Elaine Bay Campsite
Tennyson Inlet
4.2 28 reviews
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Elaine Bay Campsite
This campsite offers a good base for exploring Pelorus Sound by boat and walking or mountain biking nearby tracks.
The Elaine Bay Camping Ground is right on the waterfront at Elaine Bay Recreation Reserve. A great place for fishing from the wharf and watersports. No fires permitted at any time.
Notices
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Ronga Road night closures
Marlborough Roads is doing maintenance on Ronga Road (which provides access to French Bay and Elaine Bay campsites) from 8 to 14 March – with planned road closures each night between 6 pm and 4.30 am.
Outside of these times there will be sections of the road managed by traffic lights – allow an additional 15 minutes for your journey. Up-to-date information can be obtained from the Marlborough Roads website. The road will re-open at 4.30 am on 14 March.
First published on 19 February 2026.
Accommodation
DOC Campsite Pricing
Elaine Bay Campsite is categorised as a DOC Standard Campsite. The following pricing indicates usual pricing. Prices vary for some campsites and may include seasonal pricing. Visit the DOC website for exact pricing.
DOC Standard Campsite
Standard campsites have a more limited range of facilities and services than Serviced campsites. These campsites have toilets, a water supply that could be treated or untreated tap water, or from a stream or lake, and vehicle or boat access. Bring your own soap for washing hands. Untreated water should be boiled before use to ensure it's safe. Wood BBQs and fireplaces, cold showers, picnic tables, a cooking shelter and rubbish bins may be provided; this will vary from site to site.
| Feature | Value | Value |
|---|---|---|
| Unpowered Site | Adult | $15.00 to $20.00 per night |
| Unpowered Site | Child | $7.50 to $10.00 per night |
| Unpowered Site | Infant | $0.00 per night |
Adults are 18+ years, children are 5-17 years, infants are 0-4 years.
Details
| Feature | Value | Info |
|---|---|---|
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Organisation |
DOC MarlboroughCentral government organisation |
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Location |
South Island ▷ Marlborough ▷ Outer Marlborough Sounds |
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Categories |
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Directions To Coordinates |
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Directions Pelorus Office Office |
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Coordinates |
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Websites |
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Basic Camping
Google Maps
Reviews
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Beautiful location on Elaine Bay.
Ana Guimaraes -
Nice spot on the water at a beautiful bay.
Amy Bayliss -
Nice place.
Stefanie -
$6 paid for nothing.
Anne Haenchen -
Small, insufficient sites, full in summer.
Kate Luzas
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Very scenic but plagued by overcrowding and a lack of services to support the numbers.
There seemed to be a lot more than DOC’s official number here and certainly on 10 or less groups should be allowed.
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Really beautiful view from the camp.
Paid cash $10 per person. The longdrop toilet was clean and surprisingly not smelly. Water is not potable. We went kayaking from a beach near this campsite, highly recommended!
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Stunning location surrounded by nature (grass mostly don't get stuck on rainy days).
Stingrays swin around the jetty !!!!
$10/night/adult - basic facilities.
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We planned to stay here but were also told about french pass so ended up driving onto there instead.
This one is very scenic but basic facilities (toilet only). The water was literally full of jellyfish so probably not a good place to swim.
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Very nice place absolutely love it thoe the app said fishing was good as a land base fisherman its not that good at all take lost of gear with you!
Once you get away from the sharks etc you might find something! Took me 5 days to catch a spotie 🙄
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Stingrays under the jetty, beautiful scenery, toilets composting but kept clean.
Amazing... Cannot rate high enough
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A really lovely place surrounded by nature.
Only a few places on flat lawn, water and a long drop toilet available, also few tables. But no shops or anything else. Ideal for hiking, swimming and kayaking.
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Elaine Bay was out favourite place to stay on our trip.
What an amazing view and a good place to explore the Marlborough Sounds from. Basic toilets however they are kept clean. No drinking water so needs to be boiled. The drive there is pretty difficult in a camper van and is a good hour and a bit off the state highway however couldn't have been more worth it!
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Awesome spot and if you're after a unique view look up Explore Pelorus sea kayak tours.
We did a two day trip and rented kayak/camping gear ect. Was incredibly reasonable price wise and Neil who runs the operation is a real nice guy and gave us loads of tips and info regarding the French Pass area. Sorted us a hot shower, coffee and somewhere to leave our van whilst we were away. Can not recommend enough. One of the best experiences we had on our trip :)
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Stunning bay.
For a good wake up, swim off the pies. Decent facilities. Bit crowded so arrive early in summer.
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Nearly didn't review this place as I wanna keep,it all to myself!
Amazing winding road but worth it. Watching stingray from the jetty, great walks close by. Simple doc site but what more could you need. Will defo return.
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Awesome location.
The drive is a very windy drive out to here but well worth it. And it provides a great place to stay over on the way to French Pass which is a very spectacular drive. The camp has a short pier where we could see fish, sting rays, and jelly fish. We were here in April and had just two other campers by us. The long drop was very clean and there are two nice hikes near by, one of which is actually a nice MTB ride to Deep cove.
