Waikanae River Mouth
Overnight Campervan Parking
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Waikanae River Mouth
Stay near a river estuary, with beach and river walk options. Overnight parking for up to 4 self contained campervans that can stay a maximum 1 night at the end of Tutere Street, Waikanae Beach
Details
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Organisation |
Kapiti Coast District CouncilCouncil organisation |
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Location |
North Island ▷ Wellington Region ▷ Waikanae |
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Categories |
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Directions To Coordinates |
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Coordinates |
Freedom Camping
Nearby
Reviews
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4.0/5
Lovely clean public toilet facilities, was really quiet the night we stayed.
Beautiful view of the sunset over Kapiti island and the estuary :)
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0.5/5
Truly awful experience unfortunately.
Seemed so highly reviewed however the teenagers drinking until after 12, their choice of music blasted from the beach, the groups of couples in cars all arriving at the same time and behaving very oddly, the motorbikes doing laps of the camp between 2-5am shouting, flashing their lights and genuinely beeping their horns, and the absolute influx of fisherman arriving at 5:30 meant it didn’t exactly live up to expectations. We felt incredibly unsafe early hours as we were being lapped by lads on motorbikes screaming and shouting. Sounds like a lovely spot in the summer but would avoid off season.
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2.5/5
Seemed very well reviewed, we were the only ones here and arrived at about 1900.
Soon after a group of cars with couples in started coming and going... Not long after that large groups of teenagers were coming in and out round the van with mopeds making us feel very uncomfortable. Clearly a locals haunt, wouldn't camp here again on our own.
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5.0/5
Loved this campsite!
It's a small one with online 4 spaces. Even in winter three out of four spots were taken. Overnight camping only at designated spots, they do check. The toilet is closeby (left hand side as you leave the parking) and very clean and convenient. Take a walk around the beach and enjoy the beautiful scenery.
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5.0/5
Small (only 5 places) but beautifull spot near a bird sanctuary and the beach.
Only 45 minutes to Wellington. Great to get a goodnight rest if you need to catch a late night ferry. You can only stay one night, would have liked to stay longer.
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5.0/5
Nice scenery, perfect spot to see the most beautiful sunset!
Talking toilet with music was hilarious.
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4.5/5
Very nice spot to stay for a night next to the beach and a great view of Kapiti Island.
Toilet is the one with the music and auto lock, and was cleaned in the morning. Nice toilet however abused by one of the other campers who stayed there. It was open 24hours during our stay. Local construction workers tend to use the toilet also. Only 4 spots and those were filled around 17.00h. during the evening there was some traffic, not sure what they were doing. Didn't feel unsafe.
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5.0/5
Lovely camp spot with a clean toilet.
Toilet only open daylight hours. 2 minute walk to the beach.
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4.5/5
Great spot.
Very clean toilet. We got the ferry next morning & was an easy drive to there. Felt safe.
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4.0/5
Beautiful location with lovely local walks.
Can get busy with locals visiting and fishing. All four spaces were taken. We got our space at 4pm with the last remaining taken much later.
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4.5/5
Nice spot near the estuary with plenty of birds to observe and great for fishing.
One modern toilet with jazz music! Walk around on the beach and see Kapiti island in the background.
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5.0/5
Nice spot, felt very safe.
Modern toilet. Space for 4 campers. I arrived around 7PM mid-February 2020 and there was one space available.
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4.0/5
Lovely clean public toilet facilities, was really quiet the night we stayed.
Beautiful view of the sunset over Kapiti island and the estuary :)
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0.5/5
Truly awful experience unfortunately.
Seemed so highly reviewed however the teenagers drinking until after 12, their choice of music blasted from the beach, the groups of couples in cars all arriving at the same time and behaving very oddly, the motorbikes doing laps of the camp between 2-5am shouting, flashing their lights and genuinely beeping their horns, and the absolute influx of fisherman arriving at 5:30 meant it didn’t exactly live up to expectations. We felt incredibly unsafe early hours as we were being lapped by lads on motorbikes screaming and shouting. Sounds like a lovely spot in the summer but would avoid off season.
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2.5/5
Seemed very well reviewed, we were the only ones here and arrived at about 1900.
Soon after a group of cars with couples in started coming and going... Not long after that large groups of teenagers were coming in and out round the van with mopeds making us feel very uncomfortable. Clearly a locals haunt, wouldn't camp here again on our own.
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5.0/5
Loved this campsite!
It's a small one with online 4 spaces. Even in winter three out of four spots were taken. Overnight camping only at designated spots, they do check. The toilet is closeby (left hand side as you leave the parking) and very clean and convenient. Take a walk around the beach and enjoy the beautiful scenery.
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5.0/5
Small (only 5 places) but beautifull spot near a bird sanctuary and the beach.
Only 45 minutes to Wellington. Great to get a goodnight rest if you need to catch a late night ferry. You can only stay one night, would have liked to stay longer.
