of St. James (5.9 miles).