It gets crowded very quickly.

But there are some rewards. Of course there's the chance of seeing the penguins but if you're travelling with children visit the nearby park. The playground is just awesome. Your kids will love it.

Reviewed 13 days ago

It's a parking lot next to the harbour.

Toilets, cold showers, dumping station and fresh water available.

We also watched out for the penguins, one came by at 21.30pm. Just 10 cars allowed, there was definetly more, no one came to control

Reviewed 8 months ago

Decent place to spend the night here - close to the town if you need any supplies, and there’s a public toilet, clean drinking water available, and you can have a shower (outside so just be aware).

Short walk to where the penguins come in - we saw 2, a really lovely experience, and who can complain when it’s free. Nice swim on the beach in the morning. Description says about 10 campers - didn’t seem to be any such restriction at the site.

Reviewed 9 months ago

The best parking lot seen to date.

Toilet with flush, cold shower, dump station, besch, nice view, just beside wonderful park and the most crazy playground EVER, just few 100 meters away. Pinguins at night (after sunset), city near by with shops and restaurants.

We saw 4 penguins, they turned up about 45 minutes after sunset (22.05). Our children loved the playground, the teens the free wifi at the library and the adults the penguins. We were there a friday with sun and little wind. Very quiet spot, even though there was some cars racing beside the penguins spot around 9-11 PM.

Reviewed 10 months ago

Here in Nov.

Lot almost filled up but folks were quiet. Some highway noise, big field with picnic tables, functional bathroom. Highlight is that at sundown you can walk 5 minutes up on the port road and look down on the penguins popping out of the sea to head for their nests in the rocks.

Reviewed 12 months ago

Great place to spend a night!

Toilets, changing rooms, cold shower, rubbish and recycling bins, dump station and drinking water tap…and little blue penguins after sunset coming to the beach!

Reviewed over 1 year ago

A good spot for an overnight stay It is a car park and far more than the 10 allowed units came in but no one official objected Flush toilets in the outdoor beach style change room and 2 cold outdoor

showers

Some noise from the shipping yard but not bad Lovely beach to walk along and we did see the little blue penguins

coming into the rocks near the far beach end at dusk

There are extra lovely flush toilets on the other side of the nearby tunnel as well

Reviewed 1 day ago

We were going to stay here 12th September.

Arrived at the site to find it cramped and a decidedly suspect pair in a dodgy looking camper who got out to check us out. Didn't feel safe at all and so made the decision to go to the Top 10 Holiday Park instead. Sad that we didn't get to see the penguins.

Reviewed about 1 month ago

Very loud from the port during all hours of the night..

didn’t read one comment about it but definitely wanted to add. If I knew how loud it was going to be I wouldn’t have picked this spot. Couldn’t sleep at all. Besides that, good facilities, flash toilets, drinking water and dump station in a very convenient area.

Reviewed 9 months ago

Amazing campsite!

Right on the beach, close to downtown and close to the penguin. Bathrooms, change rooms, water and a shower. Everything you need.

Reviewed 10 months ago

Awesome experience to watch penguins after sunset!

Must do. Facilites were okay, cold showers, dumping and water station were available. Nice picnic area with ocean view, but the lights from the Harbour can be annoying. Lots of parking spaces but officially only 10 vehicles for overnight camping allowed. We were about 20 overnight campers and no one checked.

Can recommend!

Reviewed 11 months ago

We arrived in the dark having driven further than we expected due to the flooding of roads south of Chch.

Flat carpark area. Toilets were fine. We left early the next day. Good place for an overnight stop.

Reviewed over 1 year ago

As described by other people, beautiful location with a great park.

The aviary is worth a visit and lots for children to do. We only saw one penguin unfortunately but I think that depends on the time of year. Shower is outdoors and toilets basic and open, and without toilet paper. Quite busy when we were there but very quiet.

Reviewed over 1 year ago

What a find lovely overnight spot right next to the beach no toulet but one nearby you can use.

Lovely beach to wander along

Reviewed almost 2 years ago

Great little spot next to the beach and close to town.

It’s set next to a large and active port (containers), so looking one way you see containers and the other way you see the beach. Toilets are a bit open to the elements but are clean and maintained daily. There is also a dump station too but no potable water

Reviewed over 2 years ago

Penguins are the main attraction of this site.

Plenty of rubbish bins, okay toilets. Not the quietest place, as plenty of people are around recreationally, and the port can be quite noisy. A few interesting characters about. Unclear as to whether you can freedom camp in the parking closest to the water, or only by the toilets

Reviewed almost 3 years ago

Noisy and small as some commented but right on the beach, may be good for some.

I only stopped for the dump station and toilets for a little while and noticed some creepy people coming and going with dogs, what's going on there? Lol

Reviewed over 3 years ago

Decent spot with reasonable toilets.

But expect a parking lot, not nature. Plenty of space but only few spots available for overnight camping.

Reviewed over 4 years ago

If I could I would give 11 of 10 stars for this spot.

It is very close to the beautiful beach of Caroline Bay and also in a walkable distance to the nice little town centre of Timaru. Moreover there a good and clean facilities, rubbish bins, drinking water, changing rooms and even showers. One of the two showers is almost a private shower - if you have a friend who can stand in the little gap between the cover walls you can have a shower without being observed. The best about this spot is that it is not far from the penguin colony. At sunset or sunrise you can observe the little penguins coming from or walking to the water. It is magic!

Reviewed almost 5 years ago

This is a popular free camp.

It has great facilities with a dump point and toilet block. A very short walk takes you straight to the bay where you can view the penguin colony for free.The penguins were very close and you got a great view of them. The port is very close but we didn’t find the noise to be a problem.

Reviewed about 5 years ago