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5.0/5
Nice scenery, perfect spot to see the most beautiful sunset!
Talking toilet with music was hilarious.
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4.5/5
Very nice spot to stay for a night next to the beach and a great view of Kapiti Island.
Toilet is the one with the music and auto lock, and was cleaned in the morning. Nice toilet however abused by one of the other campers who stayed there. It was open 24hours during our stay. Local construction workers tend to use the toilet also. Only 4 spots and those were filled around 17.00h. during the evening there was some traffic, not sure what they were doing. Didn't feel unsafe.
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5.0/5
Lovely camp spot with a clean toilet.
Toilet only open daylight hours. 2 minute walk to the beach.
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4.5/5
Great spot.
Very clean toilet. We got the ferry next morning & was an easy drive to there. Felt safe.
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4.0/5
Beautiful location with lovely local walks.
Can get busy with locals visiting and fishing. All four spaces were taken. We got our space at 4pm with the last remaining taken much later.
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4.5/5
Nice spot near the estuary with plenty of birds to observe and great for fishing.
One modern toilet with jazz music! Walk around on the beach and see Kapiti island in the background.
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5.0/5
Nice spot, felt very safe.
Modern toilet. Space for 4 campers. I arrived around 7PM mid-February 2020 and there was one space available.
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5.0/5
One of the best free campsite we had.
Got there around 3pm. Apart from some visiters (kite surfers, dogs) we were the only one staying over night. Toilet closes before 12 pm, but it's very clean and big.
Walks along the beach& sunset.
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4.0/5
Lovely place to stay and you are on the coast so there will be wind.
We really enjoyed our free stay but we abide by the rules. Our only objection is that so called self contained small vans park 3 vans in two spaces and no one checks. It needs to be policed continuously. 9.12.18
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5.0/5
Brilliant campsite in the reserve, though very exposed and windy.
Loads of kite surfers. Very clean toilets - that even speak to you and play music when the door is locked. No showers. A playground about 1.2km walk down the road. If you love driftwood, this is the place for you.
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4.0/5
We stayed in December, lovely spot in the nature reserve near the beach.
Respect the 4 camper only rule please, security do come & check. Lovely beach full of driftwood. We would of loved to stay 2 nights, but 1 night is the max. Nice & quiet.
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4.5/5
Well located campsite with a clean flush toilet nearby.
However, we were exposed to extreme wind during our stay so check the weather before coming.
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4.5/5
Calm and directly by the river.
Very nice spot to stay. Someone came by and wrote down our register number (only stay for one night). Clean toilet with music. Funny!
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4.5/5
A lovely spot by the estuary, amazing sunset great toilets.
We were a bit confused about where to camp, as there were several campers on the left when we came in, so parked up on grass area near the other campers,13 of us in all camped there. Wasn't till the next morning that we found a sign saying only 4 campers allowed and only in carpark on the right as you come in! Security did come in at about 9pm and wrote down all our number plates but no one asked any of us to move on !!
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5.0/5
Awesome location - river, beach and lagoon; some friendly locals telling stories about bird life, very calm and relaxing!
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5.0/5
A beautiful spot on the river estuary where children could run free on the sand while I cooked dinner.
The musical loo is charming.
The camping spot is on the right as you turn in from the road.
A popular spot for dog walkers and there are houses close by but still felt away from things. A security car pulled up around 9pm and took a note of our number-plate.
Do check out the lovely bird reserve and native swamp reserve further up the road. They're doing great work.
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4.0/5
Good location at the side of the river, looking out towards Kapiti Island and the sea.
Amazing singing toilets! Stay in there long enough to hear two tracks. And a loo that thanks you for using it! Good beach access. Hard standing. Free site.
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4.0/5
Lovely little location on the water front.
Beautiful sunset!!
Only space for 4 vans, and must be self-contained - warden came round to check late at night.
Musical public toilet was amusing and clean, other reviews mention it closing, we didn't notice this, it was still open around 9.30pm and at 7am the next morning.
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3.5/5
We've stayed here on 2 occasions both for 1 night.
+ Free,
+ Lovely area with direct access to beach,
+ Surprisingly sheltered from the wind,
+ Nice cycle route around estuary.
- Can only stay for 1 night at a time,
- On a Saturday night there was 1 occasion of a car wheel spinning out of car park.
+/- There is a toilet but it is locked over night.
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3.5/5
Friendly locals around.
Beautiful views of Kapiti Island and even South Island in the distance. The singing toilet is entertaining. Excellent spot to walk along the beach. However, not very private.
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4.0/5
A good spot.
Great for kids that like feeding ducks and swans, plus we saw Royal Spoonbills and NZ Shoveler Ducks. It's popular with the locals, so it's not altogether private. You have to check out the toilet - it's one of those talking ones with music - they make me laugh. I will certainly stay here again.
