Curio Bay Camping Ground
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Details
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Organisation |
Curio Bay Camping GroundCommercial organisation |
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Location |
South Island ▷ Southland ▷ Waikawa |
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Directions To Coordinates |
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Coordinates |
Camping Grounds
Reviews
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4.5/5
Spectacular site - especially in winter with few travellers around.
Kitchen facilities are fine but not vey well eqipped for the size of the camp. Saw hoihoi
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4.5/5
We were self contained so requested a pitch on the headland to get the brilliant views.
Great location between Porpoise Bay (with the dolphins) and fossilized forest beach
Beware though some pitches are v tricky to get to and a bit precarious in big vans. Ask friendly guys at reception if you can check the pitches before choosing.
Other pitches are sheltered by flax hedges.
Didn't see penguins at dusk, but plenty of dolphins and a sea lion lolling around our pitch! (a few sandflies too).
Free hot showers and cafe on site.
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4.0/5
Great location , camp well spread out and some sites a bit tight with power points in strange places..
Facilities exellent. Used camp as base to explore the Catlins.price is high for powered sites but acceptable due to its remote location.
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3.0/5
Die Voraussetzungen für einen tollen Campingplatz sind gegeben: schön bewachsene Stellplätze und wilde Tiere in der Bucht.
Der Gemeinschaftsbereich ist leider recht lieblos, fast steril, eingerichtet. So fehlt es an Inventar in der Küche (zB Tassen, Besteck) im Entspannungsbereich und dem Sanitär (zB Ablageflächen)
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4.0/5
Really not as bad as described in many of these reviews.
Showers were warm and fo free, setting is gorgeous, campsites are a hit and miss. Alright campsite in amazing location.
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4.5/5
Well organized campsite.
Amenities accessible with code. Under new management? (= Tumu Toka Curioscape) Expensive but worth it for biological and geological attractions.
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4.0/5
So it's going be windy.
It's The Catlins. But the stunning location and views more than make up for it.
We are sleeping in the back of our 4x4 so grabbed a site on the edge of the cliff alongside the through road. Our site (number one) had an off camber slope so we asked to move to site number four which was slightly bigger and still had the great views.
The walk to the Bay with the dolphins took five minutes and we got to see three of them cruising around the bay.
Back on the other side is the beach where the penguins hang out. There's only a small handful left of the yellow eye so don't expect to see hundreds of them everywhere.
We didn't see any at dusk despite hanging around for an hour. The resident DOC guy was interesting to talk to while we waited.
So we went back at 6am and saw mum and dad and three babies as they prepared to head off. A real highlight for us.
Due to the current Covid situation the campground was near deserted so the facilities were awesome and quiet. One point to note, some showers take $2 coins only and some $1 coins only so take both with you. Hot water and pressure were great and five minutes is plenty.
Don't complain about the cost. In my books well worth it, it's The Catlins!
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0.5/5
We travelled half a day to get here.
Upon arrival we went to dump our grey waste, only to be told that they don’t have a dump station. The closest one was in the next town over, a 25 minute drive one way. So after having driven all morning we had to do another hour round trip just to get to a dump station. After paying $70 for a powered site this was really frustrating.
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4.5/5
Spectacular site - especially in winter with few travellers around.
Kitchen facilities are fine but not vey well eqipped for the size of the camp. Saw hoihoi
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4.5/5
We were self contained so requested a pitch on the headland to get the brilliant views.
Great location between Porpoise Bay (with the dolphins) and fossilized forest beach
Beware though some pitches are v tricky to get to and a bit precarious in big vans. Ask friendly guys at reception if you can check the pitches before choosing.
Other pitches are sheltered by flax hedges.
Didn't see penguins at dusk, but plenty of dolphins and a sea lion lolling around our pitch! (a few sandflies too).
Free hot showers and cafe on site.
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0.5/5
We travelled half a day to get here.
Upon arrival we went to dump our grey waste, only to be told that they don’t have a dump station. The closest one was in the next town over, a 25 minute drive one way. So after having driven all morning we had to do another hour round trip just to get to a dump station. After paying $70 for a powered site this was really frustrating.
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3.0/5
Die Voraussetzungen für einen tollen Campingplatz sind gegeben: schön bewachsene Stellplätze und wilde Tiere in der Bucht.
Der Gemeinschaftsbereich ist leider recht lieblos, fast steril, eingerichtet. So fehlt es an Inventar in der Küche (zB Tassen, Besteck) im Entspannungsbereich und dem Sanitär (zB Ablageflächen)
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4.0/5
Great location , camp well spread out and some sites a bit tight with power points in strange places..
Facilities exellent. Used camp as base to explore the Catlins.price is high for powered sites but acceptable due to its remote location.
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2.5/5
Overpriced, no dump station, no oven, facilities are average/awful.
Good location. Probably wouldn’t stay again
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0.5/5
Very expensive to park essentially on a car park, facilities were very basic and shabby and to be honest reflected the attitude of the staff in the whole site who were rude including the cafe staff , it
really felt like they resented guests paying to be there
Inconsistent information about the showers
Yes it has a great view but keep driving guys and give your money to someone who at least appreciates your custom
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1.0/5
I thought it was expensive at $55 for powered site for 2 and the facilities weren’t that good.
It started with being given an incomplete code for the facilities and for the amount of people the site holds it needs more than 3 toilets and 3 showers. We never found the dump station as we weren’t given a site map so had trouble finding our way around.
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4.5/5
Well organized campsite.
Amenities accessible with code. Under new management? (= Tumu Toka Curioscape) Expensive but worth it for biological and geological attractions.
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4.0/5
Really not as bad as described in many of these reviews.
Showers were warm and fo free, setting is gorgeous, campsites are a hit and miss. Alright campsite in amazing location.
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3.0/5
Landschaftlich ein wunderschöner Campingplatz, aber das war es dann auch schon.
Staff am Telefon unfreundlich und kurz angebunden. Trotz Onlinebuchung (deutlich vor Office-Schließung!) fanden wir bei unserer Ankunft keine Infos vor, so dass wir uns einfach selbst eine Site ausgesucht und den Code für die Facilities erfragt haben. Diese sind wir die Anzahl der Sites viel zu klein (je 3 Duschen und Toiletten für bestimmt 40 Plätze). Stromanschlüsse sind zum Teil so dämlich angelegt, dass man gar nicht richtig auf seinen Platz fahren kann, wenn man nicht zufällig 20m Kabel dabei hat.
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1.0/5
This is a essentially a glorified car park for $45 a night and paying $1 showers and $4 laundry facilities.
The washer barely rinsed the clothes but there wasn’t a coin machine so we had to take them away wet. Nobody seems to work here and the office doesn’t open until midday, two hours after you have to leave. Very few toilets and no working freezers. Do yourself a favour and book a decent campsite.
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2.0/5
Non powered site.
$45 for 2person, $34 for 1person. That's ridiculous!! I bet I need to pay for showers as well. No thanks!