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Perfect spot to stay for one or two or even three nights.
Could have spent hours just watching all the huge stingrays from the jetty. In the night you can see the amazing luminescent plankton when touching the water. Also the stars and Milky Way are worth to spend the night there! Recommended!! The street to Elaine Bay isn't that bad at all.
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Nice spot on the water at a beautiful bay.
Road sealed all the way, only 1 long drop toilet, no cooking shelter facility. Camp was quite full in peak season (week after New Years) though still managed to get a spot.
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Beautiful location on Elaine Bay.
Little but nice DOC campsite, somewhat exposed to winds, but still worth it. Great views!
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$6 paid for nothing.
You get only a dirty compostable toilet and water. The view was nice and a little walk to another bay is possible.
-
-
Very scenic but plagued by overcrowding and a lack of services to support the numbers.
There seemed to be a lot more than DOC’s official number here and certainly on 10 or less groups should be allowed.
-
Really beautiful view from the camp.
Paid cash $10 per person. The longdrop toilet was clean and surprisingly not smelly. Water is not potable. We went kayaking from a beach near this campsite, highly recommended!
-
Stunning location surrounded by nature (grass mostly don't get stuck on rainy days).
Stingrays swin around the jetty !!!!
$10/night/adult - basic facilities.
-
We planned to stay here but were also told about french pass so ended up driving onto there instead.
This one is very scenic but basic facilities (toilet only). The water was literally full of jellyfish so probably not a good place to swim.
-
Very nice place absolutely love it thoe the app said fishing was good as a land base fisherman its not that good at all take lost of gear with you!
Once you get away from the sharks etc you might find something! Took me 5 days to catch a spotie 🙄
-
Stingrays under the jetty, beautiful scenery, toilets composting but kept clean.
Amazing... Cannot rate high enough
-
A really lovely place surrounded by nature.
Only a few places on flat lawn, water and a long drop toilet available, also few tables. But no shops or anything else. Ideal for hiking, swimming and kayaking.
-
-
Elaine Bay was out favourite place to stay on our trip.
What an amazing view and a good place to explore the Marlborough Sounds from. Basic toilets however they are kept clean. No drinking water so needs to be boiled. The drive there is pretty difficult in a camper van and is a good hour and a bit off the state highway however couldn't have been more worth it!
-
Awesome spot and if you're after a unique view look up Explore Pelorus sea kayak tours.
We did a two day trip and rented kayak/camping gear ect. Was incredibly reasonable price wise and Neil who runs the operation is a real nice guy and gave us loads of tips and info regarding the French Pass area. Sorted us a hot shower, coffee and somewhere to leave our van whilst we were away. Can not recommend enough. One of the best experiences we had on our trip :)
-
Stunning bay.
For a good wake up, swim off the pies. Decent facilities. Bit crowded so arrive early in summer.
-
Nearly didn't review this place as I wanna keep,it all to myself!
Amazing winding road but worth it. Watching stingray from the jetty, great walks close by. Simple doc site but what more could you need. Will defo return.
-
Awesome location.
The drive is a very windy drive out to here but well worth it. And it provides a great place to stay over on the way to French Pass which is a very spectacular drive. The camp has a short pier where we could see fish, sting rays, and jelly fish. We were here in April and had just two other campers by us. The long drop was very clean and there are two nice hikes near by, one of which is actually a nice MTB ride to Deep cove.
-
Perfect spot to stay for one or two or even three nights.
Could have spent hours just watching all the huge stingrays from the jetty. In the night you can see the amazing luminescent plankton when touching the water. Also the stars and Milky Way are worth to spend the night there! Recommended!! The street to Elaine Bay isn't that bad at all.
-
Nice spot on the water at a beautiful bay.
Road sealed all the way, only 1 long drop toilet, no cooking shelter facility. Camp was quite full in peak season (week after New Years) though still managed to get a spot.
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Beautiful location on Elaine Bay.
Little but nice DOC campsite, somewhat exposed to winds, but still worth it. Great views!
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Nice but smallish campground with a lovely view on the bay.
Relatively cheap kayak rental close by. The place has got several taps and a toilet.
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Our favourite camp spot of our trip.
Gorgeous view over Sound. The perfect swim from jetty in front of the campsite.
Not big, perhaps enough space for 20 campers but takes a bit of effort to get to it so wasn't full. Good toilet facilities , very clean and water. Whole site in centre of village and just looks like the village green! Fabulous view, what more do you need?
We loved it!
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Small DOC camp with fabulous views, ideal spot to stay if driving to French Pass.
Watch if its windy though, the wind can come from all quarters. Don't know what Ann from Germany was expecting, it's a DOC camp for goodness sake, it's about getting back to basics. At least there is a toilet(and it was clean), saves people in their happy crappers fouling our beautiful countryside.
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$6 paid for nothing.
You get only a dirty compostable toilet and water. The view was nice and a little walk to another bay is possible.